Chapter Text
The second Izuku exited the Snowy Forest through the Gate, he was yanked to the ground by Kirishima, who had entered the portal in front of him. He held a finger up to his lips and pointed. Tetsutetsu was also one of the first through and he took the responsibility of making sure everyone was quiet when they came through the Gate.
They were crouched behind a small cliffside, the rock face hiding them and their Gate from whatever was around the corner Kirishima was pointing at.
Izuku nodded, then delicately crept around the cliff. He wanted to use Stealth, but there were already a lot of questions about him. Adding a crazy Skill like Stealth to those questions was a bit too much.
Peeking around the tan stones, Izuku spotted a small camp of sorts. There were a few tents and shoddily built structures here and there, but the main draw was the massive figures crouched around a fire.
Easily ten-feet tall, each humanoid had blood-red skin, glowing crimson eyes, and fangs that jutted out from their lower jaw.
*******
[High Orc:]
Rank: A
Type: Karius Humanoid
Role: Basic Footsoldier
Proficiencies: Raw Strength, Blunt Force Weapons, Teamwork
Skills: Berserker, Environmental Resistance
*******
The Villains roared in laughter as they tore apart a still moving creature, struggling to escape their grasp, to no avail. The mess of blood and guts made it impossible to tell what it had once been.
Despite the fire, the Orcs didn’t even attempt to cook the meat, instead happily slurping up the bloody mess and crunching down on bone like it was potato chips.
Izuku got the sense that there would be no talking to these things and coming to a peaceful conclusion.
“I’ve muffled our voices,” Jiro said, using her Quirk in combination with her Awakened sonic magic to create a slight soundproofing.
“A-Rank,” Izuku reported. “Fighting them head on is risky at best.” By now, thanks to the System, he was probably approaching A-Rank himself, if he wasn’t already there, so he would be able to handle them fine, but even with the others and all their Quirks, they would be in significantly more danger.
“Then we stick to the plan,” Midnight said, causing Izuku to build another sphere, this time out of very thin stone. It camouflaged better and wouldn’t melt in this climate.
Speaking of the climate, as Midnight filled the gas bomb, Izuku looked around. The landscape was all stone and barren desert. The sky was a deep orange and not a single cloud occupied it. No trees, no plants, no water to speak of. It was a horrible place to live.
“Alright we’re good.” Midnight reported, causing Izuku to seal off the sphere and hand it to Setsuna.
The girl detached her arm and a single eye, weaving it around the cliffside and moving towards the campsite. They’d done it a dozen times before, so their teamwork was seamless, and without so much as a word, Setsuna crushed the stone ball in her hands when she was in position.
“RAAAAARGH!!!”
[High Orcs are activating Skill: Berserker.]
“It didn’t work…” Izuku muttered, subtly withdrawing Baruka’s dagger from his inventory.
“What do you mean? The Ice Bears roared too,” Kaminari pointed out, but Izuku shot Iida a look that said it all.
“Prepare for a fight. Tanks get ready. Backline support, give us some space.”
*******
[Item: Cryonic Entropy]
- Item Class: S
- Item Type: Dagger
- Attack: +300
- Gem Slots: 0
- All Ice Elemental Skills and Attacks are enhanced by 100% when wielding this Dagger and their Mana costs are cut in half.
******
“There’s no way they know we’re back here, let’s just pull back and…” Kaminari trailed off as a massive shape filled their view, appearing just in front of Tetsutetsu and Kirishima.
Izuku didn’t waste a moment, raising his gauntlet and shooting out a shard of ice, sharp enough to pierce the flesh of even the High Orcs. But the red-skinned beast just leaned to the side, allowing the ice to stab into his shoulder rather than his heart. He didn’t even flinch as the cold spear tore apart his flesh and muscle.
He was so unconcerned by the pain that the first punch he threw was even with his injured shoulder.
“I got thi-!” Was all Kirishima managed to get out before the Orc’s fist slammed straight into his temple. He hit the ground so hard you’d have thought he fell from orbit. Thankfully, his Quirk had saved him from instant death and unconsciousness, but it was clear that if anyone else took a hit like that, they wouldn’t be getting back up.
Kaminari let fly a bolt of lightning from his fingers as Tetsutetsu took over Kirishima’s position while he recovered.
The bolt exploded against the side of the Orc’s head, sending the scent of burnt flesh wafting through the air, but he still didn’t fall. Unlike the Ice Elves, these Orcs were used to the harshest of climates, heat, nor ice, was a weakness.
[Skill: Speedstrike (Fire) has activated.]
Iida and Izuku rushed forwards at the same time, Izuku swinging his dagger and Iida kicking out with his armored legs.
The Orc caught Iida’s kick moments before it hit, but he was too slow to keep Izuku’s dagger from slicing his neck wide open.
[You have gained 2 Levels!]
But as the body fell, and Izuku landed back on his feet, he was shown a haunting sight. The rest of the Orcs, all clutching clubs, maces, and battle-axes, staring down at their dead comrade. Not a single one even looked sleepy.
Acting on instinct, Izuku swiped his dagger through the air, creating a veritable storm of icicles that shot through the air, spearing half-a-dozen in fatal areas. But only three of them fell down dead, the others not even perturbed by the spears piercing their hearts or other organs. And there were more still that were completely unharmed.
[You have gained 2 Levels!]
[Mana: 5910/6652]
Izuku was stunned. Not by the Orcs' clear indifference to pain, but by his Mana count. Not all that long ago, it would’ve dropped entirely to zero using an attack like that. But with the dagger, his new Stats, and his armor, it dropped about seven-hundred instead of six-thousand. On top of that, it was regenerating far faster than before. Meaning that his Elemental attacks were no longer a last minute trump card, but a viable attack strategy.
Now, there was no reason to hold back. Instead of the small ice daggers, Izuku called into existence several 2 meter long javelins of pure ice above the Orcs. And as they rushed to avenge their fallen, Izuku brought the spears down on their heads with scary precision.
Split in half from head to crotch, they couldn’t simply ignore the pain, and they fell into lumps of meat with a sickening THUNK.
[You have gained 3 Levels!]
[Mana: 5512/7512]
In Leveling up, he even managed to replenish more Mana, making it look like the massive attack only cost four-hundred Mana.
“Phew… Is everyone okay?”
“Kirishima got hit hard, but I think he’s coming out of it,” Tetsutetsu reported as his fellow tank rubbed at his temples to shake off the soreness, helped by Uraraka’s healing magic.
“This isn’t good. By now even the basic Villains of a Gate have surpassed the rest of the team. No doubt the Boss Villain is going to be a staunch S-Rank. Just a week ago I wouldn’t even fathom taking on something like that. But I do have the Shadows. Just so long as my Skills don’t get negated again.”
[Alert: Shadow Baruka Lvl. 1 - Elite-Knight Grade has incompatible Skills with Shadow Extraction.]
[Blizzard’s Concealment has been modified to become Shadow Cloak.]
[Ice King’s Howl has been modified to become Kanidaru’s Blessing.]
******
[Skill: Shadow Cloak]
- Active Skill
- Mana Cost: 10 Mana per second. (This cost is supplied by the Player).
- Description: The user can cloak himself and up to 12 other Shadows to hide themselves completely from physical and magical detection.
******
[Skill: Kanidaru’s Blessing]
- Passive Skill
- Mana Cost: 0
- Description: This Passive applies to all Shadows under the Player’s control, as well as the Player themself. This Skill prevents almost all debuffs from afflicting the Player and their Shadows, or cures them if they manage to be inflicted upon the Player or their Shadows.
*******
“Well that solves the problem of worrying about my Shadows being locked away again.”
Izuku had been rather indecisive about resurrecting Baruka. Whatever had happened to the Elf had clearly changed him for the worst. In his last moments, he had expressed pride in his people, and in his Shadow form, it was clear that he was happy to no longer be a burden. For those reasons, Izuku got the sense that he truly had been a good man… Elf… at one point. He wished that he could dismiss souls to the afterlife, or whatever the true end of life was, but it simply wasn’t an option, so he felt it best to give what souls he could a second chance rather than letting them sit on a list like some old knickknack on a dusty shelf.
And because of Baruka’s past, Izuku felt it was the right thing to let him keep his original name. He had been thinking of a few, but really, he just wasn’t good at naming, so it was a win-win to keep it as it was.
“High Orcs?! To start a Dungeon off? That’s just crazy! This is a job for A or S-Ranks! Not B-Ranks!”
“We managed to handle them,” Iida said, doing his best to calm Kaminari, “What worries me is the future of this Gate.” In no time, he had come to the same conclusion as Izuku.
“Are you kidding me! The Boss is gonna be an S-Rank! We’re gonna get stomped! The only reason we handled the last Boss was because we witnessed a first in the history of Raiding! Villains helping the Heroes!”
“A strategy-”
“Won’t help against an S-Rank! Even Midoriya got bodied by that last guy!”
“And you think complaining about it will do anything?” Setsuna interjected. “We either win or we live the rest of our lives in Orc territory.”
“Or we die,” Yui added.
“Come on! Let’s just man up and do this! No more depressing stuff!” Kirishima shouted, likely worsening his headache as he stood.
“Well I guess I’ll probably have to show my hand in the Boss room, if not before that. Oh well, better than a dead body.” Izuku nodded at Kirishima’s call to action, “There’s no point in over-thinking it. We’ll just get-”
Izuku’s Sense Stat exploded as a body rose behind him. Hidden beneath the mass of his dead brethren, one of the High Orcs had concealed their Mana, giving them the perfect opportunity to lunge forwards with their battle-axe, primed to cut Izuku in half, and… FWOOM!
Before Izuku, or the Orc could react, a warhammer, a few meters in length, crashed into the Orc, turning his brain matter into sludge.
“That was a little close,” Yui muttered, walking over to collect the warhammer.
“She… threw that?!”
Perhaps it was a little stupid to think in such a way, but Yui was relatively small compared to the massive hammer she had thrown. She was Awakened sure, but her magic was in a Support role. And yet she had crushed an Orc that even Kaminari hadn’t been able to truly damage. Even Kendo had a good helping of muscle on her body, making it feel more natural for her to swing around something a hundred times her weight.
“That weapon…” Jiro marveled.
“There’s no way that didn’t cost a lifetime’s worth of money.”
Uraraka wasn’t wrong. The hammer was an S-Rank weapon for sure. It was beautiful in its destruction. Red and white, the blood seeping down it didn’t detract from its ornate design.
“I saw it moving under the bodies…” Yui said, grasping the handle of the hammer. And in response, it shrunk to the size of. “Wasn’t sure if anyone else did.”
“That’s right. Your Quirk allows you to alter the size of things.” Izuku was doing his best not to nerd out over such a cool Quirk, especially not in such a dangerous situation.
“Inanimate objects only,” She said, displaying her power.
Yui would start a swing with the hammer small, allowing her to swing faster and with much more force. Then, near the apex of the swing, she’d enlarge the hammer again. In an actual fight against her, blocking or predicting any attack would be absolutely impossible with the ability to change the size of her weapon on the fly.
If she had gotten the chance to fight Baruka alongside Izuku, she might’ve actually been able to do some work against the Elf.
“You weren’t kidding when you said you were a special case,” Kaminari responded to the display. “Why’d you say you were Support?”
Yui shrunk her hammer back down to the size of a keychain and hooked it onto her belt like it was one. “If I’m close enough and I sense it coming, I can use my Quirk to shrink magic or debuffs. It’s technically an inanimate object, so my Quirk works on it.”
“Damn… if she’d been there with me, Baruka wouldn’t have caught me with my pants down…”
Inside his shadow, Izuku could feel Baruka cringe, as if he was embarrassed about his previous actions. Which, to Izuku, felt genuine, as the Elf had been under some sort of influence. It didn’t feel like a Summon blindly obeying its master. It gave Izuku a little peace of mind to know that the Shadows had some free will at least.
“Okay well… all in favor of her being like in the midline? Is that a thing?” Kaminari asked.
“It’s either frontline or backline, there’s not really an in between,” Midnight said with a lopsided grin. Izuku could tell it was forced, she wasn’t holding up any better than Kaminari, she just knew how to hide it.
“She’s used to professionals, in an environment they’re prepared for, in a Gate they’re Ranked for…” Even though Midnight had gone through quite a bit as a Hero, she hadn’t yet experienced the true call of Death that Izuku had felt since day 1. Only now was she beginning to shiver from its presence.
“We have more pressing matters,” Iida said, course-correcting the group. “Jiro, can you do a search?”
She nodded, pressing her hands to the ground and concentrating.
“There’s… not much… Maybe a few roaming groups of High Orcs nearby, but…” Her face beaded with sweat, and with a suddenness that made Izuku want to shout in surprise, she fell back, as if hit by an invisible force. “Ah…” She cupped her hands over her ears. “I… Can’t…!”
Her head lurched back, as if possessed. Which… she was…
[Skill: Stealth has been activated.]
The second Izuku realized their Support had been compromised, he vanished. This was an intelligent foe. And knowledge was power. So, he’d cut off just a little bit of this enemy’s resources by erasing himself from their equation.
“HUMANS!!!!” Jiro croaked out, sounding like pebbles were tumbling around in her throat. “THE TEN OF YOU ARE WEAK!!!”
“Looks like he can’t see me after all,” Izuku thought to himself, leaping straight up the cliffside to get a better look. As Jiro had said, there were only a few nearby Orc camps, but all of them were heading in their direction.
“MY MEN WILL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!!!”
“We won’t lose so easily,” Kendo assured the voice.
“KAHAHAHA!!! YOU MAY HAVE FELLED A FEW OF MY PROUD SOLDIERS, BUT CAN YOU HANDLE THE SAME NUMBER TENFOLD!!! YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES!!! DIE AT THE HANDS OF MY MEN, HERE AND NOW!!! OR FOLLOW THEM AND SEEK MERCY!!!”
Jiro drew a small dagger from her belt and placed the tip against her throat before anyone could move. “SHE WILL BE THE FIRST TO GO!!!”
Iida, ever the team leader, instantly held his hands up, “No. We’ll follow your men. There’s no need for bloodshed,” He said, perhaps optimistic about their chances considering their last Gate encounter.
“EXCELLENT CHOICE!!!” Jiro started walking forwards, the knife still held to her throat. No one, not even Iida, dared to tempt the situation.
Instead, as they were marched through the desert, with Orcs flanking them, Iida shot a glance up to the cliff, where Izuku was camouflaged. He didn’t look directly at Izuku, but it was enough. Iida had seen him. He was going along with the plan.
“Well… This could either be super stupid or super smart.” Izuku sighed, checking to make sure his Shadows were still with him. Thanks to Baruka’s new Skill, he doubted anything would change, but he needed them. There was no longer any room to hide his strength. It was time to see what these powers could really do.
*******
It didn’t take long for the Orcs to guide Izuku’s party to their destination. It was the only structure of mention in this barren hellscape, a bastion of sorts.
“Line up. I want a full scale barrage the second I give the signal,” Izuku demanded, releasing the Ice Bears from his shadow. With the extra 83 Ice Bear souls he had on his list, he was able to resurrect enough until he had a full 130, all modified with Tank’s artillery abilities.
They were stationed far enough away that not even Jiro would be able to hear them, especially since they weren’t moving, eating, or roaring. Hell they weren’t even breathing.
*******
[Item: Everfrost Bow]
- Item Class: A
- Item Type: Bow
- Attack: +250
- Gem Slots: 0
- Description: A common bow wielded by the Ice Elf people. Mana can be channeled into it to create arrows of magical ice.
******
“Do you think you can use this?” Izuku asked sheepishly of Baruka. “I know this was your dagger, but I’m not really a bowman. We need to spread the weapons a bit.”
Baruka delicately placed one hand over his sternum and performed a bow of sorts. It must’ve been the Ice Elf etiquette. Regardless, it said all Izuku needed to hear.
“Thanks. When we get out of here, I’ll give this back,” Izuku promised, holding the dagger. “Now let’s go.”
He called the necessary Shadows back into his darkness and activated Stealth once more, sprinting across the barren desert, towards the bastion of aging stone and wood. By the time he got there, his party was just about to be let through the front Gate, still with Jiro held hostage by whoever was controlling her.
“Before anything goes down, I need to make sure that she’s no harm to herself.”
The massive wooden doors, reinforced with steel, creaked open, pushed by the muscle-bound Orcs, revealing a hallway reminiscent of the Job Quest Dungeon, just far larger.
The group was ushered inside, many of them pale and trembling. Izuku wondered if they even noticed his absence, aside from Iida, of course.
Izuku slipped in with the crowd, still invisible to the naked eye. Ducking under the Orcs, he made his way up to Iida, lightly tapping him on the shoulder and whispering. “I’ve got a plan,” Before slipping away once more.
Izuku scaled the stone walls, perching himself up on the ledges of the bastion, following from high above, and waiting.
“Shiiiit…” Izuku nearly let slip an expletive as they dove deeper and deeper into the bastion. He realized he had made the best decision in hiding. There weren’t dozens, or hundreds of Orcs, there were at least a thousand. It was a genuine army, one that would steamroll the real world if they didn’t clear the Gate.
“If I had been dragged along with this, I wouldn’t have been able to set up Tank and the artillery.” Izuku had felt like a coward at first, but had the Orcs truly learned of him, trying to eliminate all of them would’ve been nearly impossible, not even mentioning the four Orcs standing at attention before the throne of the bastion, nor the Orc they were guarding.
*******
[Pinnacle Orc:]
Rank: High A
Type: Ascended Karius Humanoid
Role: Royal Guard
Proficiencies: Raw Strength, Blunt Force Weapons, Teamwork
Skills: Berserker, Environmental Resistance
*******
[Shaman Orc, Kargalan:]
Rank: S
Type: Ascended Karius Humanoid
Role: Boss
Proficiencies: Magic, Status Conditions, AOE Magic Attacks, Combined Magic.
Skills: Hymns of the Orc God, Environmental Resistance, Endless Mana
*******
“Wait for the signal,” Izuku mentally commanded his Shadows, releasing Baruka, Igris, Arcka, and his other strongest Shadows. Baruka instantly cloaked them all in his version of Stealth and they maneuvered around the soon-to-be battlefield.
“Welcome humans!” The Shaman shouted. He leisurely leaned his chin on one hand, propped up by his throne. The other hand he waved out to the party, and instantly, Jiro fell down.
Izuku almost jumped down then and there, worried that he had killed her. But thankfully, cradled in Kaminari’s arms, she began to rapidly blink her eyes, coming to a confused state of wakefulness. All the Orc had done was free his hostage. Well, that wasn’t entirely true considering he had them surrounded by a thousand more Orcs. So it was more like he had lessened his hold on one hostage and gained another ten.
Izuku just hoped that since the Orc had been talking through Jiro, he knew how to communicate in human tongue. He himself couldn’t tell the difference, so to him it always sounded like Japanese.
“What do you want with us?” Iida asked, already certain of the answer, but unsure of Izuku’s plan, he decided to engage the Orc.
“Time passes so slowly here, but soon, we shall be released to kill all the mortals beyond that Gate. Regardless, my men grow bored of this world. A little entertainment is always good for troop morale. As the leader of your own pathetic squad, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I know a lot of dirty jokes, I’m sure I can keep your boys busy for-” Setsuna was cut short as the Shaman waved his hands.
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Gravity Magic.]
The girl’s scale armor was crushed and bent as she was slammed into the ground by the increased gravity. In fact, all of the party were forced to their knees, if not completely flat on their stomachs.
“I do not desire your bravado, only your fear. Perhaps it will be more pronounced if I put you all to sleep, only to wake one-by-one, noticing your numbers grow thinner.”
“You can… shove it right… where the sun… don’t shine… bitch!” Setsuna forced out.
Kargalgan chuckled. “I can’t wait to see the tears running down your face as you face the might of my men.”
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Skill: Hymn of Slumber.]
Everyone’s struggles ceased as consciousness faded from them. It sent roars of laughter and spite screaming out of the Orcs’ throats.
“Perhaps we should start with their eldest!” The Orc shouted, pointing to Midnight’s prone form. “Or maybe… Maybe her body would be better suited to other forms of entertainment for my men!” More roars of approval followed.
“Sorry, but it’s time to get this show on the road,” Izuku announced, stepping in front of his teammates’ prone bodies. “Also, I kinda have a duty to protect these guys as the strongest here.”
“WHAT?!” The Orc’s bellow nearly knocked Izuku over, but he kept a calm smile on his face. “Who dares intrude upon my domain without permission?!”
“The person who’s gonna kill you,” Izuku said, arrogance creeping into his voice. He hated taking that tone, but he hated the way the Shaman talked about Midnight even more so.
“HAH! YOU?! ALONE?! How pathetic!” Kargalgan cried out, pumping up his Orcs like an announcer at a sports game, and they responded in kind. “I tire of the endless ignorance of mortals! You know not who you stand before!”
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Skill: Hymn of Slumber.]
[Hymn of Slumber has been negated by Kanidaru’s Blessing.]
Izuku feigned a yawn. “That’s a pretty useful power you’ve got there. What else can you do?”
The Shaman’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Skill: Hymn of Agony.]
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Skill: Hymn of Blindness.]
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Skill: Hymn of Frenzy.]
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Skill: Hymn of Lethargy.]
[All Negative effects have been negated by Kanidaru’s Blessing.]
“Fine then! You shall be the first combatant to face my finest champions!” He gestured to the four Pinnacle Orcs standing at attention by his throne.
“No… I won’t.”
The Shaman scoffed. “Do you think you have a choice?!”
Izuku shrugged, leaning into the arrogant act. “I’m not sure. We’ll see if they’re still standing in 3…”
“What-”
“2…” Izuku swiped Baruka’s dagger, forming a dome of thick magically enhanced ice around his sleeping Raid teammates.
“You-!” Kargalgan only had time to shout a single word before the entire bastion was laid to siege.
Hundreds of artillery shards from the Shadow Bears began peppering the bastion. And make no mistake, it lived up to the title of artillery.
The entire entrance to the bastion, along with a hundred Orcs were instantly crushed or shredded by the attack. The shards may have just been ice, but they exploded just as any shell would upon impact. Chunks of the ceilings and walls fell away, killing even more and causing a panic amongst the intelligent creatures.
[You have gained 10 Levels!]
“Arise!” Izuku shouted as the first wave came to an end, bringing down the ice shield to survey the damage.
[127 High Orcs Lvl. 1 - Knight Grade.]
[Shadow Save Limit: 300/300]
Every Shadow still hiding within Izuku burst forth, and every fallen Orc that Izuku could reach emerged from their previous bodies cloaked in oily-black wreathes of darkness.
“RARGH!”
“I guess you four did make it.”
The four Pinnacle Orcs snarled at Izuku, still standing guard by their Shaman, who was wreathed in a solid blue light of protection. He was perfectly unharmed, but his generals were looking rather grim. Bleeding from dozens of cuts, bruised all over, likely a couple of broken bones, and one even had a missing arm.
“KILL HIM!!!” Kargalgan demanded, raging over his fallen men.
“Sorry, but I’m not their opponent. I think the generals should fight the generals,” Izuku suggested just as three arrows were loosed from Baruka’s bow.
They pinned the first Pinnacle Orc’s legs to the ground. The second was met head-on by Igris, launching himself from the remaining ledges where Baruka had perched them. His bastard sword was cleaved in half by Igris’s new blade of Damocles. The third and fourth were faced down by Arcka and Rasaka.
“Wow! This is… wow!” Setsuna said, standing up once more and causing Izuku to balk in surprise.
“Yeah. They look pretty though,” Yui nodded in agreement, looking at the bright lines of energy running through the Shadows.
“You’re… awake?!”
Setsuna smirked at him. “I separated my body when I realized he was going to cast another spell. It prevented it from locking onto me.”
“And I used my Quirk to shrink the magic before it hit me,” Yui said, her eyes drooping slightly.
“Well… I gotta say sorry for hiding all of this,” Izuku said, gesturing around them. Although there were still hundreds of Orcs surrounding them, the artillery and the new High Orc Shadows had created a momentary calm, almost as if they were standing in the eye of a storm.
“Baruka!” Izuku called out, pulling him away from his Pinnacle Orc target, which was now firmly nailed to the floor by arrows. He gestured to the Shadow Orcs picking up the unconscious Raid Party. “Get them out!”
Baruka obliged, cloaking them all, which seemed to hide the students and Midnight as well.
“Can’t exactly complain!” Setsuna said, splitting off her arms to send them rocketing into the face of a nearby Orc. “Rather be deceived than dead!”
“YOU WILL JUST BE DEAD!!!”
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Skill: Hymn of the Fire Dragon.]
The Orc’s robe morphed, crawling up the air until it was a bright-red scaly head, one of a dragon.
“Arcka!” Izuku shouted, using his dagger to conjure another thick sheet of ice.
The Shadow reached out, his crystalline body glowing with energy that interlaced with the wall.
[Arcka is using Skill: Unnatural Enhancement.]
******
[Skill: Unnatural Enhancement]
- Active Skill
- Mana Cost: 500 Mana on activation. (This cost is supplied by the Player).
- Description: By channeling the natural aspects of his crystals, Arcka can enhance a single magical attack or defense by 50%
******
The boost came just in time, as Yui placed her hands against the ice, mimicking the strategy from the snowy forest, thickening the barrier until it was a glacier all on its own.
With an explosive amount of energy, the dragon head above the Shaman shot forth a wide jet of flames.
“Come back!” Izuku called to his troops, returning them to his shadow and saving them from the blast. But the Orcs weren’t so lucky.
In his wrath, Kargalgan had incinerated any troop standing near Izuku. Even his generals, pinned down by arrows, or incapacitated by their sliced up muscles, succumbed to the attack. He had done more damage to his own troops than Izuku had managed so far.
Between the artillery, the Shadows, and Kargalgan’s own attacks, the Orc army had been cut down to one-fourth of what it had once been. The only downside to the Shaman’s stupidity was that Izuku hadn’t gotten any Levels for it. He claimed their Souls, but that was about it.
“How long can he keep this up?” Yui asked as if taking a leisurely stroll, despite the fact that she was outputting a ridiculous amount of Mana to keep the ice wall thick with her Quirk. The more it shrunk, the more she had to increase it.
“Well, he has a Skill called Endless Mana…”
******
[Skill: Endless Mana]
- Passive Skill
- Description: Mana regenerates at a rate of 500% faster.
******
“It’s not literally endless, but at this rate it might as well be!”
“Setsuna!” Izuku called, tossing Baruka’s dagger over to her, “Go for the eyes!”
Her smirk turned into a rather devious grin. She detached the arm holding the dagger, allowing it to shoot directly upwards through the flames. It singed her skin, melting parts of her armor, but once it was above the flames that were so firmly directed at the ice wall, she was free to maneuver, and she sent the dagger rocketing for one of the most common weak spots on any creature, the eyes.
“RAAAAAARGH!!!” Kargalgan cried out in pain as the razor sharp dagger pierced his cornea, driving itself deep into his optic chiasm.
It cut off the stream of flames, but he wasn’t done yet.
“Igris!” Izuku shouted, leaping over the wall and rushing the throne, allowing the rest of his Shadows to leak out behind him to defend the girls.
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Skill: Hymn of Giants.]
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Skill: Hymn of Strengthening.]
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Skill: Hymn of Rage.]
The Orc ballooned in size, rising above his throne at nearly 3 times his original height.
[Skill: Echo Attack has been activated.]
Launching off the ground, Izuku charged ahead of Igris, not because he was faster than the Shadow, but because he knew what was coming next.
[Orc Shaman, Kargalgan is using Skill: Hymn of Protection.]
A bright-blue shield of energy appeared as the Orc realized the speed of his opponents. After all, a mage’s biggest weakness was close-quarters, and with one eye blind, he needed more time, something Izuku wasn’t willing to give.
Izuku’s fist struck the shield, sending waves of energy emanating from the center of it like dropping a stone in a pond. It cracked and buckled, but held strong… until the Echo Attack at least. Like glass, the shield shattered into nothingness, leaving nothing between Izuku and the Orc.
Kargalgan wasted no time bringing his fist down on top of the much smaller Izuku, but by now, he had enough strength to withstand it for a few moments. It was more than enough for Igris to rush in and use Damocles to bisect the arm at the elbow, and free Izuku from beneath the Shaman’s fist.
“You have a strong mix of physical power, magical power, and intelligence. And you use it all in combination. You’re not some dumb brute who thinks they can just punch harder,” Izuku said as the Orc clutched his stump in pain. “At the very least, I can respect you for that. But unlike Baruka and his people, you and your men have no sense of morality.” Setsuna’s arm dropped his dagger back into his hands before returning to her body.
“Wha… What are you?!”
“I’m the Shadow Monarch,” Izuku said, holding up the dagger to point it directly at Kargalgan’s skull.
“No… NOOOOOOO!!!” The Orc attempted to leap forwards, but Izuku activated his elemental powers, creating an explosive force of wind and fire magic in the palm of his hand, sending Baruka’s dagger screaming out of his grasp like a bullet freed from its casing. The hole it had started carving in the Orc’s eye was completed as it shot out the back of his skull.
*******
[You have gained 6 Levels.]
[Player has reached Level 100.]
[Level Based Rewards can now be claimed.]
[You have acquired items:]
- Orb of Avarice
- Part of a Rune Stone for the Skill: Dominator's Touch
- Treasure Trove of the Orcs
*******
Izuku brushed off the alerts, retrieving his dagger before turning his attention to the remaining Orc army, who were slowly being whittled down by the Shadows alongside Yui and Setsuna, who were both fighting hard despite their exhaustion. He didn’t seem to be gaining anymore Levels from them, which made sense considering how many he had already killed and how many Levels he had gained.
“Arise.”
[4 Pinnacle Orcs Lvl. 1 - Elite-Knight Grade]
[Orc Shaman Kargalgan Lvl. 1 - Elite-Knight Grade]
“I can’t stand that name,” Izuku bemoaned. “Let’s go with Tusk! Short, sweet, and to the point! Now, Tusk… light ‘em up!”
[Tusk is using Skill: Hymn of Blazing Fire.]
The room exploded with fireballs, engulfing every Orc still desperately fighting back against the Shadows. They were turned into a charred and crispy corpse in seconds.
And just like that, the battle had ended.
Setsuna, Yui, and Izuku all collapsed onto their butts as a Gate popped into existence by Tusk’s old throne. Izuku recalled all his Shadows, aside from the ones carrying the rest of the still sleeping Raid Party, who he had bring to the foot of the Gate. In the case of a Recursive Gate, it was locked close until either the entire team died, or exited. So people couldn’t just come rushing in to help, regardless of if the Boss was cleared or not.
“So… you gonna explain yourself?” Setsuna brazenly asked.
Izuku winced. “I’d rather not tell you the whole story. There’s a lot I don’t want to expose to the general population yet.”
“No doubt,” Yui agreed, her eyes still drooping. “I don’t have a problem keeping it secret, but I want the whole story.” Setsuna nodded along with her.
Izuku sighed, “Alright. But can we go through it another day? I really just wanna get out of here.” For them, it had been several days since the start of the Entrance Exam, but for the outside world it had only been a few hours. Still plenty of time for UA and the media to catch onto the situation and freak out, so Izuku expected a great deal of people beyond the boundary of the Gate once they exited.
“You and me both.” Setsuna stood on wobbly legs and walked over to the gate, slinging two people over each shoulder. It was good they were asleep because a ride like that would’ve been pretty damn uncomfortable. Izuku did the same, taking another four, allowing the more exhausted Yui to walk through the Gate unburdened.
Izuku was almost blinded as flashes of light assaulted him upon exiting the Gate. Just as he had expected, reporters were surrounding the massively cordoned off area, doing whatever they could to get a shot.
“No way!”
“They made it!”
“That’s all eleven of them!”
“Do you think those ones are dead?!”
“This way.” A man dressed in dark clothing, wearing what looked like a strange scarf around his neck, grabbed Izuku by the elbow and pulled him away from the closing Gate and the reporters, to where an entire medical tent had been set up. Dozens of doctors and nurses rushed out to take the students and Midnight from Izuku and Setsuna’s shoulders and get them medical attention.
“They should just be unconscious from a spell!” Izuku shouted to the doctors, in case they panicked and thought that they were limp because they were dead.
“You three finished off the Boss fight?” The man in dark asked.
“He’s… dead…” Izuku confirmed, looking up to the man and trailing off as he recognized him. “Eraserhead?! Oh my gosh, I’m such a huge fan of your underground work! Can I get an autograph… uh… when you have time of course.” Izuku quickly corrected, realizing just how unapologetic he sounded in spite of the situation.
Eraserhead sighed, his eyes heavy with bags. “You eleven defeated a Recursive Gate for your first exam at UA. I don’t think I need to tell you that you’ve been accepted. Seek medical attention if you need it. Otherwise, go home and get some rest,” He said, walking off to the tent without another word.
“Wait! Is there a student, Momo Yaoyorozu here?”
Eraserhead shook his head. “She finished her Raid assessment hours ago. I’m not sure where she went. Goodbye.”
“Well that was… blunt…” Setsuna said, raising an eyebrow. “But hey we got in!”
“Yeah…” Izuku shook his head, somewhat in a daze after the whole situation. “Oh um, there’s someone I really should meet up with, just so she knows I’m okay. Are you two good?”
Setsuna nodded, her hands on Yui’s shoulders, allowing her to lean into her. Yui may have shrunk the effect of Tusk’s magic, but she still got hit by it, unlike Setsuna who dodged it outright and Izuku who nullified it. “I’ll make sure she gets home safe.”
“Thanks!” Izuku said. They were still in the alleyway they had entered the Gate through, so instead of leaving the direct path and dealing with the news, Izuku leapt straight up, bouncing off the walls until he reached the rooftop, using Stealth to hide himself.
He checked his phone. Nothing from Yaoyorozu, and he couldn’t sense her Mana in the crowd. Maybe she had already gone to the cafe? He sent her a text and went running for the cafe, dashing along the rooftops.
By the time he got there, the sun was beginning to set, and the cafe was lively, but there was no sign of Yaoyorozu.
“Maybe she went home?” It didn’t sound like Yaoyorozu, but then again, it had been a strange day. He checked his phone again, still nothing. “At least I know her own Raid went okay and she got out.” All the way home, Izuku continued to glance at his phone. And it wasn’t until he had placated Kei’s worries and gone to bed that he stopped checking it.
*******
In a dark circular room, lit with torches bearing blue flames, there stood an altar at the center. Standing atop it was a girl with her feet chained together by pure black steel. Her body was clothed in a sheer, strangely erotic outfit that left her essentially naked. Her arms were lifted above her head, entirely encased by a dark leather that seemed to suck the light and energy from both the room and the girl. A soft satin sash covered her eyes and a bit gag occupied her mouth, keeping her from speaking.
“It is about time you returned home to us, daughter,” A robed woman said, standing before the girl. “There is no escaping your destiny, Momo.”