Fifteen minutes passed.
The laser boundaries contracted by another hundred meters.
This was only the beginning, only the third such contraction, and yet…
Screams. Explosions. Shouts of victory. Cries of defeat. Sounds of multiple emotions had overtaken Battle Center X, the audience's roar overwhelming the environment.
The tennis ball-like drones could zoom in hundreds of meters in high definition and across multiple spectrum. Not only did they not compromise students' hidden locations, but they also streamed the event's happenings live over multiple screen panels without any lag.
From time to time, the drones would also select the most interesting scene, increasing its aspect ratio across the screens and bringing more eyes to it.
Luke's panel's aspect ratio was not one of these oversized ones.
His panel wasn't even of the regular size.
In a corner of many screens, a tiny panel showed Luke as he walked through the city… leisurely.
Luke's outrageous act of not rushing deeper into the city and his subsequent bold words had garnered sufficient attention, riling up the crowd. However, with so much happening at Battle Center X and so many students involved, most of the audience had already forgotten him, their eyes never leaving the likes of Bakugo, Todoroki, Midoriya, and others to see what they would do.
Still, Luke's panel did have eyes on it.
Most of them belonged to his core fans, with a few belonging to the Apostles of Mr. Fool.
There was one similarity between these two groups, though — neither of them knew just what Luke was planning, because…
They couldn't see his raven anymore!
…
Luke arrived near one of the many lakes, with a thick forest terrain lying ahead.
He looked over his shoulder and saw the menacing red glow of the laser boundaries some five hundred meters away. Then, he looked up and noticed the timer reaching halfway to the next contraction.
Plenty of time…
Luke flexed his muscles and crouched at the edge of the lake, which was covered in pebbles.
The small lake looked incredibly deep at a glance, its icy-dark bottom reflected in his blue pupils.
Luke scooped a handful of water and drank, his brows rising at its freshness.
He drank to his fill and stood up before turning around to go toward the forest.
Suddenly, from the deep waters of the small lake, hundreds of green scales came shooting out like bullets fired from rifles, all aimed at Luke's back.
The scales split apart the upper layer of water, hissing as they instantly reached the target without losing much of their momentum.
The attacker had not only masterfully waited for Luke to turn around, revealing his back, but he had also made sure that he wouldn't have time to take Nyx's help to survive the attack.
The moment the scales hit the mark, it would be all over.
The part of the audience watching this at the stadium gasped, some outright shouting Luke's name to make him look back.
Of course, their voices couldn't reach him.
Surprisingly, the same was the case for the green scales.
Just as the bullet-like scales could have embedded themselves into Luke's back, he… fell forward.
With his feet as an anchor, Luke just fell straight like a pole, all the green scales rushing past his back like missiles shooting up a mountain's slope.
"…"
Instantly, from a small panel to the largest panel, Luke became the center of attraction.
"I was hoping you won't show up…" he said, straightening himself and looking to his right.
From the lake, a figure had swum out, standing only a few dozen feet from Luke.
This figure belonged to a boy who was donning knee-high, steel-like boots under a blue, tight body suit with high collars. On his face, he was wearing a visor. But it was his arms that stood out the most, which held two massive, yellow-colored gauntlets.
The gauntlets gave away the boy's identity.
"Hiryu Rin from Class 2-B, right?" Luke asked. "Quirk Scales?"
It was indeed Hiryu Rin. Using his Quirk, he could cover his entire body in green scales, giving him an extreme advantage in close combat, especially combined with the fact that he was a proficient martial artist.
But in the last month, like others, Hiryu seemed to have come up with an Ultimate Move of his own.
"Let me guess," Luke said, looking at the boy's strange gauntlets. "You can store your scales in them and use them as bullets, adding the long-range attacks to your style, too. Took a page out of Bakugo's book, didn't you?"
That seemed to tick the right mark because the boy twitched.
Instead of attacking right away, though, Hiryu looked up and around, trying to spy a creature.
"Nyx's not here," Luke said, taking a step forward. "Also, she will not interfere. Not unless… It's already all over."
"Wha…" Hiryu began.
TINK!
The laser boundaries contracted by another hundred meters, followed by a loud chime.
Luke broke into a run, becoming a black blur as his long, black greatcoat flapped wildly behind him.
Hiryu's eyes widened.
For a moment, he couldn't even react, sensing some great trick in all this.
Luke was not an opponent he had hoped to meet so soon, and especially like this.
If it hadn't been for Luke openly showcasing his back and Hiryu's own trust and confidence in his Ultimate Move — Sprouting Scales, he would have never even attacked him.
Then there was the absence of raven, which sealed the deal for Hiryu.
Who didn't know by now that Luke was as good as a Quirkless person without the bird by his side?
And so, it would have been a great tragedy not to attack Luke and grab an easy win, while simultaneously gaining fame, killing two birds with one stone.
Yet, as Hiryu saw Luke covering half the distance between them in a blur, with still no sign of Nyx, he… couldn't help but feel like he had been tricked.
Sadly, it was all too little too late.
"It will not be that easy!" Hiryu shouted, pointing his Scale Gauntlets forward.
Then, with another rattling sound, he fired hundreds of green scales again, attacking not only Luke, but also covering a great area around him.
Even if Luke tried to dodge, a few dozen scales would still end up getting him.
Contrary to Hiryu's expectations, Luke had no intention of dodging the scales at all.
As the green scales came for him, his hands blurred.
And when his hands became visible again…
… Luke was wielding two knives — with paper-thin blades!
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