"What… what's going on?"
Kurogiri stared at the portal in front of him, his body trembling uncontrollably.
The portal had opened—but unlike before, he couldn't feel it at all.
This had never happened.
The portal was his quirk, an extension of himself. Yet now, it felt like something completely foreign—like a bottomless black hole he didn't dare step into.
"What's wrong?" Stain glanced over, confused. "Aren't you heading back to your bar to report? The mission failed, but—"
"My quirk… isn't working."
Kurogiri cut him off, his voice shaking.
"…What?"
Stain frowned, thinking he had misheard.
"My quirk… is gone!"
Kurogiri's voice rose sharply, panic finally breaking through his usual composure.
"How is that possible?!"
Stain snapped.
Kurogiri hadn't even fought directly in the battle. The only moments he'd been involved were when Shina Etsuha struck him with an ice spear—and when that final freezing wave hit just as he tried to escape.
No matter how he replayed it, none of that should have resulted in this.
Wasn't Etsuha's quirk just ice?
How could it lead to something like this?
It was absurd.
But then—
Stain froze.
He recalled what Kurogiri had said earlier.
If Etsuha had more than one ability… if one of those abilities could erase quirks…
"…No."
He instinctively looked down at himself, a rare unease creeping into his chest.
Could his own quirk have been affected without him realizing it?
For the first time in a long while, Stain felt genuine concern.
Meanwhile, Kurogiri had already begun to unravel.
"No… this has to be temporary. Like Aizawa Shouta's ability—it must be something like that. A temporary suppression… it has to be…"
He muttered to himself, trying desperately to hold onto that belief.
A quirk was everything to him.
Without it, he was nothing.
And as a criminal, losing his quirk meant only one thing—capture, imprisonment… the end.
"Idiot. Stop lying to yourself."
Stain kicked him impatiently.
"Don't you have that 'master' of yours? Contact him."
Kurogiri's eyes suddenly lit up.
"That's right… I still have my master!"
He hurriedly dialed a hidden number.
"Kurogiri? Has the mission been completed?" a calm, ominous voice came through the phone.
"My lord… the mission failed," Kurogiri said carefully. "More importantly… something happened to my quirk during the battle. I believe I've uncovered his second ability."
"Oh?" The voice of All For One carried a trace of interest. "Go on."
Relieved that he wasn't immediately reprimanded, Kurogiri explained everything in detail—the encounter, the battle, and the sudden loss of his quirk.
When he finished, there was a brief silence.
Then—
"I'll send you an address. Go there and wait."
"Yes, my lord."
After hanging up, Kurogiri steadied himself slightly, regaining some of his composure.
"My lord has instructed me to go to the research facility," he said. "Let's go."
"I'll pass."
Stain shook his head, gripping his sword.
"This cooperation ends here. Maybe next time."
He had already lost confidence in this situation. More importantly, he needed to confirm whether his own quirk was still intact.
That boy's ability…
It was too strange.
Far too dangerous.
"This… fine."
Kurogiri didn't press further. Stain wasn't a member of the League—he had no authority over him.
Besides, Stain hadn't even asked for payment before leaving.
There was no reason to stop him.
A few hours later—
Kurogiri arrived at the League's research facility.
Though it was called a laboratory, it was little more than a converted factory. Inside, however, were countless machines—and rows of Nomu undergoing testing.
Waiting there were All For One… and a doctor.
The moment Kurogiri entered, the doctor's eyes lit up.
"Lie down."
There was no hesitation.
Kurogiri's heart pounded, but this was his last hope. Swallowing his fear, he lay down on the operating table. Machines were quickly attached to his body.
Though his form appeared as mist, Kurogiri did have a physical core. Hidden within the fog, it was rarely targeted. Most opponents mistakenly attacked the mist itself, wasting their efforts.
But to the doctor, that core was easy to locate.
"The body shows damage from a sharp object… but nothing severe."
"There's significant frost damage on the surface… but it's not life-threatening."
"No other major injuries…"
The doctor frowned.
"Strange. What caused this?"
He paused, then turned toward a nearby machine.
"If it's not physical… then it must be the quirk itself. We'll need to examine the genetic sequence."
The equipment hummed to life.
Hours passed.
Finally—
The results appeared.
The doctor's expression changed instantly.
"This… this is—"
His voice rose in shock.
"The gene… it's been destroyed!"
Before his eyes—
The genetic strand representing Kurogiri's quirk was severed at its root.