Once again, Satoshi and Emma found themselves in another world. This time, the environment was snow. At first, Satoshi felt a bit cold so he used the Cloak of Invisibility to cover himself up. He didn't even think about offering Emma something to wear since she didn't react to the coldness. A few minutes passed and Satoshi recognized his blunder. He decided to summon his familiar Windfan so it could continuously blow hot air towards them, warming them up.
"Where are w— "
"Ssh," Emma interrupted Satoshi, making him feel a little bit annoyed. He didn't disregard her interruption and he stopped speaking.
Every direction they glanced at was no different compared to the rest of the surroundings. It was plain and white, obviously because of the thick snow that covered the entire expanse. There were no trees nor any landmark anywhere aside from the blurry shadow they could see from afar. Satoshi and Emma immediately realized that that's where the Midoriyama Duo and the other top ten were so they quickly headed there. They did so discreetly though since they didn't want any unwanted attention towards them.
"Hopefully they're still alive." "Emma muttered to herself as she took a quick glance at Satoshi from time to time, she didn't want her expression to reveal her worries since they weren't even that close. Why did she have to worry about him when he doesn't fully trust him in the first place. Those thoughts seemed to clash subconsciously and yet somehow, they meshed pretty well together when it comes to working as a tag team.
"There they are!" Emma said excitedly after catching sight of the ten superheroes that were surrounded by a bunch of gigantic monsters. In an instant, Emma stopped in her tracks, intimidated by the sheer size of the monsters. Of course, she knew it was possible to defeat them if she were to work with Satoshi but right now, she felt a bit panicked and frightened at the same time, causing her to get paralyzed with fear.
"Come on," Satoshi said with an eager voice, finally catching up to Emma who was way ahead of her. He was just a normal human after all and there's only too much he could do with his base running speed. He also didn't want to overuse his familiars because something might happen if he were to do it, that's why he decided to use them only at critical moments— meaning the whole fight.
Grabbing her hand, Satoshi forced Emma to take another step as he dragged her nearer to the monsters. "We can't lose any more time." He continued.
.....
,m Plunder and Counter were at their wit's end as Warper played with them without reserve. The other superheroes couldn't even land a hit on him anymore and they were on the verge of losing hope. Right now, the Gate Boss was toying with them using Warper while his subordinates watched over them. There was no escape, and the only thing they could at least do was hold on until the bitter end—until they all die, that is.
"Fulfiller," Plunder called out, pointing towards his wife. Fulfiller immediately got what he was talking about and performed a link on both their minds.
Psychic Link.
In an instant, Ayumu and Tatsuki once again felt the connection in their minds and they were able to utilize each other's powers once again. This was the boost Tatsuki needed so he can counter Warper's attacks and hopefully beat him so they could take care of the boss. Firing a few ice spikes, Tatsuki got a bit closer to Warper— not because the ice spikes gave him the opening, but because he was using his wife's Counter to block any attacks that may come at him. Even the warps were negated if he managed to predict where they would appear. Seeing through attacks is also what gave Tatsuki an advantage against the merciless onslaught of Warper.
Because of that opening, everyone started charging at Warper at full speeds, only focusing on defending instead of attacking. If they were to get hit by any attacks Warper might throw at them, unless they provided a well-made distraction to give Tatsuki even more openings.
Superspeed!
Super Strength!
Anticipation!
It was obvious that Tatsuki was nearing his limits as he activated as many superpowers as he can in order to stop the rampaging Warper. He could very well understand that Warper wasn't the one attacking him, but it was because he was under the influence of the Boss. Right now, his goal was to stop him as soon as he can before his energy runs out. By then, everything would be lost.
"Death Angel, Life Angel, are you ready?" Fulfiller called out.
Up until now, the Boss hasn't made a move yet, it just stood immobile in the middle of the circle, as if amused by the show playing out right in front of it.
Death and Life Angel nodded, already expecting what Fulfiller was about to do next.
As mentioned before, Fulfiller can only perform two Psychic Links simultaneously so she decided to do that. She didn't want Tatsuki to do all the heavy lifting. And while everyone was doing their best to lighten Tatsuki's load, she figured she should just do her utmost best as well so they can have a greater chance at winning.
If they couldn't win this current wave, then all hope would be lost after all.
With a few more ice spikes, and a few more fireballs thrown at Warper, Tatsuki was only less than ten meters away from Warper. Warper's portals were becoming more and more unpredictable, making him dodge faster with his superspeed, quickstep, and anticipation superpower.
And then, the opening came!
Clone X suddenly appeared with all his clones around Warper. Because of the opening Tatsuki caused, it wasn't just him who acquired a few openings during the bout. Even Technomarine who wasn't in the scene until now appeared right below Warper as a mole. Apparently, he dug underground so Warper wouldn't notice him and throw him out with one of his portals.
There was a pause, and then everybody went into the attack. Tatsuki managed to punch Warper by the super plexus and Clone X chopped his neck, just enough to render him unconscious. As for Technomarine, who was still disgusted by the fact that he was forced to transform into a land animal, he decided to cut off Warper's escape route by holding onto his feet after transforming into a huge octopus.
Silence,
"..."
And then, a roar was heard. There was no doubt about it, the Boss of the Giant Orcs was pissed.
For the first time, it took a step and let out another roar causing another blizzard to ensue. The other Giant Orcs started moving as well. What Tatsuki and the others thought was a momentary victory was actually just a prelude to the despair that will befall them. After having wasted their energy like that, there was no way they could do anything about the next wave. They were all on the verge of exhaustion but they could still hold off for a few minutes, or so that's what they initially concluded.
Light and Dark Angel started shooting off one skill after another— one of light and one of dark matter— but the only thing it did was chip a little of the Boss's hp. If they go at it for quite some time, it'd probably take them at least a month before they cold defeat such a beast. Then there's also the Giant Orcs to worry about. Those Giant Orcs aren't a joke... well, compared to their boss, they were inferior of course.
Suddenly, the Boss of the Giant Orcs raised its Orb and muttered something unintelligible in the air. Somehow, the orb gave off a faint yet mesmerizing glow of light brown in color. And then, suddenly, black smoke started rising from the Giant Orcs that surrounded them. Their eyes turned red as well and their fangs were more evident than before. They weren't just angry, they were enraged as if someone turned on their berserker side inside themselves. While they had to deal with a powerful Boss who was buffing his subordinates, they'd still have to deal with the other Giant Orcs who were about to go on a rampage. They were salivating, and all the pauses in between were replaced by deep growls as if they were ready to devour a new prey whole.
"One look says it all. They're hungry." Tatsuki relayed to everyone. "SUPERHEROES! PREPARE TO FIGHT TO THE DEATH!"
As soon as they all nodded, Tatsuki led the charge as he shouted in a war-like manner. Adrenalin was continuously being pumped into his system as he disregarded of all the bruises and welts on his body. He wasn't the only one who experienced the same outcome.
Just like how the Giant Orcs were buffed by their powerful leader, Tatsuki's small speech was enough to power-up all his teammates as well.