Chapter 135 : Conquering the Blizzard

Incursio's reaction, actively generating heat to neutralize Geten's ice storm, was a turning point that no one in this room, including myself, had ever anticipated. Geten, the ice king, stared at me from his ice pillar with an expression of pure shock, as if a god had just seen his own laws of nature violated before his very eyes. His cold confidence was now shattered, replaced by confusion and anger.

At my side, Mirko laughed, a loud and spirited laugh. "So you're basically a walking space heater now, huh, kid?" she exclaimed, steam puffing from her mouth as she spoke. "Well then, don't just stand there! Heat up this dance floor for me!"

Edgeshot said nothing, but I could see from his now more relaxed posture that he too realized this shift in momentum. Geten's battlefield advantage had vanished.

"Now!" I yelled, taking the initiative. I stepped forward, and the faint heat aura from my armor melted the layer of ice on the floor around me, creating a safe, non-slippery foothold. I became the center of our counterattack, a warm, walking fortress in the middle of an icy hell.

Geten, snapped out of his shock by my movement, roared in anger. "That's impossible! No Quirk can neutralize my absolute temperature!" He refused to accept his defeat. He launched another attack, dozens of sharp ice spears shooting from the walls and ceiling, all aimed at me.

I didn't dodge. I manifested my chest and shoulder plates and stood tall, becoming a shield for the helpless Ryukyu. Most of the ice spears vaporized into steam a moment before touching my armor. The few that managed to penetrate my heat aura shattered into pieces upon hitting the hardened plates of Incursio.

Seeing his attacks were useless against me, Mirko and Edgeshot seized the opportunity.

Mirko was the first. Using the ice-free path I created, she shot forward like a white bullet. "My turn, ice man!" she roared. She leaped onto a wall, kicking off it to launch herself into the air, and descended upon Geten with a devastating axe kick. "LUNA FALL!"

Geten quickly created a multi-layered, incredibly thick ice shield to block the attack. There was a deafening explosion as Mirko's heel slammed into the shield. The ice cracked and shattered, but it managed to withstand her main attack. However, it was just a diversion.

While all of Geten's attention was on Mirko in front of him, Edgeshot had already moved. He had thinned himself into a thread, silently sliding along the ceiling of the cave, and now he was right behind Geten. "You focus too much on raw power," his paper-thin voice whispered.

He reappeared, and with the precision of a surgeon, he used his ultimate move. Thousand Sheet Pierce. He folded his body into an incredibly sharp needle and pierced through Geten's ice defense from behind, striking several vital pressure points on his neck and back in the blink of an eye.

Geten screamed, not in pain, but in shock as his body suddenly went rigid. His nerves were temporarily paralyzed by Edgeshot's attack. His control over the thousands of tons of ice throughout the cave wavered. He staggered forward, completely exposed.

Mirko didn't waste the opportunity. With a triumphant grin, she landed one final, powerful kick. Luna Tijeras. Her strong legs slammed into Geten's chest, sending him flying backward and crashing hard against an ice wall, before finally falling unconscious to the floor.

Silence.

As Geten fell, his active Quirk vanished. The remaining ice golems crumbled into piles of snow. The ice spikes became brittle. And most importantly, the entire giant ice cave, which was supported by his power, began to make a horrific groaning sound. Large cracks started to spread across the ceiling and walls.

"It's going to collapse!" Edgeshot yelled. "We need to get out, now!"

We wasted no time. Mirko, with one powerful move, bent the steel beam pinning Ryukyu, allowing me and Edgeshot to carefully pull her out. I checked her pulse. Weak, but stable. She was still alive.

"I'll carry her," Mirko said, easily lifting Ryukyu's limp body.

In another tunnel, Fat Gum's team felt the massive tremor as Geten's cave collapsed. Their fight against Re-Destro had become a nightmare. Fat Gum had returned to his skinny form, lying unconscious after taking a blow that should have killed Kirishima. Amajiki, after his Chimera Fortress manifestation was shattered, was also severely injured. Now only Kirishima was left.

He stood before his helpless friends, his Unbreakable form full of cracks, blood dripping from the corner of his lip. He was trembling with exhaustion, but his eyes still burned with an unyielding spirit.

"I..." he panted. "Will not... let you... touch my friends!"

Re-Destro looked at him, not with anger, but with something approaching pity. "A magnificent spirit," he said, his deep, stress-filled voice echoing. "You would make a fine foundation for our new world. But now... you must be destroyed."

He raised his giant black hand, ready to deliver the final blow that would end Kirishima's heroic resistance.

As the three of us—me, Mirko carrying Ryukyu, and Edgeshot—started running out of the collapsing ice cave, the communicator in my ear crackled. It was Momo's voice, filled with panic.

"Tatsumi-kun! Thank goodness! I saw Lieutenant Geten's vitals disappear from the MLA monitoring system I managed to hack! You did it!" Her voice was filled with relief. But then, her tone changed drastically. "But there's another problem! A big one! I'm tracking a large movement! Very large! It's Re-Destro! Fat Gum's team's vitals... are very weak! He defeated them! And now he's moving... he's moving straight for you! He sensed the fight ended and now he's coming to finish off the victors! Based on his speed, you have less than three minutes!"

The message hit us like a rockslide. We had just won an exhausting battle. We were all injured and tired. And now, the final boss of this mountain was on his way to greet us.

I looked ahead, toward the dark corridor where we had to run. Then I looked back, toward the tunnel where Re-Destro was coming from. I looked at the unconscious Ryukyu in Mirko's arms. There was no way out. We wouldn't be able to outrun him in our current condition.

Mirko and Edgeshot also seemed to realize the same thing. They stopped, looking at each other, a silent understanding passing between the veteran heroes.

"Kid," Mirko said, her voice serious. "You and Edgeshot, take Ryukyu and run as fast as you can. Don't look back."

"What are you going to do?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

She grinned, her usual spirited smile now having a dangerous edge. "I'm going to throw a little welcoming party for Mr. Stress," she said. "I'll buy you time."

She was going to face Re-Destro alone.

I looked at her, then at Ryukyu who had sacrificed herself for me. I remembered Midoriya destroying his body for Eri. I remembered the promise I made to myself.

I shook my head. "No," I said. "We're not leaving anyone behind again."

I placed my hand on Mirko's shoulder. I felt my tired dragon's heartbeat begin to pulse again, this time not with anger or pain, but with a cold, clear determination.

'We face him,' I thought. 'Together.'