Chapter 58: Vs All For One.
"Just a passing frost..."
All For One spoke calmly, nonchalantly dusting remaining shards of ice from his shoulder. The devastated clearing around them looked like a surrealist painting under the moonlight, where the blackness of the night and the wreckage of industry mingled with the glittering sheen of melting ice.
"Ice..." All For One began his lecture, his tone undisturbed, while a terrifying heat began to radiate from his body, making the air shimmer around him like a desert mirage. "Is merely an attempt to halt movement. To freeze me, you must dampen the energy of my very life force."
Beneath his impeccable suit, his skin glowed a dull, menacing red, like the core of a nuclear reactor on the verge of meltdown.
"Compound Quirk: Thermal Oscillation + Energy Amplification."
HIIISSSSSSSS!
In a single second, the remaining ice covering the vicinity transformed into a massive cloud of searing white steam.
"Physics remains physics, Kuzan," he said, taking a leisurely step toward the students, parting the curtain of steam. "Whatever you are doing now is akin to trying to extinguish an erupting volcano with a cup of water."
Aokiji ground his teeth, his eyes shining with cold defiance. "Then I'll drown the entire volcano!"
He raised his hand in a distinct snapping gesture.
SNAP!
The small, scattered ice shards littering the ground around All For One suddenly froze mid-air. In one fluid motion, every random fragment reshaped itself into a lethal, needle-sharp icicle—a Senbon. Thousands of them hung suspended, surrounding the villain from every conceivable angle.
"Rain Down!"
The thousands of needles launched simultaneously toward the villain, a deadly, crystalline downpour.
"Oh? Precise material control..." All For One murmured with a hint of admiration.
Instead of moving to dodge, he simply expanded the range of his thermal aura.
FSHHHHHHH!
Centimeters before the needles could pierce his suit, they all vaporized in a single instant. A dense cloud of superheated steam enveloped him, completely obscuring him from view.
Aokiji didn't waste a single second. He capitalized on the lack of vision, crouching low and slamming both palms onto the cracked concrete.
"Ice Age!"
RUMBLE-CRACK!
The earth shook violently. The concrete split open, and a massive tsunami of jagged ice erupted from below. It wasn't just columns; it was an entire glacier growing at a terrifying speed, aimed at swallowing the area where the villain stood and burying him under hundreds of tons of solid frost.
The ice rose to a towering height, blotting out the moonlight.
Bakugo stumbled back, shielding his face with his arms from the intense cold that froze the moisture in the air instantly.
A heavy silence fell. The ice mass looked solid, imposing, and cold as death.
Aokiji waited, his breath clouding in the freezing air. His eyes scanned the glacier, searching for any red glow. But the ice remained. It didn't melt.
Slowly, he lifted his head toward the sky.
"There!"
High above the peak of the towering ice mountain, All For One was floating calmly in the air, looking down at the frozen mass below him.
"I do not have enough thermal energy stored to melt all of this instantly," All For One admitted, his voice drifting down clearly. "Your ice production exceeds my current capacity for immediate dissipation. Therefore... bypassing it was the smarter option."
Aokiji clenched his fists, his mind racing at maximum speed.
Flight? Air shockwaves? Physical strength? Heat? And now Air Walk? How many quirks does this monster possess, for heaven's sake?
All For One descended slowly, stopping in the air at a safe height, looking down at Aokiji with artificial pity.
"What a waste..." the villain said, shaking his head sadly. "Sayuri Kuzan... that little flower who is just in the age of giving... she will wither so very early, and her life will end tonight because of this foolish decision of yours."
Time stopped for Aokiji.
Only the sound of his own heartbeat filled his ears.
The mention of her name... the direct threat... the vivid mental image of his little sister's death.
Something snapped deep inside him.
Thick blue veins bulged on his forehead and neck, and his eyes turned completely white with unadulterated rage.
"DON'T YOU... DARE SPEAK HER NAME!!"
CRAAAAAACK!
He didn't fire a beam. The ice split from his own shoulders and back.
Three perfect ice clones, exact replicas of Aokiji in his enraged state, detached from his body. They weren't mere statues; they moved. "Ice jet thrusters" formed on the backs of the clones, venting pressurized steam.
"Storm Legion: Kamikaze!"
FOOOM!
The three clones launched like rockets, soaring through the air toward All For One from three different trajectory angles.
"What?" All For One showed a delayed reaction for the first time.
Before the villain could raise his hand, the clones converged and latched onto his body in mid-air.
"DETONATE!" Aokiji screamed.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!×3
Three simultaneous ice explosions rocked the entire district. It wasn't an explosion of fire, but of pressurized, weaponized cold.
In that critical instant, time froze.
In the sky, All For One was instantly encased, transformed into a massive, suspended ice statue, trapped within a thick, dense cocoon of blue frost.
Simultaneously, the white shockwave from the detonation expanded as a giant ring on the ground, sweeping over everything in its path.
The wave hit the League of Villains at the exact same moment.
"Cold! So cold!" Toga screamed, hugging herself as frost rapidly crawled up the legs of Spinner and Twice, threatening to turn them into statues as well.
"Damn it, I'm gonna freeze!" Twice yelled.
A shadow moved among them with lightning speed.
"Get back."
Dabi stepped forward. He showed no fear.
He threw both arms out wide, as if embracing the oncoming blizzard.
"Blue Flame Wall."
WHOOOOSH!
A massive circle of roaring blue fire erupted around the League, forming a thermal dome that intercepted the cold wave the instant it arrived, vaporizing it immediately and providing a searing heat for his comrades.
On the ground, Aokiji fell to one knee, heaving violently. His body had become dangerously cold, his own skin cracking from self-frostbite.
Did... did I stop him?
Crack.
A small sound of fracturing came from the suspended statue in the sky.
Crack. Crack. SMAAASH!
The statue glowed bright red like the sun. The ice exploded outwards, turning into a deluge of hot rain.
All For One broke free, his suit slightly torn, steam pouring off his body in thick clouds.
"Magnificent..." the villain panted slightly. "You forced me to use my entire thermal stockpile to break that."
On the other side of the battlefield, Dabi lowered his hands after protecting his team. He turned slowly toward the exhausted Aokiji on the ground. Dabi walked through the thick steam created by the collision of fire and ice, looking like a demon emerging from the fog, his turquoise eyes shining with amusement.
"You caused a big mess, Ice Prince..." Dabi said, his voice deep and theatrical. "But it looks like you're out of fuel."
Dabi raised his hand high. A massive sphere of concentrated blue flame, the size of a small car, formed above his palm, roaring with a terrifying sound.
"Let me warm you up."
Dabi threw the attack. The fireball launched like a falling meteor toward the immobilized Aokiji.
"DIE!"
Aokiji stared at oncoming death, unable to lift his arm.
But...
Before the fire could reach him, a blur of movement flashed in front of him.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
A massive, chaotic, violent explosion ripped through the area in front of Aokiji. It was a sweeping, omnidirectional blast designed to wipe out everything in its path. The explosion collided with the blue fireball, shattering its cohesion and scattering the flames wildly in all directions away from Aokiji.
Katsuki Bakugo leapt from the smoke, landing in front of Aokiji in a fierce combat stance.
His right arm was still covered in traces of frost from the earlier wave, and his left gauntlet was aimed at Dabi, smoke pouring from it. Wisps of smoke rose from singed patches on his costume, and the tips of his spiky ash-blond hair smoldered red from the heat he had just deflected.
"Bakugo..." Aokiji whispered.
Bakugo turned his head slightly, his eyes burning with a complex mix of fury and confusion. He snarled, his voice trembling with the intensity of his emotions:
"Stop spacing out, you idiot! I thought you were a traitor... and I wanted to kill you with my own two hands! I don't fully understand what's happening here, and I don't get your damn plan... but don't you dare die! Don't allow anyone other than me to kill you, do you hear me?!"
The two stood together, fire and ice, facing the nightmare.
.
.