"That's… impossible," Nora muttered, staring at his sensei—who had just been dominating the small-fry thugs—reduced to nothing more than another small fry in front of a single man.
The guy was so massively built that even D'Rock would look inferior standing beside him. His head resembled that of a grotesquely macho bird, and what made it especially revolting was that his brain lay exposed to the open air.
Still, after living in this world long enough, Nora forced himself to accept it as just another quirk.
Once the bird man finished dealing with Aizawa-sensei, he paused. Then, as the hand-guy began screaming something incomprehensible, the bird man slowly turned his head toward him.
For context, Aizawa-sensei and the others were at the bottom of the stairs, while Nora stood on the upper level—separated by a considerable distance due to the sheer scale of the USJ.
Even so, a chill slid down Nora's spine.
"Shit!" Nora cursed as the bird man vanished from his spot.
He was impossibly fast. Nora's eyes could track the movement, but his body couldn't keep up.
Nora dropped low without a shred of dignity, rolling across the ground. The resulting shockwave was strong enough to send his hair spiking up like a Saiyan's.
The distance had given him just enough time to react—but the next attack wouldn't afford him the same luxury.
A hammer forged from storm clouds formed in his hand, crackling with energy. He didn't throw it. There was no time. Instead, he poured every ounce of strength into his legs and leapt backward, hammer raised and ready.
Boom.
"Gakh!"
Nora was slammed into the wall beside the entrance, the air blasted violently from his lungs.
Still… he'd succeeded.
There was no follow-up attack. The bird man's ability seemed to operate under an entirely different set of rules.
Through blurred vision, Nora saw the bird man standing motionless, his body shrouded in crackling, electric-like energy.
Can he escape?
No.
Nora dismissed the thought instantly. Escape was impossible. Even with the God Strength buff, he was completely outmatched—outpowered and outclassed in every stat by the bird man.
He brought up his UI once more. From the first to the fourth skill, three of them were already in cooldown.
The first skill, Storm Hammer, still had 5 minutes and 46 seconds remaining.
The second was the passive skill, The Great Cleave.
The third skill, Warcry, had 3 hours and 40 minutes left on its cooldown.
And the fourth skill, God's Strength, still showed 23 hours and 51 minutes.
A faint light continuously moved around the UI blocks, as if the skills were waiting to be toggled on. Nora focused his attention on the fourth skill. Just like right-clicking on a computer icon, an option list appeared.
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level Three was grayed out, locked behind an unmet requirement.
Level Two, however, shone brightly—available.
The moment Nora willed it—
The God's Strength block flickered, then refreshed.
45 hours 59 minutes — Cooldown.
From that instant, a soft glow seeped from his body.
"Huu…"
A pale fog escaped Nora's mouth, as if he were breathing in winter air. It felt like some massive engine had just roared to life inside him.
Locking onto the still-stunned bird man, Nora leapt forward and drove his fist straight into the creature's abdomen.
Boom.
The shockwave rippled outward, stirring the dust around them.
Nora had done this before. He expected the same result.
When the dust cleared, he anticipated the familiar crash—the sound of a body being hurled away, just like what had happened to him moments earlier.
But it never came.
Instead, he still felt flesh beneath his knuckles.
Nora looked up.
The bird man stood inches from his face, utterly expressionless—as if the punch had meant nothing.
"Shi—!"
Nora couldn't finish the curse.
The stunned status wore off.
The bird man's fist came crashing down.
Nora ducked and rolled for his life for the second time.
The bird man moved again, throwing another punch before Nora could even get properly back on his feet. Nora had expected as much from the start and never once let the bird man leave his field of vision.
This time, his body managed—barely—to keep up with what his eyes perceived.
He escaped by a hair's breadth.
But before Nora could even feel relief, the next attack was already coming.
"Strength type!" he cursed, instantly recognizing the disadvantage. His opponent was clearly built with S-rank STR, while his AGI was at best A-rank—or lower.
Meanwhile, Nora—who had higher AGI to begin with and was now boosted by God's Strength—was only barely keeping pace in speed, while remaining hopelessly outmatched in raw power.
God's Strength didn't actually increase AGI. It was pure, overwhelming power.
The only reason his speed had risen at all was because real life wasn't an algorithmic game. More power meant more muscle—and as a byproduct, greater speed.
"I love you," Nora muttered under his breath, genuinely grateful for that real-world adjustment.
"KUROGIRI!"
A vexed voice rang out from somewhere beyond his awareness, right as Nora completed a desperate series of dodges. He didn't have the leeway to look toward the sound—but—
"Ah…"
A strained sound escaped his throat as his footing suddenly failed. It wasn't that the ground had disappeared—rather, a small part beneath his left heel collapsed. A wrap-like hole had opened directly under his foot, throwing him off balance.
His feline mother must have passed down her exceptional sense of balance. Even with one foot slipping, he could normally recover with ease.
Just not instantly.
Much like a computer running through countless if and else checks, the human body needed time to register and adjust. Those fractions of a second usually meant nothing.
Not here. Not now.
Nora thrust his arms forward on instinct, shielding his head. There wasn't even time to jump back and kill the momentum.
"Nekoyama!"
"Nekoyama-san!!"
Multiple voices cried out as Nora was sent flying—his body smashing into the wall beside the entrance and carving out a second crater.
BOOOOM.
That was the exact moment All Might arrived.