Flashes of lightning washed the land in blues and whites before large headlights, hundreds in number, lit up the entire scene with a muddy, yellow glow.
Dozens of Heroes had already arrived at the battle site, along with hundreds of police officials and firefighters, as well as even more volunteers.
The damage had surpassed even the wildest estimates of the Hero Public Safety Commission and the Police.
The scale of destruction was so vast that it had covered almost the entire Kamino Ward.
The worst affected was the mile large region where the Heroes and the Villains had fought, with no structure remaining standing there anymore.
This should have been catastrophic, resulting in the loss of lives in the thousands.
However, because the Heroes knew that there would be Nomus inside the factory, the police had already evacuated the residences and offices in the morning with some excuse.
To top it off, they had planned the raid for late evening.
Even then, the number of dead people should have been in the hundreds, a great part of them being the police officials who had arrived at the scene with the Heroes, just like the woman police official who had asked All Might for help.
To the Heroes' utter surprise, though, somehow almost all people in the immediate region of the battle had survived.
It wasn't like there were no deaths.
Endeavor, Edgeshot, Kamui Woods, and Alexander Becking had suffered heinous wounds and had already been taken to the hospital.
But from the bodies the Heroes recovered in the next half an hour, the total loss of life was estimated to be less than fifty.
And it didn't take long for the Heroes to know why it was so.
It turned out that, after getting struck by All For One's attack, the American Hero — Skycrawler — had taken it upon himself to rescue all, instead of throwing himself into the fight. Luckily, his Quirk was extremely suited for such a task, letting him roam around the battlefield even among explosions to rescue people.
They found him passed out from exhaustion not far from All Might.
Still, Koichi stepping up for the job didn't explain the full mystery, as the Heroes also found some police personnel thousands of meters away from their initial position.
The mystery became even more baffling when they learned that Best Jeanist, Gang Orca, Mt. Lady, and Tiger—the original set of Heroes who had raided the factory—had appeared at some hospital out of thin air.
Seeing these news on the giant screen, the students of Class 1-A looked at Momo, remembering how she had disappeared and then reappeared next to them.
The crowd around them had already begun dispersing.
Here and there, they could hear people talking about Dr. Blessed and Mr. Fool skeptically. There was no love in their voices for an International Criminal, especially when the news said that he had kidnapped Gran Torino, a retired Hero. However… there was no hate, either. Not anymore.
People seemed more curious than afraid of Dr. Blessed.
Also, from the way the news channels were covering this matter, it seemed his appearance and declaration at the end had already made headlines all over the world.
Presently, Tenya was shouting out loud to go to the police and let them know what had happened. Momo was receiving dozens of calls from U.A. and her family, asking where and how she was.
The dark chapter seemed to have come to a heroic end.
Yet, Midoriya couldn't take his eyes off All Might, who was still holding onto his muscular form.
Even standing among the joyous crowd, he knew that something… wasn't right.
Following others, Midoriya turned around to leave.
Suddenly, people began whispering All Might's name, all faces turning up toward the screens.
All the students stopped as well.
Midoriya looked over his shoulder, and instantly, his heart skipped a beat.
Covered in blood and dust, All Might was pointing toward the camera, his chest rising higher and higher with each breath.
"You—" the Symbol of Peace's voice rang loud and clear. "—are next."
People erupted in cheers, chanting All Might's name, thinking that these words were for the criminals.
Midoriya… felt confused.
All Might's finger seemed to be pointing at him… Why? He looked injured, but, if he could still maintain his muscular form, then he had avoided the worst fate, no?
And, if that wasn't the case, then the only reason for All Might to say these words now would mean that… he was passing on the torch…
Midoriya's eyes suddenly blurred, tears welling up as he realized why he had been having a bad feeling.
…
Aina rushed behind Sand and her father at the Saionji Mansion.
Reijirou Saionji had confined Luke to his room under U.A.'s instructions.
Now, they had just received reports about how the Villain Boss had kidnapped Momo using some teleportation Quirk before she miraculously reappeared among the students.
Even if there was no mention of Luke in all this, what if…
Aina's heart came to her throat, cursing herself for not going to him right after the news channels began showing All Might and the Villain's fight.
Gods… Please… Aina wiped the tears off her face, the two men in front of her rushing past guards. Please…
With a BANG, they kicked open the door and switched on the lights.
"…"
The three individuals gaped at the scene, their jaws hanging low, and kept going lower.
Luke was lying naked on the bed with his mouth open, taking massive breaths as if he had run double, full marathons. Next to him, in the same condition, was Nyx, her tiny feet pointed toward the roof.
Aina's entire face reddened instantly.
Meanwhile, the two men sighed in relief.
Reijirou looked over his shoulder at her, then back at Luke. "Cover him up…"
Aina watched without blinking as Sand walked up to Luke and grabbed the blanket at his feet.
However, just as Sand's fingers touched Luke's feet, he stopped with a jerk, his entire face paling.
For the first time, both the daughter and the father showed the same expression.
"… What?" they said together, not even realizing it.
Sand went around the bed and put his hand on Luke's head before touching Nyx's.
"They…" Sand said, taking out his mobile and calling ambulance. "… are burning…"