Overhaul turned.
Dust swirled around his mutated frame as his blood-red eyes focused on the new arrival. Todoroki stood calm amidst the chaos, half his body encased in jagged ice, the other flickering with subdued flame. The contrast between cold and fire reflected in his unwavering gaze.
"You're late," Hawks called from above, feathers glinting as he hovered protectively over Eri.
"Got here as fast as I could," Todoroki replied, stepping forward with composed precision. "Didn't expect to walk into a battlefield."
"Good," Reiji muttered, his legs still aching but functional thanks to the system override. "Because it's not over."
Midoriya landed beside Todoroki, breathing heavily. His uniform was scorched and torn, but his resolve blazed even brighter. "We can't let him fuse again. He's already unstable."
Overhaul growled, deep and animalistic. "You think three of you can stop me? I've surpassed what this world calls power."
The ground beneath his feet cracked as he lunged forward like a missile.
Todoroki responded instantly. He stomped the pavement, and a massive glacier erupted from beneath Overhaul. Spires of ice shot up to trap and pierce him, but flames followed—bursting from Todoroki's left side and curling through the gaps, creating a thermal shockwave meant to tear through Overhaul's unstable body.
But Overhaul burst through it.
His limbs shattered the ice with brute force. He emerged from the explosion, bone protrusions on his arms deflecting the flames. He accelerated, targeting Todoroki with a roar.
Reiji intercepted with no hesitation.
Hellfire ignited around his frame as he shot forward, tackling Overhaul from the side. The impact sent them both hurtling into the air. A clone detonated beneath them, redirecting the fall. Midair, Reiji twisted and struck Overhaul with a flaming roundhouse kick that smashed against the villain's jaw.
They crashed to the ground.
Reiji grunted as he hit a broken slab of concrete. Overhaul rolled through a lamppost and stopped in a crouch, snarling.
Reiji rose. "He's tougher than before. That fusion made him faster too."
"Then we hit him harder," Midoriya shouted as he launched into motion, his body flickering with One For All at 30%.
Todoroki flanked from the right. Ice snaked across the road, forming into jagged spears that raced toward Overhaul's legs. Reiji surged from the left, fire coiled with shadow forming a spinning blade that screamed through the air.
Overhaul roared.
He leapt, clearing the strikes, and in mid-air his mutation deepened. Debris was drawn to his form, arms ballooning with muscle and bone. A second pair of arms erupted from his back, twisting grotesquely. His entire body grew larger, darker, monstrous.
Hawks, still circling above, grimaced. "He's mutating again! That's not good!"
Reiji's system flared with red.
[Danger Level: Critical. Enemy mutation entering Phase II. Increased aggression and durability projected.]
"We can't let him finish it!" Todoroki barked.
"Then let's combine it," Reiji growled.
His clone snapped into position behind him, syncing in perfect formation.
Midoriya nodded without hesitation. "Coordinate. Now!"
Todoroki swept his arm wide, unleashing a wave of flame that curled along the ground, growing hotter as it raced forward.
Reiji followed, his clone and Hellfire spiraling together, forming a vortex of heat that met Todoroki's attack and intensified into a torrent of destruction.
Midoriya burst through the merged flames, focused and precise, delivering a full-powered punch directly at Overhaul's chest.
The collision was cataclysmic.
Light and sound swallowed the battlefield. The explosion flattened rubble, shook windows, and tore a crater into the ground. A ring of dust and heat expanded outward, forcing even Hawks to shield Eri with his wings.
Everyone paused.
When the smoke cleared—
Overhaul was still standing.
Steam rose from his shoulders. Bone armor cracked. Blood dripped from his jaw. His extra arms twitched from the damage.
But he was smiling.
"You hurt me..." he rasped, his voice filled with bloodlust.
His glowing eyes narrowed.
"Then I'll return the favor."
Behind him—footsteps.
A small figure stepped from the shadows of the alley.
It was a child.
A boy, trembling. His face pale. His eyes hollow. Dirt smeared his cheeks, and his body was covered in cuts and bandages.
Reiji's breath caught. "No..."
Midoriya's eyes widened. "Don't tell me... he's using more..."
Overhaul extended one mutated hand back toward the child.
"This will only take a second."
Reiji tried to move—his flames igniting anew.
But the child didn't scream.
He stepped forward.
Willingly.
End of Chapter 57
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