This Nomu was built to take on All Might. It also represented the closest thing to top-tier world combat power.
A fist that could smash a small mountain was less than five centimeters from [The World]'s head. Izuku Midoriya's punch, Shoto Todoroki's ice, Yoarshi Inasa's wind, none of them were fast enough to stop Nomu. Momo Yaoyorozu was screaming, already picturing her lover's head shattering into pieces. She froze completely.
For a moment, all of space and time seemed to stand still.
And Arthur's aura suddenly changed. Drastically.
Boom boom!!!
A violent explosion, mixed with wind and ice, swept through the area with overwhelming pressure. Shigaraki Tomura, who was stepping on Shota Aizawa's back, got blown away by the wind pressure too. Aizawa's immobilized body was also pushed toward the artificial lake. Seeing this, Tsuyu Asui quickly extended her tongue and caught him.
"Arthur!" Momo let out a heartbreaking wail, kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down her face.
"Was it too late?" Shoto Todoroki gritted his teeth.
"Damn it!" Yoru Inasa slammed his fist into the ground.
Izuku Midoriya looked at Nomu in the swirling smoke and fell to his knees, a helpless sense of regret washing over him. Tears burst out as he said, "Why... why... again, I couldn't do anything..."
"What a stubborn, annoying guy. Sensei said to watch out for him, but is this all he's got?" Shigaraki Tomura scratched his neck, sounding impatient. "It'll be a problem if other pro heroes show up. Let's wipe out all the sprouts of peace here first..."
Thump!!!
Before Shigaraki could even finish his sentence, he felt like an armored vehicle had slammed into his face. Without even realizing what happened, his skinny body got sent flying over a hundred meters. Nomu flashed over just in time to catch him, otherwise he would've crashed into the ceiling.
"W-what!?" Shigaraki, held in Nomu's arms, shouted in disbelief. The fake hand that had been covering his face had also been knocked off by that punch and fell into the lake.
"You talk too much, crybaby."
Slightly to the right and behind where Shigaraki had been standing, Arthur stood with one hand in his pocket, a cold smirk on his face. [The World] stood to his master's right. Both human and Stand radiated a golden light.
"Arthur!?" Momo's emotions went on a rollercoaster, jumping from hell to heaven in an instant. She shouted with ecstatic joy.
"Arthur? You're still alive?" Inasa also yelled in disbelief and surprise.
Equally shocked were Shoto Todoroki nearby, Tsuyu Asui carrying Aizawa on her shoulder, and others like Mina Ashido and Yuga Aoyama who had finally dealt with their enemies and were arriving back.
"Shigaraki, be careful!" Kurogiri had used his Quirk to return to Shigaraki's side, picking up the fake hand that had fallen and handing it to him. Kurogiri's golden, narrow eyes narrowed even more as he said in a deep voice, "Sensei was right to tell us to watch him. Without a doubt, this guy... has evolved."
"Evolved?" Shigaraki put the fake hand back on, repeating Kurogiri's words, and roared with noticeably more anger. "What a joke!"
Immediately, Shigaraki clutched his right cheek where he'd just been punched. Blood kept gushing from his nose and mouth. His resentment soared as he grumbled, "Damn it! That hurts!"
"Hehehe... hahahaha... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Arthur first let out a low chuckle, then a hearty laugh, which finally turned into a wild cackle. He threw his head back toward the ceiling and roared with pure joy. "It's done!!!"
Eijiro Kirishima, Katsuki Bakugo, and the others who had arrived all froze when they saw Arthur's face.
"It's finally done! Thank you so much! League of Villains!!!"
No one had noticed.
Nomu's 100% power punch had been less than a centimeter from [The World]'s head. Less than 0.1 seconds away from pulverizing both Arthur and [The World]'s heads.
In Arthur's eyes, the entire world's time had frozen at that moment.
For an instant, he thought it was just an illusion. Like how a trained boxer or someone in a car crash might feel a split second stretch into what seems like several seconds or even minutes.
And in that instant, [The World] lifted its master, Arthur, and carried him behind Shigaraki Tomura.
It wasn't an illusion.
Just like how you exhale after inhaling, just like how you can snap a pencil with your finger, this was natural.
The gears of time had aligned with [The World].
"What is this guy talking about?" Shigaraki repeated his earlier question. But he didn't realize his voice had started trembling.
"Be careful. His aura is completely different from before!" Kurogiri felt an unprecedented sense of crisis. This feeling, apart from All For One, he had only ever felt from All Might.
"So what?" Shigaraki defiantly waved his hand and commanded, "Nomu!"
The Nomu, with its dinosaur-like face, walked past Shigaraki and Kurogiri, and once again at a speed no one could track, charged toward Arthur.
"Heh. A freak developed to counter All Might. You're definitely worth testing. Let me show you all! [The World]'s true ability. A power that can change the world!" Arthur swung his arm, ranting.
"It's coming!" Kurogiri's gaze sharpened.
The next instant, Arthur pointed his index finger at Nomu.
"ZA WARUDO!!!!!"
Everyone heard Arthur yell. Then they looked closer and could hardly believe what they saw.
Nomu, which had just been charging at Arthur ready to throw another brutal punch at his head, had now turned 180 degrees. Its massive body had completely reversed direction and was attacking Kurogiri and Shigaraki Tomura instead. Nomu's eyes changed, clearly wanting to brake. But it was too late. The more force it put out, the harder it was to stop because of inertia.
Kurogiri and Shigaraki's faces completely changed. Before they could react, they personally experienced Nomu's strength. The spot where they had been standing got pulverized by the impact of Nomu's punch. Kurogiri and Shigaraki got sent flying like home run baseballs straight toward the ceiling of the USJ.
"W-what!?" Shigaraki's head was covered in blood, but he didn't even care about the pain anymore. His heart was full of nothing but shock.
Why? Why was Nomu clearly attacking that bastard a moment ago, but then its attack direction turned toward himself and Kurogiri?
Kurogiri expanded his gaseous body, wrapped Shigaraki inside it, and reappeared next to Nomu. But he was clearly hurt badly by Nomu's punch. His breathing was really fast, and after landing, he reluctantly let Shigaraki go.
"What just happened?" Kurogiri's tone was also full of disbelief.
"Gugugugu??" Arthur let out an arrogant, weird laugh that made Shigaraki furious. He waved his hand and yelled, "Damn it! Nomu! Kill that guy!"
Without a word, Nomu swung its fist and charged again.
"Wait, Shigaraki! We still don't know his power!" Kurogiri tried desperately to stop him, but it was too late.
Nomu charged at Arthur and [The World] for the third time, its fist less than half a meter from Arthur's face.
Boom!!!
The air pressure from the explosion uprooted trees in the training ground. This time, Shigaraki and Kurogiri got sent flying even faster than before. It was exactly like before. Nomu had somehow changed its attack direction and sent its own masters flying.
Kurogiri used his Quirk again, fully wrapping Shigaraki to save him.
Cough cough... wah ah, wah ah!!!
This time, Shigaraki wasn't so lucky. Kneeling on the ground, he spat out large mouthfuls of blood. From his wrinkled eyes looking up, his gaze was full of doubt and furious rage, locked onto the smiling Arthur and [The World] next to him.
"What did this guy do?"
"Shigaraki! Let's retreat!" While advising, Kurogiri shot a wary glance at Arthur. "We don't know his Quirk at all. We can't fight!"
The League of Villains wasn't the only one shocked. Even the Class A students couldn't believe it.
"Hey! Did you guys see that?" Eijiro Kirishima asked Katsuki Bakugo and Shoto Todoroki next to him.
Katsuki just glared at Arthur in the center of the plaza with a frustrated look, a drop of cold sweat running down his face as he gritted his teeth.
Shoto also shook his head with a serious expression. "No, I'm not sure. That monster was clearly attacking Arthur a moment ago, but I don't know why, when no one was looking, it suddenly turned around and attacked the enemy leader."
"Momo, what exactly is Arthur's Quirk? Did he do something?" Mina Ashido asked Momo next to her.
"No, I don't know." Momo shook her head in astonishment. "I've never seen Arthur have an ability like that."
Bang!!!
Suddenly, the big door of the USJ training ground got kicked open violently. A tall figure stepped inside.
"It's all right now!" The tall figure had his iconic pompadour, but he'd lost his usual signature smile.
"All Might..." Everyone turned to look at the man who had arrived behind them. Normally, they would have cheered loudly, recognizing this savior. But after witnessing Arthur's insane ability...
"Because I am here!" Everyone still hadn't recovered from the awe inspired by [The World]'s power.
"What's wrong, everyone?" Seeing the students' expressions were a bit off, All Might also felt a little awkward. He quickly walked into the training ground and saw Shota Aizawa, heavily injured and unconscious, being carried by Tsuyu Asui. All Might was angry.
"Are you the villains who caused all this?!" All Might looked down at the central area at the bottom of the stairs, yelling angrily. "Arthur, step back! I'll take them down!"
Arthur turned and looked up, chuckling. "I can mess with the other two until they're done, but I can't deal with Nomu right now. So I'll leave that to you."
Arthur slowly stepped back. Kurogiri and Shigaraki didn't dare let Nomu attack him again. The two previous "rebounds" had completely terrified them.
...
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