Chapter 133 : Battle in the Ice Tomb

Geten's cold smile was a proclamation of war. He didn't need to say anything else. With one graceful motion of his hand, the entire ice cave we were in came to life. The floor beneath us, which had been slick, now grew razor-sharp ice spikes. The ice stalactites on the ceiling elongated downward like the fangs of an ice monster. And the walls around us began to creak, creating dozens of small ice golems that started to crawl toward us. He didn't just control ice; he was the ice. This entire room was his weapon.

"Kids," Mirko growled, her red eyes shining with a fighting spirit, completely undaunted. "Stay behind me. I'll clear a path."

"Negative," Edgeshot interjected, his voice as thin yet sharp as a thread, cutting through Mirko's plan. "Brute force alone won't work against him. He can create ice faster than you can destroy it. We need a strategy."

I stepped forward, placing myself between them. "Edgeshot-san is right," I said, my mind racing. I looked at the battlefield that Geten had transformed. "He controls the entire area. But that's also his weakness. He has to divide his concentration to maintain all his creations. We have to force him to focus."

I turned to the two legendary pro heroes at my side. "Mirko-san, you are our spearhead. Ignore the ice golems. Just keep moving forward, destroy anything that blocks your path to Geten. Give him relentless pressure." I looked at Edgeshot. "Edgeshot-san, you are our scalpel. Use the chaos Mirko creates to find an opening. Attack his real body, no matter how small the wound. Make him lose focus."

"And you, kid?" Mirko asked, grinning. "What's your role in this drama?"

"I'm the shield," I replied calmly. "The shield for the only thing that matters most in this room." I pointed toward Ryukyu, who was still lying helpless. "I will make sure not a single stray attack touches her. You do your jobs. I'll do mine."

They both looked at me for a moment, then at each other. There was a recognition in their eyes. In the middle of this icy hell, a first-year student had just taken tactical command. And his plan... made sense.

"I like this kid," Mirko said with a laugh, then she shot forward like a rampaging white rabbit. "ALRIGHT! LET'S PARTY!"

The fight began. Mirko was a storm of power. She slammed her kicks into the ice golems, shattering them to pieces. She leaped from one ice wall to another, each of her landings creating cracks on the ice surface. Geten was forced to focus most of his attention on her, constantly creating walls and ice projectiles to try and slow her rampage.

In the midst of that chaos, Edgeshot became a ghost. He thinned his body into a thread, sliding along the cracks in the ice, moving under the battle, approaching the ice pillar where Geten stood.

Meanwhile, my task began. A few of the remaining ice golems ignored Mirko and turned toward me and Ryukyu. I manifested both my Incursio gauntlets and faced them. At my side, I could feel spiral energy begin to gather as Nejire, though still weak, prepared to provide support fire.

In another part of the ruined mountain, the battle of Fat Gum's team against Re-Destro had reached a critical point. "I... can't... hold on much longer!" Kirishima yelled, his Unbreakable form starting to show cracks after taking blows from the stress giant.

Fat Gum himself had lost most of his fat mass, now in his thinner, faster form. "Amajiki, now!" he yelled.

Tamaki Amajiki, who had spent the last few minutes frantically eating strange crystals growing on the cave walls, was finally ready. "Chimera... Centaurus!" he roared. His body transformed. His legs became four sturdy horse legs made of crystal, giving him speed and stability. His hands were covered by giant crab shells, and from his back grew insect wings made of the same material. This was his strongest manifestation.

He charged at Re-Destro, while Fat Gum and Kirishima attacked from the sides, a desperate three-pronged assault. Their fight for survival was far from over.

Back in the ice cave, I felt the tide of battle begin to turn. Mirko and Edgeshot were an incredible team. Mirko's constant brutal force created chaos, while Edgeshot's deadly precision exploited every opening. Geten was starting to get pushed back. He couldn't focus on defense and offense at the same time against two top-tier pro heroes.

Realizing this, he changed his tactics drastically. He ignored Mirko and Edgeshot for a moment. He raised both his hands into the air, and the entire cave began to tremble. A cold far more intense than before filled the air.

"If I can't defeat you one by one," he said, his voice echoing with power. "I'll just freeze all of you together!"

He unleashed his Quirk to its maximum. No longer projectiles or walls. It was a wave of absolute cold. An instant blizzard whose temperature was dozens of degrees below zero swept through the entire cave, threatening to freeze us all into ice sculptures.

Mirko and Edgeshot, being the closest, immediately felt the impact. Their movements slowed, frost beginning to form on their costumes. I knew I had to do something. I stood in front of the helpless Ryukyu, preparing myself to withstand the deadly cold wave.

I braced for incredible pain. I braced for a cold that would pierce to the bone. I manifested my chest plate and helmet, trying to cover myself as much as possible. As the freezing air hit me, I felt Incursio react in a way I didn't expect.

Instead of feeling cold, the armor began to feel... warm.

The dragon's heartbeat in my chest accelerated. I felt energy from within me being drawn to the surface of the armor. A thin, nearly invisible layer of hot energy began to envelop Incursio. The ice and snow that hit me didn't stick; they hissed and vaporized into steam a moment before touching me. In the middle of the ice storm, I stood in my own personal bubble of warmth.

This was adaptation. No longer just a passive reaction. This was a deliberate, active response. After receiving Todoroki's ice and fire attacks, after training repeatedly, Incursio had finally 'learned' how to counter extreme temperatures on its own.

Geten stared at me in disbelief from across the cave. His ultimate attack, which should have incapacitated all of us, had been neutralized by the boy who should have been the weakest among us. His face showed pure shock.

I looked at my own gauntlets, which were radiating a slight heat. This armor, this power, continued to evolve, continued to surprise me. I grinned behind my helmet. I may have lost my weapon, but it seems I had just gained a new shield.

'It's...' I thought with an overwhelming sense of awe as I felt that protective warmth spread throughout my armor. 'It's learning.'