"When?!"
The Sludge Villain was so excited that he exclaimed out loud.
He hadn't even sensed what had just happened!
Yet in that split second of confusion, the seemingly invincible brute had been frozen solid in several chunks by ice, his head even pierced clean through by an ice spear. It all unfolded in an instant!
How did he pull that off?
What the hell just happened?!
Countless questions and shocks surged through his mind. If he weren't a wanted man right now, he couldn't have resisted climbing out of the sewer to check out that guy's head up close!
"It's an amazing Quirk. I thought his fate was sealed right there, but I didn't expect him to turn the tables completely in a situation like that. It's a truly daunting power. If a guy like this actually became a Hero, he'd be the next All Might." The Sludge Villain muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear.
Click—
At that moment, the sound of cracking ice echoed violently from Nomu.
"This guy's not dead yet!"
The Sludge Villain was stunned. Compared to Shina Etsuha's ability, Nomu's raw power made him far more wary—like facing All Might himself. Sensing Nomu stirring, he quickly narrowed his field of vision, not daring to look straight at the monster again.
Even a sharp glance could tip off the strong ones right away. The Sludge Villain had learned that the hard way with All Might, who'd shattered his body with nothing more than that. Still, Nomu's sluggish movements gave him a sliver of relief. Though he avoided direct eye contact, he kept watching from the corner of his vision.
"Cuckoo?"
A string of garbled noises bubbled from Nomu's throat. Then, under the Sludge Villain's gaze, its pierced head twitched back to life!
It turned its head and yanked the ice spear right out of its brain with its hands. A massive gush of some bizarre liquid poured from the wound, but Nomu didn't seem to care one bit, letting the tissues slide right out. In no time at all, white smoke billowed from the finger-sized hole in its skull, and soon enough, its entire head was good as new.
Nomu's eyes scanned frantically for Shina Etsuha's figure, but all it found was scattered ice shards and a puddle of foul-smelling sludge—not its target.
With its simple mind, it couldn't process the scene, so Nomu just stood there dumbly.
"What kind of creature is that thing?!"
The Sludge Villain, who'd witnessed it all from the shadows, felt a storm raging inside him. If this insane self-healing could be chalked up to a Quirk, then how many Quirks did this monster even have?
Power and speed rivaling All Might!
Unmatched combat prowess!
Lightning-fast regeneration!
Put them all together, and the thing felt utterly invincible!
Overlooking its low IQ, this beast was like a walking, self-propelled nuke. With that kind of strength, it could rampage across Japan without a care!
"What kind of monster is that kid even fighting?" Even the Sludge Villain, a hardened criminal drenched in evil, couldn't help but feel pure terror toward the Nomu before him.
If something like this could be controlled by people, then the organization behind it…
It was beyond imagination.
"This is a force way beyond what I can mess with. But that kid with the ice weapon… he's got me intrigued." The Sludge Villain's muddy form slowly sank back into the sewer. Cunning by nature, he had a sharp nose for risks and opportunities—that's what had elevated him from petty thug to a nightmare for most pro Heroes.
The clash between Shina Etsuha and Nomu had planted some ideas in his head, ideas he couldn't shake.
"If I could just get my hands on his body…"
…
At the other end of the city, Shigaraki Tomura sneered from his hiding spot in the alley. "I bet the time's just about up, Kurogiri. Guess what's become of him now? Limbs torn off by Nomu, reduced to a bloody stump? Gut ripped open, guts spilling everywhere? Or… is he still squirming under Nomu's onslaught?"
"Hahahaha, the game's just getting started. Taking down a promising boss with growth potential—how fun is that?"
"I'd say the fight's wrapped up. The kid's got talent, sure, but against Nomu? Lasting a full minute would be impressive—more likely he got smashed flat on impact." Kurogiri replied with polite deference.
"Interesting. Let's make it a bet. I say Nomu's ripped off his limbs and tossed them out on the street." Shigaraki Tomura's lips twisted into a creepy grin as he watched Kurogiri open the warp gate. He stepped through first.
The scene shifted in a flash, but the gruesome sight he'd imagined didn't greet him. Instead, a dazed Nomu just stood there motionless.