40 Chapter 40 - Growth Within Crisis

Izuku clashed fist with a three-pointer, banging through its metallic armaments as if it were made out of paper rather than metal. With a grin on his face, the boy launched himself forward toward the other robots in the area, his eyes brimming with delight and an endless flood of inspiration.

As he moved through the area with agile movements that made him appear as a glowing green blur to the naked eye, his ears twitched in midair and he hastily shifted his gaze onto the far distance.

Boom!

Rubble and smoke erupted from nowhere, surprising all of the surrounding examinees with the sudden explosion. Then, through the thick smoke and loud clamors, the entire ground shook as the sound of metal clanking can be heard.

The metallic rumbling continued to echo, manifesting as the fear of the unknown.

Examinees who were closer to the smoke and dust tried to peek through it, but upon doing so, their eyes shot wide open in fear. Within a moment's notice, they turned tail and ran with fear creeping in their eyes.

Izuku witnessed their unexpected reactions clearly, and he continued to watch as more and more participants ran away the closer the loud metallic clanking became. He squinted his eyes as he dangled on the wall with just one arm, trying to see what was behind the thick cloud of dust.

'Oh, wait!' His eyes lit up as he came to realize something else. With a wave of his arm, strong wind pressure built up and shot forward, dispersing the cloud of dust ahead of him in one go.

He was still unused to his strength, so he didn't think of using it this way at first, but he quickly recognized that he can do so with his naturally witty mind. But his joy at his newfound discovery soon disappeared when he saw what was behind the cloud of dust and smoke.

It was a tall hunk of iron taller than the surrounding buildings, its mountain-like figure toppling over everything else in the surrounding vicinity. Each time it moved, the sound of iron rang like imposing explosions from a volcano.

Everyone instinctively ran away from it, fearing for their life and safety. They all knew they had no chance against the robot no matter what they do, so they turned tail and distanced themselves from it.

It was the logical choice after all. Who in their right mind would go against something that they couldn't possibly handle?

Only dumb bastards would try and take down that giant robot… or those who are confident enough that they have a winning chance against it.

Izuku remained unmoving on the side of the building, the green electricity around his body flared and crackled as his breathing turned erratic.

Within his mind, a certain figure popped up and overtook his rationality. It was the image of a man with an imposing back standing on the peak of a mountain, staring down at the entire world with his arrogant golden eyes.

'If Ryuji was here…' Izuku tightened his grip around the wall of the building, crumbling it into bits and pieces. 'If Ryuji-san was here, he would be fighting against the zero-pointer without hesitation!'

'Only those who challenge themselves to their limits would be given the opportunity to grow! To stand on the same footing as Kacchan and Ryuji-san, I must do this!' Izuku gritted his teeth and, with the soles of his feet planted firmly on the side of the building, launched himself forward at breakneck speeds.

From building to building, he hopped with immense force like a human catapult bouncing on rubber walls. Deep dents and craters were left on buildings, and the glasses were shattered into tiny fragments.

Izuku didn't care about the damage he brought and instead focused solely on the ginormous robot, his eyes gleaming with an endless fighting spirit that was ready to face any challenge that would come his way.

…

Ochako opened her eyes to a world of pain. She looked back at her legs, and she found them stuck beneath rubble and bent metal wires. She struggled to remain conscious, wavering between pain and the futile attempt at escape.

'It hurts…' She winced and gritted her teeth. She grabbed at the ground in an attempt to pull herself out, but she was too weak to do so.

On the other hand, if she remained calm and logical, she could have just used her quirk on the rubble behind her and lifted them up by switching their gravity, but of course, her pain would have clouded her judgement and caused her to not use her quirk which is practically just an extra limb at this point. It's not like it's human instinct to use their limbs when in pain.

As the giant robot came closer to where she was, her eyes started to tremble in fear. Her thoughts turned chaotic and erratic, and her breathing started to turn short and shallow.

'Somebody, please, help me!' The fear of death overwhelmed her mind. Instinctively, she tried to shout out for help but couldn't. Soon enough, she also noticed that the others didn't seem to notice her and ignored her helpless presence entirely.

They ignored her and her grunts of pain, focusing solely on their own survival. At that moment, it was as if something within her cracked, 'I thought… I thought we all want to become heroes?'

Just as she started to lose all hope for any chance at survival, she suddenly saw a green blur land right ahead of her. In fact, the green blur was only a few meters away from her and was pretty much beside her already!

'I-It's him! The guy from before!' Her eyes lit up, and hope returned to her eyes.

But, as she was about to call out to him, the boy's face started to twist and turn, a maniacal smile forming on his face.

"Yes, this is what Ryuji-san meant!" The boy muttered with burning eyes full of passion. "This insurmountable challenge that would push me past my limits!"

"There's no holding back now!" Izuku planted both of his feet on the ground and connected his core to the earth, stabilizing his body and creating an unbreakable foundation. Then, as the green electricity around his body crackled more and more, with his veins visibly glowing underneath his skin, the boy shouted in his mind, 'One for All: 100%!'

He shot up into the sky, and the wind roared while the ground caved in as if a gigantic meteor just came crushing in. Glasses and buildings all around the area shook and wavered, with the immense wind pressure threatening to destroy everything.

Izuku arrived right at the eye level of the robot with a crazed grin. His entire body tensed up as the endless strength coursed through every fiber of his being. With an unbridled heart, he sucked in a deep breath and shouted loudly for the entire world to hear, "DRAGON PARADIGM KICK STYLE: HORIZON CUTTER!"

He spun around in midair, creating a vortex that quickly formed into a small tornado. In the middle of the windy vortex of clouds and dust, Izuku's eyes shone brightly as he released all the built-up power within his right leg.

In one swift motion that took less than a second to fully accomplish, his leg shot forward at breakneck speeds and broke through the sound barrier and beyond. The wind that gathered around his figure dispersed into fearsome hurricanes that swallowed the entire area including Ochako, the helpless damsel in distress, below.

"Ahhhh!" Ochako tightly clutched onto the ground below her unless she wanted to be taken away by the winds like the rubble that was previously on top of her.

On the other hand, Izuku stared at the sky, entranced by the scene he witnessed. It was a sky perfectly split between the land and air, just like the name of the technique he executed—Horizon Cutter.

…

Katsuki flung himself forward at the ginormous robot with murderous eyes. Rapid explosions exploded from his open palms, propelling himself forward like a human rocket.

Below him, examinees ran away one by one just like what Izuku witnessed. And just like what Izuku thought, Katsuki was indeed ready to prowl on the zero-pointer with bloodlust.

'If I can't figure out how to condense my explosions with my mind, then I'll do it through sheer will!' Katsuki widened his grin as he hastened up his pace, arriving right in front of the robot without any hint of fear in his eyes.

The ginormous zero-pointer immediately noticed his presence and moved its gaze at him, staring down at his ant-like body with its penetrating red eyes. It lifted up its metallic arm and swung it at Katsuki, and in response, Katsuki simply moved away and flew around the robot with quick and agile movements in the air.

While he may not have the same raw power as Ryuji and Izuku, he was still an undeniably skilled kid with a lot of experience under his belt. When it comes to his quirk, he has already pushed it to its near limits with its usage.

He clenched his left fist and pressed it against his right palm, pointing it at the robot's head with a menacing grin. "DIE!"

A beam of blazing flames shot forward from his closed fist, sending it right toward the robot like a laser beam. Using the propulsion from the beam of flames erupting from his hands, he hovered in the air and swerved around to dodge the robot's strike.

As he felt himself nearing his limit from that one intense strike, Katsuki gritted his teeth and stopped his attack. Then, he erupted a series of explosions from his palm and distanced himself from the unmoving giant robot.

Upon seeing its motionless state, Katsuki's grin turned victorious and he taunted with a smug smile, "Ha! I guess it was just scrap metal after all."

As he laughed with exhausted eyes, the hair on his forearm suddenly stood up and he swiftly pointed both of his hands to his left, firing two explosions at the same time to launch himself to the side without a second thought.

In the next moment, a metallic hand came flying through as the zero-pointer robot whirred back to life. From the smoke around its head, its glaring red eyes stared at him, and immediately sent its other fist flying.

"Crap!" Katsuki tensed up his entire body and once again flew to the side, narrowly avoiding the massive fist of the zero-pointer. His arms ached from the constant stress his explosions brought him; however, the robot remained unfazed by his attacks as only a small chunk of its head was burned and melted.

"What is this thing made of?!" Katsuki cursed the proctors and manufacturers of the robots before promptly distancing himself from it and landing on the rooftop of a faraway building.

He landed on the ground with a tumble and roll, and he barely managed to stabilize himself from his fall. Leaning his back against the wall, he glared at the distant giant with trembling arms.

'Do I run away now?' He asked himself as he loosened the muscles around his forearms. 'It's not like I have to deal with that robot. All I have to do is gather more points and my entry is guaranteed!'

As he thought about those ideas in his mind, he suddenly smirked and shook his head, "Who the fuck am I kidding?"

"Of course, I'm gonna fight till the bitter end!"

Katsuki arrived right in front of the robot once more, his arms trembling from the sheer stress they were under while his entire body was sore from the constant movements he have been doing for nearly ten minutes straight.

Without Ryuji's enhancements, his body would have given out a long time ago already, but he was barely hanging on and could still put up a fight.

Just as he was about to fire off another explosion, Katsuki moved to the side and avoided another fist, dodging it narrowly by a mere few inches. Then, another fist came, and he barely avoided it too.

More and more attacks came in like an endless barrage, and each attack drove the point of contact closer and closer to his body. The gates of death seemingly started to open, welcoming his presence with warmth and joy.

"What is that boy thinking?!" The orb head guy stood up and slammed his hands down on the table. Immediately, he pressed a button on the side and spoke into the mic, "Examiner Bakugo Katsuki! I advise you to avoid having a direct confrontation with the zero-pointer!"

"You're going to experience an accident if you don't stop now!"

Katsuki didn't stop even after hearing the proctor's warning. instead, he quickened his pace and grinned madly, "Stop me if you can! I'll take down this robot one way or another!"

Just as he said so… a fist appeared right in front of him.

Time seemed to have come to a pause as his pupils dilated and widened. To have death be so near you, it caused his entire life to flash before his eyes in a matter of seconds, all the while the fist came closer and closer to his face.

'So this is…' Katsuki's grinning face remained unmoving in the world where time didn't move. 'Death.'

His mind then turned blank, and the light of brilliance flashed in his eyes. 'Ha!'

'That madman was fucking right!' Katsuki's eyes regained their luster as he ignored the threat of death outright. Instead, he swiftly moved both of his arms at breakneck speeds and used his accelerated thinking speed to his advantage.

'Refine your control. Instead of trying to condense the explosion literally, I need to release a series of small explosions with only a small gap in between, condensing the power of each explosion into a smaller surface area and allowing me to use it with more finesse!'

'Hahaha! This is it! The inspiration gained when facing the crisis of death!'

Katsuki laughed madly in his mind, and with a simple mental trigger, released an explosion from the tips of his palm. No, it wasn't just a single explosion, it was a multitude of explosions released within a split second!

"It's time for you to die, you clunky old hunk of metal!"

AN: This chapter has 2407 words.

I'm glad I did this because holy fuck are things gonna get hectic once Arc 4-King in Yellow (name subjected to change) ends. Hohoho, Myriad Illusions, Fictional/Unreal/Eternal Dream, King in Yellow, then Author of Fate!

Arc 5 is gonna end in a goddamn bang with a certain manipulative bastard getting that common NND Villain W.

Besides that, my writing style is so fucking mid. Like, ARGH! Okay, Reverend Insanity's writing style is actually mid as hell, well the translation I'm reading to be exact, so I'm gonna put that on hold and read Harry Potter or other authors I fancy because I needa grow bro.

(May 25, 2023 - 546th day of writing)