"It's definitely a strong Quirk, but..."
"Your Quirk isn't invincible!"
Shoto Todoroki, on the ground on the other side of the ring, pointed his finger and shouted at Arthur on the ice mountain.
His words instantly made countless spectators in the arena and in front of their TVs gasp.
Arthur on the ice mountain raised an eyebrow too.
"Arthur! You can stop time, but it's limited. At most one or two seconds. Otherwise, you could've just come down from that ice mountain earlier, like you did with Bakugo, and kicked me out of the ring. But you didn't do that!"
Shoto Todoroki's expression was serious as he slowly lowered his hand. "But you didn't... no, you couldn't."
A lot of heroes suddenly realized what he meant. They praised Todoroki's sharp observation while secretly feeling relieved.
Right. If he could stop time forever, that would be way too terrifying.
"You figured it out? My Quirk, The World's ability, is worth praising twice."
Clap clap.
Arthur clapped his hands, then couldn't help but smile. "But so what? Even if you know the time stop limit, what can you do in a frozen world?"
Shoto Todoroki clenched his fists and said in a low voice, "Bring it! Use your ability!"
Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly, and The World's afterimage flickered, appearing from inside him.
"Since you asked for it, I'll give it to you!"
" ZA WARUDO!!!"
"Time, stop!"
An indescribable energy spread out from Arthur, covering the entire world.
The colors of heaven and earth went weird.
Birds flying, cars driving on the road, babies crying , all of them froze in that instant.
Arthur, with The World, jumped down from the ice mountain and walked in front of Shoto Todoroki, his eyes staring directly at Todoroki, who was still trying to look up.
"This guy can't see anything..."
Arthur observed Todoroki's eyes. He simply couldn't move during stopped time.
"Then let's end this."
Arthur's right fist shot toward Todoroki's stomach.
Right now, Todoroki wasn't far from the boundary line behind him.
Arthur didn't break his ribs like he did with that loudmouth Bakugo. He only used enough force to knock him flying.
Thump!
Then, the moment Arthur's fist touched Todoroki's stomach, a strong chill surged from his hand.
Arthur's expression changed slightly, and he looked down.
He saw a burst of ice coming from Todoroki's stomach, crawling onto his skin like bacteria.
And at that moment, the world went back to normal.
Everyone only saw Arthur already standing in front of Todoroki, his fist clearly hitting his stomach.
"Got him!"
Enduring the pain in his stomach, Shoto Todoroki pressed his hands firmly against Arthur's hands, which were frozen to his stomach.
Boom!!!
Sizzle!!!
Ice and fire activated at the same time. Full power, close range assault.
"You... using your own body as a trap?"
This was the first time Arthur showed surprise during the Sports Festival.
He also understood what was happening.
Before Arthur stopped time, Todoroki had condensed ice on his body. Anything that touched it at close range would freeze and stick.
And as soon as time started flowing again, he'd launch a close range attack.
The cost was that Todoroki's own body would get severe frostbite. If he used his fire to ease the freezing, there wouldn't be any power left.
"Now you don't have time to stop time! Let's see what you do with this!!!"
Shoto Todoroki's expression was even more intense than when he fought Izuku Midoriya.
"Nice move, But..."
The World suddenly burst out from the front of Arthur's body, its eyes locked onto Shoto Todoroki.
Todoroki's face went pale with shock, only to hear Arthur's voice from behind. "You think I'm so arrogant that I wouldn't prepare for an enemy trap targeting time stops?"
"A Stand can be recalled and released anytime."
Bang!
The World struck with a chop, shattering the ice block on Arthur's arm that was frozen to Todoroki's stomach, using minimal movement.
"You should feel honored. At least you managed to trap me once."
As Arthur spoke, The World had already clenched its power-filled fist.
"It's not over yet!"
Shoto Todoroki gritted his teeth, once again pushing his power output to the limit.
Fire and ice were about to be released at the same time.
"Too slow!"
Arthur interrupted Todoroki's attack and shouted.
Whoosh!!!
The explosive sound of air being punched apart rang out. The attack was completely interrupted.
"Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda Muda!"
The speed of The World's punches was impossible to see with the naked eye. Only golden afterimages showed as they repeatedly struck different parts of Todoroki's body.
"One Muda!!!!!"
With Arthur's final battle cry, Shoto Todoroki, covered in blood, flew backward out of bounds. His expression twisted as he thought, What's going on... this power and speed are way too insane.
But just as Todoroki was about to completely fly out of the arena, Arthur's left hand gestured, and The World rushed out, grabbed his right foot, and pressed it to the ground.
Todoroki's vision was already blurry. He only saw The World slowly disappear as Arthur walked up to him and looked down.
"The match is decided."
Shoto Todoroki, his head covered in blood, opened his mouth and managed two words. "I... lost."
"Someone get him to Recovery Girl!"
Cementoss quickly ran over and scooped up Todoroki.
No need to fix the arena now.
"If you hadn't set that trap, you would've lost easily."
Arthur turned and walked away.
Shoto Todoroki, lying in Cementoss's arms, struggled to open his eyes and looked at the other's retreating back. He barely got out, "If that were the case... it wouldn't be"
Before he could finish, Todoroki slowly closed his eyes and completely passed out.
"Shoto Todoroki is out of bounds and unconscious! Arthur wins!!!"
Midnight raised her whip high and loudly announced the final result.
...
Re@d adv@nce ch@pters on p@t
guilt_free_daoist
Jo!n d!sc0rd I!nk in synops!s.
GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.