Chapter Text
[Tenebris Souls: 5,000/5,000]
[You have gained 18 Levels]
[754 Tenebris Lvl. 30 - Knight Grade have evolved into 754 Greater Tenebris Lvl. 1 - Elite-Knight Grade]
[Saved Shadows: 1,504/2,439]
Though the obliterated terrain of Tokyo was still very much on fire and desecrated by the many Particle Storms the Tenebris had used, it was now cleared of the destructive species.
Both Izuku and Momo let out a heavy sigh. By the end of the skirmishes, they were able to sit back and watch the Shadows deal with it all, especially Behemoth who was now Level 25, which was higher than even Igris.
“So Shadows evolve at Level 30 and reset to Level 1…” Izuku made note of such a development in Documentarian. It was a good thing the Quirk had many different ways to section off notes, otherwise it would’ve been a single massive chunk of text with no way to know where one part began and another ended.
“One down, one to go,” Momo said, looking upwards, towards the city of opulence and perfection.
“How do you think gravity works up there?” Izuku asked.
“Well, when we fell we were above the Tenebris city, so my guess is that gravity is the same. Meaning we’re gonna have to walk along ceilings or fall back to the demon territory.”
“More heights…?”
Momo smirked. “Don’t worry, I’ll hold your hand.”
Izuku’s face went bright-red. “I-I’ll be fine.”
Momo laughed, a clear sound that could purify any condition. “I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand.” Izuku turned a deeper shade of red, which she garnered great satisfaction from as she moved to start scaling the Skytree once more. “Come on! I wanna see what the angels look like!”
Izuku made sure to recall all the Shadows as he followed after her, taking great care with his steps and hand-holds. He really didn’t want to fall all the way back down the tower.
While the pristine Skytree reached to its full height, the tip of the ruined demonic one fell just short. Meaning that even as the two reached the very top of their Skytree, they were a couple feet short of the angelic one. They’d have to jump the gap and grab hold. There was virtually zero risk, but it was still a little sketchy for Izuku.
Momo, without hesitation, leapt straight up, digging her fingers into the metallic structure and finding a safe place to lodge herself. As expected, the gravity stayed the same, pulling down on them, instead of flipping for the angel territory.
“Here! I’ll help you!” Momo shouted down at Izuku, using Dominator’s Touch to levitate him slowly up to the same place she was at.
“Uhh…” Izuku shook his head as vertigo set in. “This is trippy.”
“Well at least everything’s in good condition,” Momo commented, referring to how pristine the buildings were. Even in comparison to modern day Tokyo, it was of greater architectural aplomb.
As they scaled up… or down(?)… the Skytree, they spotted multiple white shapes dashing through the city. They were almost too fast to follow, but the blue energy coming off of their bodies left an easy trail to lock on to.
Still hidden in Stealth, neither were spotted as they made it to the observation deck once more. But there was a bit of a problem. Since the Skytree had a decent amount of empty space around it, and since the gravity was essentially reversed, it wasn’t like they could easily move around the city. They’d have to get to ground level and try to leap to the next building.
“I could make a grappling hook!” Momo suggested, looking happy about the prospect of swinging between buildings like some superhero.
“We could just start-”
FWOOM!
The observation deck shook as a dozen or so Lux launched past it. They didn’t seem to spot either of the duo, but the proximity definitely startled them.
“So fast…” Izuku muttered, “I couldn’t even use Documentarian on them.”
Every time Izuku tried to lock onto the blurs with his informative Quirk, the System seemed to momentarily glitch out, unable to center in on the beings.
“We could try taking one down in Stealth and analyzing it…”
They had leveled up quite a bit in killing all of the Tenebris, but even still, the Lux were blurs to them. In terms of speed, they were all high S-Rank, if not higher. It was like watching fighter jets roar past.
“You’re tense…” Momo realized, looking over to Izuku. “What is it?”
“The Quest. It said that reality was tearing apart because of the feud between the Lux and Tenebris.”
“Yeah?”
“Well we just killed the Tenebris. Does that mean that the Lux are now unopposed? Could they be getting stronger?”
“It would explain why they’re so fast… Maybe- WOAH!”
The Skytree rattled, metal tearing and bending around the duo. The observation deck, built to withstand the tremendous power of the earthquakes that were common in Japan, swayed back and forth, throwing around Momo and Izuku.
The two rushed to the windows, which were still intact, just in time to see multiple streaks of blue light dashing back and forth between the structural beams of the Skytree, cutting them to ribbons.
“Uhm! I think they know we’re here!” Izuku shouted, rearing back his fist and punching out the window. He went to climb out, but before he could even begin to climb the precarious structure, another blast of blue light shot past the open window, sending Izuku flying back into the observation deck and slamming against the wall.
“Izu!” Momo rushed over to him as the blue lights raced around the Skytree faster and faster.
He groaned, rapping his knuckles against the metal floor. “We gotta get out…”
“What?” Momo gently pulled aside Izuku’s shirt, revealing the deep gash underneath. She created a potion. “Just let them detach the tower and we’ll fall to safety!”
“It’s magic,” He forced out between gulps of the potion. “The metal, it’s all infused with Mana. If the tower collapses, that much weight will kill us.”
In the real world, a structure made of this much magical metal would cost more than the entire economic market. The world, even if working in complete unison, wouldn’t be able to build something like this. The amount of magic and metal weight would crush even the strongest of S-Ranks. That included Izuku and Momo.
“Igris! Behemoth!” Momo shouted, calling upon the Captain Grades. “We need a path!”
The observation deck’s floor, which was currently the ceiling, exploded as Behemoth’s massive body emerged from the Shadows. The deck sagged noticeably, but held just long enough for the Demolith to dig his four hands into the main spire of the Skytree and begin the climb in an attempt to draw the Luxs’ fire.
At the same time, Igris went to the same window that Izuku had gotten cut at. This time, however, when the Lux attempted to cut him and prevent him from leaving, Igris’s hand snapped out, catching the creature by the throat. It had still managed to cut a sizable gash in Igris’s Shadow, but unlike the weakness of human flesh, the Shadow immediately pulled itself back together.
Igris went to exert enough force to snap the being’s neck, but another blur slashed at Igris’s hand, freeing its brother before Izuku could even get a fleeting look at the things.
“We gotta get out of here!” Izuku shouted as the base of the tower continued to be sliced and diced. For just a moment, Izuku and Momo became weightless as parts of the tower fell away, only to be caught by the last remnants of any structural beams holding them to the roof of the angelic city.
Igris continued to slash at the angels outside the window, his body getting cut to pieces only to regenerate moments later. But judging by the static Level Izuku was remaining at, Igris wasn’t even managing to kill any.
“We need to reset!” Momo shouted. “Behemoth! Take us down!”
Izuku didn’t even question her. He understood that if they didn’t figure a way out, they were dead meat. If the entire tower fell, they were dead, but if just a part of it fell…
[Behemoth is using Skills: Raw Power, Inverse Impact, Warhammer, and Overwhelming Strength.]
Clinging to the side of the tower, Behemoth, who seemed largely immune to the rapid attacks of the Lux, began to burn with energy. His two right arms, massive metallic structures, became enhanced with the four Skills, as well as Behemoth’s passive strength.
At the same time as Behemoth pulled his knuckles back, ready to let the punch fly, Izuku and Momo grabbed tightly to whatever they could inside the observation deck.
“Okay I admit it!” Izuku shouted. “I hate heights! I was just putting on a nonchalant act when we were falling! I want you to know that I hate this!”
Momo gave him a reassuring smile, “We’ll be fine!” She said, just as Behemoth’s fists exploded out the other side of the tower, separating it at the observation deck.
Izuku recalled his Shadows as they began the freefall. Almost immediately, the tips of both towers, Demonic and Angelic, made contact. The Angelic tower, still mostly intact and made out of stronger materials, split its counterpart in half.
Because Izuku and Momo were at the top of the fractured Angelic tower, all they had to deal with was gravity, something that they could conquer with ease. With the Demonic tower acting as a “cushion” the Angelic tower was gradually slowing, stopping about halfway down its counterpart.
Which left Izuku and Momo sitting where the decaying observation deck had sat. So essentially, they were right back where they started. But they couldn’t relax just yet.
Without question, they ran to the windows of the deck, throwing themselves out of it. This time, the Lux weren’t there to cut them to pieces, but they were severing the rest of the tower above them.
Like an apple freed from its stem, the larger half of the Lux Skytree began to fall. It seemed to move in slow motion, but it was falling fast enough that it would catch up with Izuku and Momo soon.
The two halves of the tower collided just as Izuku and Momo hit the pavement far below, landing in a crouch. They were only a couple dozen meters from the entrance to the Demonic Skytree.
Izuku prepared to shift from his crouch to a sprint, but before he could, a piece of white metal pierced his calf.
“Gah!” He fell over as more and more shrapnel from the towers, destroying each other, fell atop them.
Momo threw her hands up, creating a makeshift shield of pure shadows. “Igris!”
The knight emerged and scooped up Izuku as they began to run.
“It’s falling this way!” Izuku shouted, looking over Igris’s shoulder. The gleaming white tower was tilting towards them, prepared to crush them under its weight. “Right! Right! Sprint to the right!”
Momo darted through an alleyway, Igris close behind as they ran perpendicular to the falling mass of metal.
“Behemoth!” Izuku called out just in time.
The titan emerged once more, standing tall amongst the office buildings as a chunk of the tower, larger than a tank, aimed to crush them. Behemoth caught it with all four of his arms, the Divine Metal creaking and cracking under the weight and acceleration of the Mana-Infused Metal.
“Just a little far-”
Izuku’s voice was obscured as the tower’s shadow fell over them, slamming into the ground with an explosive force that turned the ground to rubble, like a rippling shockwave. Debris filled the air, obscuring the Tenebris landscape… and the Shadow Monarchs.
*******
“Who the hell’re you?!” Miruko shouted as she laid eyes on the blonde who had intruded on the meeting.
Currently, the S-Ranks were gathered in the Safety Commission’s Training room, but they weren’t alone. Not only did they have an unforeseen visitor in Mirio Togata, but there were a few other S-Ranks there.
“He smells strong… but not in a bad way…” Cha Hae-In remarked, standing next to her husband.
“Yeah he don’t smell that bad!” Miruko agreed. The two women had bonded over their shared genetic defect that allowed them to smell Mana. And had Ryukyu not been out with Dabi, they probably would’ve formed their own clique amongst the majority of male Heroes. “Still doesn’t answer the question of who he is.”
“All Might’s got some serious business to attend to!” Mirio exclaimed. “I’m his replacement for this Raid! S-Rank UA Student! Mirio Togata!” Mirio was lying to cover for All Might. His mentor would, soon enough, announce his retirement, but he didn’t want to do something so drastic when the Jeju Island Raid was near. If people heard of his retirement just before the Jeju Raid, it could do some serious damage to the morale of his country and his teammates.
Choi Jong-In, one of Korea’s strongest spoke up. “That’s nice, kid. But All Might was a National-Rank. An S-Rank isn’t exactly a comparable replacement.”
Endeavor scoffed. “It’s not like we needed All Might anyways. We have more than enough force as is.” In an odd roundabout way, he was sticking up for Mirio. Maybe because he saw Mirio in a similar light to himself, resting in the shadow of All Might’s legacy.
Baek Yoonho, the team leader of the Korean team, rested a gentle hand on Choi’s shoulder. “We’ll take all the help we can get, but this is serious business,” He said, warning Mirio.
Everything was being relayed through a set of translators accompanying both sets of Heroes.
Mirio smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back!” He responded, somewhat misinterpreting Baek’s warning.
But Baek couldn’t feel anything other than enthusiasm seeing someone like Mirio. “Well, you’ve got All Might’s attitude at least…”
“Alright! Enough chit-chat! We depart for Jeju tomorrow! We’re here to do some light sparring and get a handle on each other’s powers!”
Cha Hae-In and Miruko exchanged a friendly glance. It was clear to anyone that they wanted to spar. In fact, most of the Koreans were staring down someone to fight. All aside from Sung Jin-Woo, whose calm demeanor gave off no confrontational energy. But as people began to pair up, he gave a light nod at Mirio, curious about the young man’s power.
They chose a spot further away from the rest to battle it out. Sung remained relaxed, his hands in his pockets, a black trench coat billowing out behind him.
Seeing that he wouldn’t make the first move, Mirio shot forwards, leaping into a roundhouse kick aimed at the side of Sung’s head.
It was fast, but not quick enough to beat Sung’s reaction time, as he pulled one hand from his pocket to loosely guard against the kick. It made it in time, and had Mirio been any ordinary combatant, Sung would’ve blocked it with ease.
Instead, Mirio’s foot passed through Sung’s hand like it didn’t even exist.
Sensing the danger before he had even seen Mirio’s Quirk, Sung leaned his head back, just far enough to be missed.
“Wow! You didn’t even know about my Quirk and you still dodged! No one’s ever been able to do that before!” Mirio took a few steps back, just as nonchalant as his sparring partner.
Sung Jin-Woo returned the light breezy smile that Mirio had maintained since he walked in the door. “Not bad.” His Mana swelled. “Let’s see what else I can keep up with,” He joked as the two launched themselves back into the melee.
*******
“It’s a Lemon Sour,” Dabi assured as Ryukyu walked into the bar. “I figured you wouldn’t want to get too drunk before leaving for Jeju. And I know you… love sour… things.” He trailed off as he turned around.
Ryukyu was wearing a royal-blue chinese dress, with golden dragons running up and down the fabric. Her classic hairpiece, a set of claws for her dragon form, was replaced with a scaly hairpin that matched her dress. And her normally well-kept hair was wavy and just the right amount of messy.
“You like?” She asked, doing a small twirl with a smirk.
Dabi cleared his throat. “You always look good, Kyu.”
“Nice recovery ace,” She said, taking her seat and sipping at the beverage he had gotten her.
The bar was empty save for them. Dabi had bought the place out so they’d have some privacy. But the lack of boisterous patrons made the air tense. The silence elapsed far longer than either would like as they struggled on what to say. The flirtatious pleasantries were the easiest part.
“So…” Dabi finally broke the silence. “Sorry about the other day…”
“Yeah… me too…” She responded.
“I don’t wanna stay in Japan…” He said. “I just came to see my siblings.”
“I know.”
“As long as the old man has any sort of power in this country, I can’t stay.”
“I know.”
“And besides, Andre is expecting me back. S-Ranks are in high demand.”
“I know.”
Dabi gave his old friend a sideways glance as she absentmindedly stirred at her drinks. “You’re listening right?”
She nodded. “I…” She stuttered, struggling to find her words. “Did I really push you away?”
He sighed. “No. But I didn’t want you to give up on your career just so I could get away from Endeavor.”
“So you don’t resent me?”
Dabi scoffed, a smile tugging at the burn scars on his face. “The only thing I feel towards you is longing.” It was a cheesy line, one that he said earnestly. He honestly didn’t realize how cliched it was until he looked over at Ryukyu.
A heavy red blush covered her face. Her eyes locked with his.
“When this Raid is over,” She said. “Whatever it takes. I’ll follow you. I can’t move Endeavor away from Japan, but I can move the Wyrm Agency. And I’ll take it wherever you go. If you’ll have me…”
Dabi’s eyes lowered back down to his drink. “Why didn’t we have this conversation years ago?”
“Because we were young… and stupid.”
“Heh… Well then why don’t we be young and stupid again? Just for the night…”
Ryukyu grinned lustfully. “Maybe more than that.”
Dabi slammed his money on the counter, grabbing Ryukyu’s hand, desperate to run off to the nearest love hotel as fast as humanly possible. They had been sitting for only a few minutes. Ryukyu’s drink was still full.
The bartender, who had been hiding in the back, scoffed. “Ah, to be in love…”