Twenty seconds…
Just how long could twenty seconds be?
Momo, sprouting at least two dozen guns, couldn't care less.
Luke, literally hanging motionless in time a moment ago, couldn't have cared less, either.
The rattling sound of bullets filled the entire battle zone, bright flashes at the end of the guns' muzzles darkening Momo.
Luke, losing the effect of Delay, was swept away by the force of the vanished shockwave.
If he hadn't used it upon himself, then Todoroki's attack should have sent him flying off the battlefield like a twig.
So, unsurprisingly, the same happened, Luke becoming a black blur, approaching the laser boundaries frame by frame.
Ironically, this delayed disaster allowed him to survive Momo's surprise attack; the storm of bullets raised waves of mud as they landed where he had been, before continuing, creating a chasm beyond the laser boundaries.
However, if he didn't arrest his momentum soon, it would defeat the purpose of using Delay in the first place.
Also, Momo was turning toward him, as if daring him to stop himself, still firing continuously.
With their hearts beating loudly against their chests, all the people watched the sequence of these events playing out in pin-drop silence.
None of them cared about the timer, either.
None of them dared to look away from the two figures on the screens in fear of missing out.
They were waiting.
In the next moment, Luke would use another Quirk to not only prevent himself from leaving the laser boundaries, but also retaliate.
The change Momo seemed to have gone through was surprising.
However, a student with many Quirks at his disposal would certainly find a way to survive mere firearms… right?
Sadly, Luke couldn't use another Quirk even if he wanted to.
Nyx was passed out cold, held loosely by his crossed, crushed arms and legs.
Forget about using his limbs to grab something; if he let Nyx go now, then she would end up in a much worse state than he.
Then there was the rattling storm of bullets, widening in his eyes as Momo turned it toward him, bullets seemingly exploding as they struck the earth with loud bangs.
What to do then?
How to survive this doomed situation?
And, suddenly, as if Nyx had delayed his thoughts, Luke came to a clear conclusion, the corners of his lips arching involuntarily.
He could perhaps use Beyonder's abilities to survive, but Luke, the UA student, didn't have such abilities.
All he had was Raven.
And, without Nyx, he was Quirkless.
Raven was as much Luke's strength as it was his weakness.
He was as much a monster when it came to the sheer versatility of his Quirk as he was a dead weight when he couldn't use it.
Without Raven, Luke could choose to become Choker.
However, Choker had capitalized on the UA students' hesitance to hurt him gravely and their lack of bloody field experience.
Against Villains, such a blatant display of mercilessness would be nothing but a clownish display, given that Choking Hero: Choker… was still a Hero, not a killer.
A Faceless is limited by the identity he chooses to assume, Luke concluded, something breaking within him… slowly. The rules that help bring that identity to reality also restrict it. A Faceless' fate is not to defy those restrictions, but to accept them. Because, in that moment, the face they are wearing… is their only reality. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Luke had already digested a great chunk of the Faceless Potion earlier.
Now, with him experiencing the sudden epiphanies, another portion was digested.
That was the prime reason behind Luke becoming Choker for the majority of the Battle Royale's duration anyway.
With him bringing his Faceless Potion's digestion to over fifty percent, he had all but won in that endeavor.
So, to celebrate the momentous occasion, and to get even bigger feedback that would reciprocate with his conclusions, Luke, restricted by his own rules, accepted his fate.
He couldn't use his Quirk.
He couldn't arrest his momentum.
He had failed to properly calculate his friends' will to prove themselves.
His plan to maintain Delay throughout the remaining duration of the Battle Royale event was obliterated the moment Momo went Plus Ultra.
The idea that he was yet to be defeated, that he would survive this miraculously, was nothing but a sham, because he… had already lost.
So, slowly, under the people's shocked gazes, he continued to be swept by his momentum.
The thumping hearts came to sudden halts.
The mouths that had opened to roar out cheers for Luke remained like that.
The pin-drop silence persisted even after a muffled boom echoed on the battlefield as Luke slammed into the wall of mud that had appeared beyond the laser boundary.
The storm of bullets, which had covered the entire battlefield by now, reached an eerie silence as well.
The half-sprouted firearms slowly receded, revealing a figure.
Momo, broken, on the brink of losing consciousness, panted hard, her eyes brimming with life as they carried a shockingly defiant glint.
In that silence, she stood, barely keeping herself up.
Then, slowly, Momo dared to straighten her spine, her right arm lifting… higher and higher… making a fist.
Then, she screamed.
Then, the people cheered.
Then, the world erupted, as it had never before.
From the audience to the referees, from the Villains to the Pros, everyone couldn't help but smile as they looked at Momo at that moment, hearing her victorious scream.
Tenya, Bakugo, Todoroki, Midoriya, Tokoyami, Monoma, Luke… and many others, who had been at the top of the list of students who were most likely to win the Battle Royale, were all gone.
All those insanely powerful Quirks couldn't survive against well-executed strategies, backed by the will to never give up.
But only Momo knew that it had never been about not giving up.
It was about telling the Villains that if they came for her again, then they should be prepared for the worst.
It was about taking a step forward… toward a glorious future.
It was about… proving herself to… him.
Then, smiling and screaming, Momo fell —
— as the winner of the Battle Royale of the 2nd Year's Sports Festival!