Chapter 153 : The War Plan Against an Eternal Winter

The underground briefing room at U.A., which once felt like a sanctuary, now felt like a cage. Outside these walls, the world was holding its breath, staring at an ice kingdom in the north with terror. Inside this room, we—the handful of people who knew the terrible truth—shouldered the burden of finding a way to fight a goddess.

The message from Hawks confirming that Esdeath was personally looking for me had changed the dynamic from a "national crisis" to a "personal hunt." I was no longer just an asset; I was the primary bait.

"This changes everything," Nezu said, his claws tapping on the surface of the holographic table. A map of Japan was displayed on it, with a massive area of Hokkaido now colored a threatening icy blue. "We can no longer just defend. She will not stop until she gets what she wants. And what she wants... is you, Tatsumi-kun."

"Hiding him at U.A. is suicide," Aizawa said in a hoarse voice. He hadn't slept in days. "It's the same as inviting a hurricane to destroy our home. We would be endangering every student and civilian taking refuge here."

"He's right," Ryukyu's voice came from the monitor, her face tense. "We can't fight her in a densely populated area. Her ice power is too destructive. Any fight in a city would result in an untold number of civilian casualties."

They debated for hours, running through various scenarios, but they all ended with the same conclusion: in a conventional fight, they would lose. No hero could match Esdeath's power to control the weather and create an endless army of ice.

It was then that I spoke up, repeating the strategy I had discussed with Akame, now with a much more horrific context. "Then don't fight her on her turf," I said, my quiet voice drawing everyone's attention. "We make her fight on ours."

I pointed at the map. "We can't fight her in Sapporo. We have to lure her out. Far from civilians. Far from an abundant water source." I zoomed in on a small dot in the ocean to the east of Japan. "An uninhabited volcanic island. Barren, hot, and isolated. We will lure her there."

"With what bait?" All Might asked, who had been listening silently all this time.

I looked at him. "With me," I replied simply.

A silence once again fell over the room. My plan was simple in its brutality. I would deliberately leak my location on that island, an open challenge I knew Esdeath couldn't refuse. When she arrived, when she started to turn the island into her personal ice palace, that's when we would launch our attack.

"This is not an attack to capture her," I explained, repeating Akame's insight. "This is an attack to destroy her battlefield. We need fire. Fire on a scale that has never existed before. We need the Number One Hero."

Everyone immediately understood. Endeavor.

"We will ask Endeavor to unleash his strongest Prominence Burn continuously," I continued. "The goal is not to hit Esdeath, but to incinerate the entire island. To vaporize all the moisture in the air, to melt every chunk of ice she creates, to turn her arena into a dry, hot hell. We will rob her of her weapon."

"That's a suicide plan," Aizawa said flatly. "You and Endeavor will be in the middle of that inferno."

"I have a resistance to heat," I countered, referring to my Incursio's adaptation. "And Endeavor... he is fire itself. It's a gamble. A very dangerous gamble. But it's our only chance."

Nezu looked at my plan for a long time, his super-genius brain processing every variable. "A scorched earth strategy," he muttered. "Radical. Dangerous. But... it has a terrifying logic to it." He nodded slowly. "We will consider it. But first, we must get Endeavor's own approval."

In her ice palace in Sapporo, Esdeath was enjoying her new order. She stood on a balcony made of clear ice, looking down at the now-silent, snow-covered city below her. No crime. No protests. Only a cold beauty and absolute compliance. Her Apex Front soldiers patrolled the streets, ensuring her frozen peace was not disturbed.

A few of her lieutenants, this world's version of the Jaegers, stood behind her. "General," said Wave, a young man with a kinetic armor Quirk, "our reconnaissance team reports null. No significant movement from the heroes."

"Of course not," Esdeath replied without turning. "They are terrified. They are hiding like rats." She smiled faintly. "But patience is a luxury I do not possess."

She turned to another of her lieutenants, a woman with a powerful perception Quirk. "Have you found a trace of him?"

The woman bowed. "It is very difficult, General. His draconic energy is very well hidden, protected by another, very powerful energy fortress. But we have managed to get an approximate location. Somewhere in or around the U.A. Academy near Tokyo."

Esdeath's smile widened. "Good. Very good." She looked to the south, in a direction she couldn't see but could feel. "So, you're hiding among school children, are you, my dear Tatsumi?" she whispered to the wind. "You think that can protect you from me?" Her obsession was a force of nature in itself, an inevitable hunt. "Don't worry," she continued. "Sooner or later, you will come out of your nest. And when that happens, I myself will come to pick you up."

A few days later, at his agency headquarters in Kyushu, Endeavor was reviewing damage reports from the Nomu attack with an angry expression. Since becoming Number One, his work never stopped. He was the pillar holding up a collapsing sky.

It was then that two uninvited guests entered his office. Nezu and All Might.

"What do you want, rat?" Endeavor growled at Nezu. "And you," he said to All Might, "why are you here? Shouldn't you be retired and knitting?"

"We come with a proposal, Endeavor-san," Nezu said calmly, ignoring his insults.

They explained the situation. About the new threat from the north, an 'Ice Queen' whose power was beyond logic. They didn't mention me or my other world. They just presented the cold facts: a villain with a large-scale climate-changing Quirk that couldn't be defeated by conventional methods.

Then, they laid out my plan. The plan to lure her to a volcanic island and ask him to unleash his fire power to its maximum, to create an artificial hell.

Endeavor listened in silence. At first, he looked angry. The idea that he had to follow a strategy designed by someone else, especially one that involved putting himself in extreme danger, was a great wound to his pride.

"So," he said after they finished, "you want me to be a giant matchstick for a gamble designed by your nameless analyst?"

"Precisely," Nezu said. "Because you are the only one in this world who can generate that much heat. You are the only one who can create the hell we need."

All Might spoke up, his hoarse voice full of seriousness. "This is no longer about being number one, Enji," he said, using Endeavor's real name for the first time in a long while. "This is about saving the world. The world needs your fire. Not as a symbol of power, but as our last weapon of hope."

Endeavor looked at them for a long time. He looked at the now-frail All Might, and the intelligent Nezu. He hated them. He hated his reliance on them. But within him, the fire of rivalry and the desire to prove himself blazed. The chance to do something that not even All Might in his prime could do... the chance to be the world's true savior... it was a temptation he couldn't resist.

"Fine," he growled finally. "I will turn that island into a sun. Tell me when and where. But if your bait fails, if that 'specialist' boy of yours fails to bring her there, I will not be responsible for whatever happens next."

The wheels had been set in motion. The main players had been placed in their positions.

The night before Endeavor and I left separately for our secret locations, I was allowed to spend one last night at the dorms. I had dinner with my friends. The atmosphere was awkward. They knew I was leaving again for a very dangerous mission, but they didn't know the details. I tried to act normal, to laugh at Kaminari's jokes, to listen to Uraraka's stories.

After dinner, I stood on the balcony, looking at the night sky. Momo approached me. "You're leaving again," she said, not as a question.

"Yes."

"Is it... dangerous?"

"Very," I answered honestly.

She was silent for a moment. "Then let me help you." She placed her hand on my arm, and I felt her Quirk activate. From her skin, a small metal object formed. It was a communicator earring, much smaller and more advanced than any we had used before. "This is connected directly to my family's private satellite," she explained. "It can't be tracked, it can't be jammed. If... if you need something, if you need help... just call. I'll be listening."

I took the earring, feeling the warmth from her touch. "Thank you, Momo."

At four in the morning, I stood in front of the U.A. gate. An unmarked black car was already waiting. I looked back, at the dark windows of the dorms. Somewhere in there, my friends were asleep. Somewhere out there, my enemies were waiting.

I stepped into the car, the door closing behind me with a soft click, taking me away from the only place I could call home. Inside my chest, I felt my dragon's heartbeat become steady and cold, preparing itself for the eternal winter to come.