The moment All Might's words ended, the air around him exploded, announcing the shattering of the silence barrier.
"Endeavor!" All Might screamed in a voice that split the sky.
The blazing man needed no further explanation. He surged directly forward like an enraged meteor, leaving behind a massive tail of raging flame that lit up the sky over Kamino. And in the same moment, Edgeshot disappeared from his position, contracting into a thin, sharp thread that slid between the shadows and rubble at a speed no human eye could track.
As for All Might, he gathered everything that remained in his exhausted muscles and drove the ground beneath his feet with tremendous force. Layers of asphalt exploded and scattered like shrapnel, turning into thick dust as he launched himself like a projectile toward his adversary.
All For One narrowed his eyes as he spotted the simultaneous triple assault.
From above, All Might descended with his full weight and power. From the front, Endeavor roared while pushing ahead a sea of burning flames. And from every blind angle, Edgeshot crept in searching for a lethal gap to drive his blade.
"Hmph." The tyrant released a short dismissive exhale and raised his arm.
Boom!
All Might's fist collided with a solid barrier of black energy, generating a violent shockwave that shook the foundations of the surrounding buildings. And in that same fraction of a second, Endeavor's tongues of flame swept across All For One's body from the side, attempting to turn him to ash. But before the flames could fully settle, Edgeshot appeared directly behind him like a lethal ghost, his arm transforming into a sharp steel needle that launched at the speed of sound toward the tyrant's neck.
For the first time since the beginning of this nightmare, All For One was forced to retreat.
One step back. Then another.
And from a distance, in the adjacent streets, while Kamui Woods, Tiger, and Gang Orca led evacuation operations and pulled the wounded from beneath the rubble, the cheers of the crowds glued to their screens rose into the air. Chants of All Might's name filled the streets, for they had seen what seemed impossible. The invincible enemy was actually retreating.
All For One's features hardened with cold composure. The blows were raining on him from every direction without mercy. The weight of All Might's fist, Endeavor's inferno, and Edgeshot's precise strikes that left no room for breath. Every passing second was narrowing the space available to him and tightening the noose around him further.
"Interesting." He murmured in a low voice swallowed by the noise of the battle.
Then his smile gradually widened. A pale, cold smile that carried not a single trace of worry.
"But."
He stopped retreating suddenly. He planted his feet in the ground and in the next moment pressed his fingers with force. A terrifying power began flowing into his arm all at once. The air around him shuddered and the earth shook with violence, until it seemed as if space itself was warping under the massive pressure of the accumulated energy.
Edgeshot was the first to sense the danger with his sharp instinct.
"Get back!" He screamed as a warning with all his strength.
But the warning came far too late.
All For One raised his arm toward the sky, and a massive black and red wave exploded from it, a hurricane of pure destruction that swept the entire area.
BOOOOOOM!!
Everything disappeared inside a sea of ruin. The floor shattered and was swallowed by the deep crater that had just formed, and debris flew in every direction like artillery shells. The explosion consumed Endeavor and Edgeshot entirely as they were closest to ground zero. All Might raised his arms instinctively crossing them in front of his face, while the massive shockwave threw him dozens of meters backward to slam into the rubble.
Long, heavy seconds passed.
The suffocating dust began fading slowly. Amid the clouds of smoke, All Might appeared standing with extreme difficulty. His eyes scanned the area in a quick flash.
Then he saw him.
Endeavor was on one knee, his proud flames slowly fading to leave behind an exhausted body. And on the other side, Edgeshot lay motionless among the chunks of asphalt, having absorbed the largest portion of the devastating blow.
All For One raised his head very slowly. He brushed the dust from his shoulder with a simple gesture, as if what had just happened was nothing more than a passing inconvenience. Then he directed his gaze straight toward All Might, the cold smile still drawn on his lips.
"All Might." He said it with a terrifying calm, raising his arm again as black and red sparks ignited around his fist. "This party has gone on long enough. I believe it's time to end it."
The dust was still blanketing the gloomy night sky. All Might stood with difficulty amid the rubble, gasping intensely as if each breath was tearing his chest, while hot drops of blood fell from his arm and side to mix with the dirt of battle. His eyes were fixed with sorrow on the place where his companions had fallen.
"Endeavor. Edgeshot."
He tried to take one step forward, but his broken body protested with sharp pain that nearly brought him to the ground.
And in contrast, All For One stood amid the smoke, pristine and unscratched, as if he had not faced any attack at all. He looked at the symbol of peace in silence for long seconds, then laughed. A low, rough, provocative laugh that made blood freeze in the veins.
"What a pitiful sight." He began floating slowly upward above the rubble. "In the past, you stood alone against an entire army without a single hair out of place." His dark crimson eyes settled on All Might's thin, wound-covered body. "But now you can barely stand on your own feet."
All Might clenched his fist with violence without answering, but the tyrant didn't stop.
"Do you know what fascinates me most about you, Toshinori?" He drew closer through the air slowly. "Despite all these years, you keep making the same foolish mistakes."
All Might's eyes narrowed. "My mistakes?"
The tyrant's smile widened further. "Nana Shimura."
All Might's body went rigid the moment his teacher's name was spoken, as if lightning had struck him.
"She thought she could defeat me." He advanced one more step in the air. "Then she passed you the power of One For All." Another step. "And you in turn repeated the same naive mistake."
All Might felt a lethal coldness creeping down his spine.
"Do you think I don't know?" A suffocating silence settled. "Do you truly believe I haven't discovered who you passed the power to?"
All Might's eyes widened with genuine terror.
"Midoriya Izuku."
The symbol of peace's heart trembled for a moment, but he pressed his lips shut and remained silent.
"That small boy with the green hair." The tyrant laughed with bitter mockery. "The ninth successor."
The dark energy began gathering around the villain's body once more in terrifying spirals. "You gave him the power." Then he pointed his finger directly at All Might's chest. "But the very unfortunate thing is that you will never be able to finish what you started."
The winds around them intensified as if crying.
"You won't be able to complete his training. You won't be able to teach him how to use that power."
The suffocating air pressure intensified further, until the ground beneath All Might's trembling feet began to crack and split.
"Because you will die here."
A heavy silence settled, broken only by the whistling of the wind.
"You will die here, before you see that boy become a hero."
Time stopped in Toshinori's mind for a moment. No reaction appeared on his face. He didn't scream, and he didn't collapse.
Only images flowed through his mind like a warm reel. Midoriya rushing without thinking toward danger to save others. Zoro standing with his sword fighting fiercely despite his lethal wounds. All of his students, their dreams, and their gleaming eyes.
Then All Might's head lowered slightly.
"You're wrong."
All For One frowned with displeasure.
All Might raised his head very slowly. And despite the blood staining his face, despite the exhaustion gnawing at his bones, that wide, legendary smile returned to shine on his face once more.
"Because Midoriya." He clenched his fist with a force that made his veins stand out. "No longer needs me to walk the road in his place."
A faint, pure golden shimmer began glowing around his arm. "He has been walking on his own for a long time now."
The mocking smile disappeared from the tyrant's face, while All Might's gaze rose toward him with an unshakeable steadiness.
"And for that reason." The air around him shuddered with a majestic energy. "I will not allow you to touch him!"
And in that moment, the last spark of the symbol of peace's will exploded. The spirit ignited in his body that had reached its very edge. And despite the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth, and the pain tearing every muscle, he was still standing like a towering mountain, looking directly into the eyes of death without fear.
Then All For One's head lowered slightly. "So this is your answer?"
A strange and terrifying moment of silence settled. Then the tyrant slowly raised his right arm.
"Very well. Show me then what you have left."
Suddenly, disgusting mechanical and organic sounds began reverberating from inside the tyrant's body as he recited his demonic incantation.
"Limb amplification." The muscles of his right arm swelled to an insane degree.
"Movement force enhancement, four times." The air shook with violence and a muffled thunder rolled out.
"Strength enhancement, three times." The ground began shattering beneath his feet from the mere pressure of him standing.
"Multiplier."
"Magnification."
"Stabilizer."
"Air walk."
"Reinforcement."
Quirk activated above Quirk. Layer of power upon layer. The arm expanded in a distorted, terrifying way until the red and black light covered every inch of it. The energy flowed with a terrifying density to the degree that the very fabric of space began to warp and bend around it, as if reality could no longer contain this immense accumulation of pure power.
Silence settled.
A complete, lethal silence.
In Kamino. In the hospital. And in every corner of Japan.
Everyone was watching the end approach.
Before the massive screens erected in the middle of the crowds gathered on the safe streets of Kamino, people froze in their positions like statues. No one speaks. No one dares to even swallow with an audible sound.
Amid that sea of terrified faces, Midoriya stood. His green eyes were fixed on the screen without blinking even once.
"All Might." He whispered in a hoarse voice he could barely hear himself.
Beside him stood Bakugo, grinding his teeth with enough force that they nearly cracked. The fury, the helplessness, and the overwhelming sense of weakness were burning inside his chest like fire, but he couldn't do anything but watch.
Todoroki stayed silent. His differently colored eyes were following the arm of the monster that kept expanding.
Iida stood beside them tense, his fists clenched hard enough to turn his knuckles white. While Yaoyorozu held her breath, placing her trembling hands on her chest. And Kirishima felt cold drops of sweat sliding down his forehead, and despite his desperate attempt to appear composed, genuine terror had taken residence in his eyes.
And in Uraraka's home, she placed both hands over her mouth, and hot tears gathered in her eyes to fall silently as she watched the broadcast. "All Might." She whispered with trembling lips.
And in Tsuyu Asui's home, she sat before the television completely silent, but her wide gaze never left the screen for a second. "Kero." The word came from her mouth carrying unprecedented tension.
And in Mineta's home, the boy jumped from his seat the moment he saw the nightmare forming on the screen, and stepped back with stumbling steps. "Impossible! What the hell is this thing?!" He screamed with his legs trembling with pure terror.
And Aoyama was standing alone before his screen. The bloodred light reflected on his pale face, and for the first time in a very long time, his usual plastic smile had vanished entirely.
Inside the walls of UA High, Principal Nezu stood on top of his desk with his small eyes fixed on the lit screen without movement or a single word. Around him stood the teachers. Vlad King and Midnight and Snipe and Present Mic, all of them looking at the scene with faces pale as the dead. Even Present Mic, known for his energy and his loud voice that never quieted, had swallowed his tongue and remained silent, as if every language in the world had abandoned him.
Inside the hospital room, the red light from the screen reflected to bathe all three of their faces in the colors of hell.
Zoro's eyes had widened, fixed toward the terrifying display. Even the burning pain from the deep wound in his left shoulder that had continued to bleed and leave a small pool of blood on the floor beneath him seemed to have faded before the enormity of the moment. And despite having no Quirk, his alert senses and his deep perception through Haki let him feel the weight of that lethal aura emanating from the screen as if it were choking him.
"What is this." Zoro whispered in a low, dazed voice.
As for Aizawa, he had furrowed his brows with such force that a vein was visible in his forehead. His exhausted eyes were following the tyrant's arm in a heavy, painful silence. And for the first time in a long time, tension and fear were plainly visible on his stern features.
But Kenji remained seated, leaning on his cane without a single eyelid flickering or any change in his hardened features. He watched the scene with a terrifying calm, as if he were reading a book whose ending he already knew.
"As I expected." Kenji said in his rough, deep voice. "This is only a fraction of the power he's accumulated over his cursed lifetime." He didn't take his eyes from the screen and continued with bitterness. "And for that very reason, this man has always been the absolute nightmare of this world."
The live broadcast returned to focus on Kamino.
The dark energy was still accumulating. And accumulating. And accumulating, until merely being in his vicinity or breathing in his radius became something that tore the lungs apart.
All For One looked at All Might with triumph, then smiled that cold and terrifying smile.
"You know, Toshinori." He began advancing with one slow, confident step forward, the earth groaning and shattering under the weight of his foot. "I've only been playing with you all this time."
His mangled, devastating arm rose very slowly. "But now you will see true power. Therefore." He fixed his death-radiating eyes on All Might. "Prepare yourself."
Amid the raging storm. Amid the blinding darkness. Amid the catastrophic mass of power that seemed capable of erasing all of Japan from the map.
All Might stood.
Blood filling his mouth, his body on the absolute edge of total collapse, but he didn't retreat a single step. He didn't lower his head and he didn't take his eyes from his eternal adversary.
He remained standing there, looking directly into the face of death, ready for the final confrontation.
And in the next moment, the air between them exploded.
.
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