A few moments before,
Midoriya and the others ran across the vast stadium, making a beeline toward one of the two mountains in the distance.
The situation couldn't have been clearer to them.
Even without Eraser Head telling them about it exclusively, almost all 2-A students knew they would be facing a massive disadvantage today.
It had only been a few weeks since the Sports Festival ended.
The entire world knew that UA's students had given it their all in the Sports Festival, as that brought not only glory, but also eyes upon them. Such attention, especially from the Hero Agencies, would only boost their chances of becoming Pro Heroes further, going as far as helping their careers once they had become Pros.
In a nutshell, the students participating in the Sports Festival couldn't afford to hold back.
Which meant the abilities shown by the 2-A students during the Battle Royale, no matter how ridiculous, had been their true limits.
And there lay the issue.
Even the seasoned Pros couldn't just skip the process, progressing by several levels in their abilities in a mere few weeks. Less needed to be said about a tired, injured, and broken bunch of students struggling with defeat.
No matter how potent Recovery Girl's healing abilities were, they couldn't heal the piled-up exhaustion, whether it was physical or mental.
As such, one thing would stand true for the Provisional Hero License Exam.
One thing that all students from different schools attending the same exam would end up concluding, too.
That thing was — on the day of the exam, the students who had participated in the Battle Royale would appear for the Provisional Licensing Exam… as it is.
No drastic change in abilities.
No unrealistic improvement.
No… surprises.
Sadly, as Midoriya and the others ran toward the mountain, in their hearts, they knew it was true.
Their only advantage lay in taking the high ground, sticking together, and helping each other out to pass the first stage.
"Let's do it, everyone!" Midoriya shouted. "We will…"
The buzzer went off with a DONG, drowning his words.
Then, suddenly, everything went quiet, an eeriness settling in the 2-A students' hearts.
That eeriness forced Midoriya and the others to gradually come to a stop well before reaching the mountain.
Frame by frame, as if time had stalled, they looked around, their eyes widening simultaneously as their pupils reflected a shocking sight.
They'd already been expecting other schools' students to group up and come after them.
Part of the reason they had decided to remain together was because of that, to begin with.
However, not in their wildest dreams had Midoriya and the others thought that… not some students… not some schools… but ALL of them would come after them… together!
Students were everywhere.
They had surrounded them from all directions, some even dropping from the same mountain toward which they had been running.
The same stadium that had felt like overkill only moments ago now felt much, much smaller, compressing further with the passing of every fraction of a second.
2-A students' hearts skipped a beat.
They were all strong, Midoriya knew. Individually strong. In the Battle Royale, they had proven that not only to the world, but to themselves.
But some limits just couldn't be crossed with strength.
No matter how strong they had become, they couldn't fight off well over a thousand students by themselves. At least, not without each of them fending for themselves. It wasn't like they hadn't prepared to stick together until the very end, but… they needed the crowd to thin out a bit first, giving them enough opportunities to take advantage of the chaos.
If that happened now, these students from different schools, who seemed to be out for blood, judging by the expressions on their faces, would pick them all off one by one… making a mockery of UA.
Midoriya clenched his fists.
He looked left and saw Momo, Tenya, Uraraka, Tokoyami, Ojiro, and Sero coming to the same conclusion.
Tenya's state was the worst, as his new mufflers were still sprouting after he had damaged the already fledgling ones during the Battle Royale.
Momo could handle herself, but, without preparation, she would succumb to the onslaught, too. Not to mention, she was still injured and couldn't use heavy machinery. Not without others' help.
Midoriya then looked to his right and found Mina, Jiro, Aoyama, Shoji, Sato, and Mineta carrying the same pale faces.
Then, together, the hundreds of students pulled back their hands and threw the balls at the UA students, simultaneously using their Quirks to make sure they wouldn't be able to leave the kill zone.
Midoriya took a deep breath.
"I am… going ahead, guys," he said, closing his eyes. "Will give you an opening…"
The 2-A students had just steeled themselves to face the doomed situation head-on when a frown appeared on their faces at his words.
Before they could even say anything, though, Midoriya let out the breath… his feet levitating off the ground.
Cyan-colored lightning danced on his entire body.
From his back, thin strings of greenish-black energy sprouted, effortlessly blending with his costume, making him look like a green-bodied spider with hundreds of legs.
Full Cowling: 21% —
"You picked a hell of a time to show off, kid!" Fifth's voice rang in Midoriya's mind. "But… I like it."
"Easy…" Seventh guided him. "For the last month, you have been meditating on controlling Float and Black Whip together. Do not lose that focus in the heat of the battle…"
"Indeed…"
That was the First.
"… take it as a training," Yoichi Shigaraki, brother of All For One, said. "Focus on the little, aiming for big. Got it?"
Midoriya didn't.
But… he got the gist of it.
So, as the hundreds of students, including his own classmates, looked at him with wide eyes, Midoriya fueled himself with the pain… the pain that he could still feel clearly… the pain that he had experienced during his last moments in the Battle Royale.
With a bang, Midoriya's eyes snapped open.
With a BANG, he blurred out of existence.
— HELL RUSH!