Tens of thousands of people gathered in the stadium once more in the evening after having a blast during the afternoon.
There were various shops, food carts, and other attractions to keep them occupied.
If not that, then there were clips of Battle Royale, several hundred in number, to be replayed and discussed.
With the scale and duration of the event, no matter how many drones UA had scattered to capture everything, not everything was captured.
So, to capitalize on these left-out things, and to keep people entertained while the students returned to a state to attend the Awards Ceremony by evening, the School had released these clips to the public.
As the time of the Awards Ceremony approached, the craze of today's Sports Festival in people's minds had not diminished, but only increased.
"YO! AUDIENCE!" Present Mic roared, standing in the middle of the large stage. "ARE YOU — READY?!"
Lights BANGED on.
Music ROARED up.
Cheers DROWNED the stadium, people getting up from their seats.
Even Present Mic, who had done this so, so many times by now, was momentarily left stunned by the sheer enthusiasm.
This was unprecedented.
UA's Sports Festival had always remained a highlight of the year all over Japan, but this time around the School seemed to have outdone and outsold itself.
No wonder Hero Agencies from all over the world had already called to ask for many of the Battle Royale's participants to join them.
Yes.
It wasn't UA that had outdone and outsold itself, Present Mic realized.
It was the students who had gone above and beyond, going — Plus Ultra!
"STRAP YOURSELVES TO THE SEATS, THEN!" Present Mic roared even more enthusiastically. "WHY?!"
On cue, hidden, massive fans generated stormy gusts of wind.
The music changed, picking up a tune that was just too familiar to all of them.
A figure fell from the sky, its cape flapping mightily, a grin planted on its face so wide that it made all the audience smile.
"WHY?!" All Might's voice roared against the gusty winds. "BECAUSE I AM HERE!"
The Symbol of Peace fell from hundreds of feet high and landed on the stage with a massive BOOM, the entire concrete platform undulating like a sheet of paper before gaining several cracks.
Silence.
People lost their minds.
This was like a myth coming true.
The chants of ALL MIGHT-ALL MIGHT overwhelmed the stadium, making even the sheets of steel and iron railings rattle.
Meanwhile, hidden under the stage, Cementoss let out a breath of relief, shaking his head.
On the cracked stage, All Might, still donning his Young Age Hero Costume, waved at the people.
"I am sure many of you are eager to hear All Might's opinion on today's event," Present Mic said, his voice echoing across the stadium. "Later, yours truly will conduct an exclusive interview with him."
"Indeed!" All Might gave a thumbs up, laughing.
"Now, it's time for the moment you all have been waiting for…" Present Mic said, first lowering his voice, then erupting, " — BATTLE ROYALE AWARDS CEREMONY! EVERYONE!! LET'S WELCOME — THE HUNDRED!!!"
Multicolored lights flashed at the massive, doorless entrance of the stadium.
Slowly, under the roar of tens of thousands of people, students began walking out.
Bandaged. Bruised. Broken. Still donning smudges of blood and the blackness of broken bones.
It didn't matter if a student had been kicked out of the Battle Royale at the hundredth position or at the tenth; at this moment, they all received the welcome of champions.
Most of the General Education Department's students had already begun crying, tears welling up in their eyes, now finding the most torturous time of their lives worth it.
Almost all of the remaining students managed to hold themselves together, their heads bobbing left and right, taking in the grand sight.
Stepping onto the rhythm of the music, the Second Year students climbed the stage and grouped in front of All Might and Present Mic according to their Courses, with 2-A and 2-B on the left, followed by Support Course students in the middle, and General Education students on the right.
Then, slowly, as the large screens on the stadium displayed the students' exhausted, but lively faces, all the noises came to a halt.
All Might cleared his throat, adjusting the microphone attached to his costume.
Then, he looked at the students' faces—every single one of their faces—no matter to which class one belonged.
"Well done," All Might praised, smiling. "Well done."
Slowly, most of the faces that had kept a stoic expression also stirred, their visions blurring.
All Might looked away from the students and looked straight, seemingly looking right at all the people watching the Awards Ceremony through screens, whether at the stadium or over the internet.
Then, as people waited for him to say something, All Might… smirked.
Mobiles, all over the world, held by Villains, were crushed by them involuntarily.
That smirk was nothing but a pure mockery of all the Villains who had been planning to attack UA's students before.
That smirk… was as much a challenge as it was a warning.
COME! All Might's smirk seemed to say. WE… ARE HERE!
And if that was the reaction of Villains, less needed to be said about the people and All Might's fans, who erupted like never before, holding each other, jumping where they had been standing.
"Now, without much ado," All Might said, eyeing the students again, "let's bring the top 3 students of the Battle Royale, starting with the winner — Momo Yaoyorozu!"
Momo, doing her utmost to keep her back straight and wearing her Hero Costume, walked out of the crowd and climbed the podium that had sprouted from the stage by itself next to All Might.
And only when the entire mass of people clapped for her did she break out a small smile.
All Might tapped her shoulder before looking toward the students again. "At second," he said, all the cameras zooming on Luke, "we have Neito Monoma! And, at third, Shoto Todoroki!"
Silence.
The entire world skipped a step.
Forget the stunned people, even students were looking between a wryly smiling Luke, a jaw-dropped Monoma, and a wide-eyed Todoroki.
From the sides, Present Mic came rushing and whispered something in All Might's ear.
"Ah… Cough…" All Might blushed. "Pardon. There's an update regarding Battle Royale's rankings. For taking external items to the event without permission…
"… Luke has been disqualified from the tournament."