The obstacle race had ended in such an unsatisfying way for most of the students that they now wanted a chance to stand out. After all, that was the whole point of the U.A. Sports Festival.
A fierce competitiveness could be felt in the air.
The next event was a Cavalry Battle. Logically, it was better to avoid Allen, yet many were still targeting the headband he carried.
This was evident in their positioning before the start and in the way their gazes remained fixed on him and his team. This unexpected boldness likely stemmed from the fact that, unlike the previous event, this one was more restrictive in terms of combat. While attacking opponents wasn't forbidden, it had to be done to steal their headband—not simply attacking them outright.
That gave everyone hope that they might be able to knock Allen off his pedestal.
….
"You can do it, Allen!" Kazuko shouted, holding up a banner.
Koichi and Knuckleduster were left speechless. The pink-haired girl who was usually the one cheered on as the idol Pop☆Step had now become a fan herself.
Of course, much of this had to do with the fact that Allen was being booed by so many people. She had to show that not everyone hated him. And besides… There was something else in her heart threatening to bloom, though she preferred not to think too deeply about it.
"Kick their butts!" Nejire shouted.
Some people in the audience who recognized her were stunned. Since when did this shameless guy know U.A.'s princess?!
Everyone had the same thought—why was Nejire Hado using language that didn't match her personality at all? Had this innocent princess been corrupted by that guy's claws?!
Scandal and gossip outlets would have a field day with this. By tomorrow, stories like these would start appearing. After all, the audience wasn't blind. They could see several girls being unusually close to Allen—far more than what would be considered appropriate. Even now, his team was made up entirely of girls. If that wasn't tabloid front-page material, nothing was!
….
Ignoring all that, Allen and his team prepared for battle.
"So what's the plan?" Ochako asked nervously. It wasn't that she wasn't affected by the hostile stares—even if most of them were directed at Allen.
"For now, there's no need to do anything," Allen replied with a shrug.
They had more than ten million points. There was no point in seeking more, so they could focus on defense.
"…" Allen thought for a moment before adding, "By the way, I'll leave command to you girls"
"Huh? Are you sure?" Toru asked in surprise.
"Allen, you don't need to worry. You've already given us a huge advantage," Momo said, shaking her head.
"That's right! I already showed what my Quirk can do during the obstacle race!" Mina nodded, laughing.
The girls weren't naïve. They knew Allen had given everyone else the opportunity to show what they were capable of. If he had wanted to, he could have acted from the very beginning of the obstacle race and all the attention would have gone to him. They also believed that once everyone's anger cooled down, they would realize the same thing.
Allen chuckled softly. "Hey, don't forget there are a lot of eyes watching—especially from the Top Ten heroes. Catching the attention of a hero like that will help you a lot. Just take advantage of the opportunity."
The girls exchanged glances before accepting.
He smiled and turned toward the stands, looking in Kaina's direction. The woman clearly had a lot to say about his performance, but she looked tired and simply gave him a look that said, "Do whatever you want."
Allen apologized to Kaina in his mind and promised to make up for all the headaches he was causing her.
The girls began outlining a strategy, with Allen offering only a couple of recommendations.
….
"Is everyone ready?!" Nemuri exclaimed before giving the signal. "START!"
All the teams began moving at once. It was no surprise that Allen's team was the primary target.
"Here we go!" Present Mic shouted excitedly. "The ten-million-point team is the main objective! Will this turn into a fierce battle, or will Allen simply crush them like in the previous round?!"
"No…" Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "It's not that simple."
It wasn't just Aizawa. Several teachers and the students of Class 1-A knew about Allen's weakness. He had five cards(Templatese), each granting him a different set of Quirks. However, they had time limits. And after what happened in the previous round—visible to everyone—Allen only had four left.
Deku clenched his jaw. "In previous years, the final event has always been a tournament!"
Todoroki sharpened his gaze. "There's no way Allen hasn't taken that into account. So he'll definitely need to conserve a good amount of energy for it."
Itsuka smiled. "In other words, Allen will avoid using his Quirks as much as possible this round. If he doesn't, he'll enter the final tournament more exhausted."
Monoma sneered. "That applies to this round or the next… so the objective is simple…"
Wear Allen Walker down!
Gwen – They're all coming for you.
MJ – Tsk, cowards!
Albedo – As expected, humans are so despicable!
Of course, Allen's team, the Chat, and the teachers all noticed this.
The first team to arrive was Bakugo's, with Kirishima at the front.
"Die!"
"Wow! As expected, Katsuki Bakugo is aiming for the top without hesitation! The explosive attacker and the shield unite against the Demon King!" Present Mic shouted to the roaring crowd.
"Hey… watch your words," Aizawa reprimanded him. Despite Allen's actions, he was supposed to become a hero—or at least that was the expectation. Giving him a nickname like that could ruin his reputation… though Allen had already done a fine job of that himself.
"You're right, sorry," the Voice Hero apologized.
"Don't you ever get tired of getting your ass kicked?" Allen mocked. Of course, he knew exactly what everyone was thinking, and yet he only smiled in amusement.
"Bastard!" Bakugo roared.
"Now, Ashido-san!" Momo called out.
Mina immediately threw acid at Kirishima, coating his face. In response, Kirishima hardened himself and avoided the corrosive damage. But the girls' objective had been to blind him—and they succeeded.
"Damn it!"
Unable to see, Kirishima stopped—and with him, his entire team. Bakugo, however, didn't give up so easily. He leapt off his "horse," taking advantage of his ability to fly using his explosions.
"This time I won't let you get away!"
"I see…" Allen remained with his arms crossed and a half-smile that irritated Bakugo, as if he were merely a spectator.
"Don't be naïve, Bakugo-kun!" Momo shouted.
Ochako brought her hands together. Bakugo felt a bad premonition, and suddenly several grenades—seemingly appearing out of nowhere from his perspective—fell from above.
Bakugo tried to escape but was restrained by Toru's invisible chain.
"Bakugo, you made a serious mistake," Allen said with a smile. "I'm not your opponent."
Bakugo was engulfed in an explosion. Sero, who was also on his team, threw his tape into the cloud of smoke, grabbed Bakugo, and pulled him back to their horse.
"How impressive!" Present Mic exclaimed. "Even without Allen stepping in, his team is strong! Very strong!"
All Might smiled in satisfaction. He, along with many others, had seen what happened.
At first, the grenades seemed to appear out of nowhere—but that wasn't the case. They had been created by Momo, handed to Ochako to be touched so she could activate her Quirk, then passed to Toru, who threw them into the sky from a bag enchanted with Invisibility.
Once in the air, the bag opened and Ochako suspended the grenades using her Zero Gravity Quirk, waiting for someone to fall into their trap.
Of course, there was a bit of trickery involved. Toru Hagakure couldn't make other objects invisible on her own—she had to use items enchanted by Allen. However, since they were invisible, no one could know that these tools were not part of Toru's Quirk.
"We did it!" the girls shouted. After Allen, Bakugo was one of the strongest in Class 1-A.
"Don't let your guard down…" Allen reminded them.
Bakugo hadn't been knocked unconscious. At the last moment, he created an explosion to counter the grenades. Thanks to that, he could still fight.
Moreover, three more teams stood before Allen. One was led by Todoroki, another by Deku, and the last by Itsuka.
"Wouldn't it be better to aim for second place?" Allen narrowed his eyes in amusement at Deku, who was already standing in front of him.
The rest of the teams were clashing with one another, trying to gather points. It was the most logical approach. Even the combination of Bakugo and Kirishima hadn't managed to force Allen to act.
"I'm sorry, Allen-san, but I can't avoid you. You're a wall I have to overcome," Deku said. "Let's go, Tokoyami-kun!"
Deku's team didn't hesitate to attack. This surprised All Might, who wondered if this was the same crybaby boy who used to be afraid of failing at everything he did.
"…" Allen smiled.
"Ochako-san!" Toru exclaimed.
"Yes!" Ochako responded, and the two of them started running. As the front of the horse, they had to advance first. Momo didn't object—it was better to avoid being surrounded by three teams at once.
"I won't let you…" Todoroki froze the ground all the way to Mina's feet, trapping her in ice.
"Need help?" Allen decided to ask Mina's opinion before stepping in.
"I'm fine, Honey!"
Mina pointed her hand and sprayed acid, melting the ice. She managed to free herself, but the time they lost allowed Dark Shadow—Tokoyami's Quirk—to catch up with them.
"Got you!" Dark Shadow exclaimed.
"I won't let you!" Momo created a small cannon with her hand and aimed it at the shadow.
"Shi—!"
Momo fired, forcing Dark Shadow to retreat.
"Don't forget about me!"
Allen looked up and saw Itsuka descending from the sky. Just like Bakugo, as long as she didn't touch the ground, it wasn't considered a violation.
The girl was smiling gallantly, as if telling Allen not to hold back.
Allen smiled and accepted the challenge. He raised his hand as electricity burst from his body—the Misaka Mikoto template manifested, she being an Esper and the strongest electromaster in her world.
Allen fired several bolts of condensed electricity. In front of Itsuka, a rock shield formed—created through Reiko's telekinesis.
"Not bad…" Allen praised.
Itsuka smiled. She enlarged her hands, grabbed Reiko's rocks, and hurled them like meteors at Allen's team.
"Momo."
Upon hearing her name, Momo didn't hesitate to create a staff. Allen took it and destroyed all the rocks with weapon mastery that left everyone stunned. No one expected that, despite having such a powerful Quirk, Allen had also trained in martial arts.
Even though her attack failed, Itsuka kept smiling. Allen noticed and reacted accordingly, tilting his head as Setsuna's hand passed right beside him—her Quirk allowed her to control parts of her body remotely.
Setsuna clicked her tongue. "That was close!"
Allen laughed before pointing his hand toward Setsuna. She went on alert, but before Allen could attack, the ground beneath him turned into quicksand.
"What's happening?!" Toru exclaimed, trying to keep her balance.
Momo turned and was surprised to see that the one responsible was someone from Todoroki's team. Even more surprising, the boy was from Class 1-B.
[Juzo Honenuki "Mudman"
Quirk: Softening
Type: Emitter.]
Even without a detailed description, just the name made it clear what the effect was—the ability to soften anything he touched.
"How about this?!"
The attack didn't end there. Todoroki froze everything toward Allen again—this time with much greater force. However, his objective was to immobilize Allen's horse.
Allen laughed before a spark of electricity flashed from his forehead. The ground trembled, and metallic-colored dust began to rise.
Deku's eyes widened. "What is this?!"
Everyone was shocked. Was this also electrokinesis?!
Allen smiled. "What's wrong? It's nothing extraordinary. I just gathered iron from the soil… After all, just as magnetism can generate electricity, electricity can generate magnetism. So controlling metal isn't difficult…"
"It's impossible for me!" Kaminari complained, feeling rather useless with his Quirk when someone could surpass him so easily.
Once the iron sand gathered, Allen used it to attack Bakugo's team, Deku's team, Itsuka's team, and of course, Todoroki's team as well.
"SMASH!" Deku struck, dispersing the metallic sand.
"GET LOST!" Bakugo stopped the attack with an explosion.
"Thunder Clap!" Itsuka also made her move with determination—one she had learned from Allen—and dispersed the attack, which made Allen smile.
Todoroki said nothing and simply froze the metallic sand.
"Amazing! Everyone in Class 1-A is a monster!" Aizawa shouted to the excited crowd.
"Very impressive, but don't forget I have no need to fight," Allen laughed. He didn't continue attacking. Instead, he spun the metallic sand around himself, forming an electromagnetic vortex that acted as a shield.
"Damn it!" Bakugo exclaimed angrily.
"You're naïve…"
"…!"
Bakugo was caught off guard, and his headband was snatched—by none other than Monoma from Class 1-B.
"You…"
"Everyone in Class 1-A has an inflated ego. You're simple-minded and so obsessed with being the best that you fail to notice your surroundings."
Present Mic got up from his chair. "In a twist of events, Neito Monoma takes advantage and steals headbands from those too focused on Allen Walker!"
"Kirishima, change of plans!" Bakugo looked like a devil incarnate. "We'll kill this bastard first!"
Bakugo didn't hesitate to attack Monoma. Confident in his Quirk, he extended his hand—but just before striking, Monoma did something that shocked everyone. He also extended his hand toward Bakugo's face, and an explosion erupted from it.
Everyone was stunned.
Monoma struck Kirishima's forehead and stepped back. Enraged, Bakugo attacked again—this time not holding back—and engulfed Monoma in an explosion. However, Monoma emerged unharmed; his body had hardened just like Kirishima's.
"He copied our Quirks," Bakugo said, forcing himself to think rationally.
"Oh…" Allen narrowed his eyes before smiling.
[Neito Monoma
Quirk: Copy
Type: Emitter.]
"Don't forget about us!" Kaminari shouted from Todoroki's team. He then released his own electricity—one million volts—interfering with Allen's electromagnetic field and disabling it long enough for them to attack.
Then Iida, who until now had been nothing more than a silent horse, sprang into action.
"Allen-kun, after thinking about it logically, defeating you isn't necessary—but I still have to! As a man! As a hero!"
"Come," Allen laughed.
"Torque Over!" Flames burst from Iida's legs like exhaust from a modified engine. "Recipro Burst!"
Iida accelerated so fast that he seemed to vanish along with his team.
None of the girls could react to Iida's explosive increase in speed.
"…!"
When Iida stopped, he, Todoroki, Kaminari, and Juzo were all in shock.
"Good technique, but… still too slow," Allen said, holding Todoroki's headband in his hand.
"Iida!" Todoroki exclaimed.
"I'm trying!" Iida attempted to run again, but his legs hurt. That was why he hadn't used this move in the previous race—the side effect left him unable to move for a while.
Realizing this, Todoroki clenched his teeth and decided to change strategies.
"Iida, we need to target another team!"
It was the harsh reality. Once again, Todoroki could only swallow his frustration.
In the stands, a man began releasing intense heat, melting the concrete around him.
"Shoto, how can you lose to that arrogant brat?!" Endeavor was furious. To him, his son was the future Number One Hero—yet he kept losing to Allen. Worst of all, he still refused to use the Quirk he had inherited from him.
….
All For One stood up from his chair and walked toward the exit of the room.
"It was very interesting, Allen Walker-kun… but all good things must come to an end…"
Outside the room, four people were waiting. Each of them radiated a threatening aura unlike that of ordinary villains.
All For One smiled.
"It's time."
====
A/N: 🍷🗿