Chapter Text
The second Izuku and Momo announced their Hero names to the world, they were bombarded with a bevy of questions.
“What’s your real name?”
“Are you Japanese?”
“Why did you just now show up?”
“Did you just Awaken?”
“What’s with all those shadow monsters?”
“What are your thoughts on Endeavor and the deaths of the Top Ten?”
Izuku was somewhat taken aback by the brazenness of the reporter. Obviously he was going to ask who they were, and what the Shadows were, but he crossed the line asking about the Top Ten and Dabi when they hadn’t even died a full hour ago.
Despite that, neither Izuku nor Momo wanted to be the type of Hero to instill fear in others with their raw strength, so they settled for the rather passive: “All you need to know about us is that we’re here to help.”
The reporter tried to cram closer to Izuku and Momo and ask more questions, which caused Igris, and Kaisel to emerge from their shadows. Beru probably would’ve popped up too, but he was ensuring that the fleet was safe from Nomu.
“My Liege’s concerns rest firmly within the safety of this fleet. Please save the questioning for later.”
“My Lady should not be bothered with such pointless drivel at such a time!”
Kaisel was a bit more aggressive about it, but they both got their point across. However, it was Admiral Mori who finally got the man to step down.
“I concur with the summoned creatures!” He said, Merrix following close behind him. “It’s too early to relax! Give us a full report!”
Izuku had to respect the man’s unflappable devotion to the success of the mission. He didn’t question Igris or Kaisel speaking of their own accord. He even acknowledged them.
“The Queen and the Raid Boss are both dead. The Nomu are currently being cleaned up by our summons, we have no reason to believe they will be anything less than completely successful, but we’re going to leave some here as insurance during recovery of the island.” Izuku gave his part, focusing on the physical threat of the Villains.
“The F-54s have been taken control of and their pilots are being apprehended on other decks,” Momo said, gesturing behind her to the pilot being pulled out of Wyvern 1-1. Admiral Mori, for a moment, held the power of the Gods within his eyes. He was ready to incinerate the pilot down to the smallest atom for his insubordination and pure stupidity. But like the military man he was, he held his tongue. “Endeavor escaped the island, we tried searching but we couldn’t find his exact Mana Signature, the island’s putting off too much Magical Energy on its own. We’re also having our summons extract resources for the people of Korea to rebuild with and like Monarch said, they’ll remain there for protection and to assist in the construction if necessary.”
The Admiral paused for a moment, impressed by the two, who were clearly young. Well, young to him at least, he had been in the game for quite some time. Not only that, but he felt inspired by them. Sure they had shown up late, but they had completely saved the day, worked with the military respectfully, prioritized lives, and even left the spoils for someone else. Those sorts of Heroes just didn’t exist in this day and age. Of course he didn’t know about Beru’s core, but even if he had, the two were still leaving a lot behind for the good of others. Besides, they had definitely earned that core.
“Understood. The fleet will remain here for the next couple of days, rotating a work force in and out to assess damages and begin the process of preparing the island for habitation once more.” He pursed his lips and lowered his voice before saying to Izuku, “I saw what you did there at the end. With the ant I mean. You… resurrected him… correct?”
Izuku saw no reason to lie. If he used his Shadows enough, people would catch on to the nature of the power eventually. He nodded.
“Then… you could bring back the lives that were lost?”
Izuku shook his head. “I’m sorry, but they… probably wouldn’t be the same people they once were. And besides… their Souls have already moved on.” When landing on deck, Izuku had already seen that there would be no bringing back these Heroes. Their Souls went to wherever Souls go when a body dies, making it impossible to bring them back. Izuku was guessing about their personality, but some Shadows, like Beru, seemingly served unwillingly, which may have changed their personalities entirely.
“I see.” The Admiral kept his head held high, but it was clear that there was pain in his eyes. No matter how much he despised the current Hero landscape, no matter the lack of respect they had for each other, they were still mostly young men and women who had their lives cut short for no good reason. It wasn’t fair to them. And of course, the one man he’d be fine with dying in the Raid had escaped. He was an old war dog who couldn’t even help all that much in the Raid.
“Then in that case we’ll be sending them home on the first ship to leave the fleet. You’re free to accompany them if you wish.”
Izuku nodded “I’ll be staying with Nagant, Ryukyu, and Miruko to make sure they make it back to Japan safely.”
“And I have business to attend to,” Momo said smiling under her mask, “And I have my own ride.”
Mori smirked. “I suppose you do.”
In truth, Momo couldn’t wait to get back to the Lux laboratory and begin her research. Not to mention she had to make sure Esil and her family got back to their home safely.
“Uhm, excuse me!” Esil called out, drawing the attention of the crowd. “We have a problem!”
Izuku’s heart sank to his stomach as he saw Nagant, who Esil was crouched over. Her body was completely repaired, yet her skin was pale and she was sweating profusely.
“What’s happening to her?”
“I fear that her Soul was damaged,” Esil responded.
“Her Soul?!”
“That creature harmed her so greatly, in both body and spirit, that her Soul was likely broken in the process. If it’s not repaired…”
Izuku had never really heard of someone’s Soul being damaged before, no one in the medical world had. People sometimes lost the will to live, but that wasn’t the thing Esil was talking about here, this was a literal Soul.
There was only one thing Izuku could look towards, a new Skill he had gotten from the Chaos and Order Rune Stones that had combined. He had been so rushed to reach Jeju that he hadn’t paid it much attention, but now it was possibly the most important tool in his Skillset.
*******
[Skill: Soul Manipulation]
- Job-Specific Skill
- Cost: Souls
- Description: By permanently sacrificing Souls stored within the Soul Collector Quirk, the Player can strengthen the Souls of others. This can repair damage to the Soul and can expand the Soul’s capacity for growth.
*******
All Izuku read was the part about repairing damage, looking into his Soul Collector for Souls to give up.
[Soul List:]
- 51 Shriekers
- 15 Clicker Tortoises
- 25 Flame Salamanders
- 56 Cyclops
- 27 Hellhounds
- 5 Chimera
- 20 Crystal Canaries
- 873 High Orcs
- 3,469 Tenebris
- 1,768 Noble Tenebris
- 5,538 Noble Lux
- 4,200 Nomu
- 100 Evolved Nomu
The Lux Souls were not only the most numerous, but they were also some of the strongest, and since Momo had a very small limit on her Synthetic Shadows, they weren’t likely to be needed any time soon.
The only problem was that Izuku had no idea how this Soul conversion process worked. He didn’t know how many Souls were required, if it was just one, or if the Souls had less power than a Soul in a living body. So did Nagant need more than one Soul to repair hers?
[Would you like to create a Spiritual Essence Path between yourself and Kaina Tsutsumi?]
Izuku answered yes without hesitation, deciding to figure out what a Spiritual Essence Path was later.
[Please designate a Soul and an amount to give to Kaina Tsutsumi.]
“Better safe than sorry,” Izuku thought to himself before telling the System to give her 500 Noble Lux Souls.
[Administering Souls…]
[Due to the volume of Souls and the existing size of Kaina Tsutsumi’s Soul, the process may take several weeks to complete in full.]
“Weeks?! She doesn’t have that… time…?”
Immediately Kaina’s skin returned to a much healthier color and she seemed to let out a sigh in her sleep. It seemed that she may have only needed a couple of Souls, but because Izuku had given so many, her Soul had to grow gradually with them.
To confirm his suspicions, Esil nodded to him. “Her Soul seems to be healing itself. I think she should be fine with enough rest.”
Izuku let out a heavy sigh, falling onto his butt with relief. It seemed that, now, finally, it was over.
*******
By the time the ship docked back in Japan, about six hours had passed. Momo had long since flown away in the cockpit of her new F-54s, now devoid of a pilot, with the family of Chaos Inhabitants in tow. Before they left, Mori had saluted all three thanking them for their efforts and honored that they saw fit to help humans.
Izuku, as he had said, remained with the ship to ensure the safety of the surviving Japanese Heroes, all of whom were still unconscious. He had already slipped some of the Noble Tenebris into each of their Shadows so he could keep an eye on them.
Igris was back on Jeju with some of the other Shadows. Izuku felt a little nervous leaving Beru, so he had brought the ant back with him in his Shadow. Igris assured him that the ant was loyal and would obey any chain of command that his Liege put in place. So as long as Izuku made sure everyone knew that Igris was the second-in-command behind himself, it would all be fine. But even still, Beru was only the second Shadow of Izuku’s to speak and had such immense power in his reborn state that Izuku needed more time to ensure that there was no need for alarm.
When off-loading the girls to go to the hospital, there were two ambulances and one completely black unmarked van. Standing in front of it was Takashi. He held up a badge, taking Nagant into his care as he gestured for Izuku to follow him.
Izuku climbed into the back of the van with Takashi and Nagant, who was already hooked up to a ton of machines to monitor her. But there was no need for an EMT or anything back there with them, it was just Izuku and Takashi as the doors closed.
“So you knew, huh?” Izuku asked, his helmet folding away in the same way that Iron Man’s armor did. His verdant green eyes glowing with power.
Takashi winced. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out.”
“Then why’d you lie about it that night?”
“Well, it’s not like any of the others knew,” He said, referring to the other heads of the organization that had gathered around the table.
“They didn’t?”
Takashi shook his head. “Their focuses were all on other projects. None of them were actively involved in the Shadow Monarch ordeal with the Yaoyorozus. But I was, so I did some digging and put it all together. I figured you wanted to remain secretive about your identity so I feigned ignorance. Ever since then I’ve been putting false leads out there, so that no one stumbled across you or Yaoyorozu. Not even my own team.”
“You don’t trust them?” Izuku asked.
“Not with this secret. I wanted to be extra cautious. Besides, they didn’t need to know.”
“So… what else haven’t you told me?”
Takashi chuckled, his expression tight. He was clearly under a lot of stress. “I haven’t told you a lot, I am an old man after all, too many stories even if we sat down and talked for months. But there is nothing I’m hiding. If you ask and I have an answer, I will give it.”
“So you didn’t tell her who the Shadow Monarch was?” Izuku gestured to Lady Nagant.
Takashi’s brow furrowed. “I admit that she is my most trusted asset, but I quite literally did not tell anyone about your identity.”
“Then did you know about her dreams?”
“Dreams? I trusted her but we are not friends, we rarely even spoke. We did not have time for simple conversations about her hopes and dreams.”
“No, not her aspirations, I mean her literal dreams. While she slept.”
“W-Where is this going?” Takashi was growing somewhat annoyed, it seemed. Izuku’s Sense Stat was good enough by now that he could tell Takashi knew nothing about this.
“When I first found her, she recognized me… under the armor.”
Takashi’s eyes widened. “I did not imagine she was looking for your identity herself. But what does this have to do with dreams?”
Izuku stared at her bi-colored hair, a feature he now recognized from his own dreams. He took a breath. “I think we’ve both been having recurring dreams about a battlefield of some sort. She’s lying there, bleeding out, I’m there, patching her up.”
“And you’ve… both had this dream?”
Izuku shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, but it seems that way.”
“Could it be coincidence?”
“Then she wouldn’t have known who I was on Jeju. She’s never met me before.” There was the day before that fateful Raid, when she had shown up to put a stop to Mount Lady’s showboating, but Izuku was certain she hadn’t paid him any mind. And he had bolted from the scene only a minute or two after she arrived.
Takashi had to admit that very little made sense to him right now. “The only possible explanation that comes to mind is someone is using Magic to give you these dreams. But I can’t imagine for what purpose.”
Izuku nodded, satisfied with Takashi’s answers. “So… what’s gonna happen to you?”
The old man huffed. “I have no idea. The government and the people now know everything. I put out documents outlining my actions for the past couple of years.”
“You… really did that?” Izuku was taken aback, such a move almost seemed stupid.
Takashi shrugged. “I promised the people in the command center I would take accountability. Those men and women work with me day and night, I refuse to go back on any word I gave them, even if it worsens my situation.” He scoffed. “Besides, my work is done. I delayed the apocalypse long enough for the Shadow Monarchs to manifest. I admit I’m not happy with this outcome, but I can’t say I deserve better. This is all my doing. I have to live with it.” Takashi looked to Izuku with the same intense gaze he had held that night in the manor. “But, I must ask one more thing of you.”
Izuku nodded, emotional over the man’s dedication to his cause and to his people. “If it’s moral and in my power.”
“I just want you to watch out for my daughter.” He tapped his cane on the floor of the vehicle a few times. “I adopted her when she was just a kid. Her parents died during a Gate Break and we never changed her name, so I doubt people would be able to find her that easily. But in the event that someone learns of her relation to me, well… I don’t want anyone else sharing the burden. She doesn’t even know about what I did… or well, I suppose she does now.” He shook his head. “She thought I was just a public servant for the people.” He smiled, his eyes sparkling as he reminisced. “She’s even Awakened, much stronger than me, so I doubt she really needs the protection but… would you look out for her? Just in case?”
“I’ll make sure of it. No harm will ever come to her.”
Takashi laughed. “No need to be that serious about it. Harm exists in this world no matter how much someone protects you.”
“No,” Izuku interrupted him. “I swear to you. I won’t let anyone touch her.”
Takashi nodded. “Well I promised not to hide anything from you anymore, so I’ll admit that I don’t believe you. No matter how strong you are. But, I’m satisfied that she at least has someone looking over her no matter what happens to me.”
It was somewhat refreshing to hear such honesty, and Izuku had to hope that Takashi didn’t get too big of a punishment. “So, what’s her name then?”
Takashi’s smile widened, happy to get in one last surprise. “You already know it.”
“What?”
“Setsuna told me all about her new classmates, even you.”
*******
“What is this… what is this place?” A disembodied voice filled a white void, the voice belonging to that of Touya Todoroki, Dabi.
“It’s nowhere,” A voice responded, belonging to a rather horrific looking demon with pure white glowing eyes, horns, and rough gray skin.
“Don’t screw with me!” Dabi bit back.
But the Demon’s face was somber. “I’m sorry Touya, but I’m not messing with you. This is nowhere. It’s the dimension between life and death. So devoid of anything that it may as well be nothing.”
“…”
“I’m sorry, but you are dead.”
“Yeah… I figured…” Dabi responded. “So does that make you Satan or something?”
The Demon laughed, genuinely amused by the comparison. “Oh no, I have no connection to death. That power belongs to another.”
“Then what are you?”
“I am Baran, the Monarch of White Flames and the Monarch of Demons. I merely wished to see you off. No one knows what the afterlife is like, not even us Higher Beings, but if it is fair, I reckon you will find yourself in a peaceful place. You earned it.” The Demon’s voice was shaking, as if on the verge of tears.
“Why do you care about me? Do you do this for everyone that comes this way?”
“No. I am merely an admirer. A God who appreciates the beauty of a mortal’s flames. Who appreciates your defiance in the face of fate.” Baran placed a hand over his chest and bowed.
“Huh… well, if you’re a God… can you watch out for Kyu for me?”
Baran raised his right hand, a circle of black energy burning itself into his wrist. It was a magical seal. “I promise, no harm shall come to her.”
“Heh… she probably won’t even need you. She’s strong enough.”
Baran smiled wistfully at that. “Touya Todoroki, I bid you farewell and safe travels.”
“Thanks… I guess…” The voice became weak, and his Soul’s presence vanished.
Baran stared down at the new mark on his wrist. “It is the least I could do… Please forgive my transgressions.”