Luke had to admit it.
He hadn't imagined that he would be able to push the students so far in the Battle Royale.
At least, he hadn't imagined that there would be anyone surviving till the very end who would make him discard his Choker identity.
Unlike what many audience members may have believed, Luke knew that the strategy of saving his stamina for the end was flawed.
All they needed was someone to remind them how the students had looked just before the last five minutes had begun.
Beaten. Bruised. Bloodied.
Luke had looked better than most, but he had also been wearing armor.
Only the Pros and most of the UA students must have sensed that he had no intention of using any Quirk other than Spot Heal, letting it become his trump card.
No matter how broken Luke was, he surely would have enough juice to pull off one Quirk in the end, right?
The threat of such a thought was enough for Luke to take advantage of it, pushing Todoroki beyond the edge. He had thought that the boy with fractured arms and legs would pass out as he reacted to the enormous threat, much before that reaction could manifest as something else.
Surprisingly, something exactly like that had played out.
No.
Luke remembered the heart-palpable threat his Danger Intuition had picked up.
In that moment, he had looked at Todoroki, using Spirit Vision, finding something unique.
All the Spirit Points, corresponding to both the hot and cold parts of his Quirk, that Todoroki carried within him had been gathering in his chest, intermingling with each other… almost synchronizing.
And that was indeed shocking because if Luke remembered it right, then, in that moment, Todoroki hadn't just pushed himself beyond the edge, but he had unlocked one of the greatest trump cards in his arsenal.
A trump card that used to go by the name… Phosphor… in Luke's previous life.
Regardless, Luke's manipulation hadn't gone to waste, with Todoroki getting crushed by his attack.
But the level and scale of this different Flashfreeze Heatwave had surpassed all imagination, forcing him to adopt a different strategy within a fraction of a second.
This strategy was to put the use of Spot Heal on hold and, instead, use Delay to arrest his momentum. Then, all he would have needed to do was to let himself remain under the Delay's effect until the Timer ran out, effectively winning the Battle Royale.
There were a few assumptions about all this, though.
First, Luke had jumped up, crossing his arms over his head. Simultaneously, he had pulled his legs up, letting Nyx hide near his stomach, becoming a human ball in midair.
He had done so assuming that no matter how powerful the shockwave would be, it wouldn't be able to hurt him or Nyx in that position. Not with his Hero Costume, Black, letting him survive the stray debris.
Second, it was related to the number of survivors.
Luke had considered Todoroki gone. Monoma would be using Uraraka's Quirk at the last moment, but the shockwave would catch up to him anyway, knocking him out before he could switch to Dark Shadow. Only Momo remained, and no matter what she created, an act that was already impossible to imagine given her state, she would succumb to the shockwave as well.
Thus, all he would need to do was wait it out, letting the timer tick to zero.
The third assumption was related to the time itself.
By the time the aftermath of Todoroki's unimaginable outburst settled, only thirty or so seconds would be remaining till the end.
Even if any of Todoroki, Monoma, or Momo survived, no matter how unlikely, none of them would have nearly enough ability to push even Delayed Luke outside the laser boundaries. Not with the threat of him using Spot Heal still burdening their thoughts, making them lose all morale.
Three assumptions.
Slowly… they became three mistakes.
Blessed Gone Insane had already tanked Luke's Stamina.
Part of the reason he had experimented with something like Choking Hero: Choker was related to that.
Then, during the last two hours, he had already been forced to use Spot Heal three times.
Even if those Stamina Points had recovered, it didn't mean he had also recovered from the tiredness that had stemmed from it; a tiredness that had kept piling on because of the students forcing him to heavily depend on the Marauder Pathway's quick reactions and strength.
So, when the shockwaves had struck him head-on, crushing his arms, legs, and back, with him being nearest to Todoroki, Luke had already almost passed out, his mind going into a blank, black shock.
The same was true for Nyx, too, who had barely survived getting crushed to death by Luke's knees.
Also, even though Todoroki and Monoma had fallen, Momo… survived unexpectedly, defying all logic.
Moreover, despite the timer ticking down to the 30th second, it felt like these thirty seconds were more than enough.
More than enough to change the fate of the battle.
More than enough to turn the tables…
Slowly, frame by frame, as Luke's mind began coming out of the shock, and his head began lifting out of his crossed arms, he, too, realized all that, admitting his mistakes.
Because a chill was running down his spine.
Not as cold as the one Todoroki had made him feel, but… close. Very close.
From the corner of his eye, Luke saw — something. Not human. Not at all. It was like he was looking at…
An armored robot!
Luke blinked, taking his sweet time, finally gaining some clarity in his vision.
Then, second by second, his brows began rising as his eyes widened, his heart skipping a beat.
It was Momo, but… she had sprouted weapons from all over her body.
The most surprising thing was that these weapons were still attached to her, with only their front ends coming out of her.
They were on her arms, palms, stomach, legs, her open mouth, her forehead, and some even came from her back, tilting forward using some mechanism.
And all those weapons were aimed at him!
Luke instantly canceled the Delay Quirk, letting the momentum help him dodge what was coming.
Sadly, that was not enough.
A deafening sound echoed out of the battle area as Momo fired those guns — raining hell over Luke and Nyx!