"Where am I?"
The moment light returned to Nora's eyes, he quickly scanned his surroundings. He was still in the same spot.
There was nothing wrong.
No—something was wrong.
Only half of them remained. The others were gone without a trace.
"I hope they didn't lose control," Nora muttered, staring at the space where his classmates had disappeared. Increased armor was fine—it only made them sturdier. But increased speed was another matter entirely; that took a few tricks to get used to. Unlike in video games, real life had far too many variables.
Nora knew it might look as if he had cursed his classmates with debuffs, but he also believed they were elites among elites. They would adapt quickly. And with armor that strong, even if they were hit by a car, they would likely escape with nothing more than a few bruises.
"Kuhh!"
Thirteen grimaced at her own negligence. She hadn't been a combat-type to begin with. Still, she stood in front of the students, determined not to let anyone else be harmed.
"Quick—outside, now!" she ordered, activating her ability. From her fingertips, an unimaginable suction force erupted.
Sadly, the matchup was terrible.
With just a single warp—
"Sensei!!"
The students screamed as Thirteen's space suit disintegrated under the strain of her own power.
"Too bad, Thirteen," the darkness sneered, clearly pleased with the outcome.
"Yeah. Too bad," Nora replied calmly when he heard it.
In his hand, a hammer-like storm took shape. Without hesitation, he hurled it straight at the darkness's face.
"Heh." The voice sneered again, shifting its real body deeper into the shadows, certain the attack would pass through like all the others.
"Gahh!?"
The scream was raw with shock.
'Wh—what happened?' it wanted to ask, but its mouth wouldn't move as intended.
No—not just its mouth.
Its entire body refused to move.
"Too bad," Nora sneered back at the darkness. "It's a target-unit AOE skill."
"Everyone, move!" he shouted to his friends.
They snapped out of their daze and sprinted toward the entrance, carrying Thirteen-sensei with them. The moment Iida crossed the threshold, he shifted gears—his figure vanishing before everyone's eyes in a blur of speed.
Once the others were through, Nora stopped at the doorway. He hesitated, weighing his options: assist Aizawa-sensei, or search for the rest.
I'll see and decide, he thought. Checking Aizawa-sensei's condition came first.
Before he could move, a voice interrupted him.
"Nekoyama-san, are you going in again?"
Nora turned to see Ochaco approaching.
"…" He stayed silent.
Even so, Ochaco gently reached out and adjusted his outfit. "This is the least I can do," she said, offering him an encouraging smile.
"Thanks," Nora replied. "Try to find help—and tell everyone else to do the same."
"Tch."
Within the darkness, Kurogiri felt control returning to his body. He knew it would be difficult to capture the students before reinforcements arrived. So he chose the next best option.
As he had been programmed to do, he warped to the side of their small leader.
"Oh."
Nora reacted faintly. If that darkness stopped harassing the others, he was more than grateful. Following his gaze, he saw the other end of the warp.
He was standing beside a man covered in hands.
Nora stood on the sidelines, watching Aizawa-sensei handle a swarm of thugs. Maybe it was just his untrained eyes, but to him they looked like the kind of lowlifes you'd find loitering along a back alley. In other words, small fry.
Still, there were a lot of them.
In a world without special abilities, numbers alone wouldn't be that terrifying. Even if you were surrounded by a hundred—two hundred at most—there were only eight directions they could attack from. Without teamwork, it was manageable, especially if everyone was limited to fists and close combat.
But this world had Quirks.
Change the scenario: fifty people, each holding a random weapon. Swords, spears, daggers. Bows and arrows. Even guns.
The difficulty skyrocketed.
Weapons were still easier to deal with—you could tell at a glance whether they were long-range, mid-range, or close-range. You knew what you were facing.
With Quirks, though, everything was shrouded in fog.
What kind of ability was it? How did it activate? What were its limits?
How were you supposed to handle that?
"…Wow."
Nora couldn't help but feel impressed. Their teacher truly deserved to stand where he was.
Aizawa-sensei's Quirk wasn't suited for fighting many opponents at once. And yet, he handled the battlefield flawlessly. It felt like watching someone play rock-paper-scissors blindfolded—one against many—and still come out on top.
Even so, he was still human.
He needed to breathe. He needed brief pauses. And as the fight dragged on, those moments of rest grew longer and more frequent.
If I were the villain…
Nora glanced around and spotted a fist-sized chunk of broken stone. It fit comfortably in his palm. The next second, his hair turned white, and his eyes burned red.
He waited.
Patiently.
For the perfect chance.
"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind."
Nora tracked Aizawa-sensei's movements from above like a hawk.
No—more accurately, like a cat watching its prey.
Maybe it was a perk of becoming more feline, or perhaps some innate trait inherited from his father. Either way, he could react before something went wrong.
Just as the man covered in hands was about to reach Aizawa-sensei while he was unguarded—
Something sliced through the air.
The broken stone slammed into the man's side with a thunderous crack, shattering on impact and spraying fragments across the ground.
"Guhh!"
The hand-covered man let out a pained grunt, like he'd been jabbed hard in the ribs. It wasn't enough to deal serious damage, but it was enough.
Enough to stagger him.
Enough for Aizawa-sensei to react.
Aizawa-sensei didn't waste the opening. He moved instantly—his capture weapon snapping forward like an extension of his own limbs, binding the hand-covered man in a technique reminiscent of a certain ninja.
His eyes locked onto him, suppressing any attempt to activate a Quirk.
Then, like a mallet, Aizawa-sensei yanked him upward and smashed him straight into the ground.
SLAM!
Sadly, the satisfying sound of something breaking never came.
Instead, a dark portal opened beneath them. The hand-covered man slipped through the ground, reappearing moments later as he was flung sideways, crashing far back to his original position—right in front of the central fountain.
"Tch." Aizawa clicked his tongue at the interference. He didn't have the leeway to follow up.
Another piece of small fry rushed in, activating their Quirk mid-charge. Aizawa dodged, countering with a sharp kick to the chin, then turned his gaze toward his unseen helper.
The flash of white hair was hard to miss.
"…Who is that?" The man covered in hands followed his line of sight, grinding his teeth in frustration at his failed attempt.
"Fuu… that was close." Nora let out a quiet sigh of relief. He still didn't know what kind of Quirk that man possessed, but it was safer to expect the worst.
Now that his position had been exposed, there was no point in staying passive.
Nora began actively supporting Aizawa-sensei from the rear line, intercepting anyone who tried to rush him—each advance halted by another stone cutting through the air.