Golden Pressure

The cheers died again. Stain should not have been able to move.

His body was broken. Blood ran down his face. His breathing was ragged. His limbs trembled from the damage Air Shatter had dealt.

Yet his will had not fallen.

Stain's crimson eyes burned in the dark.

"This society is crawling with fakes," he said. "And criminals who misuse power without purpose are no better."

His voice rose, raw and fanatical. "They must all be corrected. Everything is for a just society."

Endeavor arrived in a burst of flame.

The crowd cried out in relief.

"Endeavor is here!"

"We're saved!"

Then Endeavor saw Stain.

"The Hero Killer..."

Flames wrapped around his fist as he lunged forward.

But before the strike landed, Stain's murderous intent exploded across the street. Endeavor stopped cold.

People froze where they stood. Some dropped to the pavement, trembling so hard their teeth chattered.

Pro Heroes who had faced villains for years found themselves frozen under the weight of one man's conviction. Stain's body was failing.

His will was not. On the rooftop, Shigaraki grinned.

"Not bad, Stain. Even Endeavor froze."

Kurogiri's mist shifted. "Stain's will and murderous intent are extraordinary. After killing so many heroes, he can overwhelm people without even using his Quirk."

Shigaraki scratched at his neck.

"As long as Yuto dies, I don't care."

Then his smile froze. Yuto had stepped forward.

He was tired. His body hurt.

His breathing was rough. But he walked toward Stain anyway.

Stain looked at him. "Yuto Kanzaki."

Yuto felt the pressure hit him and dig in.

For an instant, he was back at the Sports Festival, standing before Endeavor with something wild and golden tearing open inside his chest.

Conqueror's Haki.

He still did not control it.

He could not call it out at will.

But Stain's pressure struck the same door.

This time, the door opened wider.

Golden light flashed in Yuto's eyes.

The air around him trembled.

A pressure of his own rose from his heart and spread outward. It was not blood-red.

It was gold. The golden pressure crashed against Stain's blood-red murderous intent.

Lightning-like cracks flashed overhead. The clouds above Hosu split apart as if the sky itself had been torn open.

No one understood what they were seeing.

All they knew was that two wills were colliding in the street below.

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