Chapter Text
Yggdrasil was not always the towering golden tree, whose roots spread throughout the multiverse. Once upon a time, he was a mere sprout, a normal plant, vying for sunlight in the competitive tropical arena known as North Sentinelese Island, in a universe that no longer existed.
He was not conscious then as he is now, but he would come to learn that he was born lucky. The island was protected from the ambitions of humanity, at least, it was supposed to be. By the time Yggdrasil was a towering tree, having endured the greatest of climate challenges, humanity was on the brink of annihilation.
It was nothing spectacular. No invasion of monsters or Gods. It was mere hubris. A species who took more than their planet had to offer. Eventually, the only places with fertile soil were those deemed “off-limits.”
Of course, North Sentinelese could only support so many, and the tens of thousands that poured futilely onto her shore quickly turned the island into a wasteland.
There was no explanation for how it was possible, but as Yggdrasil watched its home be ravaged, the wildlife devastated, it evolved. It learned to feel rage. Rage that sustained it as the lone survivor of the planet. The last tree, the last biological entity outside of bacteria, insects, and single-celled organisms.
That should’ve been the end of the story. It should’ve faded away and died unceremoniously like the rest of humanity, but just as it was about to give up, and succumb to the elements, a sphere of metal appeared alongside the Earth’s moon.
From it poured a vast amount of technology, bringing the planet back from the brink. It restored plants, animals, and the atmosphere, but it never brought back humanity.
The entity called itself the Gardener, and it felt kinship with the rage housed inside of Yggdrasil’s roots. It offered to give Yggdrasil power, as a guardian of the planet. Yggdrasil accepted, and the Gardener vanished shortly after, leaving the tree to grow in power and knowledge, becoming something more than even the mechanical God had anticipated.
Yggdrasil spread its roots across the planet, then the solar system, then the universe, and beyond.
As it grew, so too did its rage. Countless universes, ruined by the expansion of humanity. Countless ecosystems, countless of its brethren.
To humanity, it was quaint, perhaps even childish, to become so enraged by the loss of trees. To Yggdrasil, it was a genocide across dimensions. So it vowed to return the favor.
A Speedster, a Pilot, a Dragon King, and many more. Even the very Gardener who brought it from the brink of death. They all threatened the multiverse with something they couldn’t even think to comprehend.
It needed allies, so the tree sought out the very best. Rogue Warriors, dragons of solar energy, but none of them compared to the promise of the Monarchs.
Their ambitions lay beyond one measly universe. So it would assist them in toppling their archenemy. The only problem was that the human standing before him was no mere human.
Out of all the NULLs he knew, Yggdrassil feared the strength of only a few. The Dragon King, the Gardener, and the Speedster. What he didn’t know was that there was another name that his sight left out.
Hidden in shadows so deep that not even a multiversal being could see the truth of it, there was… the Necromancer.
*******
[Apex Quirk: One For All]
- Quirk Class: Higher Being
- Cost: No physical or magical costs are required.
- Description: All Stat growth is multiplied by a factor of 9. While in possession, this Quirk evolves all Quirks in the User’s possession. The User also receives eight additional redundant Souls layered over their own.
*******
[Quirk: Soul Collection has evolved into Soul Army]
*******
[Quirk: Soul Army]
- Quirk Class: National-Rank
- Cost: No physical or magical costs are required.
- Description: By creating a symbiotic relationship with the System, this Quirk will store all the souls of every living being the Player has killed, or will kill whilst under the System’s influence. In addition to that, the User can request specific roles (DPS, Tank, etc) and receive Quests that will guide them to such an enemy that they can take the Soul of.
*******
In terms of an immediate buff, One For All really wasn’t one. Soul Army wasn’t useful right now, and the Stat growth wasn’t retroactive. So, for the moment, his Stats were the same. Finally, since One For All was the combination of Apocalypse Machine and most of his other Quirks, he had no Quirks to evolve outside of Soul Collection.
Still, the base of Izuku’s power was in his Stats. His Gravity Magic’s strength was dependent on his Intelligence Stat for instance. One For All would basically make everything better. Even better, the Level-Up notifications registered after the Quirk formed.
*******
[You have gained 5 Levels!]
Level: 265
Strength: 815 (+40) *9
Vitality: 698 (+80) *9
Agility: 817 (+60) *9
Intelligence: 721 *9
Sense: 789 (+120) *9
Available Points: 0
[Mana: 735,109]
[HP: 100,020/100,020]
*******
As Izuku killed Ashtaroth and took his Skill, Igris did the same to one of the Bosses.
It was a Phoenix made of stardust. As it died, it began to exude tremendous heat, obliterating even Igris before both he and the bird regenerated.
“Oh!” Izuku exclaimed. “I see why you thought you had a chance, all of the Bosses in this room have some form of Immortality, just like my Shadows. You thought you could outlast us because you didn’t think any of us had the ability to kill immortals.”
Yggdrasil was - metaphorically speaking - pissing his pants.
Did he know what the Shadow Monarch was? Yes. Did the Monarchs tell him to be prepared for an ungodly fight? Yes. Was he prepared to handle the full might of a Shadow Monarch who had evolved an even greater power than the Monarchs were expecting? Nope.
See, the Ashborn that the Monarchs knew… was not like the Izuku that currently existed. Ashborn, the Architect, the Shadow Empress, and the mortal factor, among other things, contributed to creating a new Shadow Monarch. Similar, but different. Whereas Ashborn had been mortally wounded, crippled even, Izuku was a young Soul. Even with the multiple timelines aging and wearing at humanity’s Souls, they were still some of the most potent in the universe for one very simple reason. They were young.
With such long-lived beings, the universe often forgot about the dulling effects of time. Even the Monarchs were not immune to the millions of years on their Soul. Human Souls, while not strong individually, had so much room to grow. Their latent potential as a species created Quirks, something not even the Rulers could foresee.
A human Soul hosting - or even merging - with a Higher Being, meant that a Higher Being was young again. A God’s latent growth was powerful and to their disgust most of the time. Aeic and Ashborn were the first to learn that fact, and the first to create a new level of strength for Higher Beings.
“The NULLs…” Yggdrasil thought to itself. “They’re not Gods… they’re monsters!”
“Perhaps you’re right. To attempt to wipe you out now is futile.”
“But you’re not giving up either,” Izuku deduced.
“Of course not. I have burgeoning roots in every universe. The Monarchs can deal with their own problem for now.”
The air began to tremble, and the colors of the light spectrum split, making Izuku’s vision look like some sort of kaleidoscope.
“Yggdrasil cannot teleport.”
Cathleen Bate’s voice rippled, correcting their vision as the tree was locked down to the spot.
“Primordial spawn!”
She leapt back as Yggdrasil’s branches and roots came crashing down around her. “Yeah, that’s about all I can do to something that massive.”
The Kitsune, Kraken, and Phoenix formed a defensive line in front of the tree.
“That’s fine,” Izuku responded. “In fact, I’ll take it from here.”
The National-Ranks gave him a strange look, yet Setsuna, Kaina, and Rumi all smiled. They could tell what was happening here, and if anything, they encouraged it.
Maybe it was because he was in front of the strongest humanity had to offer, maybe he felt compassion in the face of Terra’s fear and wanted to be that pillar, or maybe he just wanted to show off in front of them and his partners. But truthfully, it was because of a childhood friend. A childhood friend with a superiority complex, who always dreamt of being number one.
Izuku could deny it all he wanted, he could ignore that voice at the back of his mind and focus on his true desire to save lives. However, at the end of the day, there was a part of him that carried Bakugo’s dream.
Even if the limelight didn’t concern him, even if he was willing to lower himself to save others, even if his pride was something he could toss aside at a moment's notice… he still wanted to be that pillar of humanity. He still wanted to prove years of hatred and scorn wrong. He wasn’t just an E-Rank, he was the strongest in the world.
“It’s been a while since I solo’d a Boss Room,” He said, calling off Igris, and opening the System Shop, claiming his System reward of a Lord Rank Item that he’d put off for so long.
“Raia, I really hope you got permission from Ashborn to put this in the Shop.”
With a smooth drawing motion, Izuku pulled a pure-white sword from the System display
*******
[Item: Blade of the Empress]
- Item Class: Lord
- Item Type: Greatsword
- Attack: +1500
- Gem Slots: 1
- Description: A sword forged for Ashborn’s Empress, Litania, before her untimely death. Made by the Synthetic Lord himself, it has just one ability: For all those who resist the Rulers and Monarchs, for all those who stand for Mortality, this blade inspires Hope.
*******
Izuku went to pull an Elemental Gem from the Shop as well, but he found his hand going into a white nothingness. Both his hands were empty, and there was no one to be seen. No one, aside from two women. Both wore white dresses, but one looked more draconic than the other.
“You really are like him… If you see him, say ‘hi’ for me,” The humanoid girl said longingly.
The other seemed ashamed as she added: “You’re not much like him at all, but when you see him again, say ‘hi’ for me… and ‘sorry.’ You’ll know who I mean soon enough.”
As soon as it happened, it was over. No time had passed, and Izuku’s hand was retracting his purchase, leaving him to ponder the scene later.
A B-Rank Item, like Aeic’s Cloak, costed around a million gold, give or take. It was something he could barely afford at the time, but it had served its purpose on the Gates Class 1-A took on in day-to-day classes. Uraraka still had it even.
As for other Items: A-Rank Items were around ten million, S-Rank in the hundred million range, National-Ranks in the hundreds of millions. It then hit a spike at Lord-Rank, jumping up to tens of billions for just one Item. Since then, thanks to his Quest’s base gold reward, clearing Dungeons, and selling Items, he’d accumulated just shy of ten billion gold. That was enough to afford several National-Rank Items, but he pulled out just one.
[Explosive Elemental Gem]
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[Item: Blade of the Empress (Explosion Magic)]
- Item Class: Lord
- Item Type: Greatsword
- Attack: +1500 (+250)
- Gem Slots: 1 (Taken)
- Gem Modifier: +250 Attack Bonus. Whatever this cuts explodes along the bisecting line. Explosion strength is proportional to Intelligence and Gem Rank.
- Description: A sword forged for Ashborn’s Empress, Litania, before her untimely death. Made by the Synthetic Lord himself, it has just one ability: For all those who resist the Rulers and Monarchs, for all those who stand for Mortality, this blade inspires Hope.
*******
“Momo’s gonna call me crazy for being inspired by him, of all people.”
“My Liege, we can handle this infestation,” Kamish replied to Izuku’s declaration.
“I’m sure you could. But I fought on my own for some time. Even when I was in a Party, I fended for myself… unless Momo was there. This is nothing new.” He swung the sword to his side, and as it cut through the air, it created a devastating explosion that tore across the battlefield.
Despite its relatively small blast, it was absurdly potent, so much so that it eradicated the Phoenix’s own flames and the bird entirely. The Kraken and Kitsune were just barely caught in the blast, their limbs being torn off. The Phoenix began its rebirth process, and the other two regrew their limbs, but it still left an impact.
“That’s… more concentrated than my own Fire Magic…” Christopher breathed in disbelief. He’d never seen a flame more powerful, or beautiful, than his own.
“Where’d he get a blade like that?!” Liu asked, similarly in amazement. However, the sword’s “Hope” ability had an unintended side effect. Something unique to humanity. Hope often led to delusion when the hopeful weren’t careful. Of course, no one would realize this until after the Gate was cleared.
“1750 Attack. That’s 3.5 times more powerful than the Attack Stat on my gauntlets.” The Kitsune surrounded itself with Barrier Magic as it felt Izuku about to move. It moved fast enough, but it was nowhere near durable enough.
Enhanced with Soul Magic, and with an Attack Stat that outperformed almost every weapon Izuku had combined, the sword cleaved through the shield like butter. Soul Magic didn’t instantly annihilate immortals like his Gravity Magic technique, but it still obliterated half of the Kitsune’s Soul.
Thousands of years spent traveling and fighting with Yggdrasil, wiped out in less than a second.
Cut in half lengthwise, what looked like a cross-section of the Kitsune was blown to the other side of the cavern by the resulting explosion, splattering onto the walls.
Izuku let it regenerate, the graceful beast looking more like a gory zombie as it pulled itself up on two healthy legs, and two legs still growing around the bone.
The National-Ranks, with their egos suppressed by wonder, stood by the side and merely watched. Thomas Andre, who previously assumed he had seen most of Izuku’s tricks, reconsidered his position. It was, unsurprisingly, a monumental achievement to get him to change his mind. He was American, after all.
The Kraken immediately responded, phasing out of existence.
“Clever,” Izuku thought as a sudden unbearable pressure assailed him from all sides. Or rather, it would be unbearable if he didn’t have Gravity Magic. “If it were anyone aside from myself, Star or Andre, you’d have probably killed them with that Spatial Magic.”
While Andre had enough physical resistance, and Star could probably lessen its effects, Izuku was outright nullifying the Spatial Magic by isolating his gravity. Everytime the Kraken adjusted its grip, Izuku subconsciously altered the field around himself.
“Uh-uh!” He said as it moved its targeting to the rest of the group.
He condensed the gravity where the Kraken vanished, making the area so dense that space warped and it phased halfway back into the physical realm. Where it appeared, he cut.
Tentacles, the main body, even its beak, were slashed and detonated piece-by-piece, to the point where it was forced to focus on defense and ignore the other National-Ranks.
At the same time, the Phoenix finished its rebirth process, firing a beam of fusion energy in Izuku’s direction. Almost as if it felt vengeful over the way he destroyed the Lich.
Fusion energy was actually quite an effective counter to Gravity Magic, as the combined mass of the nuclei was overall less than the start of the fusion process. The mass alteration could be used to screw with Gravity Magic’s response to the world around it.
Spatial Magic could do the same thing, but the process was so familiar to the function of Gravity Magic that it was easy to adapt to. In fact, Spatial Magic was a simplified version of Gravity Magic, using the Soul almost as a calculator or computer. Gravity Magic was much more refined, each individual alteration requiring the User’s conscious response. Of course, Izuku’s Apex Skill made it much easier to control.
It was essentially like putting a powerful modern PC next to a CRT Monitor. Izuku was always going to win a battle of Spatial Manipulation, but not one of Energy Manipulation. And Void Magic could only absorb so much. Fusion Magic was another form of Atomic Magic, in essence, an Apex Magic of its own. So Izuku could only use Void Magic to lessen the intensity of the beam as he rushed the Phoenix, narrowly dodging the edge of the attack and avoiding its most intense heat.
“I wonder how this will work,” He thought to himself as he again cut another of the Bosses in half, starting the Phoenix’s rebirth for a third time.
However, instead of being pushed back by the heat, he pushed through it. His skin rippled and burned, even as the Void Magic absorbed the energy, and his Gravity Magic bent it around him. The Phoenix’s heat literally was like the power of the sun right in your face. Even Izuku couldn’t nullify that.
It soon died down as the explosion ripped through the remnants of the bird; its ashes. Scattered throughout the room, parts of the Phoenix regenerated all over the place, causing it to fall apart, its head separated from its body. It died again and again, Izuku keeping it dispersed with Gravity Magic.
[HP: 92,743/100,020]
“That’s the most pain I’ve felt in a while.” He watched as his Vitality Stat went to work, covering the burnt flesh with fresh pink flesh. It was such a high number by that point that he barely needed a Healer. It went a long way towards showing he wasn’t just a backline necromancer, he was also a frontline beast who wasn’t afraid to get dirty.
“Enough!” Yggdrasil’s roots lashed out, none of them reached Izukus, only impacting his Gravity field. He was a tree after all, not even an Ent. He wasn’t designed for combat, but for modification, something he learned from the Gardener.
Two of his branches latched onto the Kraken and Kitsune, unable to hold onto the Phoenix with how often it was dissolving into ashes.
The Kitsune, having just finished regenerating, began to buck and writhe. Its form became mangled and it rose onto its hind legs. A Kitsune-Werewolf.
The Kraken, also regenerated, slimmed down. The tendrils, thicker than an office building, shrank into miniscule threads.
“A more adept melee combatant, and a more precise support unit.” It was a clever way to adjust the flow of the battlefield, but it was also a desperate move. Modifying the Chaotics not only weakened Yggdrasil, but it took energy from the monsters modified. The energy needed to make those changes had to come from somewhere.
Tactically, it was commendable. Logistically speaking, it was like the German’s switching tank production in the middle of World War 2. Sure, you got a more robust and specialized tank, but your factories had to adjust to a new production line, worsening their efficiency and total output. Would those few be able to stem the massive tides of American and Soviet tanks? Probably not.
When quality and quantity met it was a question of time. If the conflict was short, quality was king. Conversely, if the conflict was drawn out, quantity was usually superior.
In a way, Yggdrasil had taken quantity of energy from itself and the lesser Bosses to give them a higher quality. They wouldn’t be able to fight for as long, with as much durability or fervor. It was a last ditch attempt to conquer the quality that Izuku loomed over them with.
Izuku sent the Blade of the Empress flying like a javelin with his Gravity Magic. The Were-Sune didn’t have the time to react.
Izuku’s own movement was more complicated than just launching an object with Gravity. He had to ensure every part of his body was enveloped in the field and adjust it so that he didn’t literally tear himself apart. But propelling a sword? That was child’s play. He could move an inanimate object, especially a Lord-Rank one, much faster than his own body.
The Chaotics weren’t the only ones to adjust their strategies mid-fight. If anything, that was Izuku’s specialty, adaptation.
The giant Synthetic-made sword pierced right through the beast’s sternum, slamming it into the cavern walls yet again and causing it to detonate from the inside out. It was only comparable to a railgun strike, that was how quick and powerful the sword’s launch trajectory was.
It was a messy affair, but its Soul remained intact despite the devastating damage. Each bit of the Were-Sune’s Soul were being held together by the Krakens new tendrils, even piecing them back together.
Their loss scenario was that Izuku eradicated their Souls and physical form, killing them forever. Having seen all the things Izuku can do with Souls, whether directly or not, they knew that the Soul needed more protection. If he couldn’t one-shot them, or even find the Soul piece that the Kraken moved around the battlefield, they could drag out the battle for… something.
There was no real plan to take down Izuku, just one to survive his onslaught, escape, and live to fight another day. That was a dream scenario.
Izuku made a fist and all the ashes of the Phoenix condensed into a single chunk of black material. Before it could start a rebirth process, and while the other two were distracted by the Gravity controlled sword, Izuku slammed his knuckles into the mass.
“Annihilation.”
Much to Izuku’s surprise, as the physical mass was completely obliterated, the Phoenix’s Soul survived, as if it was uniquely immune to the destruction of the fusion energy. And yet, it didn’t appear to be reforming into anything, as if it had given up.
[You have gained 3 Levels!]
“That’s mine!” He thought, taking the Soul into his Soul Army Quirk. Shockingly, it worked, leaving just the two Bosses and Yggdrasil itself.
The Blade of the Empress raced back into his hands just in time to cut through the Kraken's tendrils as they pierced his Gravity Field. Their precision allowed them to overcome Izuku’s raw power. But they were not physically fast enough to avoid his sword slashes, laden with Soul, Shadow, and Gravity Magic.
When he looked over to the Were-Sune, he almost gave it a pitiful laugh. It was surrounding itself with all sorts of defensive measures. Mirror Magic, Inverse Magic, Barrier Magic, and about a dozen more. At the same time, its tails generated an immense amount of energy. It was trying to survive just one hit, in order to return with something of sufficient power to kill Izuku.
“You first,” He thought, looking at the Kraken, perfectly spotting its distortion in space. He cut through its tendrils so much that its Soul had been worn down to almost nothing.
Condensing the gravity around its head, he made one last slash and its strange body, killing its Soul and causing the physical body to die.
[You have gained 3 Levels!]
Now there was nothing keeping the Were-Sune’s Soul safe. It intended to earn its safety.
“Woah!” Izuku let out a reflexive sound of astonishment.
The mystical wolf-fox blurred past him at a speed comparable to Beru’s. It turned out that the Magic it gathered in its tails was all Enhancement Magic. It, ever-so-slightly, matched Izuku’s own physical prowess.
At the end of the day, when specialized attacks, regeneration, and strategies didn’t work, things tended to revert to brute force. When all else failed, the only recourse was usually crude.
As Izuku zipped back and forth with the hybrid, shockwaves emanating and battering the rest of the Party, Yggdrasil began to wonder how it came to this.
“Have I been tricked by the Monarchs, or have they been tricked? To think that my own creator was once my greatest threat…”
“Very well. You win, but I have my roots spread through dimensions far and wide. This is just the start.” The second Yggdrasil’s booming voice stopped emanating, his Soul Vanished.
It hadn’t been teleported or destroyed by Izuku. Instead, it crumbled away all by itself.
“Did he just… kill himself to escape?”
It would take time and energy, but eventually, on another world in a different dimension, a new seed would sprout.
The Were-Sune similarly dropped dead, but its Soul actually managed to escape its body. Unfortunately for it, Izuku was there to snatch it. When it gave up its attachment to its physical body, it gave up the protections that kept Izuku from claiming Souls belonging to living beings.
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[Secret Quest: Cowardly Tree, has been completed.]
- Conditions: Make Yggdrasil flee and clear the Gate
[Rewards:]
- 1. +100 Stat Points to allocate
- 2. Key to the Machine God’s Castle
- 3. Empress Chassis (Chestplate)
- 4. Empress Leggings (Leg Armor)
- 5. Leaf of the World Tree (Material)
- 6. Root of the World Tree (Material)
- 7. Sap of the World Tree (Material)
*******
There were a lot of good Rewards pouring in from the System, but Izuku didn’t have time to acknowledge them… because the planet was collapsing in on itself.
Yggdrasil’s roots, once healthy and sturdy, were crumbling. All that empty space caused gravity to crush the tunnels the roots created. The planet was quite literally shrinking. With the party at the core, that was not good news.
[Apex Magic Skill: Glaedr]
[Apex Magic Skill: Shruikan]
The two displays cropped up as Izuku and Terra used Gravity and Earth to hold up the faltering root lines.
“Wait… has she had an Apex Skill this entire time?! Why did it only now pop-up?!”
Again, Izuku had to brush aside his thoughts and focus on the task at hand. He targetted the Souls of everyone present. He couldn’t teleport them directly outside the Gate, but he could get them back to base camp now that the Boss Room was no longer occupied or protected by Spatial Magic.
Shadows engulfed the group and within moments they were on the surface.
They actually fell a few feet, as Izuku had teleported to where the ground level was a few minutes ago. The height he expected it to be at.
“Come on, loser!” Thomas shouted, grabbing Jonas and throwing him over his shoulder like a ragdoll.
The basecamp began to pull itself apart, and get smashed by the cracking ground, which Terra and Izuku just barely managed to hold up. It was only then that Izuku felt the size of Terra’s Mana pool compared to his own. She couldn’t freely use her Apex Skill for fear of draining her reserves, which was what she was doing right now just to hold the planet together.
“Go! Go!” Izuku rushed the rest of his Party as they leapt into the air and through the Gate, now resting in the air above them. “I got it, you go first!” He shouted to Terra. He could fly with his Apex Skill, so even though it felt like he was actually bench pressing the weight of a planet with his head alone, he wasn’t concerned about being the only one left on the other side.
As Terra’s tanned-skin disappeared behind the swirling energy, Izuku relaxed, allowing the planet to come to a natural rest.
For a time, it looked like Izuku was flying upwards, even though he was just maintaining his position. The ground fell away so quickly that he started to enter space instead of an atmosphere. So, not taking any chances, he zipped through the Gate, taking his Souls and Shadows with him.
Because time slowed on the other side of the Gate, every single one of the National-Ranks, and Izuku’s team, crashed out at the same time. They all landed in a heap on top of each other, looking up comically at Momo.
Her arms crossed and a smile on her face as she looked down at Thomas. After making sure everyone was there, she asked, “Did you have fun?”
*******
“So…” Brandon said from inside the Synthetic Lord’s castle, “Ashborn was a hopeless romantic too?”
Raia smirked, watching as the most dangerous Gate humanity had ever encountered was cleared with ease. “He was… something truly special.”
“Does that mean you’re gonna convince Stain to back off?”
“Of course not… If anything, I’m excited to watch that encounter.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? What if a Monarch decides to attack at the same time?”
“Come now,” Raia teased, “you don’t care that much about humanity do you?”
“Uhm… A little!”
The Machine God chuckled. “No… It’s just that… I think I believe in him now.”
“Okay are you still messing with me, cause like 15 minutes ago you cursed him out.”
Raia gave him a sideways glance. “The sword was not as simple as it seemed to be. It held an artificial intelligence. It was nowhere near sentience, but it was designed to mimic Litania’s own mind. It would find its way to the Player one way or another, whether by chance, or the System itself. It was one last failsafe.”
“Failsafe for what?”
“There was always the possibility,” Raia replied, “That the Shadow Monarch would turn against the universe, and I’m not talking about just one of them. Ashborn may have been hiding his own plans, as well as Izuku Midoriya’s human nature coming to ruin. Litania asked me to ensure that the Shadow Monarch would never fall to such behavior, so that he would always be a Hero to the Mortals. Litania would assess the behavior of both her lover and his chosen one. If either were deemed to have fallen or been unworthy, a kill-switch would’ve been sent through the System.”
“You mean?” Brandon almost couldn’t ask it. “You’ve had a means to kill Ashborn this entire time?”
Raia’s smile grew into something ghastly. “There’s a reason they call me the Architect. Give me a few million years, and I could work out a way to kill Primordials.”
“So is this you revealing your master plan as a bad guy?”
Raia scoffed. “Ashborn’s turn to either side would lose the war, remember? I still owe allegiance to my people and I believe that winning the war is my duty. I will do whatever it takes to ensure the peace we once enjoyed. For humanity, for the Tenebris, or for the Lux, I don’t care.” He rested his chin on his hand. “But now that he’s earned Litania’s trust, I’ve got a definitive purpose. I’m going to make sure that, when the dust settles, the only Higher Being left standing is the Shadow Monarch.”