[MHCISQD] Chapter 309: The Battle Begins

"Hey, everyone, what's up?"

The Christmas gift that Renault had bought was already stored in a safe place; now he was empty-handed, ready to take action if needed.

"A little brat?"

"U.A. student."

"The future hero."

Amidst the crowd, voices began to exchange words. Regardless of age or gender, nobody showed Renault a friendly expression. With his hands in his pockets, Renault appeared relaxed, unaffected by being surrounded.

"How about I go for a stroll first, and you can come to find me again later?"

As Renault spoke, everyone fell silent.

For a moment, the place grew unusually quiet.

However, after five seconds, nothing happened to Renault, but a loud explosion echoed from a distant location.

In the next moment,

"Get him! Capture him!!!"

Someone shouted, and everyone charged toward Renault, unleashing various Quirks at him.

'It seems like something had happened. Looks like I arrived just in time.'

As he pondered, Renault stomped his right foot on the ground, causing a violent tremor centered around him.

The next second, colossal stone pillars emerged from the ground, sending a large group of villains flying. Simultaneously, Renault unleashed a tremendous tornado from his center, dispersing everyone along with their attacks.

However, after the tornado dissipated, Renault, who had been present moments ago, vanished.

"Where is he?"

"Search quickly!"

"That brat is strong!"

"Even if he's strong, it doesn't matter. We have so many people here! We can't let him ruin our great liberation goal!"

===

Having left the battlefield, Renault emerged from a small alley in Deika City, stepping out of the black hole.

'No one should be able to find me for a while. Now, let's go and see what's happening.'

Exiting the alley, Renault casually donned a hat he found in an empty clothing store and headed toward the source of the earlier explosion.

If Sento's information was correct, around 90% of the people here were members of the Meta Liberation Army. Therefore, besides accidental gas explosions, the appearance of such an explosion could only mean one thing—a battle had broken out.

Moreover, the explosion had occurred at the same time Renault was attacked by those people.

'Something is indeed happening here, let's go and take a look.'

Carefully avoiding the surveillance cameras on the street, Renault hurried forward.

As he progressed, Renault increasingly heard various sounds ahead.

Explosions, crackling flames, and numerous shouting voices.

Leaping onto a rooftop, Renault surveyed the scene, realizing the cause of everything happening before him seemed trivial.

"League of Villains..."

That's right, the League of Villains appeared here, the gathering place of the Meta Liberation Army members.

And what Renault saw was the scattered members of the League of Villains, fleeing in all directions.

Yes, they scattered.

Because not only were there pedestrians on the street but also numerous residents from both sides of the street who emerged as Liberation Army members, launching a relentless storm of attacks against the members of the League of Villains.

Due to this sudden wave of attacks, the members of the League of Villains, despite their considerable strength, had no choice but to temporarily retreat.

"Shigaraki seems to have become stronger."

In his field of vision, Shigaraki, wearing a black coat, used his own hands to directly smash several Liberation Army members who stood in his way, and then ran forward with great speed.

And their attacks couldn't even touch him.

"His Quirk activation seems to be getting faster, and his physical abilities appear to have further developed, enhancing both his strength and speed. What has happened to this guy recently? Is he striving to become stronger because All For One failed?"

Compared to Shigaraki, the other members of the League of Villains seemed to be slightly weaker, unable to withstand such attacks, and sustained various injuries while retreating.

These Liberation Army members might be slightly inferior to Shigaraki, but they were on par with the other members of the League of Villains. However, they had an absolute advantage in numbers.

"Hmm? Who is that person...?"

In the center of the battlefield, Renault spotted a man in a black suit, smiling as he watched the scene unfold.

"He looks somewhat familiar like I've seen him somewhere before."

While thinking, Renault took out his phone and discreetly took a side-profile photo, intending to have Sento investigate it later.

"Next, I'll catch two people and ask them some questions."

Renault quickly identified his targets—a girl being chased, Toga Himiko, and another woman with long hair who was fighting against her, the one who had been by the side of the man in the suit earlier.

Since he had already been noticed a moment ago, Renault couldn't be bothered to use his Driver, so he appeared on the battlefield in his current attire.

The sudden appearance of a black hole and Renault in his black coat caused everyone around to pause in surprise.

Toga, who was kneeling on the ground with one leg injured, blushed and smiled when she saw Renault.

"Ah! It's Renault-kun! What are you doing here?"

To be honest, although Toga looked pretty cute, Renault wasn't really into yandere.

Renault didn't expect to be recognized even though he was wearing a hat and had his collar up.

Looking around, he calmly remarked, "It seems like you're not having a good day."

On the other side, the woman with long hair's expression changed slightly upon hearing Toga's shout, but she appeared more curious.

"Renault? The U.A. student, right? Interesting, this is truly amusing. We just wanted to interview Toga and expose all her secrets, but now we have another person I want to interview. And it seems like you have even more secrets."

"A gossip journalist through and through."

Looking at the woman and her followers behind her, Renault raised his hand and beckoned to her.

"If you want to know my secrets, why don't you give it a try, Aunty?"

"...Aunty?!"

No young woman would like to be called that, and she was no exception. She was instantly filled with anger. With a wave of her hand, all her subordinates rushed forward.

"It seems like you're an important figure. How fortunate." Renault said while glancing at Toga behind him. "Stay put and don't even think about escaping. I have some questions for you."

Upon hearing Renault's words, Toga, who had been intending to struggle to her feet and join the fight, obediently sat back down on the ground.