As All For One and All Might clashed violently, Igarashi Masata was still trapped in the freezing grasp of absolute cold.
Sleep?
The thought flickered faintly through his fading consciousness.
For most people, this would be the moment to give in. If you can't endure it, then stop. After all, All Might is here now. Let him handle the rest.
But Masata was not most people.
If he fell asleep here… what if he never woke up again?
If he surrendered to this cold—if he bowed before All For One—then his road would end here. The possibility of reaching the summit would vanish.
He was already walking the path of the strongest.
How could someone aiming for the peak ever kneel before another—even if that opponent was the strongest of this era?
In this life, he would climb to the top.
He would stand above all.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
The scream never left his throat—but it thundered through his soul.
His trembling stopped.
The sensation in his body suddenly returned.
A violent aura erupted outward.
The fading flames on his body flared again—brighter than before.
The blackened magma coating his form shattered into ash, revealing something new beneath it.
Golden lava.
It flowed slowly at first—then surged violently, as if echoing Masata's fury and refusal to yield.
At that moment—
Heaven and earth seemed to fade.
This was no longer the pressure he had released at the training camp.
Nor the intimidation in the bar.
This was something entirely different.
Masata's spirit itself was distorting the environment.
Gravel rose into the air.
The already devastated ground split again with cracking sounds.
Even All For One—standing closest—felt thin scratches appear across his special metal mask.
"Thud… thud… thud…"
Around them, pro heroes, police officers, and even Gran Torino, who had tried to approach, dropped to one knee—or collapsed outright.
Only two remained standing.
All For One.
All Might.
And then—
Masata broke free.
The golden lava slipped from All For One's ice-blue palm and reassembled on the ground.
Like a rebirth.
Like something newly crowned.
Masata reformed in human shape.
He gasped for breath.
His skull felt like it had been pierced by a thousand needles. The pain was overwhelming—threatening to scatter his thoughts.
In the past, this pain would have shattered his control.
But now—
He held his form effortlessly.
He did not collapse into magma.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
All Might stared in disbelief.
He had never imagined Masata could erupt like this in such desperation—shattering All For One's suppression through sheer will.
All For One, too, felt something unfamiliar.
Fear.
His heartbeat accelerated beneath the metal mask.
When was the last time anyone made him feel pressure like this?
Not even All Might had done so in years.
"What kind of power is this…?"
He looked down at his palm.
The ice-blue glow had faded.
Replaced by red burns.
Even with his vast array of Quirks, there was a limit to how much temperature he could absorb.
And he had reached it.
Masata shook his head, as if trying to fling away the stabbing pain.
"I'm not entirely sure myself," he admitted calmly.
Something new had awakened inside him.
A force he had never consciously touched before.
He looked at All For One and grinned.
"Thank you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known this power existed."
Ironically, All For One had always triggered Masata's growth.
Their first encounter awakened his elemental transformation.
Now—
This.
Whether it was elemental fusion or this overwhelming aura, both were leaps in power.
The cost had been near death.
But the reward was real.
All For One's calm façade shattered.
Being pressured by a high school student?
This was humiliation.
Only All Might was worthy to stand against him.
He flicked his fingers in rapid succession—faster than the speed of sound.
A thunderous sonic crack tore through the air.
Solidified air bullets shot toward Masata.
"Biu! Biu! Biu!"
The projectiles pierced straight through Masata's body, punching clean holes in his torso.
Golden lava flowed from the wounds.
Masata tilted his head and smiled.
"That's it?"
The holes sealed instantly.
Effortlessly.
Something fundamental had changed.
Elementalization was no longer a technique he consciously activated.
It was instinct.
He wasn't transforming into magma anymore—
He was magma.
Fully fused.
Fully integrated.
He stepped forward.
"Come on," he taunted. "Absorb my temperature again."
"Let's see if you don't explode."
He spread his arms, completely unguarded.
Mocking.
Provocative.
"You little—!"
All For One's fury finally erupted.
He ignored All Might entirely and pointed at Masata.
"[Muscle Augmentation], [Explosive Force] ×4, [Arm Strength Enhancement] ×3, [Hypertrophy], [Temperature Absorption], [Ice Generation]!"
His right arm swelled grotesquely.
Jagged ice spikes formed along its surface.
Frost rolled outward in suffocating waves.
"I'll see how you block this!"
In less than a blink, he crossed the distance.
The freezing arm slammed toward Masata.
The air around them crystallized.
Masata felt the biting cold brush his skin.
But instead of freezing—
His blood boiled.
His entire being ignited.
"So it's magma versus ice?"
He smiled.
"Perfect."
...
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