"Damn it, you little brat!"
The Sludge Villain shook violently, his body writhing like a living mass of filth.
"To think I let such a perfect body escape—how dare you!!!"
As he raged, the sewers beneath the commercial street erupted. Foul-smelling mud surged upward, continuously clinging to his form. This endless supply of sludge was precisely why his body had grown to such an enormous size.
"I'm going to kill you, kid!"
For the first time, a grotesque expression emerged clearly on the villain's face. His right arm swelled as massive amounts of sludge gathered together. Wrapped in howling wind and accompanied by a nauseating stench, the arm swung down toward Igarashi Masata.
Watching the sludge monster complete this terrifying "transformation," even nearby Heroes—such as Kamui Woods and Death Arms—appeared momentarily helpless. Panic spread through the crowd gathered around the commercial street.
"Run! The Heroes' attacks aren't working!"
"We have to wait for a Hero with the right Quirk! If you don't run now, you'll die!"
At the edge of the crowd, Bakugo Katsuki, who had just escaped, turned back toward the battlefield—and his eyes widened.
"Hey! You guys don't look like Heroes either!" he shouted furiously. "What, are you scared?! Damn it—move it already!!!"
Masata ignored the arrogant yelling behind him.
Because the massive sludge arm in front of him had already locked onto him completely.
"With a body this size… brute force alone won't be enough," Masata muttered. "Using this will definitely cause trouble later. I might even get invited for tea by the police."
A fanatical grin slowly spread across his face.
"But right now, I don't have a choice."
"Let's test my new move on you!"
As his voice fell, Masata shifted his stance. His right arm drew slightly back—and like a valve suddenly opening, a tremendous amount of magma burst forth.
The lava didn't drip onto the ground. Instead, it wrapped tightly around his arm. As more magma surged out, it compressed and solidified into a massive lava fist.
"Spitfire!"
With a thunderous roar, Masata twisted his waist and hurled the gigantic lava fist forward.
It wasn't nearly as refined as the techniques of Marine Admiral Sakazuki—but the surrounding temperature skyrocketed instantly. The sludge coating the nearby walls began to hiss violently, and the moisture within it evaporated in moments.
BOOM!!!
The lava fist collided head-on with the incoming sludge arm.
There was no dramatic clash, no evenly matched struggle.
The sludge monster felt an overwhelming force tear through him. His arm didn't merely shatter—it was completely vaporized, erased by the searing heat. In an instant, he could no longer even sense its existence.
And the lava fist didn't stop.
"Being hit by that would kill me!" the sludge monster screamed internally. "I can't regenerate from something like this!!!"
All he could see was blazing red. The air twisted and warped under the heat.
Facing certain death, the sludge monster desperately gathered his remaining body mass, pulling it in front of himself and forming a rapidly spinning sludge shield.
BOOM!
The lava fist slammed into the shield.
The sludge monster poured every ounce of strength into his Quirk. The advance of the lava fist slowed—then stopped—just inches from his body.
His strength finally gave out.
The shield collapsed, and his enormous form shrank rapidly, returning to the size he'd been when he first appeared. He gasped for breath, panting wildly, relief flashing across his face.
"If I hadn't broken through my limits at the last second… I would've died here," he thought bitterly. "Since when did kids become this terrifying?!"
But Masata wasn't frustrated.
He wasn't angry.
He was smiling.
A wild, manic grin stretched across his face.
"Burst."
The sludge monster's eyes widened.
The lava fist that had seemingly lost its power suddenly flared with an intense crimson glow. Then—
BOOM!!!
It exploded.
Countless lava bombs erupted outward, shooting toward the sludge monster like a meteor shower.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!!!"
Each lava bomb carried tremendous kinetic force, and worse—molten magma clung to the sludge monster's body. Under the relentless heat, he let out agonized screams as his form cracked, dried, and burned away.
His body stopped regenerating.
It began to crumble.
A mass of filth on the verge of being burned dry.
"Hahahaha!" Masata laughed wildly. "This move of mine is pretty damn strong!"
He stepped on the sludge monster's collapsing body, hands planted on his hips. Tilting his head back, he stared up at the sky, an unrestrained, frenzied grin spread across his face.
"Stay down, you pile of mud! This is what happens when you face my magma!"
His laughter echoed through the commercial street.