"Heh… that troublesome guy is back again."
Shigaraki Tomura's expression darkened. Shina Etsuha's abilities were simply too strange—unpredictable in a way that made him deeply reluctant to confront them head-on. More importantly, neither of the remaining Nomu could replicate what the Flame Nomu had done. That one could locate enemies through sound without relying on sight—making it the only effective counter to Etsuha's illusion-based abilities.
"Shina, those two aren't opponents you can handle. Get out of here—"
All Might began to warn him, but suddenly stopped.
Etsuha's eyes had changed.
A deep, unnatural crimson gleamed within them—and they were fixed directly on Kurogiri.
"Don't look at him!!"
Shigaraki Tomura shouted, but it was already too late.
Etsuha had appeared in an instant. Kurogiri, caught completely off guard, instinctively turned his head at the warning—
—and met those eyes.
BOOM!
The portal destabilized violently.
All Might and the two Nomu were abruptly expelled from it, the spatial distortion collapsing moments later. At the same time, a wave of freezing power surged outward from the ice beneath All Might's feet, sealing both Nomu in place.
"Perfect control… freezing them without affecting me at all. Nicely done, Shina!"
The pressure on All Might's body lifted instantly. Breaking free from the remnants of restraint, he clenched his fist and drove a powerful punch into the frozen sonic Nomu.
Under the freezing effect, both Nomu had become incredibly brittle. With a single strike, most of the sonic Nomu's body shattered apart.
But even as it was breaking—
It roared.
A violent sound wave burst outward, sweeping across the battlefield and shattering the surrounding ice once again.
"Sonic-type quirk… what a nuisance," Etsuha muttered, rubbing his ear.
Thanks to genetic enhancements, his hearing had a high tolerance for noise—but his ice constructs were another matter. Sound waves easily disrupted them.
More troubling still—
The same vibrations snapped Kurogiri out of the illusion.
As expected, it didn't take long before Kurogiri's eyes flew open, the mist around his body trembling violently.
"What… was that just now?!"
The memory of it lingered.
Endless death. Repeated over and over again, like being trapped on a butcher's block with no escape.
Only now did Kurogiri truly understand what Shigaraki Tomura had experienced earlier.
In fact, his own experience had been worse. He had been killed again and again within the illusion, unable to resist in the slightest. Fortunately, the duration had been short—his mind was shaken, but not completely broken.
"So… strong external stimulation can break that illusion," Shigaraki Tomura muttered, quickly piecing together a countermeasure. "Kurogiri—protect the sonic Nomu. Its quirk is the perfect counter to both All Might and Shina Etsuha."
Though still weak and unable to move properly, his mind had regained clarity.
"Understood," Kurogiri replied, carefully avoiding Etsuha's gaze. "Reinforcements from U.A. should be arriving soon. We can't afford to drag this out."
"Right. We finish this quickly."
Shigaraki Tomura forced himself to stand, bloodshot eyes gleaming with barely contained ferocity.
"A quick finish…"
Etsuha glanced toward All Might.
Despite the Nomu's quirks being highly specialized counters, All Might's overwhelming strength and resilience were still pushing him ahead. Without regeneration, the two Nomu were already showing signs of collapse under repeated attacks.
At this rate, All Might would win.
Etsuha chose not to interfere.
But—
An uneasy feeling stirred in his chest.
Instead of stepping in, he held back, conserving his strength—watching for whatever might come next.
Then—
A tremendous pressure burst outward from All Might.
The wind from his punch expanded in a circular wave, blasting everything nearby away. Even Etsuha was forced to step back under the force.
"This is… a full-power burst?"
Etsuha's eyes sharpened.
All Might's strength surged to its absolute limit. Blood spilled from his mouth as he drove forward, unleashing a devastating blow.
The two Nomu were sent flying simultaneously, crashing violently into the ground.
BOOM!!
The entire USJ facility shook.
The floor shattered, debris erupting into the air. The impact sent the Nomu bouncing across the ground like ragdolls. In that instant, All Might descended behind them, gathering the accumulated power of One For All into a single strike.
"The essence of a hero… is to crush adversity!"
With a thunderous roar, his right fist shot upward.
The sonic Nomu was launched skyward by the uppercut, smashing into the rebound Nomu at incredible speed. The combined impact destroyed them both in one devastating collision.
BANG!!
The explosion scattered debris high into the air—where it froze under the lingering influence of Etsuha's Ice Admiral Army, falling back down like drifting snow.
Silence followed.
Then, one by one, the students exhaled.
"…Is it over?"