"The First Generation Nomu…? Why is it here?"
For a brief moment, countless thoughts flashed through Shina Etsuha's mind.
According to what he knew, this First Generation Nomu was terrifyingly close to All Might in raw power. Its body had been specifically engineered to withstand All Might's strength—meaning that aside from All Might himself, almost no one could defeat it.
And yet now… it stood right in front of him.
At point-blank range.
"Have I been targeted by the League of Villains? Or is this just a coincidence…?"
Before he could finish the thought, Nomu suddenly exploded into motion.
Its body blurred like a streak of light, charging straight toward Etsuha.
Even Etsuha felt it—that suffocating pressure, like being struck head-on by a speeding truck.
But after his second extraction, his dynamic vision had reached an almost absurd level.
Nomu was fast.
But Etsuha was faster.
With a flick of his left hand, a massive wall of solid ice rose instantly from the ground, forming a towering barrier in front of him.
BOOM!
Nomu slammed into it head-on, blasting chunks of ice outward as if detonating an explosion.
The ground trembled violently.
At the same time, the ice wall shattered into countless fragments, scattering into the air like frozen shrapnel. Nomu let out a low, guttural roar, then threw another punch forward.
The sheer force of the blow compressed the air into a visible shockwave.
The resulting air cannon tore through everything ahead—reducing the remaining ice into fine powder.
WHOOSH!
Even people far away could see it—a violent gust suddenly spiraling into the sky, carrying snowflakes upward. Despite the warm weather, a biting chill spread through the air.
"What kind of monster is this…?!"
The sludge villain, barely daring to reveal even a single eye, felt his heart leap into his throat.
That black giant had achieved this level of destruction with just one punch!
And at that speed… he hadn't even been able to react. In his vision, Nomu had simply vanished—followed by a deafening explosion.
How powerful was this thing?
If someone claimed it could rival All Might, he would believe it without hesitation.
But what shocked him even more… was the boy.
Faced with such a terrifying attack, the boy had reacted instantly—and even managed to defend against it.
Was that even possible?
Even among Pro Heroes, very few could perform such a sequence of actions in such a short time.
"That boy is extraordinary… absolutely extraordinary. That level of talent… I've never seen anything like it!"
The sludge villain's thoughts wavered.
"If I could take over his body… given time, even All Might would be nothing! No… not now. Not in this situation. That black monster is too strong—I can't even comprehend it. The boy is doomed… damn it!"
A sense of regret rose within him.
Such a perfect body… wasted.
While he was still lost in thought, an ice sword suddenly appeared in Etsuha's hand.
At the exact moment Nomu struck the ice wall, Etsuha thrust forward!
CLANG!
The blade scraped across Nomu's body—
—and stopped.
Etsuha's expression changed immediately.
The resistance was overwhelming.
The gap in physical strength was simply too great.
Nomu's defense could withstand even All Might—how could his attack possibly break through?
Without hesitation, Etsuha abandoned the sword.
He slammed his palm downward.
A vast layer of ice spread instantly across Nomu's body, freezing it completely in less than half a second.
Without pausing, Etsuha leapt upward, using the ice as a foothold, launching himself dozens of meters into the air.
"Ice Cavalry!"
He activated his power again.
From the ice below, countless frozen knights surged forward, charging directly into the block of ice encasing Nomu.
BOOM!
Dozens of ice cavalry slammed into it in suicidal collisions.
The three-meter-thick ice shattered under the barrage.
Nomu's body was revealed once more—
covered in deep purple wounds.
But even as Etsuha watched, those wounds began to heal at a visible rate.
Seeing this, Etsuha no longer hesitated.
His hands formed a complex seal, his voice dropping into a cold, steady tone.
"Moke Bo Temo."
In an instant, endless layers of ice spread outward from him.
The entire world turned a deep, frozen blue.
Time and space… froze.
Everything stood still.
Even the air itself seemed locked in place.
"It's still too difficult to deal with something like this at my current level…"
Etsuha exhaled slowly, staring at the immobilized Nomu in the distance.
"I'll have to speed up my growth. Even using my strongest attack, I can't kill it."
Raising his hand, he condensed his power into a single point—
An ice spear formed, radiating terrifying density and sharpness.
Then—
THUD!
With a full-force release, the spear shot forward like a bullet, piercing directly into Nomu's exposed brain.
Without waiting another second, Etsuha turned and retreated at full speed.
A few seconds later—
Time resumed.
"That boy actually managed to fight back in that situation… unbelievable. Still, surviving against something like that should be impossible…"
The sludge villain muttered, shaking off his daze.
But halfway through his sentence—
He froze.
In his line of sight, Nomu stood motionless.
Its head… had been completely pierced through.
And embedded within it—
Was the ice spear created by Shina Etsuha.