Hearing that, Shigaraki, who had been preparing to leave, paused slightly.
Then, in the next instant, he grinned.
His smile was full of amusement.
"All Might…"
"Being too smart isn't always a good thing."
Shigaraki wasn't surprised that All Might had inferred his connection to All For One.
After all, as old enemies, All Might surely knew that man was still alive.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so desperate to find a successor.
All Might was afraid.
Afraid that once his strength declined, he would no longer be able to protect the people and society he cared about.
That was why he had hurriedly searched for someone to inherit his power while he could still move and still use his Quirk.
He wanted that person to protect the world after he was gone.
Besides, Shigaraki had never intended to hide his relationship with All For One forever.
In fact, he had exposed it deliberately.
The reason was simple.
He wasn't strong enough yet.
He needed someone to draw hatred and absorb firepower for him, giving him time to develop in secret.
And his teacher, All For One, was undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.
As for whether this was unfair to All For One?
Heh.
So what if it was?
He wasn't truly Shigaraki Tomura anyway.
Transmigrators didn't have consciences.
Besides, All For One already had enough hatred stacked on him.
A little more wouldn't make much difference.
Once a person had too much debt, they stopped worrying about interest.
A strange light flashed through All Might's eyes.
He immediately made a decision.
Now that he had finally encountered someone connected to All For One, he had to keep Shigaraki here at any cost.
Then he would force him to reveal All For One's whereabouts.
And while he still had strength left, he would eliminate that disaster once and for all.
Seeing All Might remain silent, Shigaraki didn't think much of it.
He merely shrugged and continued casually.
"Well, even if you've guessed that I'm connected to All For One, it doesn't really matter."
"That information is meaningless."
"You already knew he was alive."
"Besides, I don't know where he is right now either."
"So even if you want to find him through me, it's impossible."
"As for you…"
"No matter what choice you make next, no matter whether you sacrifice yourself or not, you won't be able to save your companions."
"And your identity as the Symbol of Peace…"
"is destined to be shattered by me."
"You can't change anything."
With that, Shigaraki turned around and stepped into the black mist gate.
There was nothing more to say.
The result had already been decided.
All Might was destined to change nothing.
He could only watch helplessly as Shigaraki dragged him down from the altar of the Symbol of Peace.
Muscular and the Sludge Villain thought the same.
In their eyes, All Might was truly likely to fall this time.
Only those on Shigaraki's side knew just how sinister and complete this plan was.
It had calculated everyone's reactions.
Under these circumstances, even a god might fall into Shigaraki's trap.
Let alone All Might, who was not a god.
So they also turned, preparing to leave with Shigaraki.
"Is that so?"
"Then you're underestimating me far too much."
"A hero is someone who can shatter despair no matter what situation he faces!"
A familiar voice suddenly rang out behind them.
The instant Muscular, who was walking at the rear, heard it, every hair on his body stood on end.
He whipped his head around.
And the moment he did, a dignified face filled his vision.
All Might.
In an instant, All Might had launched himself forward from where he stood.
One step.
That was all it took.
He arrived before Muscular like a falling meteor.
His towering body hung in the air, his right fist raised high.
And behind him, the sun blazed.
"I actually have another choice."
"That is to beat all of you down right here!"
"None of you are leaving!"
From Muscular's perspective, All Might looked as if he had seized the sun itself in his fist.
Then, amid that furious roar, All Might passed over him.
His right arm drew back beneath his ribs.
His hand clenched.
And his fist shot toward Shigaraki, whose body was already half-submerged inside the black warp gate.
That punch carried a force hundreds, even thousands of times greater than the blow he had used earlier to scatter the tornado.
It was faster.
Heavier.
Fiercer.
It smashed straight into Shigaraki.
CRACK!
A sound like shattering glass rang beside All Might's ear.
His fist pierced through Shigaraki's body.
No.
It pierced through more than that.
It shattered the space in front of him.
However, All Might felt no joy after landing that fatal blow.
Only regret.
Regret that he had fallen into a trap.
"Shit!"
"You didn't expect this, did you?"
"This was my real escape route."
In the distance, another Shigaraki stood completely unharmed, waving at him with a bright, mocking smile.
"What a shame."
"You can't keep us here."
As he spoke, that second Shigaraki slowly sank into the black warp gate behind him.
All Might looked forward again.
The Shigaraki whose body he had just punched through was also waving at him with a smile, as if he felt no pain at all.
"Well then, goodbye…"
"Symbol of Peace."
In the next instant, that Shigaraki's entire body turned illusory and transparent.
Then he vanished completely.
The other Shigaraki disappeared as well.
So did Muscular, the Sludge Villain, Kurogiri, and the others who had been blown aside by the wind pressure of All Might's punch.
All of them were gone.
He had been tricked.
It was an illusion.
All Might stood there for a brief moment, frozen.
Then his eyes widened, bloodshot with rage.
They had escaped.
The enemy had escaped.
And the method they used was the very sensory interference he had previously denied.
He had clearly been vigilant the entire time.
But because he had never been affected by an illusion before, and because the separate space felt so real that he had mistaken the enemy's Quirk for a spatial ability rather than a mental one, his guard had slipped.
Then, during his conversation with Shigaraki, his emotions had been repeatedly shaken.
And at the most crucial moment, he had been affected.
How arrogant.
How shameful.
Thinking of that, and then thinking of the consequences of Shigaraki's escape, All Might's expression turned terrifyingly grim.
"Damn it!"
In the next instant, a furious roar echoed across the grassland.
The ground trembled.
The shattered stones shook.
And across that endless empty plain, the Symbol of Peace stood alone, trapped inside a prison he could not yet break.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios