Chapter 148 : Dance in a Cage of Hell

The silence that followed Toga's whisper on the communicator was more deafening than any alarm. I was no longer on a cleanup mission. I was the prey in the middle of a hunting party that had been meticulously designed for me. In front of me stood the lieutenants of the League of Villains—Dabi, Toga, and Spinner—backed by two sadistic Tartarus escapees and their army of the undead. The exits were sealed. Help was not coming. I was alone.

A cold fear tried to creep up my spine, but something else, something older and harder, pushed it back. It was the echo of the original Tatsumi's soul, a warrior who had faced death many times. It was the rage of the Tyrant dragon within me, roaring in anger at being caged. And it was my own cold determination, born from the responsibility and the promises I had made.

"So," I said, my voice distorted by the Incursio helmet, sounding calm and emotionless, a mask for the storm inside me. "You all did this just for me? I'm flattered."

Dabi just snorted, blue flames dancing lazily at his fingertips. Spinner raised his giant sword made of welded-together knives. But it was Toga who responded, with a cheerful and deadly laugh. "Of course, Tatsumi-kun! Shigaraki-kun really wants to know all about you! And I... I just want to see you bleed again. You look so handsome when you're hurt!"

Kagemaru, the corpse controller, laughed hoarsely from behind. "Enough talk! My puppets are hungry!" With a wave of his bony hand, the army of the undead charged forward.

They moved with an unnatural speed, their stiff limbs creaking with every step. I didn't retreat. I charged to meet them. This was a battle against time and stamina. I knew the League was watching me, studying my every move, waiting for me to get tired. I had to end this quickly.

I became a black storm in the narrow corridor. My Dragon's Fang slashed, not to kill the already dead, but to sever their limbs, to incapacitate them. I moved with a fluidity born from hundreds of hours of training, every movement economical and deadly. A slash to cut a leg, a thrust to shatter a spine, a kick to push another corpse against the wall. In their midst, Jirobo, the giant, rampaged, trying to crush me with his bowling-ball-sized fists. I used his large body as a shield, dancing around him while continuing to disable the smaller puppets.

From the sanatorium's control room, Toga watched with glee through the security cameras, her face flushed. "Look! Look at his movements! He's dancing! So beautiful!"

Dabi, standing beside her, just stared at the monitor with a cold, analytical gaze. "He's efficient," he said. "He's not wasting energy to destroy them completely. He's just incapacitating. He knows this is a battle of attrition." He turned to Spinner. "Now. Don't let him set the rhythm."

Spinner nodded and leaped down into the battlefield. "FOR THE SPIRIT OF STAIN!" he roared, swinging his giant sword at me.

His attack was large and powerful, forcing me to jump back. His presence changed the dynamic. I could no longer just focus on the corpses. As I parried Spinner's attack, Toga shot in from the other side, her knife aiming for a gap in my armor. She moved with the speed and agility of a cat, her crazed smile never fading.

I was now in a desperate three-way fight. I had to parry Spinner's giant sword, dodge Toga's swift knife, while constantly being pressed by the endless wave of corpses. I felt my stamina starting to drain. The constant partial manifestations—summoning leg guards to dodge, then retracting them and summoning gauntlets to parry—were beginning to take a toll on my body.

At Ryukyu's agency headquarters, the atmosphere was tense. "I've lost contact with Tyrant!" a technician reported. "His channel is completely dead. There's a very strong electronic jammer at his location!"

Ryukyu, who was observing a map from her office, gripped the edge of her desk. Her face was pale. She knew what this meant. "It's a trap," she whispered to herself. She immediately contacted Nezu. "Principal, we have a major problem. Tyrant walked into a trap."

Inside the sanatorium, I managed to find an opening. I kicked Spinner against a wall and quickly turned to face Toga. But as I did, I felt an incredible heat from behind.

Dabi had finally decided to join the game.

He didn't bother coming down. He just stood on the second-floor balcony overlooking the corridor and unleashed a devastating torrent of blue fire. The previously dark corridor was instantly illuminated by hellfire. The fire wasn't just aimed at me; it swept in all directions, burning the undead to ash and turning the metal walls red-hot.

I had no time to dodge. I could only cross my arms and focus all my will on Incursio's adaptation. The heat aura I had learned while fighting Geten reappeared, enveloping my armor. Dabi's horrific blue fire slammed into me, but instead of burning me, most of its heat was neutralized by my energy shield. However, its power was so immense that I was still pushed back several steps, and I could feel my own armor getting incredibly hot.

"Oh?" Dabi said from above, slightly surprised. "So the rumors about your weird armor are true. You can withstand my fire." He smiled, a smile that didn't reach his cold eyes. "But can you withstand this?"

He no longer shot fire at me. He aimed it at the metal floor and ceiling around me. The metal began to melt rapidly, turning into pools of liquid orange. The corridor was turning into an oven, and the floor beneath my feet began to soften and warp.

This was a cruel and brilliant strategy. He wasn't trying to beat me with his power; he was destroying my battlefield.

I leaped to the only part of the floor that was still solid, but now I was cornered. In front of me were Spinner and Toga, ready to pounce. Around me was a sea of molten metal. And from above, Dabi constantly rained fire down on me, forcing me to continuously expend stamina to maintain my heat aura.

I glanced back. Kagemaru and Jirobo were just standing there, grinning, enjoying the show. They were the key to stopping the corpses, but I couldn't reach them.

I was trapped. Exhaustion was setting in. Every breath felt like inhaling hot air. My vision was starting to blur a little behind my helmet's visor.

'This is not good,' I thought, my heart pounding. I saw Toga licking her knife, her crazed eyes looking at me with anticipation. I saw Dabi's cold smile. I knew I wouldn't be able to last much longer in this battle of attrition.

I had to do something drastic. Something they wouldn't expect. A final gamble.

I looked up at the now red-hot metal ceiling above me. Then I looked down at the melting floor below me. A crazy idea, a suicide plan, began to form in my mind.

I took a deep breath, ignoring the pain and exhaustion. I focused the last remnants of my strength.

'If I can't get out through the door,' I thought, remembering the words of the mentor from my dream. 'I'll make my own way.'