"Here we go!" Present Mic shouted as the students rushed into the long, tall, but narrow corridor. "What do you think we should take note of in this stage, Mummy Man?"
Erasure Head looked at the video, noticing over a hundred students pushing and pulling each other.
"This is it —" he said, his eyes narrowing. "— those who are a cut above the rest, will shine from the beginning."
Most of the students had realized what Erasure Head meant, too.
The first sifting had already begun!
A black blur tore through the air as the students underneath struggled to even take a step forward.
Craning their necks, they saw the same blond-haired boy riding a huge, black bird.
"Up your $%^, mongrels!" Nyx cried, her screech deafening the ears.
"Nyx!" Luke gasped, a wide smile planted on his face.
The narrow corridor wasn't enough for Nyx's High Complexity Gigantification.
Still, Luke wasn't limited to one complexity, and, if it was just about clearing the stage, then Moderate Gigantification was more than enough as well.
Seeing Luke effortlessly leaving them behind, something snapped within Class 1-A's students.
An icy breath escaped Todoroki's mouth as he waved his right hand.
In the next moment, everything around the tunnel's exit was frozen, ice pinning down most of the students.
Unconcerned with anyone, Todoroki ran to catch up to Luke, his right foot leaving behind a sheet of ice in his wake.
"Oh, no, you don't, fanboy!" Bakugo screamed. "And, you, half-half! I am gonna bury you all!"
Tiny explosions kept coming out of Bakugo's palms, pushing him through the air like a missile.
Meanwhile, even more students began using their Quirks to bypass Todoroki's sheet of ice.
Momo created ice skates and effortlessly slid on the ice. Yuga used the beam of laser from his navel. Mina used the acid, secreting from the holes in her soles. Mineta threw the sticky balls of hair, using them as footing.
Luke looked over his shoulder and saw Todoroki and others, realizing almost all 1-A's students had taken the lead.
That didn't surprise him, though.
Momo had talked about the different stages once, but had never gone too deep into it.
One thing was sure, though, from the way she had mentioned everyone, after the USJ incident, Class 1-A's students had become much bolder.
"Whoa! What you feed them, Mummy Man?!" Present Mic screamed into the mic. "In the very front, we have Luke! But can he remain in the lead? Haha!"
On the course, Luke's eyes suddenly widened.
As the course widened by twice its size, suddenly, enormous robots the size of multistory buildings sprang out from all sides.
The 0-Point Villains from Entrance Exams?! Luke remembered. But this… this can't hold me back…
"He wouldn't be flying like this if he knew what was coming," Erasure Head commented. "We designed the Obstacle Race, keeping flying in mind…"
"Yes!" Present Mic winked. "Get Ready!! It's time for the first barrier — Robo Inferno!!!"
As predicted by Erasure Head, Luke and Nyx flew up, trying to cross the faux Villains from above.
Midnight had clearly said that everything was allowed as long as they stayed on course.
Technically, if he went up, he wouldn't be going out of bounds.
However, just as Luke reached a height where the enormous robot's arms couldn't reach him, a hum buzzed in his ears.
Then, one by one, red dots began flashing in his blue eyes, his jaw dropping low.
…
On the ground, Todoroki stared at the gigantic robots, realizing what kind of enemies the students were up against in the Entrance Exam.
All those who had reached this point suddenly halted in their tracks as well.
Not only were there 0-Point Villains, but there were more agile 1, 2, and 3-Point robots as well, advancing toward them.
It was then they too heard the distinct hum, making them look even more, almost at the sky.
At a height almost twice that of the 0-Point giant robots, a black spot marked Nyx.
And, surrounding her, were dozens of drones, their single, red eye flashing bloodier as they shot toward her.
The students saw gobsmacked as Nyx effortlessly dodged the collisions, Luke still clinging onto her back. However, the drones were so many and so fast that she could barely advance.
Not to mention, coming lower meant facing the giant robots.
If there had been only one 0-point, then she could have easily maneuvered around it, but with so many of them, it was hard to keep track of all the attacks.
It didn't matter who thought it first, but all students who had arrived at this point realized something together.
If they wanted to snatch lead out of Luke's hands, then this was it.
This was the best chance they could have hoped for.
Todoroki's eyes suddenly hardened even more.
"I don't want to run behind you, Luke," he said as a massive, robotic arm came for him. In a circle, he swiped his right hand up toward the 0-Point Villain, his breath misting. "… since my old man is watching…"
With a stupendous show of power, an avalanche of ice shot up, hissing, freezing the entire multistory tall robot.
In the stadium, watching it on the huge displays, the crowd gasped, going wild in the next moment.
Meanwhile, up in the air, Luke's face gained a heavy frown.
As Nyx fluttered between the many drones coming at them, he saw Todoroki taking the lead after freezing the robot.
The point was that he could only use four Quirks on Nyx.
As per the Hero Registry and UA, his Quirk — Raven consumed enormous Stamina and could only be used within 50-meter radius around him.
It was also why Luke wasn't deliberately trying to hold himself back from winning the Sports Festival.
Coming down to Raven from Bioalchemy was the best handicap he could have gifted the children.
In Luke's opinion, if they couldn't beat him even now, then they just didn't deserve to win.
With a country-sweeping war upon their heads, they must learn some harsh lessons early on.
"Nyx…" Luke said, eying Todoroki. "Let's make it… a touch more interesting…"
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AN: Original image of the drones is available
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