Luke walked casually, panting lightly, the repeated activation of different Quirks taking a toll on his Stamina.
Behind him, booms rang out as Todoroki kept bouncing between air and land mines.
The moment he was about to land, he would create a bed of ice under him to prevent getting himself hurt. But that bed of ice would trigger another mine, repeating the process.
By the time Todoroki finally found a foothold, Luke had already crossed half the minefield.
Suddenly, more students began appearing at the starting line of the third barrier.
"I WILL KILL YOU!" Bakugo screamed, flying low just above the ground, his eyes spewing murder. "BASTARD!!"
Even from this far, Luke could sense Bakugo was talking to him.
Frowning, he looked at Nyx. "What did you do?"
Nyx looked away and began whistling.
"Get out of my way, Half-Half!" Bakugo screamed, looking at Todoroki in front of him.
Todoroki was already holding the rage within. The moment he saw Bakugo almost leaving him behind, too, he swiped his right hand at him, a sheet of thin ice activating all mines in front of Bakugo.
Under the stupefied gazes of the audience, Todoroki and Bakugo began fighting on the spot.
"This is what you are here for!" Present Mic shouted. "Don't you love it, Mass Media!"
Even more students began reaching the third barrier soon.
Tenya Ida tried to outrun the explosions, but failed, ending up blowing himself under a mass of pink smoke.
Meanwhile, at the starting line, Midoriya looked at Todoroki and Bakugo fighting each other near the end line.
Then, his eyes fell on Luke… who was already way beyond the end line… walking.
Midoriya's heart thumped. He remembered the words said to Luke during lunch, and his jaw tightened.
This was — now or never.
Luke was still walking leisurely, saving stamina because he knew he would need to use Quirk one more time.
Sure enough, a massive boom, as if a true bomb had gone off, deafened the ears behind him.
Using the robot's metal plate as a shield, Midoriya had fallen on dozens of mines piled up together, hurling himself across the minefield.
Dramatically, just as Todoroki and Bakugo were about to cross the end line, Midoriya planted his feet on his shoulders, the rest of the students and audience gawking at the shocking sight.
Then, Midoriya slammed the metal plate on the minefield once again.
Boooooooooooooom!
The explosion hurled Midoriya forward, simultaneously throwing Todoroki and Bakugo off.
Huffing and puffing, All Might's words ringing in his mind, Midoriya ran with his everything, his eyes never leaving the silhouette ahead.
Through the tunnel, Luke was already on the verge of finishing the race, Midoriya realized.
But the explosion had also given him much-needed momentum.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" Midoriya let out a shout, ignoring the knots in his stomach and almost catching up to Luke.
Then, the boy in front of him lifted his hand and… snapped his fingers.
...
The entire stadium exploded with cheers as Luke just blinked into existence, crossing the finish line.
It was so loud that he didn't even feel stifled, the entire crowd becoming a white noise for him.
Behind him, Midoriya finally came out, almost falling, Nyx cawing right behind him.
The moment he came out, Midoriya looked at Luke, and a heavy disappointment settled on his face.
After all that All Might had said to him — to make the world know that he was here — he still couldn't…
"Midoriya," Luke said, approaching him. "Smile. Everyone's looking at you…"
Midoriya's ears were buzzing so loudly that he couldn't hear anything.
But, as Luke pointed in one direction, he followed the finger, and a massive shock coursed through him.
All the panels were showing the same thing — the image of the Winner. No. The image of Winners!
Both Luke and Midoriya were being shown side by side as the Winners of the first stage.
"Wha… How…" Midoriya huffed out, stunned. But the crowd was already cheering for him. They were already clapping for him.
His eyes misting, accepting the unbelievable fact, Midoriya looked up in All Might's direction, raising his fist.
He — He hadn't disappointed All Might after all!
...
"Now, for the final results!" Midnight shouted, gathering all the students in front of her. "A total of forty-two students have passed the first stage.
"Also, to clear the first stage, both Luke and his raven, Nyx, needed to cross the end line. With Midoriya clearing it between them, the first position will be shared by him and Luke."
Luke eyed Midnight with no expression.
He hadn't known that there was such a rule.
Keeping in mind that there were two more stages, he had just been trying to preserve his Stamina.
Luke let it go with a sigh, moving on.
The next two positions weren't too much of a surprise.
Todoroki secured the 2nd place, and Bakugo, who almost passed out in rage as he tried to catch Nyx, was in the 3rd place.
On 4th and 5th positions, though, shockingly, it was Class 1-B students — Ibara Shiozaki and Juzo Honenuki.
Of course, among the rest of them, most were of the Hero Course, with around half a dozen from the other courses.
And, at the very last, was Yuga Aoyama, with a severe stomach pain.
"The real competition begins next!" Midnight said, licking her lips. "Give it your all!!
"Here is your second game! Can you guess what it is?! Huh? Ara-Ara! No one? Let me do the honors, then! It is —
"— Cavalry Battle!!"
As the students looked at the display behind Midnight in doubt, an image came up on it, showing Pro Hero Thirteen and Present Mic carrying All Might between them on their hands.
"Let me explain," Midnight said. "The participants can form teams of two to four people. It's like the regular Cavalry game, but — with a twist.
"Based on the results of the first stage, each student has been assigned Points, with a five-point increment with each rank, starting from 5 Points at the 42nd stage!
"And the points assigned to the two 1st places are — Ten Million!!"
"…"
"…"
Luke and Midoriya blankly looked at each other, stunned.
Ten million points meant, snatching their points would bring anyone to the top instantly.
Luke didn't need Danger Intuition to know that everyone was looking at him and Midoriya as if they were the juicy pieces of lamb.
"That's right!" Midnight said sadistically, grinning at Luke and Midoriya as the other students eyed them hungrily. "Now's your chance —
"— to overthrow the top!!"
****************
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