Rise

As I leapt towards the screaming Kazuho, Tomura and Kurogiri completely vanished.

Even with their presences gone, I didn't feel bad.

I didn't feel bad because of three things.

One, I couldn't see Tomura's level. His speed―at the least―was so much higher than mine that I couldn't even see him when he kicked things into high-gear. He was fast enough to take the Ultraphone from me when I was trying to push it into my Inventory.

His speed and strength eclipsed mine so dramatically that I couldn't even imagine defeating him if he was alone. That loaded on the second reason didn't make me feel too good.

Two, the unknown circumstances beyond the portal made sure that I couldn't learn about the location where I'd be fighting, how many people I'd be fighting, or the level of the enemies I'd be fighting. If I ran into 5 monsters on Tomura's level, I'd most certainly die.

Whoever "Father" was, he was most certainly stronger than Tomura. Based on what Tomura was saying, this "Father" seemed to know who Seiryu was. And if he was talking about the original, he must've been old and powerful.

I'd die 100% off the time if I had to fight someone like that.

Even if I could talk my way out of it―which I really doubted even I could sell that―I would only go through all that trouble to survive―not to get the Primordial Crystal.

The third reason was the most important.

My mother told me to escape any life-threatening situations immediately. If there was even one thing I had to do, it was stay alive.

If I were alive, I could try again. I could train for a few more months, get stronger, possibly learn the final skill of the Azure Dragon techniques, and try again at a different time. Time was absolutely on my side, and knowing I needed a Primordial Crystal helped me that much more.

If I could find another one, I could recreate the Ultraphone. And because I didn't receive a notification for having lost my Quest yet, I believe I could possibly still complete things.

For now, I needed to save Kazuho.

I was next to Kazuho in a flash. She was screaming in pain as her wrist was slowly eroded through. She met my eyes with troubled ones.

"Stay… away from me…!" She cursed, attempting to grasp her wrist.

I quickly grabbed her hand before she could touch the Quirk-infected spot.

"Don't, it may spread," I warned, Observing the spot. Because it was connected to Tomura, I couldn't get a proper read on it.

The next best thing was trial and error.

I healed Kazuho, three times, and even through her squirming and defiance. Her breathing slowed for a moment. Her wound disappeared as if it wasn't there. It seemed like her HP was back up to full.

"Why… why are you―" Kazuho was stopped when she gasped. Her gasp quickly turned into a volley of whimpers.

Where Tomura has touched grew into an open wound once more. The decomposed skin unraveled faster than before.

From what I could see, Tomura's Quirk has some sort of continuous effect that destroyed whatever it touched. It probably had a time limit, so waiting it out was an option.

I healed Kazuho again, not allowing the damage to build up.

The problem with waiting it out was that I didn't know how long I'd have to wait. With Midnight coming, I didn't know how long I'd be able to wait.

If I didn't have time….

"I'm truly sorry, Kazuho Haneyama," I apologized, healing her once more. This time I used a mana crystal, just to test it, but it didn't make a difference.

"Why… why are you apologizing…?" She asked, clearly mentally exhausted. Her body might've been healed by my skill, but that help wasn't extended to her mind.

Even with the image I had to uphold, even with the battles I'd faced, even with the skills I had, I could admit I wasn't ready for this.

I put one hand at the bottom of Kazuho's bicep, near her elbow, and the other hand firmly grasped Kazuho's hand.

"What's your favorite color?" I asked.

"Why would you―" Kazuho's voice cut into an eardrum shattering scream as I tore her right forearm clean off.

Tearing off her arm was the only option I had due to the time restrains I was put under.

I'd heal her after everything was said and done. I don't know how, but if I could level up Mortal Restoration to its max level, maybe I'd gain a new skill instead.

If that new skill could allow me to restore her limb, I'd be grateful. If not, I'd find some other skill that could do it. I wouldn't stop until I could heal her, because they were my actions that put her into a situation like this one.

This was the consequences of my actions, and I'd make sure to own up to them.

Now, to deal with the other consequence of my actions.

I healed Kazuho, bringing her HP to a perfect condition but still leaving her with one amputated limb. I looked to Kazuho's face, but she was completely unconscious. The pain must've been too much to handle.

I stood from my spot, Dashing to Manami's spot. She looked hurt, just as she'd been earlier. I tapped her with a finger and healed her. I checked on her condition once more and sighed upon seeing that she was fine, just unconscious.

With those two healed, I stood up and checked my phone.

The Primordial Crystal seemed a lot like a mana crystal if it was a lot more powerful. Because of that, the app Manami installed to identify high sources of mana should've been useful to finding where Tomura and Kurogiri went.

Compared to the last time, there were far fewer small signals around. That was a result of our training certainly. Something I noted was that there wasn't an overwhelming mana signal around U.A. anymore.

While I expected to not see it around the Ultraphone, U.A. was an entirely different case.

In fact, U.A.'s overwhelming mana was elsewhere.

It was coming straight for me.

Could that be another Primordial Crystal then?

The thought wasn't impossible. If it was a dungeon, it'd still there right now. My Quirk seemed to be the only thing that could activate dungeons, shown by the dungeons never moving before I interacted with them.

I'd also never seen a person who had enough mana to show up on Manami's app. Even my own mother, who I was positive was hiding strength that I couldn't fathom, didn't show up on the app.

The app only responded to monsters, mana crystals, and Primordial Crystals. U.A. had to have one of those things. The first was hard to imagine and the second would work if the massive signal was still coming from there, but that wasn't the case. With those two options impossible, the Primordial Crystal was the only one that made sense.

Either All Might, Midnight, or another powerful Pro-Hero was coming.

To stay or to leave, that was the question.

I had the answer in no time because I'd been running all day.

In fact, I'd been running for far longer than just today. I'd been running ever since I got my new Quirk.

Running wasn't all that bad, but the problem was that I'd run from my problems.

I ran from the skeleton boss, I ran from Dabi, I ran from my mother, and I ran from the kobolds. I ran from Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods, and it even felt like I ran from Tomura.

Most of the time running was the only reason why I'm still alive.

But… I didn't want to live life running away.

That'd make me feel like I could never confront my problems. That… that just wasn't the person I wanted to be.

I feel like I've had to step on my own dreams to succeed every single time I ran away.

I don't want to step on my own dreams to succeed anymore!

I could barely see the figure of a person in the distance. They were approaching at fast speeds. I couldn't tell if they were a big figure like All Might or if they were smaller like Midnight.

I kneeled down and braced myself, Leaping from the ground and Flying through the sky. As soon as I hit the ground again, I rocketed off again. I approached whoever had the massive mana signal at my maximum speed.

I unsheathed my Talons, sharp nails of mana extending from my fingertips.

I'd stay true to myself from now on, even if I'm wearing a different face.

As I approached my enemy, I noticed who I'd be fighting.

"Nemuri Kayama, submit to a higher power," I spoke powerfully, a grin rising onto my face.