The forest was quiet in a way that wasn't natural. The normal sounds had stopped a while ago, and what remained was heavy air and darkness that didn't let anything through.
Zoro moved between the trees with slow, calculated steps. Every breath cost him something. The wound in his side hadn't fully closed, and the faint trembling in his right hand hadn't stopped. But his eyes were open to the forest in a way that was different from ordinary looking.
Behind him. At a distance that was hard to pin down. Something moving.
Not an earth beast. Not a student. Something quieter than that. Something that chose carefully where to put each foot.
So Muscular failed.
Mr. Compress sat on a thick branch high above the ground, his eyes never leaving the shape moving through the trees below. The man who had brought down Muscular was walking alone now, his body visibly worn. A clean opportunity if handled correctly.
Shigaraki warned us. He was right.
Zoro continued walking without anything changing on his face. One step. Another. His left hand hanging in a completely natural position at his side.
Then in a single moment that had no preparatory movement before it, he drew and released the strike.
The air split in a straight line toward the branch.
Mr. Compress jumped backward in the last instant. The strike cut through the branch he'd been on and left a clean line in the wood. He moved between trees quickly and when he landed on another trunk, his heart was beating in a way he wasn't accustomed to.
How did he know exactly where I was?
There had been no sound. No movement that gave him away. The man had been looking in the opposite direction.
From below, Zoro raised his head and his eyes found Mr. Compress quickly between the trees. He said nothing. He started moving.
Mr. Compress launched between the treetops, moving from branch to branch with practiced ease. Below him Zoro cut across the ground at whatever speed his tired body could still produce. Another strike rose toward him, cutting the branch to his right by a narrow margin. He jumped left.
He's following me. That's what I need.
Mr. Compress caught the next branch and mapped the route in his mind. Ahead at a workable distance, in the depression between two thick trees, the pink gas still sat dense. Mustard hadn't been far from that area when he'd passed through it earlier.
Since you want to follow me like this...
He adjusted his direction by a small degree. The kind of change no one notices unless they know the forest well.
Zoro felt the adjustment but the trail was visible and his target was clear. He continued the chase.
The air changed before he saw it. Something in its taste, in its weight. But by the time he understood what that meant, the pink cloud had wrapped around him from every side.
His throat tightened first. Then his lungs refused entirely. Zoro stopped and grabbed the nearest tree trunk, his knuckles white against the wood as he tried to limit the breath coming in.
From above, Mr. Compress paused for one second and looked down.
Then he moved quietly in the opposite direction and disappeared into the dark.
Zoro exhaled the poisoned air completely and retreated a few unsteady steps out of the cloud. He went down on one knee, breathing air that was somewhat less contaminated. Cold anger, not hot, settled in his gut.
Well played. Used the chase and dragged him in. A professional move.
He looked at the dark that had swallowed Mr. Compress. No trace left.
"Damn."
Elsewhere in the forest, Mr. Compress found Dabi and Twice standing in a clearing between trees.
"Muscular." Mr. Compress said it without preamble. "He didn't complete the mission. The swordsman put him down." A pause. "He chased me through the forest. I led him into Mustard's gas to get clear of him. He would have cut me otherwise."
Twice laughed loudly. "Muscular lost? Are you serious? That's hilarious! No wait, that's horrifying!"
"No." Dabi didn't look surprised. He looked toward the forest with calm eyes. "What's interesting..." He paused. "Is that Muscular enjoyed breaking heroes." A beat. "But that swordsman broke him first."
"How do we handle him now?" Mr. Compress asked.
Dabi smiled, faintly, the expression not reaching his eyes. "The prey came to us on its own two feet and walked into our territory." He looked at the forest around him. "I know how we catch it."
In another part of the forest, Midoriya was running with Full Cowl fully active.
Bakugo. What's happening with him right now. He heard Mandalay's announcement. He knows he's targeted. But he's never going back on his own. Not him.
The danger appeared before he saw it.
Something sharp in the air. Instinct pushed Full Cowl to its highest point in an instant, Midoriya jumped right and the lethal strike passed beside him by a margin that didn't deserve a name, but something massive and solid took him from the side and carried him behind a large tree.
Shoji. His left arm was bleeding.
"Quiet." Shoji kept his voice to almost nothing, his back flat against the trunk.
Midoriya breathed fast and dropped his voice. "What's happening? What hit you?"
From between the trees ahead, a shape emerged.
Tokoyami. But the shadow he carried wasn't under his control. Dark Shadow was enormous in a way that wasn't normal, filling the space around him, its eyes burning with dense red. Tokoyami had both hands pressed against his head, the expression on his face like someone pulling a rope that was about to snap.
"Get away from me." His words came out muffled and struggling. "I can't control it anymore. The darkness is too thick here and it keeps... growing."
Shoji spoke to Midoriya in a voice that didn't go past his ear. "I caught you before it reached you. This situation is dangerous. I can't walk away and leave him like this."
He looked directly at Midoriya. "You were heading to Bakugo. Are you going to stay and help me, or are you going?"
Midoriya's heart pulled in two directions at once. Bakugo was targeted and time was running out. And Tokoyami was here in a state no one could manage alone.
He thought. The forest at night meant complete darkness, and that was what was feeding Dark Shadow. The darkness was the problem.
Midoriya raised his head and something in his eyes shifted.
"We don't stop Tokoyami." He said it with sudden certainty. "We change the environment." He looked at Shoji. "Light weakens Dark Shadow. We need a large light source. Close to here."
Shoji studied him for a second. Then nodded.
In another part of the forest, Bakugo and Todoroki were carrying a student from Class 1-B, unconscious from the gas he'd inhaled. His weight distributed between them as they pushed through the trees.
Then Todoroki stopped.
From ahead, in the open space between two trees, Moonfish stood waiting. Blades extended from between his teeth like living weapons, blood staining his chin, and the sound of metal coming from every movement he made. His eyes were empty and fixed on them.
Todoroki slowed and measured the distance. "Bakugo. You heard the announcement. We're specifically targeted. The smart move is to carry this student and find another route."
"Half and Half." Bakugo kept his voice low but something in it was compressed. "I see a monster in front of us blocking our path. What exactly are you suggesting? We run and let him stab us from behind?"
Moonfish took one step forward, the blades extending themselves in the air.
"I didn't say run." Todoroki replied, a small flame beginning to form on his left hand. "I said find another route. Big difference."
"And if there is no other route?"
Moonfish jumped.
.
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For Advanced Chapters:
Chapter 82 is Available now
A Forgotten Legacy and a Beast in the Dark
An exciting dialogue between Zoro and All For One.
Now All For One knows the truth about Zoro.
Zoro is in danger while the others are on their way to rescue him.
What will happen in the end?
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