A/N: Sorry for the absence—we're back.
The U.A. Festival had turned into complete chaos. The people in the stands tried to escape but couldn't because of the villains. The more common heroes, despite greatly outnumbering the villains, chose to defend the audience while the top heroes dealt with the attackers.
It wasn't a bad plan. In fact, given the situation, it was the best option. Even with everything happening at U.A., things were still under control. However, if even a single civilian were to die, the reputation of U.A. and the Hero Commission would plummet.
After all, this was supposed to be the most important event in the country. Who could accept that, in front of a thousand heroes, a villain managed to kill a civilian?!
So the battle continued, but there was one place where a strange event had occurred.
In the stands where Class 1-A and 1-B were fighting the Nomu, something changed. These strange, incredibly strong creatures suddenly stopped moving and turned their heads toward the arena.
"What are you doing, Nomu?!" Shigaraki shouted angrily.
"We have to attack!" Momo shouted. She immediately created a cannon, aimed, and fired, blowing off a Nomu's arm. Despite the injury, it continued staring at the arena as if in a trance.
"Die!" Bakugo also attacked, blasting a Nomu that flew past Shigaraki, completely charred.
"Smash!" Deku kicked a Nomu, sending it flying toward the field.
"Now, Tetsutetsu!" Kirishima locked one in a bear hug while Tetsutetsu punched it, shattering its teeth.
"I hate these things!" Itsuka grabbed one with her enlarged hands and hurled it into the sky, where multiple chunks of debris assaulted it from all directions—courtesy of Reiko.
"Ohhhh!"
"ORA ORA ORA!"
Sato and Shoji attacked a Nomu together. Before this moment, they had struggled with its agility, but now it was nothing more than a punching bag for the two of them.
"Tokoyami!"
Kaminari electrocuted a Nomu while Dark Shadow struck it.
"Yeah! Go, Dark Shadow!"
....
"Damn it!"
Shigaraki watched helplessly as his Nomu were defeated without putting up resistance. He didn't understand what was happening. A defect in their creation? Something else? He had no idea, but in this situation, it seemed impossible to carry out a massacre against the U.A. brats.
"What is Sensei doing?!"
Shigaraki scratched at his own neck in frustration, but soon he realized that whatever was happening in the arena was the reason the Nomu were acting like this.
All of this was because of a strange sensation coming from the arena. There was no way to put it into words. Somehow, everyone's attention had shifted toward the place where All For One was—the place where the terrifying villain stood.
"Don't think you can just stand there..." Todoroki said, attacking Shigaraki with ice erupting from the ground.
Shigaraki raised his hand and disintegrated Todoroki's ice with a touch.
Todoroki frowned. He knew Shigaraki was dangerous and strong, but now he truly felt it. Not only was his Quirk extremely lethal, but his very existence exuded danger. 'This guy has absolutely no hesitation about killing...'
"Can you shut up?" Shigaraki growled, his eyes bloodshot.
Todoroki raised his guard as a bead of sweat slid down his cheek. Shigaraki was like a knot of malicious intent—rage, resentment, hatred, disgust, revulsion—all of those emotions swirled around him, radiating hostility toward the entire world.
'What is this guy?'
Todoroki was strong, but it was the first time he had faced someone like Shigaraki, and he couldn't understand what would have to happen for a person to become like this.
Just when it seemed Shigaraki was about to confront Todoroki, he began to tremble.
It was sudden and interrupted many fights.
....
"What's happening?" Nine asked with a frown. However, that moment of distraction wasn't wasted by Kaina.
"GET LOST!" Kaina fired, piercing through Nine's defense and grazing his cheek.
Nine was surprised to be injured. 'Did this woman increase the power of her shots?!'
He didn't know. Kaina had been both a hero and an assassin. In the end, she had never liked killing. Now that she had a chance at a different life, she had been holding back the force of her shots. But feeling the tremor in the ground, her worry for Allen spiked so much that she released the mental limiter she had placed on herself.
"I told you not to interfere..." Kaina muttered as she loaded her second shot.
Nine watched cautiously, but when Kaina lifted her gaze, her violet eyes shone. She was no longer Tsutsumi-sensei—she was Lady Nagant.
"...!" Nine raised his hand, ready to fight seriously.
Boom!
Without warning, a massive explosion erupted in the sky. Everyone looked up, unable to comprehend what had happened. They could only see a giant sphere of energy expanding high above.
"Young Allen..." All Might, who was exchanging blows with Dark Might, couldn't help but glance at the sky with concern.
.... ... ....
(A little earlier)
'Why?!'
All For One had lived a long time. He had seen the birth of the Quirk era. He had faced every generation of heroes, and with each generation a symbol of peace was born—like All Might, like Nana Shimura before him, and so on through the ages. Yet the result was always the same. No matter how great the hero or heroine, in the end, they all fell by his hands. Even All Might, the strongest of them all, couldn't escape that fate.
So why did All For One feel like the challenger this time?
'What is that?! Is it a Quirk?! How is it possible for a single Quirk to exert such abominable pressure?!'
For the first time, All For One felt jealousy toward someone else's Quirk. Even with One For All, his fixation had been more fascination—a desire to possess it—but he had never believed his All For One was inferior to that Quirk.
"This is impossible!" All For One shouted.
At his scream, Allen didn't flinch. In his mind, his heart, and his soul, there was only peace.
The ki in his body, though enormous (within the standards imposed by Lucifer), was under perfect control. Beyond that, the energy in his body felt comforting. The difference between him and what he had been as a Saiyan was so vast that he even ignored All For One's confusion, anger, and jealousy.
Allen smiled, but his smile froze when he realized he wasn't angry—something that usually characterized Super Saiyans the first time they transformed. On the contrary, he felt strangely at peace.
Besides...
Just as Lucifer had said, his power was restricted, so worrying about numbers was pointless.
"Well, this is enough."
....
Gwen – What is that?!
MJ – Allen?!
Felicia – I like that style. The tail and bigger muscles give you a wild vibe~
Aphrodite – I see you have refined tastes. I wouldn't mind being strangled by those strong arms either ❤️~
Felicia – Don't compare me to you, pervert. By the way, don't you have any shame acting like that as a goddess?
Athena – ...
Artemis – Finally someone said it.
Hestia – Hey, I say it all the time!
....
"Allen Walker... ALLEN WALKER!!"
All For One's roar unleashed a surge of energy, lightning, and destruction. His bones broke and reformed, strengthening. His muscles enlarged, while pure metal plates and fragments embedded themselves into his body.
"..."
Allen appeared behind All For One. "I heard you..."
All For One spun around the instant he heard Allen behind him. Without hesitation, he struck—but his massive arm was stopped by a single finger from Allen. Yes, a finger, not a hand.
"...!"
All For One's eyes widened in shock. Then he understood. At this moment, no matter how many Quirks he accumulated, he would not defeat Allen.
The villain tried to retreat, but Allen casually punched him in the face.
All For One's face caved in, the bones shattered instantly.
"Ah!"
They regenerated, but Allen appeared behind him once more.
"What?"
For a moment, All For One didn't understand what had happened. Only when his body exploded in blood did he realize that Allen had shattered every bone in his body.
"AHHHH!"
All For One regenerated quickly, but the pain had been unbearable. More than that, Allen had demonstrated the absurd gap in power between them.
"What's wrong? Are you going to run?" Allen said with a half-smile.
All For One was so furious that his face twisted with rage. He raised his hands and attacked Allen with an amalgamation of Quirks, then abruptly changed direction and propelled himself toward the three girls.
Seeing the All For One attack, Nemuri raised her guard. The villain smiled, thinking of using her to psychologically harm Allen. It didn't matter if Allen became enraged—those who let emotions control them made mistakes.
All For One extended his hand toward the girls.
"I won't let you..." Allen grabbed All For One by the face and hurled him to the other side of the arena.
"Allen..." Nemuri gasped, staring at him wrapped in that brilliant aura. The two girls behind her were also entranced by Allen's appearance.
"Don't worry. This will be over soon." Allen turned slightly and smiled at the three of them before disappearing.
....
Beerus – "Whis... what is this?"
Whis – "It's very interesting. Allen-kun is using a transformation that multiplies his ki. Even so, that ki is under perfect control, which is very contradictory to the nature of the transformation... that's why it's beautiful."
Beerus – "I see..."
Whis – "To put it another way, while Ultra Instinct is the culmination of martial arts, Allen's transformation is the ideal way to use ki..."
Beerus – "But how did he reach that level?! Just a short while ago he was still a brat who didn't even know how to use his ki!"
Whis – "Beerus-sama, you should already know the reason—unless you haven't been watching Allen's evolution all this time."
Beerus – "..."
Whis smiled. 'The only detail is that with his limited ki, that transformation isn't all that impressive. I wonder what it would look like in our world~'
....
All For One grabbed his own face. He had never been humiliated to this extent.
"This can't—!"
"What can't be possible?" Allen struck All For One in the stomach, cutting off his words.
The blow was so fast and precise that All For One didn't even perceive it.
"Uahhh!"
All For One felt all his organs burst. The sensation was so unbearable that he doubled over in pain and fell to his knees.
"...!" All For One was stunned. The last time he faced Allen, it hadn't been like this. The brat had enough strength to fight him, yes—but in reality, he had help from All Might and Lady Nagant.
This time it wasn't like that. And instead of weakening, Allen seemed to have grown far stronger.
Allen kicked All For One in the side, sending him flying across the arena until he slammed into the metal wall, creating a massive dent.
"Urgh!"
All For One slid down the metal wall to the ground. While his regeneration Quirk did its best to restore him, he looked up at Allen, who was walking toward him from the other side. His steps were so slow that All For One felt mocked—and this time, he wasn't wrong.
"Allen Walker... I have underestimated you once again... BUT NEXT TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT!"
All For One unleashed every Quirk he could at Allen. Immediately, a portal from Kurogiri appeared behind him.
"Allen, he's trying to escape!" Nemuri shouted.
Allen scoffed and vanished. He destroyed the attacks in his path, and when he reappeared in front of All For One, he wore a mocking smile.
"Is this all, All For One?"
"...!"
All For One was stunned as he watched his attacks—the Quirks that had taken him so long to steal—be destroyed by Allen.
"You won't escape..." Allen said as he placed his hand at the level of All For One's stomach. Shortly after, a sphere of ki appeared and launched All For One into the sky. When he reached a great height, it exploded.
The villain was swallowed up by the massive explosion.
All For One couldn't understand... 'how Allen had become so strong? How was it possible?'
– "This template is special, and I saved it just for you." –
Amid the explosion, as All For One's body disappeared, Allen's words echoed in his mind.
'So that's what it is?'
Allen's power depends on the template he's using—from something as weak as a minor character to a terrifying monster. All For One had been so obsessed with obtaining Allen's power that he forgot it couldn't be measured by conventional methods.
....
"RETREAT!"
All For One's voice reached the minds of all the villains through a telepathy Quirk.
Re-Destro, who was fighting Mirko and Ryuko, paused for a moment. In that instant, he understood that the objective had failed. For a brief second, his stress exceeded its limit, allowing him to grab Mirko's leg and hurl her into Ryuko. Without hesitation, he seized Muscular by the neck, and both crossed through a portal.
Elsewhere, Endeavor panted with one knee on the ground as he watched Kurogiri's portal close. From start to finish, he hadn't been able to harm the villain who seemed capable of repelling every attack against him. So even though he hadn't lost, Endeavor felt humiliated—deep down, he believed All Might would have been able to stop that villain.
On the third battlefield, the exchange of blows between Dark Might and All Might stopped when Wolfram launched a metal pillar between them before stepping through a portal.
Dark Might was furious that he couldn't finish off the "fake" All Might, but he still retreated, leaving All Might behind. The latter didn't pursue, as maintaining his muscular form any longer was difficult.
In the teachers' box, Nine leaped back, ready to disappear—but not before glancing at Kaina, who among the current teachers was the only one who had managed to injure them.
....
Finally, upon hearing the message, Shigaraki was filled with rage because he hadn't had time to kill anyone. Despite his frustration, he turned to leave—he would never disobey his master.
Todoroki tried to stop him, but once again his ice was disintegrated by Shigaraki.
"We'll see each other again, brats..."
Bakugo and Deku attempted to stop Shigaraki, but he stepped through the portal before they could reach him.
....
In one of the empty stands sat Himiko Toga. From beginning to end, she hadn't moved from her spot. She simply swung her legs while watching the center of the arena.
"Well, maybe they'll scold me~" the girl said before disappearing into one of the exit tunnels.
The villains withdrew, leaving the heroes behind. This caused great dissatisfaction among them. Even though they had technically won by protecting the civilians and driving the villains away, it didn't feel like a victory.
Meanwhile, Allen looked up at the sky with a frown. He didn't know whether he had finished off All For One, but at the last moment, his presence had vanished.
'Did someone save him?'
Allen felt frustrated. It was the second time that bastard had escaped.
[Well, if there's one thing All For One has, it's an enormous number of Quirks. Normally, you wouldn't know how to counter every single one of them.]
Allen was annoyed because he knew the original All For One shouldn't have been this strong, and it was only because of Lucifer that he had become so troublesome.
Once he accepted the outcome, Allen undid his transformation. Unlike a normal Super Saiyan, since he had suffered no exhaustion, his ki had barely been spent.
Allen walked toward the girls, who unexpectedly jumped at him and hugged him.
"Allen~" Nemuri hugged him, pressing his head against her chest.
"Allen-kun!" Ochako clung to his arm, crying in relief.
"Allen!" Toru shouted happily as she hung onto his back.
Even if the villain hadn't been defeated, Allen had his happy ending.
Now all that remained was to see the conclusion of the Sports Festival—if it continued at all.