"KANEKI-KUN!!" I hear Midoriya shout.
From the distance of the voice, he seems close, but I don't lose focus.
Crack! Crack!
The bones in my leg snap and protrude in a horrifying way as I twist my body, using my own broken leg as leverage to land a kick against Nomu's face.
This time, the kick affects Nomu, making him stagger and release me.
I take the opportunity to create some distance.
'Perfect, so Aizawa's Quirk works on this thing!'
My leg begins to rotate back into place, the bones sliding back in as the wound closes, all happening right before the eyes of both villains and my allies.
'It's too slow… I'll need to end this quickly..."
"Maybe I should use that…'
I glance to the side and see Midoriya and Tsuyu dealing with weaker villains, keeping them from approaching us.
Both the villains and the two of them still seem somewhat horrified by the sight of my leg regenerating.
Nomu charges again with the same fury.
Trusting that Aizawa is still canceling its Quirk, I keep my Kagunes split evenly.
With the help of my Rinkaku tentacles, I dodge the monstrous blows, and with my Koukaku blade, I carve deep cuts into Nomu's flesh, focusing mainly on the legs.
Even without regenerating, Nomu keeps advancing furiously, continuing even after I rip its leg off.
Aizawa then has to blink.
He shouts a warning while avoiding the pale man, who tries to interfere with him at all costs.
In the instant Aizawa blinks, and with the pale man distracted, Nomu regenerates its leg and returns to full strength.
'Damn, this won't work!' I grit my teeth, barely managing to dodge another blow.
A wall of ice rises, freezing Nomu's arm, followed immediately by an explosion echoing among the lesser villains, giving me time to catch my breath.
Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kirishima have arrived at the main battlefield.
Nomu breaks free from the ice, losing part of its body, which regenerates before anyone can celebrate too soon.
"Don't get close to that thing! Let Kaneki handle it!"
Aizawa shouts, only for Bakugo to immediately charge at Nomu.
Bakugo stops mid-charge, looking confused, then pissed at Aizawa.
Before he can complain, he feels the ground tremble and a shadow looms threateningly over him.
Nomu lunges at Bakugo, fist already clenched, ready to crush his head.
I pull Bakugo away with my Kagune, throwing him to safety, but it seems that's exactly what Nomu expected.
Perhaps learning from my previous actions, it switches targets, and before I can dodge, it lands a direct punch to my stomach.
The fist sinks into my abdomen.
Blood spills from my mouth as I'm sent flying, crashing into a wall and kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris.
"HAHA, very good, Nomu!" the pale man laughs and claps.
"Kaneki!!" Aizawa sounds terrified, yet still holds his ground, trying to protect his students.
"BASTARD!!!!!"
Bakugo roars at Nomu, but he's stopped from doing something reckless by another warning from Aizawa.
This time, he obeys, though clearly furious and guilty.
Nomu charges again, now targeting Aizawa, who does his best to dodge.
The portal man appears beside the pale one, reporting that one of the students escaped.
The pale one, now identified as Shigaraki by Kurogiri, seems agitated, scratching his neck violently as his gaze falls on the students.
Shigaraki moves toward them.
Aizawa tries to intervene but is blocked by Nomu's assault.
Shigaraki reaches his hand toward Tsuyu's face, who is distracted, staring at the cloud of dust where I had been thrown.
The others try to help, but Kurogiri blocks their advances with portals. Shigaraki's hand closes in rapidly on Tsuyu's face.
TEC!!
A sharp crack echoes through the USJ.
Blood flows... But not from Tsuyu.
It comes from Shigaraki's hand, pierced by something resembling a red crystal shaped like a feather.
A dark red blur emerges from the dust, slowly stepping forward.
"I didn't want to use this after going so long without feeding…"
"I'm going to be completely fucked when this is over," a distorted voice echoes as the figure appears.
The figure is tall, completely covered in a segmented red armor that seems alive, pulsing in lighter shades of red.
A hood covers the head, and on its face is a plague mask with a downward-curved beak.
Even though everything is red, the scarlet glow in its eyes stands out.
On its shoulders rests a pauldron filled with the same feather-like structures that pierced Shigaraki's hand.
A tail hovers menacingly behind it, segmented like the armor.
If one could see its back, they would notice crystals at the center of the feathered pauldron, most dark and unremarkable, except for one emitting a faint blue glow that stands out against the red.
[Image]
Tec!
The fingers crack again.
Tsuyu takes advantage of Shigaraki's distraction to move away, nearly stumbling when she sees the figure.
Bakugo feels a chill and breaks into a cold sweat, though he'd never admit it.
Kirishima clenches his fists, eyes wide.
The villains instinctively take a step back.
"K-Kaneki-kun?..." Midoriya asks, his voice slightly trembling.
My figure moves at high speed.
Shigaraki's eyes widen as he sees me rushing toward him.
"Nomu!" The creature obeys instantly, charging at me.
I dodge Nomu's punch while slashing deeply into its arm with the claws of my armor.
It tries the spinning attack again, but its arm fails due to the damage.
I then pull its leg with my Bikaku, unbalancing it and slamming it to the ground.
The tail pierces and slices through multiple joints, immobilizing Nomu as long as it cannot regenerate, something Aizawa ensures for the moment.
I turn toward Shigaraki and Kurogiri.
The fear caused by my Kakugan is far greater than usual.
I start advancing toward them as well, but my body suddenly halts.
It bends slightly, trembling in agony.
The armor cracks, splitting in places, and blood leaks beneath the plague mask.
"Not... yet" I try to move again, blood still dripping from the Kakuja mask.
Kurogiri teleports himself and Shigaraki farther away, making me lose the chance.
"Kaneki! I'm at my limit!" Aizawa warns.
My body is recovering, but the armor continues to dissolve little by little.
I turn toward Nomu, taking a deep breath for the next round.
Aizawa blinks, and the creature regenerates.
It's absurd how long Aizawa has endured in his current condition, I need to endure too…
Nomu and I continue fighting.
The others try to help with long-range attacks, but they don't do much against its regeneration, so they decide to focus on the other two.
Feeling slower, I'm forced to take a punch from Nomu, blocking it with my arms.
The armor at the point of impact cracks and breaks, fragments falling away.
I don't regenerate, conserving energy, and keep going, even as my body feels like it's slowly falling apart.
I cut off the creature's limbs again and again, but its regeneration doesn't seem to slow down.
Half of my mask begins to crumble, I receive another direct punch from the Nomu, cutting off both of its legs as a trade.
Tec!
A constant buzzing begins to ring in my head, low, but undeniably irritating.
'I need... to endure... longer...'
Then a thunderous crash from the staircase draws everyone's attention.
"DO NOT FEAR!!!"
"FOR I AM HERE!!!" All Might declares, without his usual smile.
"Took you long enough." I smile behind the mask, followed by a cough of blood.
─── ◆ ───
[A/N]: I apologize for being much less interactive than last month; college has been really wearing me down.
I haven't been able to write much lately, but at least my vacation is coming soon :)
Thank you for reading <3
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