[Location: Underground Isolation Room]
"Round One," Reiji whispered. "FIGHT."
The air in the white-tiled room exploded into violence.
Reiji moved first.
[Style: Sub-Zero.][Skill: Ice Slide.]
He dropped low, propelling himself across the polished floor on a trail of frost. He aimed a sweeping kick at Tengai's legs.
CLANG!
A translucent golden wall materialized instantly in front of Tengai. Reiji's shin collided with it hard, the impact vibrating up his bone.
[Damage Dealt: 0.][Target Defense: Impenetrable.]
"Futile," Tengai stated calmly. He flicked his bamboo stick.
The barrier expanded outward with explosive force.
BOOM!
Reiji was launched backward, flipping in mid-air to land on his feet next to Kirishima.
"He's tough!" Reiji gritted out. "That barrier isn't just a wall; he can use it as a battering ram."
Across the room, Aizawa was already engaging the other villain, Sakamata (Deidoro Sakaki). The drunkard was swaying violently, holding a bottle of cheap sake.
"Hic! The floor is... spinny..." Sakamata slurred, reaching out a hand.
[Quirk: Slosh.]
He tried to scramble Aizawa's sense of equilibrium, but Aizawa's eyes flared red.
Erasure.
"Your parlor tricks won't work," Aizawa snapped, wrapping his capture scarf around Sakamata's neck and slamming him into the wall.
"Ack! My booze!" Sakamata gagged, forced into a hand-to-hand struggle with the Erasure Hero.
Reiji turned his attention back to Tengai. The monk-like villain stood perfectly still, protected by his dome of golden energy.
"Filth," Tengai muttered, his eyes closed in meditation. "Overhaul-sama wishes to cleanse this world. You heroes are nothing but germs infecting the host."
"Kirishima," Reiji said, not looking away from the enemy. "I need you to be a tank."
Kirishima smashed his fists together. His skin hardened, turning jagged and rock-like.
"You got it! I'm the hardest guy here!"
"Good. Because I'm going to use you as a cannonball."
Reiji switched stances.
[Style: Scorpion.]
"Cover me!"
Reiji teleported.
POOF.
He reappeared directly above Tengai's dome, descending with a heel drop wreathed in Hellfire.
CRASH!
The fire washed over the golden dome, but the barrier didn't crack. Tengai looked up, unimpressed.
"Wall of Virtue."
He expanded the barrier upward, launching Reiji into the ceiling.
THUD.
Reiji fell back down, but Kirishima was already charging.
"RED GAUNTLET!"
Kirishima slammed a hardened fist into the front of the barrier. The impact created a shockwave that cracked the floor tiles, but the shield held.
"It's too hard!" Kirishima yelled, recoiling as his knuckles bruised.
"It's not just hard," Reiji analyzed, landing softly. "It absorbs kinetic energy. Blunt force won't work."
Tengai thrust his palm forward. A flat barrier wall shot out like a piston, hitting Kirishima square in the chest.
"GAH!"
Kirishima flew back, crashing into Reiji. They both skidded across the room.
"Kirishima, can you go harder?" Reiji asked, standing up.
Kirishima wiped blood from his mouth. His eyes burned with determination.
"I can," Kirishima growled. "I've been working on a super move. But I can only hold it for thirty seconds."
"Thirty seconds is plenty," Reiji grinned. He summoned his ice sword in his left hand and ignited his right fist with fire.
"I'm going to thermal shock that shield. When I give the signal... you break it."
Kirishima nodded. He took a deep breath.
"RED RIOT... UNBREAKABLE!"
CRACK-SNAP.
Kirishima's hardening went into overdrive. His skin turned grotesque, jagged, and monstrously tough. He looked less like a human and more like a living jagged mountain.
"LET'S GO!" Kirishima roared, his voice distorted by the hardening.
Reiji moved.
[Skill: Teleport.]
He appeared on Tengai's left.
[Hellfire Breath!]
Reiji spewed a torrent of superheated flame onto the side of the barrier. The gold energy shimmered, turning orange from the heat.
Tengai frowned, shifting his stance to reinforce that side. "Heat is irrelevant."
POOF.
Reiji vanished. He reappeared instantly on the right.
[Skill: Deep Freeze!]
He blasted the heated barrier with absolute zero frost.
HISSSSS.
The rapid expansion and contraction caused the energy structure to scream. Hairline fractures appeared on the surface.
Tengai's eyes widened. "What?!"
"NOW, KIRISHIMA!" Reiji screamed.
Kirishima launched himself like a rocket.
"RED GAUNTLET... CRASH!!"
The Unbreakable fist slammed into the compromised spot of the barrier.
SHATTER!
The sound was like glass breaking, amplified a thousand times. The golden dome disintegrated into sparkling dust.
Tengai stood exposed, shock written all over his face.
"Impossible! My defense is—"
"Broken," Reiji finished.
Reiji was already in the air, his chain spinning.
"GET OVER HERE!"
The spear tip pierced Tengai's shoulder. Reiji yanked, pulling the monk off balance, dragging him straight into Kirishima's range.
Kirishima delivered a final, brutal uppercut to Tengai's jaw.
KO.
Tengai hit the floor and didn't move.
"Yeah!" Kirishima cheered, his Unbreakable form shattering as he exhausted his stamina. He fell to his knees, panting. "That... was... manly..."
Reiji walked over to the unconscious villain.
[Enemy Defeated: Tengai.][XP Gained: 2500.]
"Good work, Red Riot," Reiji said, offering a hand to pull Kirishima up.
Across the room, Aizawa was tying up the unconscious drunkard with his capture weapon.
"You two are loud," Aizawa sighed, though he looked relieved. "But effective."
Aizawa walked over, inspecting the cracked walls.
"We cleared this room. But the path forward is blocked."
Reiji looked at the wall where a door should have been. It was solid concrete.
"Mimic," Reiji growled. "He sealed us in."
Suddenly, the speakers in the ceiling crackled to life.
It wasn't Mimic's voice. It was deeper. Smoother.
"Well done, Kurobane. You broke the shield."
Reiji froze. He knew that voice.
It wasn't Overhaul. It wasn't Shigaraki.
It was the electronic, distorted voice of the Traitor.
"But while you play with the pawns... the King is making his move. Check your map."
Reiji pulled up his System HUD.
[Map Update: Priority Alert.][New Signal Detected: 2 Floors Below.][Signal ID: Mirio Togata.][Status: Engaging Overhaul (SOLO).]
"Mirio..." Reiji's eyes widened.
"He went ahead," Aizawa realized, seeing Reiji's expression. "He's fighting Overhaul alone."
"We have to go," Reiji said, turning to the solid wall. "Now."
"How?" Kirishima asked, barely able to stand. "It's reinforced concrete."
Reiji stepped back. He gathered every ounce of Spirit he had left. Violet lightning began to crackle around his body, mixing with the hellfire.
"If the door is locked," Reiji snarled.
He summoned the Netherrealm Sword.
"We make our own door."
End of Chapter 118.
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