Fifteen minutes earlier.

  "Hey, are you alright?"

  "You… you're that boy?!"

  Sato Ryoichi's tear-streaked face was filled with shock. First, he hadn't expected ao show up. Sed, Kaminari looked entirely different from the way he had on the Shinkansen.

  Kaminari nodded calmly. His gaze shifted to the old man in his arms—pale, bleeding, and gasping weakly for air. Without hesitation, he spoke.

  "'Pikachu' Hemostatic Agent!"

  "Yes, Master."

  A small, five-timeter-long syriended from the golden gau on Kaminari's left hand. He ha to Ryoichi.

  "Give this to yrandfather."

  Initially, Kaminari had inteo i it himself, but the furious giant bear wasn't going to wait. Kaminari gently set the old man down on the ground, passed the syrio Ryoichi, and dashed toward the rampaging bear.

  Kaminari wasn't pnning to fight it head-on. He wasn't that reckless, this bear was clearly somethiraordinary.

  With a powerful leap, Kaminari unched himself into the air, reag the same height as the bear's massive head.

  For a brief moment, their eyes met: Kaminari's calm, golden gaze cshed with the bear's crazed, bloodshot pupils.

  "Maximum Illumination!"

  "Buzz!"

  In an instant, the golden armor c Kaminari, resembling a saint's ceremonial garb fred with an intense, dazzling light.

  The brilliance was so overwhelming that Ryoichi, croug behind Kaminari as he ied his grandfather with the hemostatic agent, instinctively shut his eyes. The bear roared in pain, its massive paws swiping blindly as it struggled against the searing light.

  "ROAR!!!"

  Taking advantage of the bear's momentary blindness, Kaminari moved behind it, inhaling deeply. He gathered the golden energy crag around him, then unleashed it.

  "Lightning Dragon's Roar!"

  "Boom!!!"

  A n of golden energy erupted from Kaminari's mouth, smming into the bear's back. The attack expanded upon impact, engulfing the bear in a brilliant "golden bowl" of energy.

  "Zzzzzt!"

  The sound of crag electricity grew louder as Kaminari's right hand raised. A small iron , resting against his gau, began to glow with eleagiergy.

  "Eleagic Railgun!"

  With a flick of his fihe shot forward at hypersonic speed, being a pierg beam of light that disappeared into the golden explosion.

  Kaminari wasn't holding back. Proteg endangered species was the st thing on his mind. The bear's murderous i had been clear, and its rampage had left two lives hanging by a thread. Whatever had caused this mess didn't matter, what mattered was stopping the bear from harming anyone else.

  In Kaminari's mind, this wasn't about morality or reasoning. It was about survival, a fual flict between humans and a beast that had chosen violence.

  When the golden light finally faded, the bear emerged from the destru. It was still standing tall, its vitality seemingly untouched. Its enraged roar echoed across the forest.

  "What?!" Kaminari muttered, stunned. "The Lightning Dragon's Roar didn't even faze it?"

  He squinted, notig only a slight singe where the railgun had hit. "The railgun barely took off a yer of fur… how thick is this thing's skin?!"

  The bear roared again, turning its bloodshot gaze toward Kaminari, its foow solely on him. Though his attacks hadn't inflicted much damage, they had succeeded in redireg its attention away from Hideo and his grandson.

  "Well, if un didn't work, let's see how two do!"

  Kaminari remained calm, though his mind was w quickly. Two iron s, crafted from iron sand, appeared in his palm. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed them into the air in front of him.

  Closing his eyes, Kaminari entered a meditative state. Pale golden currents sparked around the s, f visible circur tracks as they accelerated.

  "Eleagic Railgun—Double Shot!"

  "Swish!"

  "Swish!"

  The two iron s transformed into streaks of light, shooting toward the charging bear. Kaminari didn't stay idle, though. With a wave of his hand, he expanded his eleagic field, drawing more iron sand from the surrounding soil to gather around him.

  From afar, Ryoichi and his grandfather watched in awe. Kaminari, cloaked in golden armor and surrounded by swirling iron sand, looked otherworldly—a figure of both power and serenity.

  "ROAR!!!"

  "Boom!"

  "Boom!"

  The bear swung its massive paws, swatting the ining railgun shots aside like they were flies. Other than a faint glow from the high temperature, its paws remained unharmed.

  The attack had slowed its advance, but not by much.

  "This thing…" Kaminari thought, his focus intensifying. "Its paw speed is i deflected bun shots?!"

  It was now clear to Kaminari that this was no ordinary bear. A rger-than-average bck bear was ohing, but this creature was on another level entirely.

  "It has to be a Quirk. That's the only expnation for this kind of strength."

  "Woosh!"

  Kaminari raised his hand, and the gathered iron sand surged forward like a massive bck wave. The sand engulfed the bear, slowing its movements further.

  But Kaminari wasn't done. As the bear struggled against the sea of sand, he pushed his eleagitrol to its limits, drawing even more iron sand from the surrounding area tthen the wave.

  "One hundred meters…" Kaminari thought, feeling the strain of his reach. "That's my limit. Half of what Misaka Mikoto could manage."

  Despite the strain, the bear tio push forward, taking massive steps through the dense sand. Its progress was slower, but it was still advang.

  "This won't hold it," Kaminari realized. "I need something stronger."

  In the moment, the iron sand began to press and reshape itself under Kaminari's trol. Slowly, the loose wave of sand solidified into a thick, silver snake.

  Ryoichi and his grandfather stared in shock as the enormous steel serpent coiled itself around the bear, its metallic body shimmering uhe sunlight.

  The bear struggled, r ferociously, but the steel snake held firm, binding its movements.

  Kaminari allowed himself a small smile.

  "This Steel Serpent … it's w."