Watching someone's arm get twisted apart—
just imagining that kind of pain made even Shigaraki Tomura feel sympathy for Edge Shot.
After all, the pain was not limited to the surface injury of the arm being broken.
There was also the deeper agony—
the shattered bone piercing through flesh and muscle from the inside, causing a second wave of torment far worse than the initial fracture itself.
As for why Shigaraki understood that pain so clearly—
it was because he had once experienced something similar himself.
Back when he was younger, he had accidentally fallen from a building and broken his arm.
Of course, his situation had been very different from Edge Shot's.
One was an accident.
The other was deliberate violence.
Still—
the pain itself was probably comparable.
What truly impressed Shigaraki, however, was the fact that despite suffering such unimaginable agony, Edge Shot did not scream.
Not even once.
His expression barely changed at all, as though the broken arm did not belong to him.
Then, with complete calmness, Edge Shot drew another blade from behind his back and slashed toward the arm Muscular was using to choke him.
His intentions were obvious.
He planned to cut off Muscular's arm and escape.
Unfortunately—
there was no way Muscular would allow that to happen.
After all, he and Shigaraki had worked extremely hard to lure Edge Shot out.
If they let him escape now, Muscular himself would never forgive such stupidity.
And so—
not only did Edge Shot's strike fail to free him, it instead completely enraged Muscular.
Because although Muscular's muscle armor possessed terrifying defense—
the pain caused by being cut was still very real.
Thinking this, after casually blocking Edge Shot's blade, Muscular decisively unleashed the full power of his Quirk.
He no longer wanted to play around.
He intended to finish the battle in a single move.
In an instant—
the moment Muscular activated his power, the muscles across his body began swelling violently.
Countless muscle fibers erupted from beneath his skin.
The explosive growth spread across his entire body almost instantly, transforming him into a monstrous giant.
Then, maintaining that terrifying form, Muscular yanked Edge Shot violently toward himself.
At the same time, those massive arms—arms that no longer looked remotely human—tightened with overwhelming force.
Crack!
The sound of bones snapping echoed through the air.
At the same moment, Edge Shot's face turned dark purple.
Meanwhile, the blade in his hand slipped from his fingers and clattered onto the ground.
The lack of oxygen.
The unbearable pain.
Both had reached their limits.
And yet—
that was only the beginning.
"Die!"
After crushing Edge Shot's bones, Muscular grabbed his throat once more and lifted him high into the air.
Then—
still holding him by the neck—
he slammed him straight into the ground.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted.
At the same time, an utterly horrifying sound echoed outward—
the sound of bones and flesh being crushed like meat beneath an industrial press.
The impact created a massive shockwave that blasted everything nearby away.
When the smoke finally cleared—
a gigantic crater had appeared in the earth.
And within that crater lay the No. 5 Hero, Edge Shot.
His body was mangled beyond recognition, drenched in blood from head to toe.
Whether he was still alive or not was impossible to tell.
But Muscular, who still held one of Edge Shot's arms in his hand, knew the truth very well.
Edge Shot was no longer a threat.
At this point, the hero was barely breathing.
If he did not receive immediate medical treatment, dying on the spot would not be surprising at all.
In other words—
Muscular had won.
And the loser was undoubtedly the No. 5 Hero, Edge Shot.
Of course, Muscular himself felt no surprise about that outcome.
After all—
one side had seized the initiative from the beginning, trapped the opponent's weapon and body simultaneously, and completely stripped away their ability to resist.
While the other side had lost the initiative due to a moment of haste, then had his mobility sealed away by muscle fibers.
And when a speed-type hero lost mobility—
then got locked into close combat by a power-type monster—
the outcome was obvious.
With advantages this overwhelming, if Muscular had somehow still lost…
then even he himself would not have been able to forgive such incompetence.
…
How?
That was the No. 5 Hero.
How could he lose?
And to some unknown villain, no less?
Nearby, Bakugo Katsuki lay helplessly on the ground, unable to move.
Watching Edge Shot get utterly crushed by Muscular made him shut his eyes in pain.
Of course he understood why Edge Shot lost.
The hero had been ambushed.
His mobility had been sealed.
And then he had been caught in close combat by a power-type opponent.
Under those conditions, losing was perfectly normal.
But understanding it logically and emotionally accepting it were two entirely different things.
After all—
that was the No. 5 Hero.
One of the strongest heroes standing at the pinnacle of society.
One of All Might's comrades.
And yet—
that same person had just been beaten into a near-death state right before Bakugo's eyes.
And worst of all—
it happened because Edge Shot tried to save him.
How could Bakugo possibly forgive himself for that?
But alongside the guilt…
what filled Bakugo's heart even more deeply was despair.
All Might, the Symbol of Peace, had been trapped.
And now even the elite No. 5 Hero had fallen.
So who—
who exactly could still defeat these monsters and save everyone now?
For the first time in his life—
true despair and helplessness completely engulfed Bakugo Katsuki's heart.
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