My Hero Academia: The Dragon's Quirk

The silence that followed the collapse of the dock door was heavy and suffocating, filled with the sound of water dripping from the high cavern ceiling and the hum of the now-trapped submarine's engines. The team stood at the edge of the dock, their breaths ragged, their bodies filled with adrenaline and exhaustion. They had succeeded. They had stopped the enemy's escape. But the victory felt hollow, replaced by a dread that crept in like a chill.

That dread became reality.

It all began with silence. The hum of the submarine's engines suddenly stopped. Then, the temperature in the cavern, which had been hot and humid from Endeavor's fire, began to drop. It dropped rapidly and unnaturally. Their breaths began to appear as puffs of white vapor in the air. The puddles on the dock floor began to freeze at the edges, making soft cracking sounds. A thin, crystal-like layer of ice began to creep across the surface of the artificial bay, spreading from the black submarine's hull like a spiderweb.

"What... what is this?" Leone asked, her low growl now filled with the wariness of an animal sensing an apex predator approaching. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Her instincts were screaming at her to run.

Endeavor, still wreathed in the remnants of his flames, felt the chill trying to extinguish his spirit. He stepped forward, his flames flaring brighter in a defensive response, creating a fragile circle of warmth around them. "What is this creature?!" he roared, his blazing blue eyes fixed on the submarine.

Akame said nothing. Her face was a mask of pale horror. She had felt this power before. She recognized it. She immediately moved to Tatsumi's side, who was still on his knees and trembling from exhaustion, and helped him to his feet, ready to pull him back at any moment.

KRAKKK!

With a deafening sound of tearing metal, it wasn't a hatch door, but the main cargo roof of the submarine itself that exploded upwards, pierced from within by a dozen giant, sharp ice pillars. Pieces of steel flew like tinfoil. From the newly formed gaping hole, a figure slowly levitated up, lifted by an ice pillar growing beneath her feet.

She did not emerge with rage or a roar. She emerged with the grace of a queen who had just been awakened from an unwanted slumber. Her long, ice-blue hair cascaded down her back, waving slowly as if a gentle breeze blew only around her. Her white and black general's uniform was pristine without a single stain. On her chest, the symbol of the Teigu Demon's Extract looked like a menacing black tattoo.

Esdeath had arrived.

She landed lightly on the now ice-covered deck of the submarine. She took a deep breath, inhaling the damp cavern air, and a thin, satisfied smile played on her pale lips. "Ah... freedom," she said, her calm, melodious voice echoing throughout the cavern, clearly audible even over the roar of Endeavor's flames. "A rather dreary place to wake up."

Her ice-blue eyes first looked at the collapsed dock door, then at Slither and a few Yozakura soldiers who were staring at her in horror from the submarine's conning tower. "So," she said in a casual, conversational tone. "These are the little dogs who dared to cage me in a box."

Without changing her expression, she flicked her wrist. From the icy deck beneath her feet, dozens of razor-sharp ice spears shot upwards with blinding speed. The Yozakura soldiers didn't even have time to scream as the spears impaled their bodies, turning the submarine deck into a gruesome display of ice sculptures. Slither managed to leap back inside the hatch just in time, avoiding death by a matter of millimeters. Esdeath had eliminated her captors with the casual indifference of someone swatting away flies.

Then, her cold gaze swept across the dock, past the growling Leone, past the tense Akame, and past the blazing Endeavor. Finally, her eyes found what they were looking for.

Her eyes locked onto Tatsumi.

The thin smile on her face widened into a genuine, joyous one, filled with the excitement of a predator who has finally found her favorite prey again. "Tatsumi," she greeted, her voice now filled with a dangerous, possessive tone. "I knew I sensed your warm presence amidst this cold. So you really did come to save me from this boring confinement. How romantic."

Her horrifying taunt made Tatsumi's blood run cold.

Endeavor, who had witnessed the vicious slaughter and now heard this monster call his secret asset by name, finally exploded. "I don't know who you are, monster," he roared, stepping forward until he stood at the edge of the dock, becoming a wall of fire between Esdeath and the others. "But your game ends here!"

With a war cry, he unleashed a full-blown attack. A massive wave of Hellflame—a super-heated firestorm capable of melting a building—shot towards Esdeath.

Facing the sea of fire, Esdeath looked completely unbothered. She simply raised one hand gracefully. Before her, out of thin air, a giant ice wall instantly formed. The wall was not rough or thick, but clear as a diamond and etched with intricate, beautiful snowflake patterns.

Endeavor's hellfire slammed into the ice wall. A deafening hissing sound filled the cavern as the two opposing elements met. Thick steam billowed, obscuring the view. But the ice wall, though melting slightly, stood firm, withstanding the full power of Japan's Number One Hero.

"Impressive power," Esdeath commented from behind the wall of steam, her voice laced with amusement. "A pity it lacks any finesse."

Before Endeavor could launch a second attack, the icy ground beneath his feet exploded. Dozens of giant ice pillars shot out from the dock, trying to impale him from below. Endeavor roared and flew into the air, using the jet bursts from his feet to evade the surprise attack.

The battle between the two titans had begun. The underground cavern was transformed into their personal arena, a swirling vortex of fire and ice. Endeavor released car-sized fireballs, which Esdeath countered with a barrage of razor-sharp ice projectiles. Every one of their missed attacks slammed into the cavern walls, causing massive vibrations and a rain of rocks.

While the two gods fought, the others could only watch in horror, trapped between two forces that could accidentally annihilate them all.

"We have to get out of here!" Leone shouted.

But they realized that Esdeath was not fully focused on Endeavor. Her fighting felt... playful. She easily parried the hero's every attack, her own strikes designed to test, not to kill. And her gaze, even in the midst of the firestorm, kept returning to one point.

Towards Tatsumi.

She was toying with the Number One Hero, while making sure her real prey could not escape.

"Team, you have to get out now!" Hawks' voice came through, now filled with pure panic. "Endeavor can't hold her off forever! The entire cavern structure won't withstand their fight! I... I have one last idea. But it's completely insane."

In the middle of that freezing, burning hell, Tatsumi, now protected by Akame and Leone, could only stare at Esdeath, feeling more helpless than at any point in his life.

"Tatsumi," Hawks continued. "I need you to trust the armor. Even when it's dead, a dragon still has one last roar."