"What is he doing?!"
"He's rushing straight at the Zero-Pointer!"
Gasps echoed across the battlefield as a streak of golden light tore through the ruined streets. Several examinees stopped running, stunned as they watched the figure sprint directly toward the towering robot that awarded zero points.
Perhaps it was because Amano Sora wasn't moving at his maximum speed anymore—or perhaps because the distance this time was longer—but many of the examinees clearly saw him.
And what they saw left them speechless.
The Zero-Pointer stood like a steel titan, its enormous body blotting out the sky. Compared to it, Sora looked no larger than an ant.
"...It's even bigger up close," Sora muttered as he stopped at the base of the monster and craned his neck upward.
The sheer size difference was absurd.
"Let's take a look first."
With that, the Speed Force surged.
In a flash, Sora vanished—reappearing an instant later as he sprinted in a wide circle around the Zero-Pointer. In less than a second, he had scanned the entire battlefield surrounding it.
"Wow… everyone got away safely?" he muttered in disbelief.
The moment the Zero-Pointer activated, every examinee nearby had instinctively fled. No one had frozen in fear. No one had been crushed.
"That's… actually impressive."
Sora skidded to a stop nearly a hundred meters away, turned, and faced the towering machine again.
"…Alright."
His eyes sharpened.
"Let's go."
Running Against Gravity
The Speed Force exploded outward.
Sora shot forward like a bolt of lightning, crossing the distance in a blink. He didn't slow down—didn't hesitate.
Instead, he ran straight up the robot's leg.
Gravity bent around him.
His feet slammed against the steel armor, sparks flying as he sprinted vertically, defying physics itself.
Step.
Step.
Step.
He ran up the Zero-Pointer's body as though the machine were nothing more than a slanted road.
In seconds, he reached its head.
"There's enough room up here…"
The massive flat surface atop the robot's skull stretched wide before him. Sora nodded slightly, then began to run in circles.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Faster and faster.
The air twisted. The pressure warped. Golden lightning wrapped around his body like a living halo.
Soon, Sora was no longer running horizontally.
He was running sideways, suspended by speed alone.
"Step one—complete."
His expression sharpened.
This was the real test.
The Guillotine
Sora abruptly changed direction.
His right hand shot forward, slamming against the robot's chin as he vaulted upward.
Grip.
Hold.
Then—
"Guillotine!"
The Speed Force erupted.
All the momentum he had built up collapsed into a single point. His right arm screamed in pain as unimaginable force surged through it.
The air detonated.
Metal screamed.
The Zero-Pointer's neck groaned violently as stress fractures spread like lightning through its structure.
Crack—!
The connection between head and body gave way.
The massive head of the robot twisted violently, tearing free as Sora launched himself backward in the same instant.
He landed on a nearby rooftop, clutching his right arm as blood ran down his sleeve.
Behind him—
The Zero-Pointer's head spun wildly through the air before crashing to the ground in a shower of sparks and steel.
The massive body followed, collapsing with an earth-shaking boom.
"…Done," Sora muttered, wincing. "Ow. That hurt."
He crouched, breathing heavily, gripping his injured arm.
"Muscle strain… no fractures. Good."
His arm trembled violently, but the damage was already beginning to heal.
Still, the pain was intense.
"Yeah… definitely not doing that again."
He grimaced.
The Speed Force boosted speed—not raw power. Without proper reinforcement, using momentum as an attack was essentially self-destruction.
If he hadn't subconsciously protected himself with the Speed Force, his arm would've shattered.
"Note to self," he muttered. "Never copy that idiot Flash move again."
Shock Across the Battlefield
Silence fell over the examination zone.
Every examinee who witnessed it stood frozen in disbelief.
The Zero-Pointer—destroyed.
By a single student.
Ojiro Mashirao stared at the fallen machine, his tail stiff.
"…Is that guy even human?"
Nearby, Minoru Mineta gawked with wide eyes.
"W-What kind of monster is that?! With power like that, he's gotta be drowning in girls!"
Others reacted very differently.
Some stared in awe.
Some clenched their fists in jealousy.
And some felt a deep, burning resentment.
"That idiot… the Zero-Pointer gives zero points anyway!"
"Yeah! What was he showing off for?!"
Sora, however, paid none of it any attention.
He stood on the rooftop, stretching his shoulders as the pain faded.
"Hmm… effective, but too damaging."
His gaze drifted to the wreckage.
"If I fight like this all the time, I'll end up paying more in hospital bills than I earn."
Then he sighed.
"And that's not even counting shoe expenses…"
He glanced down.
His shoes were completely destroyed.
The soles were burned clean through.
"…Again."
He kicked them off with a resigned look.
"I seriously need custom gear."
End of the Exam
A loud siren echoed across the testing ground.
"Exam over!" Present Mic's voice boomed. "All participants, cease activity immediately!"
The remaining robots powered down.
Exhausted students collapsed where they stood.
Elsewhere, Izuku Midoriya lay unconscious, battered but alive after saving Ochaco Uraraka—just as fate had dictated.
Sora stretched, rolling his shoulders.
"Guess that's it."
His wounds were already closing. The pain was fading fast.
He glanced once more at the ruined Zero-Pointer.
"…Worth it."
Barefoot, he casually headed down the stairs, hands in his pockets.
"Next time, though," he muttered, "I'm bringing better shoes."