Thick dust swirled in the air, creating a brownish haze that enveloped the center of the arena. There stood the protagonist, Midoriya Izuku, tense alongside his team. Cold sweat trickled down the temples of the green-haired youth. The burden of ten million points on his head was no longer just a number, but a giant target that invited predators from every direction.
Yet before the other ferocious teams could pounce, a strange large shadow cut across their path. Shoji Mezo's massive meat dome surged forward with surprising speed.
And atop that dome stood a young man in an oversized white shirt, its sleeves dangling and fluttering in the wind. His hands, wrapped in thick bandages, were hidden inside his trouser pockets. His deep black eyes gazed downward, locking directly onto the holder of the ten million points.
"Yo, buddy, having trouble guarding those high points?" Nabiel greeted, his voice drifting casually and slicing through the tension in the air. He tilted his head slightly, carving a faint smile that did not reach his eyes. "How about you entrust them to me for a bit? I'll take good care of them."
It should have sounded like a typical high schooler's joke in the middle of a competition. However, Midoriya did not laugh. The green-haired youth instead stared sharply at Nabiel. Midoriya's instincts, honed by danger, seemed to scream a warning. Behind that lazy demeanor and seemingly powerless posture, Midoriya could sense a peculiar intent, an absolute calm that had no place in this chaotic battlefield. Nabiel did not look like a student competing, but rather like someone playing with chess pieces.
Below Midoriya, Uraraka Ochako narrowed her eyes through the dust. Her attention focused on the small gap in Shoji's dome where Nabiel stood.
"Deku-kun, watch out! There are other silhouettes inside!" Uraraka shouted in warning. "It's… Mineta and Asui!"
Hearing his team's position exposed, Nabiel showed no panic at all. He merely sighed softly, finding the dramatization a little tiring.
"Asui," Nabiel called in a flat tone.
Hearing her name, the frog-Quirk girl inside the dome immediately understood. *Whoosh!* Asui Tsuyu's long tongue shot out from the gap at the top of the dome, wrapping tightly around Nabiel's waist. In an instant, Nabiel was pulled slightly into the air, floating with a relaxed posture like a puppet easily moved by its puppeteer.
Even though his position now depended on someone else's tongue, Nabiel still managed to comment. "If you mind, just say so, Asui. I'll consider going on a diet."
From inside the dome, Tsuyu's nasal voice replied without hesitation. "No need, you're already as light as cotton. I can't imagine how much lighter you'd be if you added a diet. You're already like a tofu mummy."
"Harsh…" Nabiel replied in a tone of mock offense.
However, the casual conversation ended there. Nabiel cleared his throat softly. His facial expression returned to a cold, apathetic mask. From beneath the oversized sleeve of his shirt, a silver glint appeared. His blunt tactical knife was now gripped in his bandaged right hand. With the help of Tsuyu's tongue maneuver, Nabiel prepared to launch toward Midoriya's forehead. His calculation was set: one precise swing, and he would twist this story's plot.
But the law of narrative seemed to reject the Outer's interference going too far.
Before Nabiel could give the signal to be thrown, the air temperature around them dropped drastically. The air that had been hot with sweat and dust turned into a bone-piercing chill. From the side, a giant wave of ice crept across the ground at terrifying speed, freezing everything in its path.
The freezing air surged upward. Tsuyu, with her frog physiology and extreme sensitivity to cold, reacted immediately.
"Kero! It's cold!" Tsuyu complained. Her tongue wrapped around Nabiel's waist went numb from the extreme temperature, forcing her to release the grip reflexively.
Losing his support in the air, Nabiel's body was immediately pulled by gravity. He fell freely toward the ground that was now beginning to be covered in ice.
"Nabiel!" Shoji shouted from inside the dome. With quick reflexes, the large-bodied youth extended one of his powerful arms outward, creating an emergency platform.
Nabiel did not panic. His physical instincts, forged over the past ten months, took over. The moment the tip of his shoe touched Shoji's arm, he used the momentum of his fall to bounce. Nabiel performed several backward somersaults in the air, a remarkably smooth and efficient acrobatic move, before landing perfectly back in his original position atop Shoji's hand dome.
He brushed the dust off his white shirt while letting out a long breath, then turned toward the source of the ice attack.
There, breaking through the cold mist he himself had created, stood Todoroki Shouto. His heterochromia eyes stared sharply, a strong aura of intimidation radiating from his body. Todoroki's team had arrived, cutting off everyone's path to claim Midoriya's ten million points.
Nabiel looked at the ice prince and scratched the back of his head, which did not itch.
"Ouch, looking for revenge?" Nabiel muttered, realizing that the earlier ice attack might not only have been to stop the opponent's movement, but also a slight "greeting" for the small point ribbon he had stolen from them before.
Seeing Todoroki and Midoriya now facing each other, the gears in Nabiel's head began turning again. The clash between these two main characters was the climax of the Sports Festival arc. If he intervened now, he would have to expend extra effort, possibly reveal more of his abilities, and most importantly: it would be very, very troublesome.
"This is getting a bit bothersome," Nabiel decided firmly. He tapped the top of Shoji's dome with his shoe. "Shoji, move away as fast as possible. We need to avoid this risk."
"Understood," Shoji replied. The meat dome immediately spun direction nimbly, Shoji's legs moving quickly to distance themselves from the main battle zone where the air temperature was becoming increasingly unstable.
Nabiel glanced back one last time. He saw Midoriya firmly holding his position, preparing to face Todoroki's ice assault. The Outer smiled faintly, feeling satisfied. Let the protagonists destroy each other for the main spotlight. He had returned the stage to its rightful owners.
"Good work, everyone," Nabiel said while slipping his tactical knife back under his shirt sleeve. He touched the point ribbons circling his neck, the result of thefts from Todoroki's team and several other small teams. "Our points are safe enough to pass. From now on, we focus fully on defending our numbers from other teams. Don't look for trouble if trouble isn't looking for us."
"That sounds like your life philosophy, Nabiel-kun," Tsuyu commented from inside the dome.
"Exactly," he answered lazily, once again hiding his injured hand in his pocket, ready to become a VIP spectator to the epic battle that was about to explode behind him.