The roar of the crowd barely dipped before rising again.
"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT CATCHING YOUR BREATH, PEOPLE!" Present Mic shouted, voice vibrating through the stadium. "EVENT TWO OF THE U.A. SPORTS FESTIVAL—THE CAVALRY BATTLE—STARTS NOW!"
Ren stood quietly on the field, hands loose at his sides, eyes tracking the shifting chaos as Midnight explained the rules. Four-person teams. One rider. Three supports. Steal headbands. Fifteen minutes.
Points mattered.
And Ren's third-place finish meant one thing.
He wasn't the biggest target—but he wasn't safe either.
The whistle blew.
Students exploded into motion.
Names were shouted. Hands were grabbed. Teams formed in seconds.
"Ren!" Kirishima jogged over, grin wide despite the tension. "You wanna team?"
"Yes," Ren replied immediately. "You're reliable."
Sero slid in right after, tape already half-unspooled. "If you're stacking points, I'm in."
That left one slot.
Ren glanced around once—then nodded toward Jiro. "You in ? . "
She hesitated for half a second, then stepped forward. "Alright."
No wasted words.
Kirishima took point, Ren climbing onto his shoulders smoothly. Sero anchored the rear with tape loops, Jiro stabilizing the sides, her jacks plugged into the ground to feel vibrations.
The moment Ren settled, the battlefield erupted.
Dozens of teams surged forward—most of them charging straight toward the obvious giants.
Bakugo's team detonated forward like a missile.
Todoroki's team advanced with cold precision—straight-line movement, minimal waste.
Neither even glanced at Ren.
They didn't need to.
Ren exhaled slowly.
Good.
"Hold," he said calmly.
"What?" Sero muttered. "People are coming straight at us!"
"That's the point."
The first wave hit.
A mid-tier team rushed in, rider reaching, hands desperate.
Ren snapped his fingers.
The air shifted.
Not violently—just enough.
Their formation wobbled, balance lost as wind pressure nudged their center of gravity sideways. They collapsed into another charging team, headbands tangling as bodies went down in a heap.
Present Mic's voice cut in instantly.
"WHOAH—THAT WASN'T RAW POWER, FOLKS! THAT WAS CONTROL!"
Another team leapt from the right, boosted high.
Ren leaned forward slightly.
He didn't slash.
Instead, the air above them thickened, pressure pushing back just enough to stall their jump mid-arc. They dropped short, momentum dead, and Sero's tape snapped out—headband stolen before they even hit the ground.
"Two," Ren said quietly.
Minutes passed.
Ren's team didn't chase.
They denied.
Wind redirected charges.
Pressure ruined timing.
Reinforcement kept their formation solid without showy displays.
No ice. No fire. No explosions.
Just efficiency.
Meanwhile, the battlefield shifted.
Bakugo tore through teams in brute-force arcs, explosions scattering riders like leaves.
Todoroki advanced steadily, freezing pathways—not to attack others, but to control movement and force predictable lanes.
They clashed with each other briefly—inevitable—but neither diverted toward Ren.
Ren watched them from a distance, eyes calculating.
Let them burn each other's time.
A coordinated team tried something smarter—approaching low, synchronized, aiming for a clean snatch.
Ren snapped twice.
Air spiraled inward around their rider—not lifting, not throwing—just pinning him in place for half a second.
That was enough.
Tape snapped.
Headband gone.
Team dismantled.
The crowd began to notice.
Not cheers.
Focused attention.
Ren felt it.
Not negative energy—not yet—but awareness.
Ten seconds.
Five.
The horn blared.
Midnight stepped forward as the dust settled. "Time's up! Riders with points—step forward!"
Ren dismounted smoothly as Kirishima relaxed, rolling his shoulders.
The board lit up.
Bakugo.
Todoroki.
Ren.
Exactly as expected.
But the difference was subtle—and important.
Bakugo had dominated.
Todoroki had controlled.
Ren had endured.
He hadn't drawn attention.
He hadn't overreached.
He hadn't shown his hand.
And as the finalists stood together under the stadium lights, Ren knew—
The cavalry battle wasn't about power.
It was about proving you didn't need it yet.
And the next round?
That would be a different story entirely.
Practising only wind and earth control was worth it wind should be enough for the fight against weaker opponents and earth control was a trump card reserved for strong opponent , his control was not perfect but it was not bad .