The most luxurious hotel on the island rose like a lighthouse of glass and steel in the middle of the night. Over seventy floors of pure opulence, illuminated by golden lights that reflected off the dark sea surrounding it.
Even completely sealed off by the island's security protocols—doors locked, entry and exit access blocked—it still maintained an imposing and elegant aura, as if the architecture itself refused to appear vulnerable.
On the 69th floor, in the penthouse of one of the most exclusive rooms, the silence of the hallway contrasted with the last echoes of muffled moans coming from inside the suite.
The sounds ceased.
Between rumpled sheets, Igneel let out a long gasp of relief.
"WOW! That was insane…!"
He was sweaty, breathing heavily, buried in the covers as he tried to catch his breath. He attempted to shift, but froze mid-movement.
"Ow!"
He lifted his leg slightly beneath the sheet, massaging it.
"I'm even getting a cramp…" he muttered, lightly slapping his own leg. "We should've recorded that, it was incredible."
The woman beside him slowly turned her head. A beautiful blonde with navy blue eyes that seemed to evaluate everything with precision. Valentina Moretti—known to many simply as Cargirl—raised an eyebrow.
"Are you serious?"
"What?" he replied, still breathless. "Don't you see how fucking sweaty I am? It's been a while since I sweated like this. Actually… the last time I sweated was in my first four years of life."
Valentina tilted her head, analyzing him.
"I see… but we barely lasted thirty seconds."
"Come on!" Igneel immediately turned his face toward her, offended. "It was at least two minutes… and fifteen seconds."
"Wow." Valentina feigned surprise. "An Olympic athlete."
Igneel turned to the opposite side, pulling the sheet and trying to salvage some dignity.
"You know we have to do it again, right?" she commented casually.
"I know… I know…" he replied, already closing his eyes. "I just need an interva—"
The vibrating cell phone on the nightstand cut his sentence in half.
Igneel muttered something unintelligible and stretched out his arm.
"Who the hell is calling me at this hour…? I hope it's not that bastard Lule..."
He grabbed the device.
His eyes widened.
"Oops! Be right back."
He stood up quickly, almost tripping.
"Who is it?" Valentina asked, curious.
"It's my bro menino Ney (Neymar)." Igneel replied before answering and leaving the room, speaking on the phone.
Valentina was left alone in bed, letting out a disappointed sigh.
"He's lucky he's my type…" she murmured, crossing her arms. "And still top 1 of a country. Otherwise, I would've kicked him out half-naked after the fastest first round I've ever had in my life."
She turned her gaze to the panoramic windows that covered the entire wall. The island city sparkled below like a carpet of jewels. Golden reflections danced on the ocean.
"But it wasn't that bad…"
Then her eyes narrowed.
In the distance, the great tower dominated the horizon. Red lights blinked around it, repeatedly.
"Is that normal…?"
The question had barely finished forming when an explosion erupted from the side of the tower, on the 80th floor.
Then a second large green explosion occurred, shooting what appeared to be a green beam in the opposite direction at extremely high speed, slicing through the night sky like green line.
Valentina's eyes widened.
"Ma che…?!" (What the...?!)
Igneel returned to the room, still with the phone to his ear.
"Não, mano, eu tô falando sério, depois a gente marca—" (No, bro, I'm serious, we'll set it up later—)
He stopped.
He saw Valentina standing in front of the window, completely motionless.
"What's with that deer-in-the-headlights look?"
He followed her gaze.
His eyes also widened.
The phone nearly slipped from his hand.
"…puta merda." (…holy shit.)
----------------------------------------
Behind the dense shrubs of the Botanical Garden, the rest of the group watched the scene unfold, their blood running cold.
"Th-those robots…" Sero began, his voice faltering as he leaned forward slightly to get a better look. "They don't look like—"
"Like the one that appeared at the USJ?!" Kaminari finished, pointing with a trembling finger.
His arm was shaking so much he could barely keep it steady.
Melissa brought her hand to her mouth, eyes wide.
"No way… Are those…?"
Could those be the same robots her father and the other researchers had spent months trying to study?
Momo grabbed Jiro's arm tightly.
"They're identical…" Jiro murmured, a chill running down her spine. "That can't be a coincidence."
"But why would they be here?" Momo whispered, her mind already trying to piece things together.
Midoriya kept his gaze fixed on the Sentinels, noting how they completely ignored the hidden group and focused solely on Ryo.
"They want to kill him…?"
His heart tightened.
"Is the League of Villains on the island? But how did they get in? And why?"
The two Sentinels tilted their metallic bodies slightly, the air around them seeming to grow denser.
"What are we going to do…?" Iida asked, equally tense.
"There's no way for us to run," Todoroki replied. "We're probably trapped on this floor with them. If we try to flee, they'll intercept us."
Midoriya forced his brain to work.
"Dammit! I have to do something, but why can't I move…?!"
Before he could think further, footsteps echoed nearby.
Daigo and Nobu approached them.
"Hey! Don't even think about running!" Daigo muttered.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the square.
Dash kept his fists clenched, sweat rolling down the side of his face.
"These guys… Aren't they from that League of Villains? How did they end up here?"
He glanced at Ryo, who remained with his eyes locked on the Sentinels.
The Sentinels moved at once.
The ground sank beneath their metal feet.
"Takeda!" Dash warned.
He tried to move, but Ryo extended his hand sideways to stop him.
The two Sentinels lunged forward like projectiles.
A double punch struck Ryo, who defended with his arms. He crossed his forearms reflexively, blocking the direct blow—the impact made the air explode around them.
The plaza floor cracked into a web of deep lines.
Even while defending, Ryo was pushed back, his feet carving furrows into the ground.
The Sentinels increased their output.
Hidden thrusters on their backs activated with a yellowish glow.
And in an instant, the trio tore through the garden. Ryo was slammed into the back wall with enough force to shatter the concrete.
More impacts followed one after another as he was dragged through the Tower until they burst out of the structure.
The night wind cut against Ryo's face as he was driven out of the building. The city glittered below, like a sea of distant lights.
"Alright…"
Ryo broke free from their strike and then grabbed both Sentinels by the head with his hands.
"Now that we're far from everyone else, let's fight for real…" His grip on the metal heads tightened. "But first… let's take a trip to the sea."
The greenish aura around his body intensified as he increased the percentage he was using.
The circles on the soles of his shoes glowed brightly before he unleashed a powerful gamma blast from his feet. The windows of the I-Tower just behind him shattered from the shockwave as Ryo was launched in the opposite direction like a green comet.
He carried the two Sentinels through the night sky at hyperpsonic speeds, reaching an impressive Mach 50 and still accelerating, propelling himself continuously with powerful bursts.
He crossed from the center of the island to the edge in an instant, roughly 2.5 kilometers traversed at over 25,000 meters per second.
To any distant observer, it was merely a green streak tearing through the dark—a luminous scar that sliced across the sky in moments.
Sound couldn't keep up, as his speed outstripped the distant echoes of his own explosions. Only seconds later did the shockwave detonate behind him as he slowed, scattering clouds and making the sea surface below ripple violently.
Ryo's grip on the Sentinels' heads tightened, fingers digging into reinforced plating—and he twisted his body with such force it created a visible vortex in the air.
"Let's end this."
He hurled them.
The two robots shot forward like ragdolls, spinning uncontrollably as their systems scrambled to adjust to the absurd velocity.
Ryo vanished.
A green detonation marked where he'd stood.
He reappeared between them, his body perfectly aligned along the collision axis.
Both hands open, palms extended.
A deep thrum reverberated through the air as his hands simultaneously made contact with each Sentinel's torso.
"Since the League of Villains is here..." his voice came out low, controlled. "I won't hold back for a single millisecond."
Energy Release: Internal Razor Beam
The interior of the metal torsos glowed an intense green. It wasn't a normal explosion—they were ultra-thin beams, vibrating at extreme frequencies, forming what looked like geometric patterns within the structures.
For a second, the Sentinels remained intact.
Until an explosion erupted from the inside out, destroying and disintegrating 70% of their bodies, scattering incandescent fragments across the sky before the remaining pieces plunged into the ocean.
Ryo remained suspended above the sea, his green aura rippling gently around his body.
His gaze hardened.
"Shigaraki is here too?"
His fists clenched abruptly, a black flash surging from them and distorting the air around.
"If you're here..." he murmured, his voice laced with rage and deep-seated hatred. "I have unfinished business with you."
CLANK
A metallic sound behind him.
Ryo turned just enough to see from the corner of his eye.
Another Sentinel hovered in the air.
He raised an eyebrow.
Another landed to the left.
Another to the right.
The air began to vibrate with the multiple silhouettes emerging from the darkness of the night.
By the time he realized, eight Sentinels formed a circle around him, spaced a few meters apart, perfectly positioned.
Their yellow eyes fixed on him.
Ryo slowly rotated on his axis, analyzing each one.
"More?" he asked, letting out a sigh. "Doesn't change anything. They're still weaker than those All Might copies with multiple Quirks..."
He closed his fists, and the green aura around him suddenly exploded outward.
The air was blasted away in circular gusts as Ryo's body became completely enveloped by his aura, which seemed to expand and cover more space. The ocean surface below sank in a perfect circle, as if something colossal were pressing down from above.
The Sentinels shifted uneasily in place.
Two advanced simultaneously.
But mid-charge, perfectly spherical holes appeared in their torsos.
They kept moving forward by inertia before their bodies lost power and exploded midair.
Ryo reappeared on the other side of the circle.
The green aura now rippled like liquid flames.
His skin had taken on an extremely pale tone, almost negative under the moonlight. His hair stood on end, vibrating in rhythm with the surrounding energy.
Inner Transition...
The energy condensed further, forming small black sparks mixed with the green.
5%
The ocean below began to boil in isolated spots.
The six remaining Sentinels adjusted their stances, but this time they didn't advance immediately.
They were recalculating.
Because now they understood that the target they were facing was no ordinary being.
During his confrontation with Jack-Jack, Ryo had realized he wasn't using Inner Transition effectively—to the point where he recognized he was wasting 98% of the energy he supposedly intended to use.
That's why...
He took the opportunity to train and reduce his loss rate while facing thousands of All Mights in Jack-Jack's dimension, and after great effort, he managed to reduce his loss rate to 80%.
And so, at this moment...
The Sentinels had no idea they were facing someone who... was barely using 1% of his full power effectively.
----------------------------------------
Back at the Botanical Garden, the silence lasted only a second after the brutal sequence of explosions that marked the path Ryo had been dragged along. A trail of craters tore through the soil like open scars.
Melissa fell to her knees on the grass, her fingers digging into the earth as her body trembled. The shock had drained all color from her face.
"R-Rito-kun..." her voice came out weak, almost breathless.
Midoriya stared at where Ryo had been dragged, eyes wide, his chest rising and falling too fast.
"TAKEDA!!" he shouted, his voice breaking at the end.
On the other side of the partially destroyed square, Kirishima stood up abruptly.
"Takeda!!" he roared, already running toward the massive hole in the ground.
But Dash grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping him from moving forward.
"Hey—!" Kirishima turned, irritated. "What are you doing, Dash?! Let me go!"
The words died when he saw the blond's face.
Dash stood still, head lowered, his entire body trembling... but not from fear.
Before Kirishima could ask what was going on—
"AAAAH!!" someone screamed.
Midoriya spun around just in time to see Daigo coming toward them.
The villain had activated his quirk.
His body grew to nearly three meters tall. His skin took on a dark purple hue, muscles expanding grotesquely. His arms elongated, forearms becoming absurdly large, enormous hands touching the ground like a gorilla's.
Todoroki reacted immediately, stepping forward and releasing a wave of ice, trying to trap Daigo before he could gain momentum.
The ice climbed up the villain's legs, but Daigo simply shattered it with brute force, his fists crushing the frozen structures into fragments that scattered through the air.
Daigo smashed through the ice with raw punches, breaking it apart as he advanced.
"Is that all?!" he taunted, surging forward as he brought both arms down in a brutal strike.
Todoroki's eyes widened as he leaped to the side.
The ground where he stood exploded, cracking into multiple fissures as a cloud of dust rose.
On the other side of the battlefield, Nobu also activated his quirk.
His hands grew grotesquely, fingers elongating and connecting through thick membranes.
He swung one arm forcefully, and an invisible blade of pressure cut through the space toward Melissa, who was still trying to compose herself.
Iida reacted at the last instant, appearing beside her with an explosive burst of speed and pulling her out of the attack's trajectory.
The air blast destroyed plants and tore chunks of soil from the ground behind them.
"Th-Thank you…" Melissa whispered, still trembling.
Midoriya charged toward Nobu, green energy coursing through his body.
"15%…"
He focused power into his legs before leaping at Nobu and throwing a direct punch.
But Nobu jumped and spun in the air with an agile pirouette, dodging the blow by centimeters.
"You're predictable!" he taunted, still airborne, before firing two air projectiles at Midoriya.
Midoriya saw the distortion in the air and forced his body to twist, avoiding the attacks.
"Damn it!"
Nobu landed near Daigo, visibly irritated.
"These kids are strong… this is pissing me off!" he snarled, lunging again.
Midoriya tried to track his movements, but as he dodged another blast, he lost his footing on the debris and fell onto his back.
For one dangerous second, he was completely exposed. Nobu raised his enlarged hand to deliver another strike—but one of Pony's homing horns shot through the air and struck his hand, drawing a grunt of pain.
"GRAAAH!!" he roared in agony.
Midoriya blinked, surprised.
Pony was near a destroyed palm tree, breathing heavily, another horn already floating beside her.
"G-Get away from him!"
Nobu turned his face toward her, eyes burning with rage.
"YOU BITCH!"
He pulled his arm back, ready to launch an air strike against her—
Before he could retaliate, a yellow blur appeared at his side. Dash's punch struck his face with brutal force, compressing the air around it at the moment of impact.
"Don't you dare touch her," the blond said, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
The next second, the blow sent Nobu flying at high velocity into a cluster of trees.
The resulting explosion reverberated through the garden.
Daigo watched the scene in shock before growing enraged, slamming his giant fists together.
"Enough! I don't care if you're just kids," he declared, advancing toward Dash with heavy steps that made the ground tremble. "I'll kill everyone!"
He raised both arms and brought them down in a devastating strike that split the concrete and kicked up a thick cloud of dust.
Yet something rushed past him too fast to track. A yellow blur began circling him, accelerating progressively until the wind transformed into a concentrated cyclone of dust and debris.
Trapped at the center, Daigo tried to locate the blur, but the blows began hitting him from every angle—abdomen, ribs, jaw, temples—too fast for him to react.
He tried to counterattack, but struck only empty air. The speed created multiple afterimages, confusing his senses, and each impact pushed him deeper into the crater he himself had opened.
And in the next second, Daigo became completely engulfed in a relentless barrage of Dash's punches.
The bloodlust blond, struck without pause—not on impulse, but venting the rage he felt in that very moment.
The cyclone began to lose strength as Dash reduced the rhythm of his strikes.
The air currents that had once roared like spinning blades became scattered gusts before dispersing completely.
At the center of the devastation, Daigo staggered, his eyes unfocused and his purple body marked by countless bruises. He tried to steady himself, but his knees buckled as the world seemed to spin around him.
Dash stood before him.
The ground beneath his feet faintly steamed from the extreme friction.
Without any warning, Dash retreated at high speed to the opposite end of the Garden. The displacement was so abrupt that it left behind a violent gust that pushed branches aside and tore loose stone slabs from the ground.
The concrete beneath his feet began to crack even before he moved again, unable to withstand the energy accumulated in his legs.
He leaned his body forward, muscles tensed to their limit. The air in front of him compressed into visible circular waves, slightly distorting the image of the surroundings.
The sound of rupture came fractured in escalating stages, like consecutive thunderclaps echoing inside the greenhouse.
First a sudden pressure, then the sonic explosion tearing through the air.
He crossed the Garden like a luminous projectile, his speed rapidly surpassing the sound barrier—doubling it, shattering it. The vegetation along his trajectory was flattened by the pressure wave forming around his body.
Daigo barely managed to lift his head before seeing the flash approaching. His instincts screamed danger, but his body didn't respond in time.
Dash's fist struck the purple stomach at Mach 15. The collision generated a shockwave that traveled across the entire Garden, expanding in a circle and opening deep fissures in the ground. The air was violently compressed outward, pushing the vegetation, cracking pillars, and making the metallic structures vibrate like giant bells.
For a frozen instant in time, Daigo's body hung suspended, eyes wide and mouth open in a strangled scream.
"GRAAAAAH—!!"
Only then did his cry sound as he was launched.
His body crossed the entire enclosure like an unguided missile, tearing through the air until it crashed into the dense wall on the other side of the Garden. The impact made the structure tremble from its foundations to its peak; cracks spread like black webs across the concrete before part of the wall gave way, burying the villain under an avalanche of rubble and dust.
The echo of the collision reverberated for several seconds, mingling with the sound of falling stones and creaking metal.
Leaves still spun slowly in the air as everything began to settle.
Dash remained at the initial point of impact, his arm still extended, thin smoke rising from his forearm from the extreme friction.
His suit was unrecognizable.
Half of the pants had been burned away by extreme friction, the fabric darkened and torn at the edges as if scorched.
The blazer simply no longer existed, ripped off somewhere between the cyclone's spins and the final acceleration. All that remained were the vest, singed at the sides, and the partially torn undershirt.
The right sleeve was charred all the way to the forearm.
He let out a low sigh, surveying the damage.
"…Damn."
Behind him, hurried footsteps echoed over the cracked ground.
"DASH!" Kirishima's voice rang out, heavy with concern.
Dash turned just in time to see Kirishima running ahead, with Pony right behind him and the rest of the class emerging in the distance.
Pony didn't slow down.
The moment she reached him, she simply wrapped him in a tight hug, her arms trembling around his torso.
"Idiot…!" Her voice came out muffled against his chest, choked with tears. "I thought you—"
She didn't finish. The crying did the rest for her.
Dash blinked, caught off guard for a moment, before his shoulders relaxed slightly. The warmth of the embrace contrasted with the cold that still lingered in his muscles.
Kirishima stopped in front of them, breathless, his eyes going first to Dash… then to the scene behind him.
He swallowed hard.
"Dude… you okay?"
"Yeah," Dash replied simply, his focus on trying to calm Pony down. "Just had a rage burst, but it's over."
Kirishima let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders finally relaxing.
"That's good…"
The others began to approach, exchanging nervous glances, trying to process the scale of what they had just witnessed.
Kirishima then lifted his gaze again, his expression turning serious.
"Takeda…"
Dash looked up immediately.
"He is fine."
Kirishima frowned.
"How can you be so sure?" he shot back, his voice laced with worry. "He was practically taken out by two of those things… just like the one that showed up at the USJ! Even All Might barely handled that!"
Pony loosened her grip as Dash began to step forward. She released him completely, allowing him to approach Kirishima.
Dash stopped in front of his friend and placed a hand firmly on his shoulder, squeezing it.
"I'm sure… because I believe in Takeda."
Kirishima held the blond's gaze for a few seconds, searching for doubt.
But he found none.
The truth is…
Moments before the Sentinels fired toward Ryo, when the world had slowed down due to Dash's thought acceleration.
He remembered trying to move, trying to help his friend.
But Ryo's hand had stopped him.
Ryo had turned his face toward him, even as the robots closed in. His lips moved. Dash clearly saw the words form — but no sound reached him.
But the firm, determined look in Ryo's eyes said it all.
Finished with a slight nod. A silent farewell… or perhaps a vow of trust.
Dash felt his own feet lock in place that second.
He let him.
He let Ryo go.
Only after his body was struck and dragged away by the Sentinels did the sound finally break through the void, reaching his ears like a delayed echo.
"Take care of the others, Dash. I'll handle kicking the asses of these tin cans."
Dash's hand pressed slightly harder on Kirishima's shoulder before letting go.
"Takeda won't lose."
----------------------------------------
3.8k words... I didn't expect the chapter to be this long, many feats that were supposed to appear ended up being left out.
No! The electromagnetic pulse! The Gauss propulsion! And laser beams!
Detailing and explaining feats at the same time takes up a lot of space. I was shocked when I saw that the scene of Ryo versus the Sentinels took over 1.2k words and the Dash part 1.4k (if I remove the rest of the scenes where he doesn't appear).
And another thing, what's going on with the web novel's readers? My view count dropped when I put up the cover of the GOAT _ALICH_, but when I put this one up, the view count and reader count skyrocketed.
Is this the meta? I hope not...
Stone Goals:
1000 PS – Not Complete
3000 PS – Not Complete