Iida was horrified to find that no matter how hard he struggled to break free, the arm Lock held stayed completely still, as if it weren't his own.
Then Lock's words reached his ears.
"You're the serious, earnest type, right? That attitude is really good, but..." Lock shook his head with a wry smile, took out the capture tape, and neatly captured Iida. "The one holding the most cards in a battle is often the one who laughs last. Don't make it so obvious that you're going for a big finish."
"Huh?"
Hearing this, Tenya Iida froze in bewilderment.
"I mean you're too obvious. Anyone with a discerning eye can tell you're about to make a big move."
When Lock had pinned down Shoto Todoroki a moment ago and turned to deal with the other three first, he had glanced at their positions.
Among them, although Iida was wearing his hero costume and his expression couldn't be seen clearly, his whole body radiated a grim resolve.
It was like a death flag: "After this battle, I'm going back to my hometown to get married."
That kind of momentum, of fighting to the death and using his last trump card, could be seen at a glance.
Iida's move was originally a sure kill, Recipro Burst. The speed was very good and should have posed no small threat to him.
But Lock could see that he was about to use his trump card. With that advance warning, and since he also knew Iida's Quirk, he could handle him easily without any pressure.
"Also, it's better to use less of that trump card that kills a thousand enemies but costs you eight hundred. Even if you lose some firepower, the key is to keep your mobility."
After giving that last piece of guidance, Lock didn't bother Iida any further.
Anyone captured with the capture tape was considered out of the match and could no longer interfere with the combat.
"Whoosh!"
And above Lock's head came a sharp sound of cutting through the air. When he looked up, it was Tokoyami, who had leapt into the air, with Dark Shadow emerging from his body.
He was trying to use Dark Shadow's reach to touch the nuclear weapon resting on the sword.
"Wings!"
Lock handled the nuclear weapon gently, opened his mouth slightly, and a magic circle appeared behind him.
A pair of dragon wings appeared, and he suddenly shot into the sky, attacking Tokoyami.
"Dark Shadow!"
Tokoyami called out anxiously to his Quirk. He hadn't expected Iida to be dealt with so quickly. Even a one-second delay would have let Dark Shadow touch the nuclear weapon.
However, Dark Shadow didn't obey his order. Instead, it kept trembling with a cowering face.
Tokoyami also immediately felt the feedback from Dark Shadow, emotions of fear and dread, originating from the flame sword in Lock's hand!
Animals are instinctively afraid of fire, stemming from memories passed down in their genes from being hurt, even wiped out, by fire during evolution.
Of course, many cold-blooded animals and insects are very fond of fire.
But at least an unknown creature like Dark Shadow was very afraid of fire, or rather the light of fire.
So Lock didn't have to do anything. Just holding the flaming sword in his hand was enough to make Dark Shadow look so cowardly.
Not to mention, he also had lightning magic at hand, which could counter Tokoyami's shadow-type Quirk.
"You should know your Quirk's weakness, right? So what should you do in this situation?"
Lock grabbed Tokoyami by the collar and lifted him into the air. Dark Shadow didn't dare make a sound and couldn't resist at all.
Tokoyami didn't struggle fiercely, knowing it was useless, and instead followed Lock's question in his mind.
"Although Dark Shadow is your Quirk, it's also your partner, right? But have you always made your partner bear the cost, without ever thinking of stepping up to take some of the pressure off it?"
In fact, in Lock's opinion, Tokoyami's Quirk and combat talent were both very good, although the shortcomings were also obvious.
Of course, the main problem was that Tokoyami relied too heavily on Dark Shadow.
He relied almost entirely on Dark Shadow to fight, and once Dark Shadow was suppressed, he would definitely lose.
In the original story, this problem was solved later, after Tokoyami went to Work Study at the Wing Hero Hawks' agency and was taught by him.
And what Lock was doing now was helping Tokoyami realize this problem in advance and correct it!
That is...
"Capture complete."
Lock took out another capture tape and wrapped it around Tokoyami's arm as proof of capture.
At this moment, another whistling sound came from behind.
"Watch me retrieve the nuclear weapon and make all the girls focus on me!"
Minoru Mineta, who had run behind the nuclear weapon, bounced himself out again using the elasticity of his Pop Off balls.
Although the angle still had his face hitting first, even if his face touched the surface of the nuclear weapon, it would still count as a success.
Seeing that Lock was still facing away from the nuclear weapon, it would be hard for him to rush back in time unless he had some long-range attack!
So a silly smile appeared on his face, as if he saw countless girls surrounding him and praising him for beating Lock.
"He's really hopeless."
Lock turned his head and glanced over. Minoru Mineta's delusional look left him a little speechless.
In fact, he had plenty of ranged options, but instead of using any of them on Minoru Mineta, he took a much simpler approach.
"There's a big naked beauty behind you!"
"Where? Where?"
Hearing Lock's words, Minoru Mineta didn't think at all. He subconsciously turned his head back and looked around.
With that turn of the head, his forward momentum dropped.
Which is why, in Lock's eyes, Minoru Mineta wasn't even worth counting as the fifth scrub!
Boom!
Lock turned around leisurely, slowly flew behind the nuclear weapon, and kicked him out.
It landed square on the face of Minoru Mineta, who had turned his head when he didn't notice the naked beauty.
Then, accompanied by a scream of pain, Minoru Mineta was kicked out like a ball, fell to the ground, and fainted.
Everyone in the monitoring room: "..."
Although they couldn't hear the audio on the screen, from Minoru Mineta's head turn they could almost guess what had happened.
This made the girls of Class 1-A look at the unconscious Minoru Mineta with even more disgust.
It was too embarrassing. Get him out of the class group chat now!
And after that, no one in Class 1-A cared about Minoru Mineta, because their eyes were immediately drawn to the next scene.
Lock, who had been holding Tokoyami by the collar, simply let go, and Tokoyami fell from midair!
Even if the height wasn't great, falling straight down like this could break bones!
"All Might, stop the combat training quickly and let Lock save Tokoyami!"
Momo Yaoyorozu said anxiously to All Might. She had never acted like a pampered young lady and would take the initiative to help classmates in trouble. Her personality was quite good.
But All Might just frowned slightly and paid no attention.
"Lock must have his reasons for doing this."
Unlike the first battle between Izuku and Katsuki Bakugo, where he had wanted to stop it several times because the two were obviously emotional and completely ignoring their surroundings,
Lock was a Pro Hero who had been working for a year and had already shed the label of a rookie who had just debuted. Logically speaking, he would never take the initiative to let go and deliberately make Tokoyami fall and get hurt.
Wait... maybe he had let go on purpose, but that didn't mean he meant for Tokoyami to get injured!
Sure enough, the next moment, Tokoyami called out to Dark Shadow and let it catch him in its arms.
Dark Shadow stretched freely and carried out a series of commands, yet it could still hold him in suspension.
And Tokoyami, held by Dark Shadow, stopped falling and floated in midair.
Flight!
This was exactly the technique Tokoyami had practiced, Black Ankh!
In addition, there was also Abyssal Darkness, which wraps Dark Shadow around himself like armor!
The change he made was to turn Dark Shadow into his assistant, with himself as the main fighter!
"Interesting!"
The corners of Lock's mouth rose. He had done it deliberately, and at the critical moment it had awakened Tokoyami's potential to step up.
This made him look forward all the more to what kind of performance a Tokoyami who was stronger than in the original story would bring at the upcoming U.A. Sports Festival!
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A/N: 40+ Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded.
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