Defeat

Muscular snorted, "As long as it's my target, I don't care who I attack. Even if it's an eighty-year-old grandmother, I won't hold back. I'll beat her so badly that even her own son wouldn't recognize her!"

"So you really are a villain," Bakugo mocked.

Muscular didn't care about Bakugo's taunts, a relaxed smile on his face, "My Quirk is to enhance muscles, greatly increasing speed and strength through muscle fibers that can't even be covered by skin. You ask what I'm trying to say?"

Muscular instantly appeared in front of Bakugo and sent him flying into the air with a Bakugo. Bakugo barely managed to maintain his body using an explosion, but was immediately slammed into the ground by a heavy punch from Muscular followed closely behind!

"Showing off!" Muscular laughed loudly. "See that? This is the difference between you and me. You're just a clever little brat; you're nothing compared to true power!"

Bakugo lay on the ground, his head spinning from the combo, his vision blurry. He could only see Muscular pointing at him. He felt a pain all over his body, as if it were falling apart, but then he suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, what a turn of fortune! Just yesterday I was proclaiming the importance of strength, and today I'm stuck in the same spot, beaten to a pulp. How embarrassing!" Bakugo muttered to himself. "I'm a champion of strength above all else, yet I got soundly thrashed by someone dressed similarly to me. Is fate trying to teach me that no matter how strong you think you are, you'll always be defeated by someone stronger? This is a truly profound lesson."

"Kid, what's wrong with you?!" Bakugo's voice was so low that only he himself could hear it. Muscular, who could only hear a maniacal laugh, frowned. "I guess it's better to deal with you sooner rather than later."

Muscular walked towards Bakugo, his upper body suddenly enveloped in muscle tissue.

"No, stay away from him!" Suddenly, Kota shouted, clasping his hands together and unleashing his Quirk at Muscular. The icy water splashed onto Muscular, making him shudder.

Although it caused no harm, the attack angered Muscular.

"Little guy, do you know what you just did? I'm going to teach you something: don't mess with a tiger's butt!" Muscular gave up attacking Bakugo and turned to walk towards Kota.

He seemed to want to see Kota's fear, so instead of attacking him directly, he approached Kota step by step, using his massive body to get close to Kota. He felt a sense of satisfaction when he saw Kota retreat in fear.

Although Kota was terrified, he remained silent, looking at Muscular with a resentful expression.

"That guy deliberately drew the enemy away and saved me?" Bakugo thought incredulously. That guy was so weak; Muscular could have crushed him with a single finger. Why did he dare to fight back?

At that moment, Bakugo seemed to see the figure of his childhood friend Midoriya overlap with Kota. Back then, he was just like that, with a face about to cry, yet still protecting others. He was the one who committed violence back then, but now he was the one being protected.

"How is this possible? How could I possibly be protected?!" Bakugo forced his swaying body to his feet. The sweat on his palms seemed to sense his Bakugo and roared as he charged towards Muscular, "I'm going to become a Pro Hero stronger than All Might! How can I lose to a nobody like you?!"

As if he had anticipated this, Muscular quickly turned around, covering his upper body with his muscles to meet Bakugo's explosive charge towards his stomach. Before Bakugo could react, Maso opened his arms wide and pulled Bakugo into his embrace, pressing his muscular arms against Bakugo's body!

Muscular laughed loudly, "Kid, I knew people like you wouldn't give up so easily. Let me give you a proper way to die—crush you with my strong muscles!"

Muscular's muscles proliferated rapidly, turning him into a monster seemingly composed of muscles. His muscle fibers Bakugo's entire body, causing Bakugo to feel an all-around compression, as if his very soul was being crushed to dust!

But Bakugo laughed.

"Thanks a lot, actually, I let you catch me on purpose." Bakugo grinned maliciously, "My explosions aren't just limited to my hands!"

Bakugo's Quirk, Explosion, is essentially caused by a mutation in his sweat glands, producing a substance similar to Glycerin. In other words, all the sweat on his body could actually explode. However, because he believed that the sweat on his body was uncontrollable and could not produce an effective attack, but would instead harm himself, he only chose to use the sweat on his hands.

Bakugo was already soaked through; he was drenched in sweat.

Now is the time to detonate.

Muscular held Bakugo in his arms, intending to deliver the final blow, but to his surprise, he himself found himself in grave danger! Muscular felt the immense heat emanating from Bakugo and hurriedly tried to release him, but it was too late.

"Explode!"

At this moment, Bakugo was like a TNT bomb, detonating all the sweat on his body!

A powerful explosion erupted from within the muscular man, a dazzling light, like a shattered eggshell, bursting forth from his muscular spheres—an explosion, a powerful explosion.

Bakugo lay on the ground, panting heavily. His skin was charred black, with many burns, but fortunately, his skin was highly resistant to explosions. Although the injuries were painful, they did not cause Bakugo to lose consciousness.

"Ouch, that really hurts!" Bakugo's face contorted as he pushed himself up from the ground. "Now, the enemy should be done for, right?"

"Bakugo!" Kota, who had been hiding at the cave entrance and hadn't been affected by the explosion, rushed over to help Bakugo up. "Hey, are you alright!?"

"Kid, stay away from me. I'm not at the point where I need help." Bakugo refused Kota's help, stood up on his own, and looked at Muscular lying on the ground, surrounded by layers of red and white muscles. He said to himself, "Someone once told me that a strong Quirk isn't something to show off, but something to be honored. I think I understand that now. Kota, I now acknowledge that your parents are respectable Pro Hero."

Kota's face was already streaked with tears. Hearing Bakugo's words, he wiped away his tears and laughed through his sobs, saying, "Even if you say that, a few years from now I'll still beat you to a pulp!"

Bakugo forced a smile, "You're overthinking it. Even then, I'd still be so scared I'd beg for mercy on my knees."

Just as the two were enjoying themselves and preparing to leave, a voice suddenly rang out. "Hey, you two don't actually think you've defeated me, do you? Aren't you underestimating me?"

Bakugo's face instantly froze. Damn it, this guy is still awake! Bakugo thought that his desperate attack, if not killing him, would at least severely injure him, but now he can still speak!

Watching Muscular gradually stand up, Bakugo Kota behind him and calmly said, "Go now and tell Mandalay what happened here, and ask them to come and help."

"And what about you!?" Kota asked anxiously. He knew that Bakugo Kota already used all his strength, and even a gust of wind could probably knock Bakugo down!

"I must stay here and stop him," Bakugo replied.

"Neither of you are leaving!" Muscular turned around, revealing his face, which was covered in blood and gore except for one eye, making him look like a zombie from a horror movie!

Clearly, the other party had already decided to kill him. Although only Muscular right hand was currently covered in muscle fibers, and he was staggering, Bakugo was also exhausted. He thought he might die here.

"You can't die here." Several kilometers away in the forest, a man wearing tactical goggles muttered to himself, "Perfect timing, detonate."

Through the tactical goggles, a white dot rushed toward the red target, and a few seconds later, the red dot disappeared.

Objective achieved.