Eight arenas. Eighty simultaneous matches.
Each battle consisted of up to three sub-rounds—an exhausting process even by Hero standards.
Fortunately, Lock's team, assigned to Arena 28, didn't have to wait long. The brief pause gave them just enough time to steady their hearts and refocus.
"According to our plan, we'll keep the same order for the first match, right?" Lock asked as a staff member approached to summon them.
"No problem!" ×4 voices answered in unison.
Lock nodded, handing their finalized order list to the official.
The first sub-match was the individual one-on-one battle, best three out of five.
"Lock!"
"Michiko Ozawa!"
The staff member called out the names of the two team leaders for Arena 28, then displayed the order of each team's lineup on the referee's screen for the nationwide broadcast.
Lock's team order:
Lock
Kamui Woods
Mt. Lady
Death Arms
Sirius
"Why… why do I have to face him first? I'm doomed!"
Michiko Ozawa—a petite woman with glasses and a shy, bookish demeanor—looked like she might faint. Her face drained of color as she stared at the bracket.
Her teammates scrambled to catch her before she actually collapsed.
No one blamed her.
After all, the sheer terror Lock had inspired during the first round had spread across the entire country.
Every surviving candidate had watched that broadcast.
No one in their right mind wanted to fight the boy who, at fifteen, had ended a thousand-person battle in under four minutes.
The arena itself was a raised, square platform surrounded by thick ropes—roughly eight meters across, like a traditional boxing ring.
Lock stepped into the ring calmly, his posture relaxed but composed.
He bowed slightly, pressing a fist to his palm in respect.
"Please give me your guidance."
Ozawa, trembling, was half-pushed forward by her teammates. Her knees nearly buckled under her.
When she heard Lock's polite tone, she stammered back instinctively,
"D-Don't dare…"
A heavy silence fell over the audience.
Even the referees and broadcast commentators stared blankly.
Did she just—?
Yes. She absolutely did.
"Don't dare"?
Was she… about to surrender before the fight even started?
"Three… two… one—begin!"
The referee cleared his throat awkwardly and started the match.
Lock exhaled slowly, then lifted his head.
His pupils ignited—literally—glowing with molten red light as Fire Dragon Slayer magic pressure surged from his body.
A violent, crushing aura filled the air.
"Ah—!"
Michiko Ozawa screamed and fell backward onto the floor, frozen by terror.
In her eyes, behind Lock loomed a massive dragon—its scales dripping molten rock, its body radiating suffocating heat.
It wasn't an illusion. It was pure fear projected by draconic magic.
In that moment, she was no longer standing in an arena.
She was standing before a furious dragon, having trespassed into its lair.
Her entire body trembled. Her lips quivered.
Then came the ultimate humiliation—she felt the urge to pee herself.
"I don't enjoy hurting women," Lock said, voice low and calm, his smile like the edge of a blade. "Fire tends to… leave scars. So, how about you save us both the trouble and surrender?"
"Y-Yes!"
She didn't hesitate for a second.
Scrambling to her feet, Michiko Ozawa bolted out of the ring ropes, practically diving off the stage as if fleeing for her life.
There were three conditions for victory:
The opponent is knocked unconscious.
The opponent leaves the ring.
The opponent verbally surrenders.
All three technically counted.
This one was as definitive as it got.
"Winner—Lock!"
The referee blinked twice, stunned that it was already over, before raising his flag in confirmation.
Lock smiled faintly, stepped down from the ring, and high-fived each of his teammates as he passed—quietly boosting morale.
"Kamui Woods!"
"Yuta Sakai!"
The next match began.
Lock, having spent no stamina or magic at all, leaned against the railing to observe.
Yuta Sakai's Quirk allowed him to transform the buttons on his clothes into weapons—swords, spears, even blades of varying shapes.
As soon as the fight began, Kamui extended his wooden limbs, trying to bind the opponent.
Sakai retaliated fiercely, slashing through each wooden tendril one after another.
But his stamina couldn't keep up.
By the end, Kamui's endurance and control overwhelmed him, and with a sharp twist of a branch, the opponent was knocked unconscious.
Another victory.
Next came Mt. Lady's turn.
Her opponent was a brute-force Quirk user—pure strength, no finesse.
Unfortunately for him, Mt. Lady's Gigantification increased both her mass and her muscle density.
One solid punch ended the match.
Just like that, Lock's team took all three rounds cleanly.
No injuries. No fatigue.
The first team battle was a flawless sweep.
Second Sub-Match
No rest period followed.
Both teams immediately sent out new representatives for the second round of matches.
Following Lock's tactical order, Kamui Woods went first again.
Their new opponents had a water-based Quirk, capable of firing torrents from their palms like high-pressure hoses.
Elementally neutral—no advantage for either side.
The match turned into a grueling war of attrition.
The waves disrupted Kamui's wooden extensions, while the roots constantly tried to anchor and trap the flowing water.
After several minutes, both were nearly exhausted.
But Kamui's stamina held out longer.
In a final rush, he struck from below and knocked the enemy out cold.
Victory—again.
That sealed it.
Two straight wins.
Lock's team didn't even need to play the third match.
Two out of three games won.
160 teams reduced to 80.
They had advanced to the Winners' Bracket—and the next stage of the Hero License Examination.
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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