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Chapter Text

For Izuku Midoriya, it was like any other night, laying in bed and staring at the latest videos of All Might on his phone. It was a little more than 11 months until the tests for UA would happen, even if he did train his body, could someone without a Quirk even get into that school? Izuku tried to shake those thoughts from his head and slowly drifted into sleep as thoughts slowly dwindled in his mind until there was nothing.

Suddenly Izuku felt strange, like he was abruptly woken up from his sleep but he didn't feel tired at all. He opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness around him but felt like something was watching him. He could move and see his body but it felt like there was nothing beneath him, like he was floating in air.

'Is this...a dream?' Izuku thought looking around at the void surrounding him. 'Or is someone using their Quirk on me?'

"It is...Weak..." Izuku jumped as he heard a strange voice say from all around him, a voice which sounded like several masculine, feminine and gender-neutral voices at the same time. A green light suddenly appeared and dimly glowed in front of him, the light shifted and formed a still shape, it took him a second to realise that the shape looks like a featureless silhouette of himself.

"It is...Defenceless..." The voices said again as more still shapes of light, this time a brighter red, surrounded him and his light double. The shapes looked strange, some looked like people with mutant quirks but others looked weird, like a large floating sphere with eye stalks sticking out of it or what looked like a huge eagle with a stag's head.

"It is...Powerless..." The voices said, this time causing him to feel a little bad after being called these same things so often. The green silhouette suddenly moved, shoving it's hands out in front of it desperately at the motionless red figures around it. Izuku wondered for a moment if this was his subconsciousness' way of telling him he can't be a Quirkless Hero, he felt a twinge of sadness well up inside of him.

"However..." The voices said again snapping Izuku out of his thoughts as all the figures vanished. The scene suddenly changed to the Izuku silhouette but smaller standing in front of 3 red figures with it's arms out defending a blue figure on the ground, he vividly remembered this moment from his childhood. "It has bravery." the scene shifted again to an Izuku figure reaching out to a blue figure of Katsuki fallen down in a stream. "It has compassion." the scene changed once more to the green figure once more, this time animated as it struggles to stand up after getting knocked down in front of a red figure of Katsuki. "It has resolve."

The scene changed back to the Izuku silhouette surrounded by red figures. "If it accepts the gift," the green figure suddenly has a pure while glow in it's chest and it's green glow grew brighter until the other figures were dull by comparison. "It could save more than it ever imagined." The green figure held it's hands out and shot beams of green light which caused the other red figures to fade away.

Izuku looked at his glowing copy, 'Accepting a gift? What does that mean? I swear my dreams keep getting weirder.' he thought before seeing something other than a figure made of light, a brief glance at something green-blue in the corner of his eye. He turned around quickly and saw nothing. He paused and it happened again, this time multiple colours, when he turned he saw nothing but a single large feather drift down to where the ground would be right in front of him. It looked beautiful, more vibrant than any bird feather he had ever seen, so light he could barely feel it's weight in his hands and so much softer than anything he had ever felt before.

"Accept the gift, Izuku Midoriya. And you will not only save this world, but worlds your kind hasn't dreamt of in millennia, from a great evil." Izuku suddenly saw something fly overhead completely silently, he couldn't believe his eyes. A beautiful but subtly scary vision hovered in the air, a dream made flesh, winged but unflappable. It's serpentine body whirled and drifted effortlessly like a trail of smoke made of glittering cyan scales. Amid the intoxicating kaleidoscope of shining scales and vibrant feathers two pure white eyes hold still, focussing all attention on him, their gaze expressing perfect calm and infinite compassion but still expressed an incredibly intimidating aura leaving Izuku frozen at the sight.

Izuku's mind told him that what he saw was 100% real, but if this thing was real then what was even happening?

"Do you accept the gift to you, Izuku Midoriya?" The giant winged snake asked, despite not moving it's mouth, the voices echoed around just the same.

Izuku looked at the creature then looked down, thinking intently before speaking. "I want to be a Hero, a Hero who can help everyone with a smile on my face. Refusing you means I wouldn't be strong enough to be able to save people all over the world..." Izuku clenched his fist and stared up at the giant snake with a look of determination "What kind of Hero would I be after that! So I accept your "gift"! So that I can be a Hero who saves the world with a smile!"

The winged snake stared at Izuku intently with cold, pure white eyes before speaking again "Very well, Izuku Midoriya, you shall be given this divine gift. You will remember this dream and more once you wake." the snake spoke before spreading it's wings wide and flying upward before turning in the air and divebombing straight for Izuku. Izuku braced in panic but held his ground as the snake's body glowed a bright holy white and collided with Izuku's chest.

Izuku awoke suddenly and sat up with enough force to knock him out of his bed, he grabbed his chest as his heart rate had sky rocketed and gasped for breath. Izuku slowly caught his breath and realised that something felt different, he felt a weight in his chest but not the kind he usually felt when sad, it instead gave off a warm, comforting feeling. The warmth slowly pulsed through his body before coming back to his chest as he breathed in and out.

Izuku focused, trying to figure out what could have caused the feeling, nothing about the day before was out of the ordinary, then he remembered his dream. He almost never remembered his dreams, if he did they were just scrambled memories, but this one he remembered so clearly it was disturbing. The weird figures, the giant snake, the deal he made, he remembered all of it.

Then he remembered something else, something that didn't happen. A weird hand gesture? Words in a language he didn't understand? Izuku knew he had never seen or heard either but the memories felt just as real as the dream. His curiosity got the better of him and he slowly tried to copy what he remembered, moving his hands in ways that felt oddly familiar and saying unknown words he felt like he could almost understand.

Dull green light coated Izuku's right hand as he gestured and spoke, with one last movement he brushed his left hand over his right and the green light slid off like a glove. Now a green spectral copy of Izuku's hand floated in front of him, he was absolutely stunned. He tried moving his right hand closer to it but it drifted away, Izuku figured he could control the spectral hand with his right hand and used it to try to pick up one of his many All Might action figures and was able to, although the hand was a little shaky.

"...What...what is this?" he asked himself, stunned at what he saw.

'The effect of the gift. The gift of power to the powerless.' the voices from Izuku's dream said inside his mind causing him to almost fall over again from shock.

"W-What?"

'The gift of pure magic to a world with only fragments.'

"What!?"

'In your world's terms, You have been gifted a "Quirk".'

"WHAT!?"

The door to Izuku's room was suddenly burst open by his panicking mother, "Izuku! Are you hurt!?" I heard-" she stopped shouting upon seeing her son's wide smile, teary eyes and a floating green hand holding one of his action figures.

"Mom...I...I have a Quirk."

After a crushing hug, many tears shed and a confusing conversation, Izuku sat alone in his room talking out loud in hope the voices were listening. "Ok, so your "gift" is "magic" but also a Quirk?"

'That is partially correct.'

Izuku was a little surprised at the quick answer "Which parts?" he asked.

'What you have is not a Quirk in the traditional sense. Your soul has been infused with magic."

Izuku blinked silently for a second "...Magic, you say that...but...but magic doesn't exist."

'Then how would you explain the voices in your mind? Your dream? Your "Quirk"?'

"...I...but..."

'Magic had existed on this world before, but time has faded such magics from your kind's memories. 200 years ago however, magic began to bloom once again. Like flowers growing on dead land'

"You mean Quirks? But Quirks aren't magic, that was one of the first theories on Quirks and was disproven as fast as it was spread."

'Your kind has many theories on what Quirks are, don't they? However, there is only one truth, one related to why you were chosen to bear this power.'

Izuku was sceptical about this, he could forgive the weirdness in a dream but now he didn't know what to believe anymore. Was magic real? Are Quirks magic? Is he having a mental breakdown? "Tell me."

'As was said in the dream, with this magic you will save your world from a great evil. An ancient undead who strived and failed to achieve godhood. 200 years ago this Lich caused a ripple of magic to flow through your realm, or universe as your kind would say. When it tore a hole between the realm you inhabit and the one he did as a desperate escape. He has since scoured your universe in search of life to rule over and now has found your world. Unfortunately for him, he has been tracked the whole time to your planet.'

Izuku stared blankly, still trying to process everything he was told "I...What...So...Let me get this straight. You are something from ANOTHER UNIVERSE which gave me LITERAL MAGIC to fight an evil GOD!?"

'He is NO God!' The voices sounded angry for the first time since Izuku started hearing them before going back to it's normal tone 'And he is weaker than he once was, this also benefits you. With the magic you have been gifted, you can defeat him. You can become a Hero to your own world and countless others.'

That last phrase stuck in Izuku's head, something he always wanted to hear, even if it wasn't from his Mom but from a giant alien snake, it still filled a hole left in his heart. He would probably be crying tears of joy if not for the VERY weird situation.

"Alright, I'll do it...um...what and who are you exactly?"

The voices were silent for a moment as if pondering 'A name unpronounceable by your kind. You may use a name which your kind have used before. Couatl."

"Ok, Couatl, I will use your gift to become a Hero and stop that undead Villain!" Izuku shouted, his heart burning with determination, but still felt very confused about everything that has happened today.

'It seems you were the right choice. First your magic must be trained, you are still at your weakest. According to your memories there is an abandoned beach not far from here. That is where you will learn how to weave the magic inside you into spells.'

"Wait you can see my memories?!"

[Eldritch Blast]

Green energy crackled around Izuku's arm and shot out at a pile of trash, knocking it down and blasting apart some of it. Izuku ran across the sand and around deliberately placed trash piles until he saw his next target glowing with his Light spell. He got within range and started casting, light surrounding him as he focussed on a glowing broken microwave. [Sacred Flame] The light around Izuku coalesced and shot out at the broken microwave, breaking it further with flame-like light.

Izuku had been at this for several hours now, he finally got the hang of casting while moving. He was starting to get exhausted, which was weird because if Izuku started running around this beach yesterday it would have taken around 5 minutes for him to get tired but he had been running back and forth setting up targets with Light then running back and breaking them for hours.

He moved his hands around and whispered, weaving a floating green hand in front of him. [Mage Hand] The hand flexed for a moment and moved down to pick up a chunk of trash as Izuku commanded, he brought it close to him and placed a hand over it with a short whisper. [Light] it began to glow like a flashlight, the green hand lifted it into the air before vanishing in a puff of green smoke. Izuku launched another Eldritch Blast causing the chunk to explode before it hit the ground.

'Well done, Izuku Midoriya, you have quickly grown used to using magic. Even at your weakest, one could compare you to one of your kind's Heroes.' Couatl said in Izuku's mind in it's multiple voices.

"You think so? It feels crazy, each one of these spells could be it's own Quirk so it's pretty incredible to use just one of them. It's weird to think I've been able to do all this only hours after learning it. It feels so natural to cast the spells too, like a reflex almost. And I'm only now getting tired after all of this, is that from another spell or is it-" Izuku started to rant before being interrupted.

'Izuku Midoriya, you are rambling again.'

"Oh, sorry, I'm just so excited to finally have a Quirk, or something like a Quirk I guess. You don't have to call me by my full name either, Izuku is fine since you're in my head and all, it would make me feel a little more comfortable."

'Very well, Izuku. You have grown used to your weakest spells, now you must learn to use your strongest.'

"So all of those spells were the weakest ones? How do I cast the stronger ones?" Izuku felt a slight pulse of warmth from his chest as he suddenly had memories of being able to cast 4 more spells, a little more complex in hand movements and vocals but still doable. "How do you keep putting these in my head anyway?"

'In accepting the gift, minds and souls were linked, forming a bridge between you and your magic. It has also allowed access to your mind and memories.'

"Oh...I mean is that last part really necessary?" Izuku asked, slightly uncomfortable with the idea of someone messing with his mind.

It is, if not done then communication from such a great distance would be limited to your dreams. It would also allow the Lich to magically locate you or affect your mind if you became his problem. The mind of a Couatl is guarded like no other, now your mind will be guarded the very same.

"Ok then, so pretty necessary." Izuku looked on the new spells in his mind before picking one and starting the incantation. "I guess I'll start with this one." Izuku spoke in an ancient tongue and waved his hands in a new pattern while focussing on a nearby fridge, 'The spell should be stronger so a bigger target should be good to test the damage.' Izuku heard a gentle hum in the air as he finished and held his hands out in front of him.

[Thunderwave]

An incredibly loud boom shocked Izuku as he was barely able to keep focussing on the spell, thankfully he was used to explosion sounds and wasn't too stunned by them anymore. He looked in front of him and saw the front of the fridge had completely crumpled in on itself and the heavy fridge had been knocked a few meters away from him, as well as the now shredded smaller garbage surrounding it.

"That was so cool!" Izuku shouted in excitement, pulling out his latest notebook for his new magical knowledge and scribbling as he thought out loud. "It seems like it's purely destructive but could also be used to clear large pieces of rubble from disaster sites, although the sound is a bit too loud to be used around people who are sensitive to loud noise and- Why don't I feel that warmth in my chest anymore?"

'That warmth is the presence of raw, unfiltered magic. It will come back with rest. It will be your guide as to when you have access to your spell slots, meaning when can use your higher level spells. What you had cast was a 1st level spell, they will only get stronger as you grow, as will the amount of spells you can cast.'

"Alright, what now?" Izuku said, excited for some more lessons on magic.

'Rest for an hour, then you test another 1st level spell.'

"Aww"

After a long day of exhausting Izuku's new found stamina after learning magic was real, then actually using magic, and Couatl in general to top it off, Izuku was ready to sleep. Once he had finally fallen asleep he found himself in the void he was in last night. He didn't feel weightless this time and felt like he was standing on a solid floor, but he looked around and saw nothing around him again. However he did see a white light glowing from his chest, the light flowed out and shifted, forming the unforgettable body of the giant winged serpent several times his height.

"We're back in my dream? Why?" Izuku asked.

"Indeed, here you shall be trained mentally." Couatl said, their voice of many voices echoing all around once again without moving their mouth. "All aspects of your dream can be manipulated, including you. A prefect controlled environment for your training."

"Physical training when I'm awake and mental training when I'm asleep, I guess I do need a lot more training than everyone else does." Izuku said looking out across the infinite void as Couatl vanished from sight and a featureless, red figure of light appeared in front of him with a sword and shield also made of red light.

"This shall be your first lesson. Are you prepared?"

"I guess so."

Without a moment of hesitation the figure went from completely motionless to sprinting at Izuku with killing intent. Izuku naturally panicked, trying to run but found himself much slower than his opponent. He frantically but carefully waved his hands around and shouted the correct incantation as magic slowly crept up around his body. [Expeditious Retreat] Izuku's body absorbed the magic around him and he begun to move much faster, he continued to run but found he just barely outran the figure who was in full sprint.

In a desperate attempt he turned around as green energy crackled around his arm. [Eldritch Blast] The energy shot out and collided with the figure but it didn't slow down. He stopped in fear, tensing and closed his eyes as he felt the sword pierce his body, it hurt more than anything he felt before, and then he felt nothing.

He opened his eyes in a panic and saw he was in the same void, he checked his body and saw no stab wound or hole in his clothes, and he could even feel the magic in his body even though he had cast his only 1st level spell.

"What was that!? Did I die!?" Izuku shouted at the void, Couatl appeared out of nothing in front of him and spoke.

"You did die, in the dream at least. That was the first lesson."

"I...Bu...What kind of "lesson" is KILLING me!?"

"The first lesson is death."

"...I..."

"That helpless, powerless feeling you felt. When you were moments before death. Do you know what you did?"

"...I froze."

"You hesitated, hesitated in the face of death. That is a wall you must learn to break, you cannot ignore that fear, instead you must push past it and use it. Even when you fear death, you must commit, a second of hesitation is all it takes for you or someone else to die. When you fight you must keep this lesson in your mind. Win, and live. Lose, and die."

Izuku looked down, this was going to be much harder than he thought. But he can't give up, All Might probably trained a thousand times harder than him, if Izuku needed to do this harsh training to become a Hero then he would take every lesson thrown his way.

"There was another lesson to be learned here, do you know what it was?"

Izuku tried to think but the thought of him getting run through with a sword was the only thing he could focus on, "No."

"You thought that a single spell would defeat your opponent. That because you have magic, that makes you strong. You may have more power than others but you are not yet strong. Underestimating an opponent you don't know is a fast way to die. Learn everything you can about your opponent before you strike. Even a wall of diamond can be broken at it's weakest point.

"Are you sure that this isn't a little too extreme." Izuku said a little overwhelmed by only 2 lessons.

"Your training is not without purpose. Magic is complex and unstable in its pure form, you must learn to hone your mind to wield it like second nature. You must hone your body, the constant flow of magic has given you more energy than before, so you must learn to use it. Magic affects both your mind and body, you must not fight the flow of magic but guide it to strengthen both. Others before you had been given more time and less training, but time is not your ally this fight and you must build up your strength faster than normal."

"So everyday will be like this?"

"Indeed, though the difficulty will be lowered, otherwise you will learn nothing but to flee."

"How considerate of you." Izuku said sarcastically

The red figure appeared again and ran at Izuku as Couatl vanished, "Villains won't give you countdowns, now fight."

The Next Morning

It was a peaceful day on Nabu Island like every other day. As usual the few Heroes that were assigned there relaxed until they were needed for something small. The citizens went about their normal routine, children laughed as they played with their parents and tourists enjoyed the warmth of the beach. They didn't have a care in the world, nothing too bad had happened on the island in almost 30 years, after all.

Unbeknownst to all of them, something floated above the island, looking down at the bounty of souls beneath it with a single right eye of glowing energy. Elegant, ornate but decayed robes flowed in the shifting wind as the skeletal undead watched the vermin beneath it, waving an ethereal left hand and vanishing from sight.

[Greater Invisibility]

Chapter Text

Izuku had trained with magic for over a month now, he hadn't learned any new spells besides the 4 cantrips(Light, Eldritch Blast, Mage Hand and Sacred Flame) and 4 1st level one spells(Thunderwave, Expeditious Retreat, Guiding Bolt and Cure Wounds) he already knew, but what he did learn was more important. Turning his magic into healing energy in a technique called Healing Light, which he can use twice a day, and both magical and non-magical combat training against a never ending tirade of dream opponents. These were the things Izuku had been practicing and learning all this time to become strong.

Couatl also taught Izuku about various monsters from the Lich's universe and from the many Planes of Existence(which was a whole other deal that Izuku could barely wrap his head around) and also what a Lich was, because he just knew it was some kind of undead thing. Essentially, a lich is a wizard who sacrificed their humanity and become undead to learn magic forever but requires a reserve of souls to continue to exist. Most of them are villainous but the one he was destined to fight was incredibly evil.

Going by the titles of "The Undying King" "The Whispered One" and around 5 other equally edgy titles, he was once a human but in his quest to achieve Godhood for reasons long forgotten to time, he slaughtered countless and enslaved more. He was stopped 200 years ago by a group of legendary Heroes and Gods but he escaped by sacrificing every soul he had in his reserves to tear a hole between universes and caused a ripple of magic through space which accidentally created Quirks on Earth.

So yeah, Izuku had his work cut out for him on the whole defeating him deal. Just one more reason to train as hard as he did.

Just 10 months remained now until the UA Entrance Exams, Izuku knew he couldn't afford to slack off on any of his training if he wanted a chance to pass. There was just one thing he forgot in his magical training regime. School.

Thankfully, Couatl allowed Izuku to rest during school hours. What were once the most stressful hours of his life became the least, as insults and bullying hurt a LOT less that getting run through by the weapons of dream warriors. He learned that the hard way...several times. However none noticed Izuku's more relaxed state at school more than Katsuki, he noticed how different Izuku seemed, and he hated it.

In Katsuki's mind, Deku looking happy while he tried to berate him for being useless meant Deku was looking down on him, and nobody looks down on Katsuki Bakugo and gets away with it. Deku, however, would just keep that smug look on his face, like he was better than Katsuki. Nothing, absolutely nothing, infuriated Katsuki more than when that nerd brushed off anything he threw at him ranging from insults to explosions. It pissed him off.

Izuku was jogging to school until he stopped to watch a fight with a Villain. The Villain had a gigantification Quirk and was currently causing some havoc at Tatooin station, Police had already started putting up a perimeter to keep people back but that didn't stop anyone from watching.

'Oh man, I wonder what that guy's Quirk is? Can he just grow giant or does he gain other abilities as well? Is his body stronger to support his larger form while in his smaller form or is his strength only increased while giant?' Izuku started to ramble in his head.

'Izuku, you are rambling.' Couatl scolded him in their many voices.

'Sorry, I just get so curious about Quirks, you know? Of course you know you're in my head, that was dumb to ask.'

'There is something you may possess due to the bond, causing an ability shared, an ability to tell what Quirk others have. Are you curious enough to attempt this?'

'Really? That would be great, let's do it!'

Izuku stood silently as Couatl was probably doing something in his head, until he felt slightly different but couldn't exactly tell what.

'Attempt to reach out to that which alludes you, to see through different eyes.' Couatl said as advice to Izuku to follow. Izuku then focused on that new feeling, he was used to this feeling of knowing something without experiencing it before from learning magic so it wasn't as hard as it once was. After a couple of seconds he felt the warmth in his chest move to his eyes as all colour drained from his vision and each person he could see had a glowing energy of a different colour and some had a grey energy he could see swirl, he could even see the auras of people he couldn't see behind a nearby wall.

[Detect Magic]

'Whoa...I have no idea what any of these colours mean.'

'Then this shall be a lesson for you.

Green is Transmutation- The magic of change.

Blue is Abjuration- The magic of protection.

Purple is Illusion- The magic of deception.

Orange is Conjuration- The magic of moving energy.

Yellow is Enchantment- The magic of mind and body.

Red is Evocation- The magic of creating energy.

White is Divination- The magic to see and learn.

Black is Necromancy- The magic of life and death.'

Izuku copied that into his notebook of magical knowledge. 'What does it mean if it's grey?"

'Old and faded magic, likely someone without a Quirk.' Izuku hummed and wrote that down, every human apparently had direct exposure to raw magic due to the Quirk Event caused by the Lich entering the universe so that made sense that even the Quirkless would be affected by some kind of background radiation of magic. Izuku paused to appreciate how weird that thought was out of context.

He was knocked out of his thoughts by the villain knocking down debris toward the crowd, Izuku watched as it was caught by Death Arms who glowed green with transmutation, Izuku thought it was because his body was changed to have increased strength. Backdraft rushed in and blocked off the area with a water barrier, red with evocation as he created the water with his quirk and tiny flecks of transmutation due to his arms being hoses. Another green as Kamui Woods rushed ahead and swung into action against the also green Villain, their bodies both change with their Quirks, Izuku figured it made sense. Finally a giant Hero woman leapt forward dealing a great kick to the Villain and taking him out, her Quirk also green but that seemed pretty obvious why.

'This ability works like a charm!' Izuku thought, looking at himself and seeing a large beautiful swirling mass of shifting colour in his chest, much brighter than the magic of Quirks because it was raw and unchained unlike Quirks which are locked to doing a single thing. His magic comfortably sits there when he's not using it so that made sense why it was there. As the crime scene was being cleared Izuku had a thought.

'How do I turn this off?'

School had ended and Katsuki was pissed for two reasons, one was the fact that Deku had the gall to try and enter UA without a Quirk like he was trying to mock him, that getting into UA was so easy that even a Quirkless could do it. The second was that the damn nerd had been scribbling in his stupid notebook all day like a stalker following everyone around and writing about their Quirks. Bullying the nerd didn't even get a reaction out of him anymore, it's been like that for weeks now.

He walked up as everyone was leaving, snatching his notebook before he could put it in his bag. "Don't think our little conversation from earlier is over, Deku." he said holding the book away from him, that actually got a reaction out of him, he looked worried because of it. Good.

"Katsuki, what's that?" Fingers asked walking up to him. He moved the book back while not looking away from Deku. "Huh? I...I can't read this...like at all. Is this even Japanese?" he said confused.

"What are you, an idiot?" Katsuki said taking a look at the book and understanding the confusion, whatever was written on this book wasn't Japanese or English or any language he recognised, flipping through the book he saw that every page was filled with these nonsense characters. "The fuck is this, Deku? You come up with some kinda fake language so no one can read the weird shit you write about everyone?" he asked, the worried look on Deku's face faded back into that smug smile. It didn't even change when he threw the nerd's notebook out the window, he just whispered something under his breath.

"The fuck did you say, nerd!?" he shouted.

"C'mon man, let's just go. He doesn't even do anything when you do this anymore, it's honestly just boring and sad." Fingers said, the rest of the extras in Katsuki's class stopped caring about Deku after he stopped reacting, they got bored of him not long after. Katsuki still had more that a single bone to pick with the nerd though and Deku pretending that nothing phased him wasn't going to stop him.

"Tch, fine. But know this you damn nerd, If you apply to UA I will destroy you!" no reaction at all. "Maybe you can get in, if you take a swan dive off the roof and get a Quirk in your next life!" no reaction again! 'Do something you Freak!' He growled in his head out of frustration and called it a win for himself before leaving, slamming the door behind him.

Izuku sat in the now empty classroom as outside the open window a green hand floated up holding his notebook, he floated the Mage Hand over and took the book from it before giving it a high-five and watching it pop into green smoke. 'Nice, he didn't even burn this one so I can still use it.' he thought before putting his book away 'Geez, I thought for a second that Katsuki would read all my magic stuff and go crazy from the revelation. What was all that about a different language though?'

'The secrets of magic cannot be expressed in your kind's tongue, each spell is spoken and written in far more powerful languages. What you speak and write is Celestial, the language of those who dwell within the Heavens. It would seem you were instinctually writing and reading Celestial and did not realise it.'

'And because you're from the Heavens, I can speak, read and write it too?'

'Technically, the Prime Material Plane was the birthplace, not any of the Seven Heavens of Celestia. Though, minds are links with the progenitors before and the descendants after.'

'The Prime Material Plane is the one I'm in now, right? Also does that mean that each of your voices was a different Couatl?'

'Both are correct in a sense. The Planes exist outside of your realm but the Prime Material Plane is your realm and all others. Though connection to your specific realm is difficult, the reason one would travel within and bridge realms together. Somewhere within this realm are one's current whereabouts, though after nearly two centuries, travel continues to remain monotonous.'

'Cool. So where are you now? If you can get to Earth it would probably help a lot.'

Couatl paused as if in thought 'Specifics are unknown, though according to your knowledge of this realm...Somewhere in space.'

'Oh...You can't teleport here? Aren't you more magical than me?'

'Various reasons that don't have to be explained.'

'Alright, I won't pry into the vast secrets of magic again.' Izuku thought, feigning sadness.

'You had almost experienced an aneurysm when you were first informed of the Planes of Existence.'

'You were the one who thought I could handle it.'

'It was explicitly stated that you could not, you then complained for 24 minutes and 56 seconds. You were then informed of the basics and promptly collapsed. Go home.'

'...fine.' Izuku thought, defeated.

As Izuku was walking home he was speaking in his mind with Couatl.

'You may be ready for your next level soon.'

'Next level?'

'You are currently at your weakest, potential is seen and the connection can become stronger. Making you stronger.'

'What happens when our connection is stronger?'

'An increase of magic. Specifically the raw eldritch magic within you may be tamed further.'

'Oh great, so what do I need to-What's that noise?' Izuku looked behind him and saw a guy whose Quirk made him a sentient pile of slime.

"My luck's turning around. A medium sized invisibility cloak." Izuku examined his opponent, he was very similar to the "Ooze" creatures that Couatl made him fight in his dreams once, meaning he had to use magic as his fists were mostly useless, he may also be acidic so its important to avoid physical contact at all costs.

The villain dived at him but Izuku was able to jump backwards and get into a stance he could fight in. The slime Villain groaned in annoyance. "C'mon kid, you'll be doing me a real favour here. It's only going to hurt for about 40 seconds, then you won't feel a thing."

Izuku whispered and gestured his hands in front of him, light emanating from his chest and glowing like veins up his arms as he shoved both his arms out with one last word in Celestial. [Guiding Bolt] The light shot out of his arms in a shimmering beam of light, the Villain was confident that he wouldn't be hurt by it, like any other attack against his Quirk, so he stood still as an intimidation tactic. Once it collided with his body he was immediately filled with horrible, searing pain, something he never felt when using his Quirk before. Luckily for him, Izuku was holding back.

The Villain's body began giving off light and felt weak as Izuku held up a hand with green energy crackling off it, "Back away now, or I'll be forced to knock you out and report you to the Police." he said, it was a bluff as he used his only 1st Level spell slot so he only had cantrips to work with, thankfully the weakened Villain stalled long enough that a manhole cover was blown away and revealed someone Izuku never thought he would see in person.

"All Might!?" he shouted in wide eyed shock. The villain shouting the same out of fear.

"IT'S ALRIGHT NOW, YOUNG MAN. BECAUSE I AM HERE!" The number one Hero announced. The slime villain tried to attack the Hero but All Might pulled his fist back "TEXAS SMASH!" he shouted as he punched, wind pressure filling the tunnel they were in but was so precise that Izuku was only blown by strong wind and not effected as bad as the Villain who was blown into pieces.

Izuku was frozen in shock and awe, he had seen a giant magic snake and cast actual magic so not much still phased him, but this was THE All Might so he had an excuse.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT, YOUNG MAN?" he asked, causing him to snap back to his senses. 'You learned better than to freeze like that, c'mon Izuku!' he scolded himself.

"Thank you so much All Might! Can I get an autograph!?" he quickly shouted, still in a state of shock after seeing the super celebrity in person.

All Might laughed his signature laugh "OF COURSE, YOUNG MAN! RIGHT AFTER I DEAL WITH THIS VILLAIN HERE." he said, emptying two large bottles. After a slightly awkward clean up session, that took close to an hour due to how scattered the villain was, All Might took Izuku's notebook, curiously eyed the language he didn't understand and signed the last two pages in the book. He then took off through the skies as Izuku looked at All Might's signature, still slightly in shock of meeting the greatest Hero ever.

"I'm framing this over my bed." he said to himself.

Not much later the smell of smoke hit Izuku, he looked around and saw it rising from nearby. Assuming it was a Villain attack, he ran toward the scene excited to make more notes. As he ran up to the barricade which was farther back than usual, that was a bad sign that something bad was happening. He saw that there were three people with various mutation Quirks and one comparatively human looking who was shooting balls of fire at the surrounding buildings. They were all wearing cloaks and the mutation Quirked Villains were holding hostages. One of which was Katsuki. 'Oh crap.' He, like the other hostages, had a sword held to his throat.

He watched as at the end of the street two pro heroes stood with a few squad cars worth of police. "This is Kamui Woods, Death Arms and the Musutafu Police Department. You are in violation of multiple laws, including public Quirk usage and hostage taking."

The villains stopped once they spoke and watched as a man in a trench coat spoke up "What do you want? What are your demands?" A negotiator asked to the Villains, his face was calm and composed.

"A news crew to broadcast our message and 1,000,000 yen worth of diamonds." The fire shooting villain responded.

The negotiator seemed to be in thought "Those are quite odd requests, do you mind if I ask why you want those?"

"To spread the word and to please the Undying King. For we are the forces who's only goal in life is to please the Dark Lord."

The Police looked to the Detective who stood still, not giving them any cues, they then looked to each other realising that these Villains are insane and are telling the truth to Detective Tsukauchi.

Izuku felt his stomach drop when he heard the name Undying King, he felt an overwhelming sense of dread knowing these people were working for the Lich. The one that mercilessly killed countless people and indirectly caused the creation of Quirks with his massive amounts of magic. THAT LICH!

'Remain calm, Izuku. It is obvious he is not present. The Lich would not be merciful enough to hold hostages, these are just cultists. Likely, but not certainly, without magic.'

Izuku took deep breaths and looked out to the hostage situation, 'So we leave this to the Heroes?'

'Possibly, but it is recommended that the Lich's forces should not remain free.'

'What do you suggest?'

'Your body shall be improved to it's next level. A method of disguise shall be gifted alongside it. Please brace for any  uncomforting outcomes.'

Izuku didn't get a chance to brace as he felt the warmth in his chest grow and grow, encompassing his whole body, it felt like burning but wasn't uncomfortable. 'Magic is weird.' The feeling died down and Izuku felt a significant change in warmth in his chest like it had doubled in size. He also knew some extra words to throw out when casting Eldritch Blast and a couple new things entirely. 'That felt strange.'

'Head into that alleyway on your right.' Couatl ordered, Izuku followed their order and waited. 'A technique to misguide and trick, to hide your true self. Reach out and cover yourself, with the Mask of Many Faces.' Izuku reached out to the new knowledge inside him, he wanted to look pretty different, maybe some different clothes that would hide him, maybe change his voice if he could. He whispered arcane secrets and placed a hand over his face.

[Mask of Many Faces]

Light looked to be bending and warping around him until where once was a green haired teenage Japanese boy in a school uniform stood a mysterious looking man with clothes almost identical to the negotiators but with a different tie and no gloves, his collar was up and he wore the same hat which, combined with magic, hid most of his face in perpetual shadows. In terms of his face through the shadows, he looked like an adult Izuku without freckles and more serious looking eyes, any hair was covered by the hat and collar and his height was the same. Unless someone was really trying to see his face then they would likely only see his mouth and green eyes that seemed to glow through the shadow.

Izuku looked at his reflection on a trash can "Not too shabby if I do say so myself, even Katsuki won't suspect it's really me." he said to himself, his voice also changed to sound more deep to match his illusory body 'What now, Couatl?'

'Head to the roof, you will overlook the street away from their vision. Jump down and attack.' Izuku nodded spotting a ladder to the top of the building he was next to, upon reaching the top he saw the three mutant Quirk villains focused on their hostages and the fire villain talking to the negotiator as a news crew was present just behind him. Izuku jumped down behind the Villains while whispering Celestial words, a gentle hum filling the air until he hit the ground with a roll and stood at an angle where the three Villains were in a straight line.

[Thunderwave]

The three Villains were engulfed in a loud boom of thunderous sound, knocking them away with such force that they were knocked into a nearby building. Considering a normal one could rip half an old car into shreds he held back on using the full power on a human, even if they were cultists. He also angled the blast to not hit any of the hostages.

Izuku noticed the magic in his chest was still there, he's not out of big spells yet, he's probably got one more in him. He looked to the fire throwing Villain with a smug look on his face, his illusory trench coat billowing slightly in the breeze. He stood in front of the hostages to act as protection. "Turn yourself in, or I'll have to force you.

"What!? Who are you!? You dare interfere with the Undying King's goals!" the fire Villain shouted before speaking words Izuku didn't recognise and waving his hands, he clued in that he was using magic this whole time to launch fire. [Fire Bolt] An orb or fire was thrown at Izuku, in his mind Couatl had told him that the spell was just a cantrip.

To anyone else watching, the mysterious stranger who jumped in to save the hostages had smacked away the fire the Villain launched at him and his hand wasn't even burned. In reality Izuku had used his backpack to block the attack, the backpack in question had been hidden by Mask of Many Faces. 'Use your latest spell, it had been chosen for this general scenario.'

Izuku whispered his own eldritch words and subtly waved his fingers, a dark smoke coalescing around his eyes and mouth as he chanted until it flew forward and stuck to the cultist.

[Cause Fear]

In the cultist's mind he saw visions of slow, painful deaths, the kind of fate he was spared by working for his Dark Lord. An infinite amount of pain, being slowly tortured to death only to be revived and relive it again and again. He saw it, he swear he could feel it, the absolute horror filled his body. This trench coat wearing monster was the cause, his greatest fears manifest.

He let out a blood curdling scream as he fell to the ground in fear, cowering and crawling backwards as fast as he could away from whatever that thing disguised as a man was. He ironically ran to the Heroes and Police for help, "PLEASE! GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME! I'LL COME PEACEFULLY! JUST GET IT OUT OF HERE!"

Izuku adjusted his illusory hat "Thanks for cooperating." he chuckled.

After the Heroes and Police dealt with the screaming cultist and the three unconscious ones and helped anyone left in the buildings, Backdraft had arrived and was clearing up the last of the fires, and Izuku was still disguised and with the Hostages, a man and a woman with frog-like features and Katsuki. "Are any of you injured?" he asked, still speaking in a deeper voice created by magic. The man and woman had scrapes and cuts and Katsuki growled that he didn't need any help.

Izuku whispered a short verse in Celestial three times, it almost sounded like a song to those listening. [Healing Light] Any wounds the three had glowed with a dull green light that felt comforting and soothing. Once it vanished the wounds had also vanished as if they had never existed, the man even commented that a pain in his back from the morning had disappeared as well. The only downside was that Izuku had used all three uses he had, he also had three uses now instead of two from the level up, which was neat. He assumed they would increase with each level up.

"Hey! Stranger!" he heard an angry, gruff sounding voice call out behind him, he was ready to just run and leave in full sprint but turned around anyway. Death Arms and Kamui Woods had approached him, 'Oh no, I'm out of level 1 spells, there's no way I can escape them both.' he thought until Death Arms gave him a thumbs up "Nice one, Guy. Those creeps sounded like they weren't going to give up the hostages even if we followed their demands. That was still a real risk though, you know!"

"I would like to thank you as well, to know there was nothing I could do with the fire Villain's Quirk was a taxing blow to my soul." Kamui Woods said, disappointed in himself but also thankful for the stranger's work.

"Wow, Death Arms and Kamui Woods! I'm a huge fan, I didn't think I'd ever get to see you guys up close." Izuku said, laughing awkwardly. The two Pro Heroes were slightly confused by the sudden change in personality from the mysterious Hero to fanboy but they just went with it.

"Well, I wouldn't mind working with you sometime. What's your name, pal?" Death Arms asked, Kamui Woods also seemed interested. 'Oh crap, I didn't think of this, what do I say?' Then Couatl gave him a bit of help. Izuku mumbled under his breath with a hand in one of the illusory trench coat pockets and the other over his face as if adjusting his hat. [Mask of Many Faces] His appearance hadn't changed any further but he had stuck something illusory to his hand.

Izuku held up his hand, holding a Hero licence with his current face on it, also covered by shadows from a hat and coat in the picture. "Warlock, I'd give you my business card but I left them in my other coat." Izuku said, putting his hand back in his pocket with a small laugh. Kamui Woods seemed to hum in agreement "I understand completely, my costume doesn't come with pockets to hold any business cards." "Really a great design choice." Death Arms said, making a joke at his friend's expense.

Detective Tsukauchi stood close by as the this "Warlock" adjusted his hat again and mumbled something. His Quirk, Lie Detector was the reason he was used so often for hostage negotiations. It didn't work like most people thought, it was like a targeted mind reading on a single person and if they lied he heard a beep noise in his head like a lie detector and if they told the truth then it wouldn't go off. He was curious about the possible Vigilante who stopped the hostage situation but he overheard everything and he didn't hear a single beep, so he supposed that this "Warlock" really was a Hero. Just a reckless one he didn't know with an odd Quirk, but he still had his suspicions.

Izuku was forced to stick around for a short while as he was interviewed as "Warlock" by the news station already present alongside Kamui Woods and Death Arms, thankfully he was trained to have much better control of his emotions nowadays and he was a better liar recently so it didn't bother him as much as it might have a month before.

After the relatively short interview he was about to leave until he was stopped by the man and woman he saved with the frog Quirks, they stood alongside three other younger people with frog-like Quirks who were presumably their children, one even looked around Izuku's own age. The younger ones thanked him for saving their parents and the two he saved also showed their gratitude. He just smiled, "No need to thank me, just doing what any Hero should do." The eldest, teenage frog-Quirked girl looked at him with a shine of inspiration in her eyes, despite her face remaining fairly blank and hard to read.

Shortly after, he disappeared into an alleyway and deactivated Mask of Many Faces, turning him back into his regular green teenage self. He felt super happy about being thanked for saving people and continued on his way home. His backpack and was pretty burnt but it wasn't the first time so he could probably get away with it.

Later in the day, Izuku was training on the beach again. Couatl had explained that by levelling up to Level 2 came with abilities called Eldritch Invocations, one was Mask of Many Faces which he already got the hang of after some practice but usually got one or two small details wrong when trying to look like someone else. The maximum time limit was an hour until it vanished naturally, thankfully he could cast this as many times as he liked, like a cantrip.

He also couldn't make himself look more than 1ft taller or shorter than his own height or give himself more or less limbs, but he was able to give himself small additions like horns or accessories attached to him like the trick with his fake Hero licence. It was also all just illusions so if anyone touched anything made by the invocation they would faze right through it but Izuku could move the illusions as he was the one who made them. Good thing nobody had touched him as Warlock.

The other was called Agonising Blast, an improvement to the spell Eldritch Blast. Izuku knew that Agonising Blast would be stronger, it literally had "Agonising" in the name so it was a fair guess. Izuku focused on the target, another large fridge with thick metal doors, Izuku chanted the spell and moved his arms as green eldritch energy crackled on them as well as a new smoky red energy swirling around with it. [Agonising Blast] The blast of pure magic shot out of his hand, slamming into the fridge with much more force than an Eldritch Blast and creating a brief red smoke cloud. The smoke quickly faded and the door to the fridge was completely blown in half.

'Note to self: Don't shoot people with spells with "Agonising" in the name.' he thought to himself. Izuku continued training with cantrips until Couatl interrupted his training.

'Izuku, your well of magic has increased now. Do you feel any different?' Their voices asked.

"Kinda, I feel more heat in my chest. That's pure magic right?"

'Correct, It is thought that the concentration of magic in your body has caused unlikely side effects.' Izuku started to panic a little but Couatl seemed to take notice 'Be not afraid, they are not a danger. A being with large amounts of magic may exert their will on the rules of magic themselves to an extent. This technique is referred to as Metamagic, you have limited access to this technique.'

Izuku thought for a moment "So what can I do?" he asked.

'It is best to start of simply, manipulating the laws of magic and physics is not an easy task. You shall practice Quickened spells by decreasing the amount of time needed for casting a spell by pumping magic directly from your source into the spell before it should normally be cast. Then practice Transmuted spells, changing the elemental nature of a spell before it is formed using the same strategy with a bit more thought.'

"Ok, just throwing me into the deep end again." he said with a sigh.

'Then perhaps you should learn to swim.'

"...I'm going to practice magic now."

Over the next couple of hours Izuku was able to grasp the fundamentals of Quickened spells and was able to perform one once, launching an Eldritch Blast twice as fast as usual. He struggled with Transmuted spells as meddling with the laws of physics wasn't easy and the only element based spell he has is Thunderwave, Thunder element specifically, which was based around noise loud enough to cause damage.

Because of the limited 1st level spells slots, there were only so few uses to experiment with. Thankfully, with the addition of another spell slot, the time they took to reform also shrunk. Meaning 1 hour for two slots or 30 minutes for each one so he could practice 1st level spells a bit more frequently, he also learned that his current limit for Metamagic was 2 uses per day which kind of sucked but he could practice a lot more in the dream so it was fine overall.

Once Izuku returned home he was greeted by his mother, who had grown to expect him home late after "Quirk training". Izuku went on an excited rant about all the interesting Hero fights he saw today including the one with Warlock, but he didn't mention a lot of facts about the last fight, his mother had to remind him to eat his dinner due to his excitement.

Izuku hadn't told his mom about anything magic related, he told her that he had a nightmare and suddenly woke up with a Quirk that let him make things happen by saying certain words. It didn't feel good to lie to his own mom but he couldn't tell her, not like she would believe him anyway. He compared it to those movies where some kids find something supernatural but the parents don't believe them because they're children and they believe the supernatural doesn't exist. Except that he was the child and the world was the parent. Thankfully, was better at speaking around the absolute truth somehow after mentally fusing with Couatl, he didn't know how or why but the answer to both was probably magic.

He looked on his phone about the latest Hero news stories, ready to write about them in his Hero Analysis notebook. Mt Lady's debut and All Might capturing the slime villain were popular but he was definitely surprised at the large amount of coverage on Warlock. "Hero Debuts: Warlock" "Warlock saves 3 hostages from crazed Villains." "Sexy new Supers: The Warlock." 'And that's enough news for me!' Izuku thought quickly changing to a different website.

Izuku looked on various forums too, they were also talking about Warlock. "Who is the Warlock? What we know so far" "The Warlock's Quirk: My Personal Theory." "Hero Fight Analysis: Warlock vs Cultists" It seemed his alter ego had grown quite popular in just a few hours, pretty surprising considering he didn't really put much thought into it, even the outfit was mostly copied from the negotiator guy. Maybe it was just the mystery of who he was or his flashy "Quirk" that intrigued people.

'Well, seems like people have already taken a liking to Warlock. I probably should have toned down just how much magic I showed back there.' Izuku laughed uncomfortably.

'Perhaps the people would like to see more of the Warlock in action. Real battles are a better teacher than those of a dream'

'I'm not going to start doing Vigilante work.'

'It is understood that your laws specifically state the use of Quirks in actions similar to that of a Pro Hero without a license is Vigilantism. You use magic, not a Quirk.'

'I...Ok you have a point there, but it's not like anyone will believe me when I say "I wasn't using a Quirk it was magic".'

'And if there are no Heroes who can help? If the Lich's forces attack again?'

'...Then I guess Warlock will have to show up again and sort things out.'

'Indeed, now sleep. You have training to do.'

Naomasa was suspicious, it was his job as a detective to be after all, but he was suspicious about Warlock. Even without him using his Quirk he had seen enough people lying to know the subtle cues. Subtle changes in the voice, hiding the face, refusing to make eye contact are the main ones but there are more. He knew that something about Warlock was wrong, that his Quirk must not have worked on him for some reason even though he knows the "Hero" was lying about something.

He watched the news footage of the culprit once again, he dives down from a roof and blows 3 Villains away with a blast of...something. Wind and sound? One would assume this was his Quirk but then the culprit blocked the remaining Villain's Quirk with his bare hand, smacking it away like an insect. Perhaps this Quirk could cancel out other Quirks, it made sense if he was immune to his own Lie Detector. Then the culprit showed off a third move, making the Villain scream in fear after being touched by black smoke.

When interrogated the Villains didn't say much and everything they did say was true, they followed a leader known as the Undying King and said he would bring a new age onto the world. Once Naomasa said that he would bring in Warlock to interrogate him it was obvious the fire Villain was still scared of the stranger because of this third Quirk.

The thing that ticked him off the most is that there was literally nothing on the man, not a single shred of documentation in everything he had access to gave even a tiny hint to the Warlock. He had lists of Heroes from all over the world and not one showed similarities to Warlock, he just...appeared, stopped a crime and vanished. Not a single camera caught footage of the man before or after the incident, did he have a teleporting Quirk too?

Then there were the comments in the report from the hostages, that he had healed their wounds. Another unrelated Quirk!

Naomasa put his head in his hands, he hadn't gotten anywhere with this all night after starting to theorise that Warlock wasn't a real Hero and somehow had a fake Hero licence. He didn't even know of any dealers that would give those out though, it was quite redundant too as the HPSC and Police would find out who you are pretty quick if you ever had one.

He has 4, maybe 5 Quirks that had no discernible connection, someone could be born with a single Quirk that seemed like 2 different Quirks that were connected somehow, hell there were even cases of a Quirk that looked like 3 different ones but they were always connected somehow by some kind of theme. These Quirks were usually the results of Quirk marriages but having 4 or 5 Quirks that are so different was too unlikely to have been this.

Sonic Blast, Quirk Nullification, Fear Gas, Healing Song and Teleport(?). These were the Quirks that Naomasa had dubbed for Warlock on his report and feared the worst that if someone could have this many unrelated Quirks that All for One was somehow involved but Warlock clearly had good intentions, he saved and healed the hostages so that theory was put on the back burner for now, but not forgotten.

He sighed and got up from his desk "I need a drink." he said to himself before a notification popped up on his computer. An email from the Hero Public Safety Commission president.

Chapter Text

Eijiro looked at his calendar, just 7 months remained for him to train for UA. He had no school today so he planned to head to the gym later after training his Quirk by hitting himself with a pipe, but before that he needed to buy some hair dye stuff. He had asked Mina about where to buy stuff like that since he had no idea and she said that he could find almost everything at Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, a huge mall in Tokyo.

First, however, he checked out any of the latest news on Warlock. 3 months ago a new Hero showed up in Japan, stopping a hostage situation in less than a minute with a Quirk that no one could quite decide on what it was, and the mystery just drew people to him. He hid almost everything about himself but what he didn't hide was his manly spirit, he ran headfirst into danger, when the angle was just right and you saw his mouth he always had a smile on his face filled with a confidence to tell civilians that everything would be alright and to tell Villains that he didn't fear them and they shouldn't even try to fight him.

After only a couple of days he had gained a following of people trying to figure out as much about him as possible, when it was revealed that the entirety of Japan had no idea who the trench coat toting man was. Even now the only things people know is that he has green eyes, has a deep voice and he loves Heroes, after Kamui Woods had revealed that Warlock admitted that he was a huge fan of him and Death Arms after saving the hostages during his debut.

He didn't just stop with a single hostage situation either, he took down Villains when nobody else could and vanished as fast as he arrived. There was even a popular story from a woman who was getting mugged when the robber heard a noise behind him and saw Warlock, then the mugger just gave up and turned himself in to avoid fighting him. Eijiro liked that story, he hoped that when he became a Hero that tales of his manliness would be told like that.

But what people know Warlock from the most is from a group his fans have labelled as his arch nemeses, they went by many names but the most used one was "The Undying King's Faithful", freaky guys in Eijiro's opinion. Almost every case they showed up, so did Warlock and he beat them each time, even when they took down some other Heroes he would swoop in save the day and help out the Heroes who had been injured.

The latest news story was about Warlock stopping a rampaging Villain who had some kind of super strength Quirk with one of his super moves: Thunder Force. The one that caused a huge boom like thunder and threw away any Villain unlucky enough to get hit by it. He hadn't actually named his moves himself since he almost never spoke with the media, the only interview he ever did was his first one which didn't really reveal much, if anything about the guy. It was his fans on the various Hero forums who named his moves, he even has a page on the Hero fan wiki detailing all the manly stuff he's done.

Eijiro was pumped reading the news story, he wondered just what kind of training a guy as manly as him had to go through to be like that.

Izuku stood in the vast void of his dream, he held his arms out in front of him at a red target in a simulated street from his memories. A gentle hum in the air as well as a growing warmth, thrusting his hands out with one last word in Celestial. [Transmuted Thunderwave] A boom echoed through the void as the target was engulfed in flames and thrown backwards.

The target was still in one piece but damaged so Izuku held his hand out in front of him as green energy and red smoke swirled around him, pumping magic straight from his chest to speed up casting process so the second spell launched immediately after the first. [Quickened Agonising Blast] The glowing green and red beam of pure magical force slammed into the target leaving it shattered with a brief small cloud of red smoke.

Izuku sighed in relief, he had finally been able to reliably use both Metamagics one after the other after 3 months of practice. "Why is magic so hard?" he complained, as Couatl formed from nothing in front of him.

"You should be glad you have improved so much, though your Transmuted spells need work." They spoke in their many voices as the dream street of solid light vanished.

"I know, I can only change it to the fire or cold damage so far. So are we done for the night?"

"Indeed, though when you wake you will need to gather something." In front of Izuku were suddenly two separate crystals "To your left is mica, a brittle sheet of crystal formed in igneous rock and to your right is quartz, also formed in igneous rock but less fragile. Crystals are useful in magic, they are often used as focuses to cast spells through or materials a spell cannot be cast without. Either crystal can be used but your next level will require casting through a focus, and it is doubtful that you will find a magic wand or staff."

"So, what? You want me to go to a volcano and start mining for crystals?"

"That would be unwise, both can likely be found in  jewellery stores, though quartz is  comparatively more frequent. According to your memories, there is such a store within a " Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall". You saw it on an advertisement once. Now wake up."

With those words Izuku was thrust into the waking world, he had grown used to a lot of weird magic stuff at this point where it didn't even faze him. Like it was normal to have a giant Celestial snake that has memories from the beginning of creation in your head telling you what to do.

Izuku got ready for the day and changed into his Warlock clothes, instead of risking someone touching Warlock and finding out about the illusions he instead purchased all the pieces for the outfit separately then used Mask of Many Faces to make it look like he was wearing normal clothes, when Warlock was needed he would use it again when hidden to change and hide his face and voice but erase the illusions on his clothes. Though sometimes he wouldn't wear the outfit and then some crime happened so he had to make illusions of his Warlock outfit as well.

Izuku made it look like he was wearing his normal casual clothes and headed for the mall. On the way there he checked the Hero Watch forum, after the initial introduction to the public, the news around Warlock was less abundant. The same was with the Hero forums but it didn't mean his alter ego wasn't popular by any means, he was like a local myth that people told stories about. He even had a page on the Hero fan wiki, granted every hero did but that meant that people already saw him as a Hero. That was slightly worrying as if they ever found out he wasn't a real Hero then there could be some problems, but that was future Izuku's problem, right now he needed crystals.

Izuku wandered the mall, he'd never been to one so big before, he looked around looking for a jewellery store but the place had four floors full of stores with almost everything. 'Oh man, I'm going to be here for a while I think.' Izuku then bumped into someone and fell down, it didn't hurt enough to waste magic on but it felt uncomfortable.

"Oh, I'm so sorry man, I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you ok?" The person he bumped into said, a teenager around his age with black hair and red eyes, he held his hand out to help Izuku up. He grabbed his hand and was helped up from the floor.

"Thanks and I'm sorry too, I wasn't watching where I was going either. This mall is way too big to find anything." Izuku said looking around again.

"Tell me about it, I've been wandering around here for like, 10 minutes trying to find a place that sells hair dye stuff." the stranger said with a laugh.

"Oh? I think I saw a beauty store on the second floor, I could lead you there if you want." Izuku offered, eager to help someone.

"Really? Thanks man, I'm Eijiro Kirishima by the way."

"Izuku Midoriya and don't worry about it, like any good Hero I just like to help people in need."

Kirishima looked at him with a smile "Man, with an attitude like that you'd make a great Hero. What's your Quirk?"

Izuku laughed awkwardly "It's kinda weird and specific to explain, so I just called it Magic. It lets me make a few specific things by saying "magic words"."

"Oh man, that's super cool! Mine's kinda boring compared to that, it's called Hardening, it just hardens my skin like rock." Kirishima explained showing off his Quirk on part of his hand.

"Really? That's not boring at all, you have offence and defence built into the same move. You could save lives by taking the hits that no one else could then take down a Villain with a rock hard punch. Not to mention the work you could do in a rescue scenario. That's a super cool Quirk if you ask me." Izuku explained his thought process, Kirishima looked happy to hear what Izuku had to say.

While the two walked they spoke about Heroes, Kirishima's favourite was Crimson Riot apparently, old school but definitely a great Hero. Of course Izuku's favourite was All Might, half of his room was covered by the man for crying out loud.

They both stopped in their tracks when they heard a gunshot, Izuku grabbed Kirishima and pulled him down behind the safety barrier on the second floor as he looked over. He grimaced as he saw the Lich's goons holding up a store at the bottom floor, a jewellery store, how did he miss that earlier? He looked around, there was nowhere to quickly run to and change into Warlock that didn't have a camera watching it or people hiding or running from the gunshot. Nowhere except exactly where he was right now, except that Kirishima was right next to him but if he wanted to save lives then he needed to change.

Izuku examined the scene, 5 cultists, one with a gun the rest with a sword and shield each and from what he can hear they want all the precious gems in the store. Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes. [Detect Magic] His vision was colourless except for the colours of magic, the only one with more magic was the one holding a gun the others had grey auras, so they were more than likely Quirkless, and green auras of transmutation on those with mutant Quirks. The magic one was either actual magic or a Quirk but whatever it was it glowed yellow with enchantment, so he either buffs of debuffs himself or others. There was also a faint orange glow of conjuration on his side, not a part of him.

Izuku's vision went back to normal as he looked around himself, nobody near or looking at him except Kirishima and no cameras either. He sighed in frustration. "Kirishima, can I trust you to keep a very big secret right now?"

"I feel like there are more important things to be focusing on right now but yes, you have my word bro." He said, confused but Izuku could see that he was trustworthy, well actually Couatl saw it through him but they told Izuku so it was basically the same thing. Izuku hid behind the barrier and mumbled words in Celestial, he put a hand over his face and chose the face and voice he wanted. His illusory clothes vanished and what remained, to Kirishima's amazement, was Warlock.

"Remember, please keep this a secret." he said, his voice now different and deeper to a stunned Kirishima.

Izuku leapt off the second floor and rolled as he landed, he ran up to the cultists with green energy crackling off his arms. [Eldritch Blast] He launched a blast to one of the sword and shield wielding cultists and knocked him out. Knowing he can't block bullets, he grabbed the shield. The other 3 cultists tried to attack him at once but Izuku was able to block most of the sword swings with the shield and dodge the rest.

He quietly chanted eldritch words and held his arms out as a gentle hum filled the air around him as well as a building chill to the air. [Transmuted Thunderwave] The blast echoed through the mall as the cultists were engulfed in ice and knocked away, shattering the ice they were encased in on impact with the ground. The final cultist spun around and shot at him 3 times, 2 bullets caught the shield but one caught his shoulder. His coat and suit weren't bulletproof but Izuku's body was a fair bit more durable that the average teenager thanks to the magic coursing through him so it didn't do too much damage but still penetrated his shoulder.

Izuku eyed the gun, six chambers and he heard 4 gunshots, just watch out for the gun and you'll be fine. Izuku launched another Eldritch Blast as the cultist fired again hitting him somewhere in the chest, Izuku hit the arm holding the gun, causing him to accidentally throw it away from himself. The cultist grunted and grabbed a sword and shield of his unconscious ally, the equipment glowed slightly as the cultist ran to close range. 'No words or hand movements, so it must be his Quirk.'

Izuku blocked and dodged attacks as the cultist swung with a deadly accuracy. Izuku had fought tough opponents in his dreams but this guy was the first real life Villain who had this kind of weapon expertise. The cultist slashed once more and hit Izuku's shield, he continued pushing down on it with the blade and spoke "You have proven yourself quite a nuisance to the Undying King. What do you hope to accomplish by merely prolonging the inevitable?"

"I'm hoping that you stop talking." Izuku said, kicking the cultist back and mumbling eldritch words before a light started glowing around him. [Sacred Flame] The light around Izuku had coalesced into a ball of radiant fire which was launched at the cultist but he parried and dispersed the blast with his shield before rushing Izuku again with a barrage of slashes.

"The Undying King entrusted me to bring a bounty of crystals, but your corpse shall substitute nicely." the cultist threatened, "I'll take that as a compliment." Izuku replied. The cultist's skill with the blade was definitely better than Izuku's with a shield and it was starting to show, the cultist found himself in a good spot and swung from below, knocking the shield out of Izuku's hand and landing a slash across his chest before jumping back to grab his gun.

Izuku's mind was on overdrive and he couldn't afford to pay attention to the pain, he raised his arm to shoot another Eldritch Blast as the cultist began to pull the trigger. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Izuku saw from the corner of his eye the black haired boy he made friends with earlier, skin hardened and running at the cultist. "Kir-Kid! Don't!" he shouted before he punched the Villain in the face knocking him out but the cultist still pulled the trigger and managed to shoot at Kirishima.

"Kid!" Izuku ignored his own injuries and ran over to the teenager, "Kid! Are you alright!?" he shouted in a panic. Kirishima just smiled his sharp toothed smile "My body moved on it's own," he lifted up his hardened arms which had a bullet stuck in them, "But I stopped the bullet." he chuckled, there was a small amount of blood where the bullet had penetrated through his skin but other than that he looked pretty good from Izuku's injury expertise. He sighed in relief and spoke a verse in Celestial. [Healing Light] The wound around the bullet glowing green before fading and causing the bullet fragments to fall to the ground from the wound being stitched back together. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Is anyone else injured?" he called into the jewellery store and got a confirmation that nobody else was injured and the first shot fired was a warning shot. A short moment passed and Kirishima called the Police as Izuku was making sure all the Villains were all unconscious and taking extra care around the last one, he reached into the robe pocket of the last cultist where the orange glow was and found a large folded piece of paper. He activated Detect Magic again and saw it glow with orange conjuration energy.

He turned off Detect Magic and subtly put it in his own pocket before he heard a bombastic laugh from the heavens as All Might landed mere meters away from the crime scene.

"HAVE NO FEAR! WHY? BECAUSE I AM HERE!"

"You're late too." Izuku replied jokingly and slightly delirious, probably because of the bullet wounds, "But thanks for showing up All Might, it'll make clean up a little easier." Izuku laughed to himself before coughing up a small amount of blood "Oh right, I was shot. I guess one of those hit a lung." he said to himself calmly which made All Might look at him more than slightly concerned. He used his last 2 uses of Healing Light to mostly heal the wounds. The bullet wounds were healed and the bullets to fall out of the wounds they created and the slash on his chest had mostly healed enough to seal up and leave a scar. "Eh, good enough."

Police arrived soon after and took the cultists away, Izuku and All Might had to have a talk with Kirishima about how he shouldn't run into danger like that and the like but as he explained how his "body moved on it's own" and how he "couldn't just stand around when Warlock looked like he needed help" and other heroic wisdom. All Might's face lit up slightly more when he listened, considering he had a permanent smile on his face it was a little hard to tell. Izuku felt awkward telling Kirishima not to do the exact thing he was currently doing but he could probably make it up to him. Did he have any Crimson Riot merch at home?

Izuku suggested to All Might that Kirishima just get a warning as he really was on the ropes during the last moments of the fight, All Might seemingly agreed and the Police didn't seem inclined to argue with the current world's strongest man. The Heroes watched as Kirishima was talked to by the Police.

"I'm just saying, All Might, that kid has spirit. I don't want his Hero career sullied for saving someone's life." Izuku chuckled, coughing slightly from the slight damage he still has which earned another slightly concerned glance from All Might. "I'm guessing you'll want to stay for the news, but I have things to get done." Izuku spoke quiet words of Celestial as white energy slowly danced across his body before being absorbed into him. [Expeditious Retreat] Izuku's body glowed slightly with pale light and quickly turned to All Might "OkwellseeyoulaterAllMightBye." he said extremely quickly before sprinting off at full speed, leaving a pale brown blur of his coat behind him.

All Might assumed that was how he got to the scene of a crime so quickly and planned to tell Naomasa about it, they were both sure that this Warlock guy had some connection to All for One but with the way he acted, especially now, they couldn't be sure.

Eijiro was glad that he only got a warning for what he did, but man was that scary, he wondered if this is what Crimson Riot felt like when he risked his own life to protect people. This only cemented Eijiro's desire to be a Hero, to save as many people as possible with his Quirk and do what Midoriya had told him "Save lives by taking the hits that no one else can." he repeated to himself, looking at where the bullet had hit his arm. He hardened his Quirk more than he had ever before when taking that bullet but it still hurt him, just another reason to train harder.

Eijiro was walking from the mall now, after he gave a statement about it to the Police he was let off with a warning and able to go home after buying hair bleach and red hair dye. He didn't say anything about Midoriya to the Police though, the dude was super manly, he even made sure everyone else was ok before tending to his own wounds. And he was Warlock! Going back on his word and just telling everyone like that after Midoriya trusted him enough to reveal his secret identity was super unmanly, he wouldn't even dream of it.

"Kirishima!" a voice called out behind him, it was the man himself, Midoriya currently not dressed as Warlock. He immediately pulled him close almost intimidatingly "Please tell me you didn't tell anyone." he whispered.

"Don't worry, Midobro, I would never. A real man always keeps his word." he whispered back.

Izuku let him go and sighed in relief "Oh thank goodness I- Wait, Midobro?"

"Yeah, like, your name and bro. I thought it was pretty good."

"Alright, well thanks for taking a bullet for me, literally."

"No worries man, just doing what any Hero should, right?" Midoriya chuckled and coughed a little "Dang bro, are you ok? You got pretty busted up back there."

"Eh, I've had worse." Midoriya said with a shrug, him and Midoriya walked until they reached the train station where they parted ways after exchanging phone numbers, much to Midoriya's awkwardness, apparently he'd never given anyone his phone number so he didn't know how.

After getting off the train, Eijiro was walking through an area on his way home that pretty much never had anyone around it and where he usually trained his Quirk.

"Excuse me, young man." he heard a voice from behind him, turning around and saw a tall skinny man with yellow hair.

It was 5pm when Naomasa got to the HPSC main office, he was already informed via email that he would be part of a discussion about Warlock. When he got to the building he showed his badge and ID as per usual and was allowed in. A few months ago he had been assigned by the president of the HPSC to gather as much data as he could when interrogating the Villains that Warlock defeated and reviewing any and all reports with Warlock involved.

He entered the meeting room with a large table meant for much larger meetings in the centre and a screen on the wall. Inside was Hawks, Nezu and the HPSC president herself.

"Detective, take a seat." the president said, he did and she began speaking again "I have gathered you here today to present what we know about this "Warlock" and what to do with him. As you already know, we haven't informed the public of his lack of Hero status to not cause any panic that someone as powerful as him isn't a registered Hero. Although that cannot remain the case forever." she looked to Naomasa, "Detective, would you please present what you have gathered on the man."

Naomasa cleared his throat "Yes, Madam President." he presented a folder with several pages neatly tucked inside "From what I can tell, Warlock is in possession of multiple Quirks, not a single Quirk that seems like two or three. I have counted a minimum of 11 and a maximum of 13 Quirks used by him, it is possible he has more." everyone in the room had a slightly darkened expression after this was said, Hawks for different reasons as he currently didn't know about All for One. "It was believed that he had a Quirk that could negate another's Quirk but this was disproven after being damaged by Quirks several times, however he was immune to my Lie Detector which leads me to believe he has some kind of Quirk that prevents Quirks similar to mine from working."

Naomasa removed several pages from the folder "From what we can tell, Warlock is on the side of Heroes. Any time he has appeared is when a Villain could not be stopped by the Heroes present or when no Heroes were present. He has also shown a great deal of care for civilians and specifically the Musutafu area. In a case today he had rushed to help a teenager who had acted in vigilantism against the Villain he was fighting and afterward had checked if anyone else was injured before tending to his own wounds. These wounds in question were 2 gunshot wounds and a large laceration across his chest."

Naomasa placed several more pages from the folder onto the table "Warlock seems to have a trend of fighting members of The Undying King's Faithful, a group of cultists who serve a "Dark Lord" they refer to as the "Undying King". Their goal is not currently known, those kept in custody don't reveal information about their goals, all we know is they want large amounts of precious gems and metals, more curiously they also want large amounts of high quality paper and ink. It is presumed that Warlock knows more about their goals but has yet to reveal anything about them as we have security footage of him taking a piece of paper from an unconscious member of the cult from this morning's case. That is all" Naomasa sat back down.

"Thank you, Detective." the president said, she turned to Hawks "Hawks, What information have you been able to gather?"

Hawks sat up in his seat "I've not seen the guy up close yet but I've been up in the air when he was around a couple times, he vanishes without a trace every time after he's finished with the criminals. He's always wearing that coat and hat like ol' Naomasa which gives him a unique silhouette, but the strange thing is the one time I was able to use my feathers to sense him, I didn't sense that he was wearing a coat even though I had seen him wearing it. If he's got a Quirk that makes people see their worst fears, who's to say he doesn't have one that makes people see him as someone else." He shrugged and relaxed back into his seat "That's all I got, Madam President."

The president nodded "Very good, Hawks." she turned to Nezu who had been drinking tea "Principal Nezu, you had Recovery Girl run tests on Warlock's blood gathered on the Villain's weapons. Please inform us of the results."

Nezu slowly drank from his cup before gently setting down his cup "He is Quirkless." he spoke seriously, shocking everyone in the room. He stood up on his chair and pushed an open folder containing several test results. "We performed as many tests as we could in the time we had, all attempts to test for the Quirk gene of the individual had failed. The initial tests have been proven to be 99.8% accurate. The more intricate tests to examine the energy left behind by Quirks inside of blood have left us with quite different results."

Nezu revealed a specific paper from the folder "Here is a blood sample of a Quirked individual after a test to expose the amount of "Quirk Energy", energy given off by Quirks that remains on or in the body of those with Quirks. Of course, the amount is rarely higher than a few specs of light on the sample." Nezu reached for a paper that remained in the folder "This is Warlock's blood sample." The sample was barely even blood coloured anymore, the amount of Quirk Energy in the blood had caused the entire sample to glow with light. The same test was done with remnants of blood left over from All for One after his battle with All Might and looked almost exactly the same, much to the uncomfort of Naomasa and the president.

"No Quirk gene and yet he contains very high amounts of Quirk Energy. Very curious indeed." Nezu said taking another long drink of tea "I understand that you have someone testing for DNA matches in Japan's national database. How are those tests going, Madam President?" Nezu asked.

"Thank you for your quite useful information, Principal. As for your question, I have had someone testing that since we received blood samples." suddenly the phone in the room rang which the president answered, she listened intently before saying "Very good, bring the test results to meeting room D." shortly after a HPSC employee entered the room with a folder and left.

The HPSC president opened the folder and read it's contents before placing the folder on the table, "The tests confirm the individual is a Human, genetically male and Quirkless. We also have no match with any active and inactive Heroes or Villains on file. Unless we are given access to Japan's medical database of civilian blood samples, this man may continue to be a mystery to us."

Nezu paused to think for a moment before pouring another cup of tea, "So what shall we do with our mystery Vigilante, Madam President? I'm sure you find him much too useful to get rid of."

The president looked at Nezu who looked back with much less of a natural serious glare as the president, she then turned to look at Hawks "Hawks, I want you to fly over Musutafu and search for Warlock, if you don't find him tonight then focus on crimes committed by the cultists. If you can be there when Warlock is or when he escapes then you can catch him and convince him to come with you. And if he doesn't cooperate..." she let the last unfinished sentence hang in the air for a moment.

Hawks had an uncharacteristically serious face, "Yes, Madam President."

The president turned to face all members of the meeting "Unless anyone has any further information, this meeting in adjourned."

Izuku sat in his room at night after training on the beach, looking over the piece of paper he took from the cultist he fought. It was a large sheet of extremely high quality paper which had glowed with conjuration magic. When unfolded, Izuku saw a series of characters of a language he didn't understand but could tell they were magical in some way. There were also various symbols and circles with inscriptions in them all over the paper and the ink itself also looked to be high quality.

Izuku compared what he was looking at to a priceless artefact that had been kept in pristine condition for generations.

'So what is this?' Izuku thought, knowing Couatl was listening.

'A scroll. Magic inscribed onto parchment to create a one time use spell, almost anyone with enough magical training could use it. At your level it is hypothetically possible.'

'A single use spell of conjuration...Conjuration is moving things to and from you while also moving you to and from things. Could it have been an escape route?'

'It is thought to be possible, others have guarded scrolls of weaker and stronger magic before. This current scroll appears very similar to that of a 4th Level spell.'

'That's mildly terrifying that their forces have access to that kind of power. Do you think I can replicate it?'

Couatl seemed to be in thought for a moment 'It may be possible but at the price of time and materials, both of which you do not have. There may be another way, though it is a more complex and time consuming method to cast the spell multiple times but it is far more unlikely to be possible as it requires a vast magical knowledge. If it is recalled correctly there were none of your kind that knew of magic before the Lich arrived.'

'...What about those who aren't Human? You said that none of MY kind knew about magic but Nezu is the smartest Hero on the planet and he's an animal. Maybe there's someone who isn't a Human who knows something.'

'A search will be attempted. Your training will be delayed so it is suggested that you patrol while this is done. Communication will be halted for a period of time.'

Izuku dispelled Mask of Many Faces and the illusions around Izuku faded as he was suddenly in his Warlock outfit, still damaged from this morning. 'You got it!' he thought energetically before climbing out of his window.

Izuku had been jumping from rooftop to rooftop and stopping the occasional crime he came across with a quick Eldritch Blast or two and a call to the Police. Around 15 minutes had passed since Couatl went to do whatever they were doing to search for someone with magical knowledge who didn't want him dead but he had doubts that anyone like that existed on Earth, they probably would have gotten into contact with him in some way if that were the case.

He heard some screaming and commotion and started to run to the source. He arrived to see 3 cloaked cultists, one much larger than the other two and being held back by the other two using chains made by one of their Quirks.

"So Trigger is this powerful Brother? Our Dark Lord will be most pleased to have some of his own." He heard one of the cultists say. Izuku had heard of the drug known as Trigger that boosted one's Quirk factor, 'Apparently the Lich's cultists will resort to drugs to get an upper hand. Not that it matters' [Detect Magic] The big cultist glowed brightly with transmutation from the Trigger and the other two lit up red with evocation. One could make chains but the other one wasn't known.

Izuku leapt from the roof into a roll as green energy crackled off his arm and an Eldritch Blast was shot at the cultist who didn't create the chains, knocking them out cold. The Trigger using cultist looked at him with bull horns coming from under his torn up cloak which only covered his head and shoulders now instead of his whole body, revealing the cultist looked similar to a minotaur but very muscular thanks to the Trigger.

Izuku took this moment of surprise to try and examine more of his opponents but he didn't have much time until they started attacking him.

The chain cultist growled in frustration and released his chains off the minotaur cultist, "Gore our enemy, Brother! His soul shall make a nice present for our Lord." The minotaur cultist only made growling noises in response and started to run at Izuku. He began to mumble celestial words as a hum filled the air but he stopped as someone else joined the battle.

Many red feathers flew at the minotaur villain and pinned him down, Izuku and the remaining cultist looked up to see the current number 3 Hero in Japan, Hawks. "What? You weren't going to invite me to the party?" he joked as he slowly flew further down.

'Wow! It's Hawks! What's he doing here? I didn't know he did patrols around here. No, focus Izuku. You can fanboy later.' Izuku thought before shouting to Hawks "Big guy's hopped up on Trigger and the other guy shoots chains, another is unconscious but I don't know his Quirk!"

The minotaur cultist let out a guttural shout as he ripped himself free from the smaller feathers, Izuku took this moment to speak an incantation in Celestial as veins of light crawled from his chest and up his arms. [Guiding Bolt] The blast shot out like a lighting bolt of holy light and collided with the minotaur's chest, searing and burning him and leaving a large mark and causing his body to glow a dull pale light.

Hawks went to attack again but was barraged by the chain cultist, Hawks effortlessly flew in-between chains before drawing one of his larger feathers like a sword and slicing through the chains with ease. The cultist tried to extend and swing more chains but Hawks had already made it to close quarters and bashed him with the blunt side of his feather blade.

Izuku barely dodged an attack from the minotaur cultist who smashed the ground with giant fists, the concrete shattered and shot around which hit Izuku in the arm but he didn't have time to assess his damage. The minotaur looked pretty beat up already so Izuku sent an Eldritch Blast, the beam of pure magical force bent slightly in trajectory thanks to the secondary effect of Guiding Bolt, which helps guide the next attack to hit a weaker point on the target. The weakened cultist was barely holding onto consciousness until Hawks came and bashed him over the head with the blunt end of his feather sword and knocked the cultist down, cement cracking further on impact.

After calling and waiting for the Police, Izuku climbed to the top of another building and went to search for more crime but was stopped by Hawks once he reached the top. "You sure you're ok to run around like that?" he asked, pointing to Izuku's arm which looked like his left elbow was fractured and hanging by his side, somehow Izuku hadn't noticed how damaged it was.

He grabbed his wrist and reset his arm with an audible crack sound. It hurt a hell of a lot but it was better than leaving it on it's own or wasting his last 1st level spell in case he needed it. He quickly made a make shift sling out of some bandages he kept on him in case of injuries he couldn't treat, it certainly wasn't hospital grade but it functioned until he could heal it. Izuku was certainly not a doctor nor did he have Couatl helping him out but he at least got injured in training and by Katsuki in the past enough to know how to do some rough first aid on himself.

Hawks just awkwardly watched as he fixed himself like he was in a survival situation "Do...Do you want a ride to the hospital? I can give you a lift." he asked, confused.

Izuku shrugged with his right arm "Well it worked well enough, I'd say I'm good. Thanks for the help Hawks, I'll catch you later." he said jumping off the building and into an alleyway.

Hawks wasn't expecting that, he flew down to try and chase but was apparently too late as any sign of Warlock had vanished. Only a possibly drunk homeless man sitting in a pile of trash who, upon noticing the Hero, asked if he had any change. Hawks handed him 500 yen and flew up to try and get a view of the streets and any suspicious activity to point toward Warlock.

After a minute it clicked in his head and he flew back down to the alley and saw the homeless man had also vanished without a trace and was nowhere nearby. "Damn it, I should have known."

Izuku was sitting in an abandoned building after using Expeditious Retreat and Mask of Many Faces to escape from Hawks. Izuku had a gut feeling that Hawks wanted to bring him in to someone, he wasn't quite sure who exactly but he assumed it wouldn't end well for him. Thankfully he was able to escape somehow and his drunk homeless man act had gotten him 500 yen richer so not everything was bad.

'Do you wish to explain how you managed to break your arm and use both of your spells in the span of 20 minutes?' Couatl asked suddenly, back from searching for another magic user. They sounded slightly disappointed from what Izuku could tell but it was hard to gauge considering the countless voices that made up Couatl's voice.

'In my defence you left me unsupervised, but I did find out that the Lich might have an interest in Trigger. It's a drug that boosts Quirks so he might think it could boost magic but it just stimulates the Quirk gene in the body and forces a person's Quirk to activate harder than it could before so it might be dead end for him.' Izuku replied in his head. 'So did you find another person who can use magic or is that a dead end for us too?'

'This "Nezu" creature has no knowledge of magic. However, another not of your kind was found who had such knowledge, it was a surprise even to one with foresight.'

'Wait really!? Are they another animal like Nezu? Or are they some kind of Celestial like you who came here to help? Or was there a tear between certain Planes of Existence which allowed-'

'Izuku. Rambling.'

'Right, sorry.'

'They are not Human and it is assumed they have been on this planet for at least a millennium. Though such a statement is only a guess without proper evidence.'

'So who are they? Where are they?'

The next morning Izuku walked through a street in Tokyo he wasn't familiar with until he reached what he was looking for. A large and wooden building that had stood the test of time since the dawn of Quirks and supposedly even further before that. From what research he could do on the place it was apparently a family run library and an old man ran it on his own now. Izuku walked in, the library was empty and he was immediately hit with the sight and smell of many shelves of old books and polished wood.

"Ah, hello, young man." Izuku heard a kind voice behind him and saw the owner sitting behind a wooden desk, a tall, thin, old man wearing a light grey suit with a setting sun design on the tie, he had long, pale gold hair, no facial hair and pointed ears, one would assume a side effect of his Quirk. "Welcome to the Seldarine Library, not many as young as you are interested in history in this day and age, but I will be glad to help you with anything you need." he said with a kind smile.

Izuku thought to Couatl, 'This is him, right?'

'Correct.' they responded.

Izuku walked over to the desk and placed the unidentified scroll on the desk, "I was hoping to know more about this." he said keeping an eye on the man's face for any obvious change. He looked incredibly surprised but tried to mask it.

"Well young man, I'm not sure I quite know anything about this." He said while looking at it intently, it didn't take a genius to figure out he was lying.

"Well let me tell you what I know about it. It's a magic scroll containing a 4th Level spell from the conjuration school of magic." Izuku said, if the man didn't look surprised before then he definitely did now. Noticing his stunned silence Izuku continued "I think we should have a talk, High-Elf."

The Elf's shocked face quickly faded into a serious one, "How do you know all of this?"

"Let's say I have friends in high places." Izuku held his hand out "Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Izuku Midoriya and I'm a Warlock of a Celestial. I'm curious about magic."

The Elf looked seriously at the green haired boy in front of him before chuckling to himself and shaking his hand "Well I'm glad that someone up there is doing their job. It's bad enough that cultists come running around all willy-nilly but having a Lich of all things come by this old forgotten realm is something else." The Elf hit his walking stick on the ground and all the windows and doors locked themselves, he walked around behind his desk and spoke a phrase in a language Izuku didn't understand.

A door materialised behind the desk made of a different and high quality wood with a golden handle, he opened it to reveal a staircase leading up to a floor that shouldn't exist according to the building's layout. Izuku followed the old Elf as he walked up until they reached a room made of high quality wood and furniture of elegant design. "I'm not the grand old magic user I once was but I can still help you with your magic questions. Tea?" the Elf asked.

Izuku nodded and an ethereal silver hand appeared and poured two cups of tea from a kettle, "Oh, sorry young man, I was so excited I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Veratain Hai Sylvar. Enchanter, historian and worshipper of Labelas Enoreth. Though that likely doesn't mean much to one as young as you but that would have meant a great deal of a lot back in my old realm."

Izuku awkwardly smiled at the old man and thought to Couatl 'Does any of that mean anything to you?'

'Labelas Enoreth is an Elven God, his domain lies around time, history and philosophy. An interaction with him has not been made but it is known that his goals do not collide with yours.'

'Good to know.' Izuku pointed to the scroll he gave the Elf "So what can you tell me about this spell, Sylvar?"

Sylvar examined it for a moment before getting irritated and placing a small pearl on the scroll and holding his walking stick over it. His eyes changed to a white colour and a ethereal circle of runes hovered above the scroll, after a minute of mumbling in a different language Izuku didn't understand the circle faded and his eyes changed back to a normal blue. [Identify] "This spell is of 4th level and can teleport the caster and another person 150 meters away. Do you mind if I keep this?"

"Go ahead, I can't read it." Izuku thought for a moment "Say, you said you were an Enchanter right?" he asked.

"That I am, maker of magical items and goods, though my skills in magic have grown quite rusty after all these millennia. I lost a lot of my old books to a fire in Egypt a couple thousand years back."

"Do you have any magic items I can use? To stop the Lich's minions and stuff."

Sylvar chuckled excitedly to himself as he hurried into a different room, Izuku heard him sort through things, a few things falling down and what he could only guess were curses in Elvish. He came back in with a very fancy looking satchel which he demonstrated it's use by taking his cup of tea and dropping it in the bag, he tipped the bag upside down and nothing came out, he then reached in farther than the bag was deep and pulled out a staff that couldn't logically fit inside the bag.

He chuckled at Izuku's impressed expression, "This is a Bag of Holding. If it fits in the hole, it can fit in the extradimensional space inside the bag. It holds a maximum of 230 kilograms of material. Just think about what you want to pull out and you will. I don't mind parting with it for a few decades."

Izuku examined the bag and reached in, he wanted to pull out the cup Sylvar put in and he felt the still warm cup in his hand, he pulled his hand out and he held the cup of tea. "Wow, this is great! I can use this in so many different ways! But it does seem to clash with the rest of my look." Izuku paused and dispelled Mask of Many Faces, he placed his trench coat on the table. "Can you put the magic from the bag into the coat? If that's not too much to ask of course."

Sylvar just smiled in response as the nostalgia hit him of his old job enchanting items for adventurers, "What kind of Enchanter would I be if I couldn't?"

On Nabu Island

The few survivors of the attack on Nabu Island huddled in the caves inside the ancient ruins. Only 30 people remained from the original 1000 and the rest were either enslaved or killed. The Villain who attacked had a Quirk that could transform corpses into zombies, skeletons and other monsters which was absolutely horrifying for any of the survivors, to watch their slaughtered loved ones try to kill them.

Takeshita was sent here with two other Heroes a while ago, thinking it was a natural disaster that knocked out communications to and from the island but he learned the real reason the hard way. Now he sat, covered in old bandages by a lantern with the rest of the survivors, the only Hero still alive. At least his Quirk could make bamboo shoots to feed the survivors and they could easily get water to boil them in to get rid of the toxin.

He got up and said goodbye to the remaining survivors in case he didn't come back, as was routine at this point. He carefully ventured as far as possible from the ominous tower and across the destroyed civilisation which had the occasional wandering zombie or skeleton walking through but they went down with a few whacks from his bamboo staff, that is until they got back up a few minutes later. He was fortunate enough to not run into any of the armoured ones that could speak, they were a real nightmare to deal with because they bossed groups of zombies around, they had killed the other Heroes that came with him.

He was thankful that the zombie bites didn't turn other people into zombies like in horror movies or else everyone would be gone by now, he just had to hope for help to arrive sooner rather than later. He returned to the survivors empty handed today, no new survivor and no new supplies.

He was grateful that one of the survivors had a Quirk that could purify the sea water or else they wouldn't have survived this long. Takeshita couldn't help but think back on his life as he sat quietly with the rest of the survivors, he fondly remembered family, friends and co workers, then his old friends from school, he wondered what Tobita was doing these days.

He watched the bamboo fuelled fire as the survivors cooked the bamboo shoots for today. He hoped that he would at least find someone else still alive on the Island, he heard some of the survivors talk about a pair of siblings that might still be alive somewhere. Maybe he could at least find them alive tomorrow.

Chapter Text

After only 2 weeks of waiting, Izuku had a new and magical coat, a slightly darker shade of brown than his last but it was absolutely worth handing over the scroll he found and gave him the perfect chance to upgrade his costume. He swapped his tie for a darker green one and had his detective fedora changed to match his darker coat with the felt strip being the same green as his tie. His shoes had also gotten damaged from so much parkour so he got some black ones that still matched his detective style look while being more durable. He also added gloves to his costume, white in colour but with decorative gold accents of Celestial runes to add some matching colour with his suit shirt and enhance the magical feel about him.

Most of this was just to match his new coat though, with stitched in runes of gold thread to achieve the same enchantment as a Bag of Holding, it was as much of his image as Warlock as the magic detective aesthetic. It also broke him away from his roots of just copying a hostage negotiator's outfit which was good but it wasn't good on his allowance. After the upgrade and buying the supplies he now kept in his coat he was going to have to stop buying Hero merch for a while to financially recover.

Currently, Izuku had his eyes locked on a Villain in an alley that was linked to some Trigger smuggling ring. After the cultists had taken an apparent interest in the drug he felt it would lead to a way to take down two birds with one stone and he had been right. The Villain in question had some kind of crab mutation Quirk and was currently looking around frantically for any Heroes or Police outside of what looked like an abandoned building, using Detect Magic Izuku was able to confirm that nobody was nearby the wall inside or it was thick enough that no commotion could be heard.

Izuku watched intently as from around a corner, a Hero he didn't recognise had turned the corner into the alley: Likely male, one million in numbers printed on the chest, cool red cape. 'Is this a sidekick or are they new?' Izuku thought. He watched as they called out the Villain for his known crimes, Izuku couldn't hear much from this distance but he did see the Villain quickly but subtly inject himself with something and run at the Hero. Izuku was about to intervene until the Villain was thrown back by something small, he looked back to the Hero and saw Sir Nighteye talking with the other Hero.

Izuku was about to internally fanboy but noticed the Villain get up and grow in size slightly before the Heroes did, he jumped down just as the Trigger boosted Villain started his attack and launched an Eldritch Blast at them, hitting his face in between the plates of shell armour formed on his body and knocking him down after taking the damage before. "Why don't you take a rest. You'll be less crabby once the Trigger wears off." he joked.

He heard at least one of the two Heroes snicker behind him, he pulled out more rope than could logically fit in his coat pocket and tied the Villain up for arrest. He turned around to see the two Heroes looking at him. "Well this is certainly on odd way of meeting, but I am a huge fan, Sir Nighteye!" Izuku said with a small bow. The stern and serious face of Nighteye went unchanged as he expected, he faced the other Hero and something clicked in his mind after seeing his face close up "Ah, you're the one who could move through the ground from UA's second year sports festival this year, allow me to introduce myself. I, am Warlock." Izuku bowed again.

The blonde Hero pointed to himself "Well, I'm Lemillion, because I'm going to save a million people!" he said proudly with a smile on his face.

"Amazing! But no need to stop at just a million." Izuku said, earning a powerful smile from the boy "Well there's no time to small talk, there's a Trigger deal going on in this building. Hopefully we didn't make enough noise to arouse suspicion." Izuku pointed at the wall of the abandoned building, "No signs of life behind the wall so they're further in or the walls are over a meter thick. Thankfully our chitinous friend here was going to enter this building so we have a quiet way in."

"Do you know who is involved in this deal?" Nighteye asked.

"Three members of the Villain group, the Undying King's Faithful, One unknown Villain who was guarding the dealers and two unknown Villains, who are the dealers." Izuku looked over at the unconscious crab Villain, "At least, that's what I was able to gather." Izuku looked further down the alley, "There's a steel door down there that leads inside, I was going to coax the Villains to open it."

Lemillion looked at him curiously "How do you plan on doing that?"

Izuku chuckled before placing a hand over his face as he cast Mask of Many Faces and spoke in Lemillion's voice "I have many ways." he said before casting it again and changing his voice back to Warlock's deeper voice.

"Your Quirk can perform quite a lot." Nighteye commented.

Izuku chuckled "I get that a lot. So will you be joining me or shall I continue on my own?" he asked, he got confirmation from both Heroes that they would be helping, Lemillion in a much more enthusiastic way than Nighteye, who contacted his sidekicks to assist in clean up.

Izuku cast Mask of Many Faces again to sound like the crab Villain and knocked on the metal door in the secret way he learned from his stakeout. After a few seconds he heard a voice from behind the door. "What do you want?" Izuku responded in the crab Villain's voice "I got's an appointment with the boss." He heard some locks behind the door come undone and the door opened, the guy on the other side looked confused but was quickly grabbed by Izuku and thrown behind him, with a single Eldritch Blast he was out cold and ready to be tied up for Nighteye's sidekicks to pick up.

The two Heroes saw Warlock's eyes turn from green to glowing white from behind the perpetual shadows hiding his face when they walked into the building, he then stared down and mumbled incoherently to himself before turning to them. "All 5 life signs are one level below us, Quirks are unknown but 2 likely have mutation Quirks." He looked to Lemillion, "The floor is less than a meter thick if you want to phase through as a sneak attack but you should do so on a signal. Listen for a loud boom." he explained quietly, earning an exaggerated thumbs up from the blonde Hero.

Izuku and Nighteye found a staircase leading to the lower level and followed it until they heard the deal going on, the stairs overlooked the lower level so they could both get a good look at what they were dealing with. Two well dressed men with briefcases were the dealers and the cloaked individuals were Izuku's main focus, he activated Detect Magic again and examined the magic from them. One dealer with horns had illusion and the other conjuration, two of the three cultists had transmutation with obvious mutations and the third was Quirkless, they all had melee weapons. 'Credit where credit is due, the death cult is at least inclusive.'

Izuku turned to Nighteye and whispered "Deal with the dealer with horns first, his Quirk might try to trick you. I'll take the cultists." Nighteye looked at him curiously for a moment before acknowledging his advice. Izuku then did what he does best and jumped directly into the problem from high enough to hurt his legs but rolled once he hit the ground.

He landed behind the two mutated cultist while chanting quietly in Celestial before the air started to slightly smell of ozone and gently hum. [Transmuted Thunderwave] The two cultists were engulfed in a blast of electricity and thrown away from Izuku, he was so glad he finally figured out how to transmute into lightning damage without electrocuting himself. "Shocked to see me?" he joked, mostly as a distraction to Nighteye jumping down afterward and throwing a metal stamp at the illusion Quirk Trigger dealer which knocked him away.

Izuku took the fight to the last Cultist as the remaining dealer summoned a knife of ice, Izuku figured it was made from the water vapour in the air but quickly focused on his own fight. Quirk or no Quirk the Lich's forces were still tough for anyone to deal with, especially when they came at you with dual wielding swords like the guy Izuku was currently fighting was. Izuku reached into his pocket and pulled out an elegantly carved wooden staff that had no logical way of fitting inside and started using that to block and redirect attacks.

The cultist was confused as to why his swords didn't so much as chip the wooden staff but Izuku knew, only magic can damage a magic item. Granted, it was basically the absolute minimum for a magical weapon but it was still the most reliable thing Izuku had for close quarters combat. He did have plans for a cooler one though, if Sylvar would make it for him. He was like Warlock's support company who supplied him with gear, now that Izuku gave it some thought.

Izuku swung the staff and disarmed the cultist before swinging from below and hitting his jaw, they stumbled and tried to swing again before Izuku swung faster and hit them in the back of the head and knocked them unconscious. Izuku turned to look at Nighteye but had to duck as one of the cultists was still up, now once they were close up did he notice the eel like face of the cultist. Izuku figured they had some kind of electric eel based Quirk seeing as he resisted the electric attack.

Izuku was back to blocking and redirecting attacks until he found his opening, which thankfully came from Lemillion popping up from behind the Villain and hitting them in the side of their torso, dazing his opponent and letting Izuku hit the side of his face and knock him unconscious. After Nighteye beat the last Villain, Izuku pulled out a lot of rope from his Coat of Holding which made Nighteye amused, then impressed and then just confused at how much rope he was able to fit into a trench coat. They tied up the Villains and escorted them out of the building where Nighteye's sidekicks were waiting.

Izuku slid his staff back into his pocket before he spoke, which earned curious glances all around "Do we know who the Trigger is coming from, because these guys don't seem like they are the suppliers with only a handful of cheap stuff." Izuku noticed the Sidekicks and bowed while Nighteye debated on how much to tell Warlock.

"We have theories but not a definite answer, a likely candidate is the Yakuza, but again, we don't know for sure yet." Nighteye said.

Izuku nodded before tipping his hat to the company around him "Well, you seem to have things covered." he said before running at the side of the building and climbing up any ledges to reach the roof and running away into the mid day and vanishing without a trace as he is prone to do by using Mask of Many Faces. He stopped in an farther away alley and disguised himself as an average middle-aged Japanese man with a slight mutant Quirk and casually started walking away into the streets.

Mirai was pleased that Warlock seemed to not realise that he had used his Quirk on him. The HPSC president had told him to find out Warlock's identity if the two were to ever meet and now all he had to do was look into Warlock's past or future.

He watched the vision created by his Foresight, like a movie of the moments they just had together. He pushed to go further forward but as he did, his Quirk could only make static. He couldn't see anything. Did Warlock have no past or future? Or were they somehow hidden from his Quirk? He tried to push harder to see but a horrible throbbing in his head made him stop.

He snapped out of using his Quirk to see Mirio looking up at him, concerned. "Sir, are you alright?"

Mirai said that he was fine, playing it off like nothing had happened and continued in the arrest of the Villains of the Trigger bust. He noticed a moment later that alongside a headache, his nose had started bleeding after using his Quirk.

Hero Watch- Home to Anything and Everything Heroes

Thread name: Warlock Megathread (Updated 2hr ago)

Page 212 of 213

SoQuirky29: We got some news from the Nighteye agency! They got help from Warlock on a drug bust! Check out the report for yourself Here. Recorded footage of Warlock during this incident can be seen Here.

DarkestShadow30: Still such a mystery around this occult Hero, though from the security footage he seems to have improved his wardrobe since his last incident.

WattAShocker:  He do be looking pretty slick though.

steponmemiruko: How do we still know nothing about the guy? Hasn't he been around long enough that some paparazzi would follow him home or something?

SoQuirky29:  Warlock likes to show up only when he's needed and vanish like a ghost when his job is done. It's part of what makes him so cool!

SpinLizard:  At least he clearly isn't like those other Heroes, only in it for the fame and money.

WattAShocker:  Hold up, if he's that unknown does he even get paid? Like does the government even give him the money if they don't know who he is?

DarkestShadow30:  To change the subject, I have noticed a number of possibly occult symbols on Warlock's new costume. Does anyone wish to assist me in deciphering them? Perhaps he has left hints to his identity for the keen eyed observer.

ThePoltergeist211:  Sounds as if eldritch secrets may be unlocked. PM me and perhaps together this arcane mystery can be solved.

steponmemiruko:  Oh that's nice, the edgelords are getting along.

TheBetterJeanist:  What a marvellous revelation, this clearly supports my Multiple Warlocks theory.

SoQuirky29: Jeanist, please refrain from spamming this thread with your theories. Again.

The HPSC president was getting impatient. Hawks had continued to find nothing after losing Warlock! All communications were still lost with Nabu Island! And Warlock just showed off two more Quirks that, according to Sir Nighteye's report, detected life signs and the other was a type of storage Quirk! She was close to snapping when Sir Nighteye revealed he couldn't use his Quirk to see the identity of Warlock, but it was reportedly because he had already used it on a dangerous Villain earlier in the day so she let it go. 'One problem at a time.' she thought before sighing deeply.

She would send another group to Nabu Island. Clearly there was more than a natural disaster wiping out communications so she would send a group focussing on reconnaissance with a camera drone to give her a visual as well as a way of communications.

Regarding Hawks, she would have to rely on him to catch Warlock until they could find any more evidence to know who he was. He was the fastest Hero they could send out to apprehend him so how did Warlock keep evading? She may have to end up using plan C and setting up bait that Warlock would be forced to take in order to corner him but that would mean actively releasing those cultists from prison or bribing the ones who aren't. She wasn't that desperate yet but it was still a plausible plan.

Then came Warlock's newest revealed Quirks. Once again, not related to his other Quirks and further cementing him at the very least having a Quirk that could copy others and at worst, he was associated with All for One and was playing the long con, tricking the world into thinking he was a Hero before striking when they least expected it. The best course of action if he was with All for One would be to eliminate Warlock before he became a problem but they could not gauge the amount of Quirks he had access to or how he could copy those Quirks in the first place. Of course if he wasn't on the side of evil then Warlock had the potential to become a very useful asset to the HPSC, but the first step is catching the menace before him not being a licenced Hero is revealed and becomes a pain for everyone, not just including the HPSC.

She would also look into any missing person reports and see if any people had Quirks similar to what Warlock uses. If so then it can be safer to assume that Warlock is stealing Quirks.

First, she would deal with the Nabu Island problem, but if there was a legitimate threat who would she send?

A loyal servant for the Undying King and one who managed to deal more damage to the troublesome Warlock than any other of his Brothers and Sisters, he had no name anymore and simply went by his Quirk's name for convenience. Martialist, a Quirk which gave him the knowledge and skill to use any melee weapon as long as he held them, however he preferred using guns, simply due to how satisfying it felt to end a life with as little as a single finger movement.

Now was not the time to think about his Quirk though, Martialist was currently being interrogated, yet again by the same prison officers and he, yet again didn't reveal anything to them. 'Why do they choose to fight the inevitable?' he thought as one of the officer's radios went off suddenly and sounded as if a shout was quickly cut off.

The officers looked startled and prepared for a break in, this was a high security prison so a break in was a huge deal, they were trying to contact anyone on the radio to only receive the white noise of the radio's crackle. One cursed to himself before they both heard a thud, then another thud, and another as heavy footsteps slowly reached the interrogation room. The other officer kept her gun in hand, approached the door and opened it suddenly with pistol drawn only to immediately be thrown to the back of the room from the force of a dark metal sword flying into her chest.

The other officer was in too much shock to draw his gun as a tall man with incredibly pale white hair and skin walked into the room wearing a deep dark purple suit of studded leather armour adorned with skulls. He resembled an armed and armoured human corpse, his frantic, sunken eyes burned with malevolence. The leathery, desiccated flesh was drawn tight across his bones and his teeth looked like sharp jagged needles.

The remaining officer snapped to his senses as he drew his gun, firing a shot at the head of the corpse man, passing through his head with a spray of blackened blood. The officer seemed relived for half a second until the man turned and grabbed him by the throat after having a bullet through his head, he could feel his body getting weaker and weaker until the last thing he saw was the pale man's bullet wound closing and his own skin rotting and then blackness.

Martialist watched with a slight smile as his Brother came to his aide and slew the non believers, at least now they would have a use in their new world. The Wight was a special undead that the Dark Lord could make that was fully intelligent and could speak and understand languages, unlike the inferior Zombies and Skeletons, nothing less than perfect work by the hands of the Undying King. The Wight approached the woman who was pinned to the wall by his sword and pulled it out of her torso but grabbed her by the throat as well, rotting her body in the process and unceremoniously dropping the decaying body to the ground.

Martialist looked to his hands, still cuffed to the interrogation table and the Wight sliced through the chains with his black metal longsword. "It's good to see you Brother, have we any more siblings in the building?" he asked and got a slow nod and gruff hum from the Wight. "Excellent, then shall we depart?" he got a displeased grunt and a head shake, pointing to the woman's corpse on the ground as it slowly lifted itself up.

Rot bloated the flesh of the corpse and what blood remained ran black. Her body would normally have had no right to stand, let alone shuffle forward on dragging feet, her head leaned sickly aside of its right position atop the neck. Lungs that should not work pushed out a gurgling wheeze from the corpse's collapsed throat, sending a gout of dark fluid from between her broken lips. The male officer rose similarly not a few seconds afterward and both Zombies shambled on rotting limbs next to the Wight before he himself began to walk away with his mission complete.

Martialist scoffed at the Zombies for having no respect for their siblings before grabbing the discarded guns of the officers and following shortly after, no doubt that the Undying King has formed a plan for him and his siblings.

The next day, Izuku was still curious about the Trigger trade and who was supplying who with the drugs. His current theory, thanks to Sir Nighteye, was that the Yakuza was selling it to various dealers and that they had some kind of connection to the Lich. He had been researching as much as he could on his computer about Yakuza gangs, he only rarely came across reports of raids but they didn't hold much information that he wanted.

Frankly, that was annoying. Any Yakuza member didn't just have their information plastered on a Wikipedia page unless they were already caught, the only way he could get close enough to gather information would be to infiltrate on the inside and he didn't want to break the law that much. Vigilantism was enough for him, he didn't need to become a Yakuza member as well.

Izuku sighed, he shouldn't be thinking about all of that, right now he needed to act like a normal person instead of Warlock. Kirishima had invited him to "hang out", something he hasn't done since he was roughly 4 or 5 years old. Apparently he would also be meeting with another of Kirishima's friends. A girl, which despite near constant magic training to keep emotions and body in check, had made him nervous but Kirishima assured him that the girl would be nice.

Kirishima was out waiting by the beach Izuku trained at for whatever reason, Izuku walked up to him as he talked with a tall and very skinny man. He wondered what his Quirk was if he had one.

Kirishima noticed him and waved "Hey, Midobro. You got here fast. I was still packing up with my personal trainer Mr Yagi over here." Kirishima said pointing to the frail man who gave a kind smile and wave. Izuku wondered for a second how a man like that could be a personal trainer but quickly ignored it, he'd personally made weirder things happen.

Izuku thought for a second why his trainer would be here unless they trained here. "Do you train on this beach?" he asked.

Kirishima enthusiastically raised his fist to the air "Yeah man! I got a plan to clean this whole beach before the UA entrance exams!" he looked out to the trash coating the sand "I think someone else had the same idea too, trash keeps disappearing when I'm not here," he chuckled "Not that I'm complaining, it makes my job easier."

'I knew someone was moving parts of my obstacle course! I'm going to need a new place for physical training. Would Sylvar know a place? No, I don't think he leaves his library.' Izuku thought before snapping back to his senses, "Well that's a pretty big goal, I hope you can do it."

"Thanks man!" Kirishima said with a smile before helping Mr Yagi load the last of his stuff into his truck "Alright I think that's the last of it, safe travels, Mr Yagi."

The man smiled "Thank you, young Kirishima. You have fun now and don't forget your training schedule." he said before driving off.

Kirishima waved goodbye and sighed in exhaustion "Man, Yagi might look skinny but he sure knows how to make a work out routine."

Izuku chuckled lightly "Yeah I get that, a...friend of mine figured out all my training for me and it is brutal."

"I mean, I guess you do have to go pretty hard considering, you know what." Kirishima said gesturing slightly to Izuku, and pretending to shoot an Eldritch Blast by making a pew sound like a laser gun, Izuku just cut him off with a hum. "Why are you even training for UA anyway? Aren't you already a secret Hero or something?"

Izuku awkwardly shrugged "Eeh, it's complicated. Also I'm still only 14. Wait, no, it's the middle of July now. I'm 15, my birthday was last week." he started rambling but caught himself, "Whatever, my point still stands, I'm a teenager and I still need an education."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Happy late birthday by the way, you should have called me for it."

"Oh, sorry. I don't really celebrate it too much for...reasons," 'Not a weird way of saying it at all Izuku.'

"Alright, change of plans, today is going to be a late birthday celebration for you." Kirishima said with a smile. Izuku didn't protest, thinking it might be nice to celebrate his birthday with friends for the first time in years. They waited for a few minutes and chatted until a cheerful female voice called out for Kirishima, Izuku looked to where the voice came from and saw a waving girl with pink skin and horns being the most eye catching thing about her.

"Hey, Mina!" Kirishima called back with a wave, the girl ran up to the two with a smile on her face. She looked over to Izuku who gave a nervous smile, "You've gotta be Midoriya, Right? I'm Mina Ashido, nice to meet you!

Izuku took a deep breath and calmed himself down "It's nice to meet you too, Ashido."

Kirishima quickly took Ashido aside "Mina, change of plans. We're celebrating Midoriya's late birthday." he said, making Ashido gasp in excitement.

"We could throw a party!" she called out "Oh wait, that takes a whole bunch of time to prep." She thought for a moment before perking up with energy again "We'll go to the arcade!"

"Alright! I know there's one in the next town over, does that work for you Midobro?"

Izuku smiled and was moments away from crying but was able to supress it, "That would be great!"

Izuku, Kirishima and Ashido spent the afternoon enjoying themselves at the arcade and competed in some of the games, finding out just how good Ashido was at rhythm games in the process. After managing to collect a surplus of tickets, they put them all towards a plush All Might for Izuku's late birthday present. He didn't manage to hold back the tears that time.

Once they were walking back they heard a commotion coming from nearby and smoke rising, shortly after people started running away screaming. Izuku threw Kirishima his stuffed All Might and, to Kirishima and Ashido, disappeared suddenly as the two students shouted for him.

Izuku was now running across rooftops as Warlock toward the commotion, if this many people are running then it must be worse than your average Villain. He soon reached the scene and looked down on the ruined and flaming street. Three Heroes were overwhelmed by several cultists with a familiar looking Cultist leading the charge, an armoured man with a sword and several shambling corpses.

Izuku stared longer at the walking rotted Zombies. He knew the Lich could do this but to see it in person was different. Disgust and hatred swelled in Izuku's soul, knowing most of those were more than likely innocent people forced to fight after death.

'My God.' were the only words Izuku could utter through the heavy uncomfortable feeling in his chest.

'Izuku, it is time. This threat is too strong for you now, yet it must be stopped. You shall now ascend to Level 3 to gain the power necessary.' Couatl said in his mind. Izuku didn't even get a chance to say anything as the magic inside of him swelled and grew across his whole body. Unlike last time it, the heat inside started feeling slightly uncomfortable until Izuku's magic settled back into his chest, burning hotter than before. He knew three new spells which were all stronger than his previous ones as well as some more cantrips.

Izuku looked back down at the scene with a serious look on his face. Win and live. Lose and die. The first rule, one that applied to both sides of a fight. Now, it was time for them to learn first hand.

Izuku felt the new magic flow through him as he went to cast one of his latest spells, already knowing how to cast it and what it should do. Izuku pulled out his magic staff and focused magic into it while chanting in Celestial. The tips of the staff ignited in small flames and Izuku spun the staff, creating a ring of fire in the air and placed a hand in the centre with one last word.

[Flaming Sphere]

The ring of fire collapsed into a tiny bead before rapidly expanding to almost Izuku's own height and burned with divine magic. The sphere fell from the roof and landed on one of the Zombies before rolling as if it had a mind of it's own and slamming into another, both turned into nothing more than ashes. Izuku let out a short prayer for their souls and leapt off the building, smacking a cultist unconscious with his magic staff once he landed.

A collapsed Hero behind him looked up in shock, Izuku recognised him as Baseball Hero: Slugger. "W-Warlock! Oh thank God! We're going to live!"

Izuku turned to face him, piercing, serious eyes glowing through the shadows on his face. "Don't thank anyone just yet. Evacuate any remaining civilians."

One of the cultists laughed, he looked over and saw one wielding two pistols, one Izuku had fought before. "I was wondering if you would arrive, I hope to bring your head on a platter this time."

Izuku didn't throw back some witty one liner like before and instead rushed the Cultist, they exchanged blows but without a melee weapon the cultist was seemingly weaker than before. Izuku continued to block as many bullets as possible with his enchanted staff and coat and beat the Cultist across the face between blocks.

"You dare try to stop us! You're all fools! The Dark Lord will-!" The Cultist shouted before Izuku pointed the tip of his staff in their face as green energy crackled off of it and fired a point blank Eldritch Blast to his face. The force knocking them down and out.

The rest of the cloaked cultists watched as their pseudo leader for the mission had been taken down without damaging the target. Some were then knocked out by baseballs flying at them from Slugger and other attacks by the present Heroes after ensuring no civilians remained in the area. Some watched as a ball of raging inferno tore through the undead forces their brother, the Undying King's undead minion, had provided.

The thing that Couatl had told him was a Wight, was slammed by the Flaming Sphere but survived and approached a Cultist. Izuku watched as burns on their body healed as they ripped the life force of the Cultist out, leaving a rotting, zombified husk in it's place.

"...What the fuck." One of the Heroes behind Izuku whispered in horror.

45 seconds had passed after Izuku had summoned the Flaming Sphere, meaning he still had it for another 15. 6 Cultists, 3 Zombies and a Wight remained on the battle field. He would make the most of this time.

The Flaming Sphere rolled through the Zombies as Izuku rushed the Wight into the street fires, a sword of black metal clashed against his staff as malice filled eyes glared at him. The Heroes were fighting as best they could against the Cultists until help arrived but they were still out numbered 2 to 1. Izuku launched a Sacred Flame from his staff hitting the Wight's face, burning it with holy fire as they hissed in anger and pain.

The Wight swung it's sword one more time and knocked Izuku's staff out of his grip and grabbed him by the throat. He felt his life force drain out of him and actively felt weaker afterwards, the undead had healed some of it's wounds but it made the mistake of locking Izuku with him. Light pulsed from his chest and up his arms in veins of holy energy. [Guiding Bolt] The blast of divine energy hit at point blank range, the 2nd level spell was stronger than it had been before and caused the undead to scream as it's unholy body burned and glowed with holy light.

The Wight, in a fit of rage had tried to stab Izuku through with his sword. For a corpse, it was surprisingly strong, strong enough to pierce through Izuku's body with his sword, causing a deep wound but Izuku broke free of the Wight's grasp and chanted as red clouds of smoke and crackling green energy formed around his arm. An Agonising Blast was launched, and with the secondary effect of Guiding Bolt in effect, it hit the weakest point of the Wight. A shot directly to the neck.

Green energy and red smoke coalesced around it's head as the force of the Agonising Blast struck the undead monster, the Wight's head exploded and the headless corpse fell backwards to the ground before burning igniting into blue flames and turning into ashes not long afterwards.

"Rest in peace." Izuku said solemnly, with a brief prayer for the lost souls of the undead. He also quickly healed his stab wound with a use of Healing Light as the ball of fire burned through the last Zombie and faded out.

Izuku turned around to face the remaining Cultists. The shadowy figure of Warlock stared at them, backlit by the fire, coat drifting in the wind as the flames crackled around him. Despite standing in the inferno, his coat refused to catch fire and his face was still blocked by impenetrable shadow. The image was burned into the minds of both the Heroes and Cultists as what this monster of a man was capable of.

Some Cultists with magic didn't give up after seeing that display but were quickly subdued by him with a few Eldritch Blasts. Izuku walked up to Slugger and the other Heroes and helped tie up the conscious Cultists, after which he gave a slight bow to the Heroes, "I apologise for the collateral damage, allow me to help clean up."

Izuku walked back into the fire and picked up his staff, hidden behind the flames he cast a new cantrip he learned and swung his staff. [Control Flames] The Heroes watched as most of the fire on the street vanished near instantly as well as Warlock. Seconds later the Police, Fire Department and other Heroes had finally got there only to see the aftermath.

The firemen were already putting out the remaining fires as a police officer looked out among the carnage, "What the hell even happened?" he asked the Heroes.

Slugger looked to his companions who were also trying to put what they witnessed into words before trying himself "I think...They got on Warlock's bad side."

The officer looked back the absolute wreckage of a street and the dark ashes spread all over "How many were there?"

"You mean to tell me that he defeated most of an entire platoon of over 20 of the UKF's forces including a general whose Quirk was that they could absorb the life of others and puppet their corpses to fight, and he did so in less than two minutes with minimal help?" The HPSC president asked to get clarification, she was getting a report of the prison break yesterday, and then the attack by the UKF group that had occurred just moments ago involving some of the escapees. "I see, well thank you for your report. Dismissed." she hung up the phone and put her head in her hands.

"Just what is your goal? You've only ever wounded Villains before at worst, and yet you killed around half of the Villains this time without hesitation." she said to herself before looking at the report on her desk "You only killed the ones who were affected by that general's Quirk and this general themselves. What do you know that we don't?"

She looked over the report of the battle once again "More Quirks, as usual. Controlling fire and the red smoke around the usual Force Laser Quirk, is that a new Quirk mixed with it or have you simply been holding back with it?"

She was drawn out of her thoughts as her computer flashed with a notification, the small reconnaissance group who went to investigate Nabu Island had activated their camera drone.

What she saw when it was activated was the ruins of civilisation, like a post apocalypse. Most buildings were either left in ruins or barely standing aside from a dark, ominous tower looming over the island, one that had never been there before. As the drone was flown higher, she saw among the ruined buildings that more puppet corpses were either moving in random directions or nearly completely still. Were there more people on this Island like the general that Warlock had killed.

Among them were other people, seeming affected by a similar Quirk to the one of the general killed by Warlock. The camera wouldn't zoom in far enough to make it out in great detail but she saw that the corpse puppets had no issues with these other people, they also moved on all fours and primarily stayed in the shade.

She ordered her group to stay as far away from them as possible and to search for anyone unaffected by the Quirk or Quirks while the drone flew behind them. She watched the screen intently as the team manoeuvred around abandoned buildings until she heard one of them scream, one of the individuals affected by a Quirk had appeared from out of frame and pinned a member of the group to the ground.

The drone got a good view of the person, a man whose skin was decaying but pulled taught against his skin and his fingers were tipped with claws. The man's eyes were sunken but burning like hot coals and filled with madness. She was about to order the group to run but the man was knocked off the reconnaissance member by a spear of bamboo piercing his side.

The drone watched as a familiar man ran into frame, Fuyasu Takeshita, otherwise known as Bamboo Hero: Bambloom. He was covered in bandages and had his Hero costume torn up, he was repeatedly stabbing the affected man with a Bamboo spear. He stopped once the man stopped moving and looked to the recon group with a giant sigh of relief.

"I would like an explanation as to what is happening here, Takeshita." The president said through the drone, catching the man's attention.

"Madam president? What a relief. I hope that thing has the battery life to get through this explanation. To put it simply, almost everyone on the island is dead and controlled by a Quirk. Nabu Island desperately needs to be abandoned." Takeshita looked around anxiously for a moment and stared at the corpse for a moment too long "Let's not talk here, it's safer in the ruins. Follow me." he said to the recon group before leading the group away from the streets as he took paranoid glances around every corner.

The group trudged through the outskirts of ruins until they eventually crossed over onto the smaller island that housed the ruins, once inside the camera drone was able to see the survivors, so few from the population of Nabu Island. It was here that Takeshita explained what happened on the Island.

He explained that almost 4 months ago, a man with a Quirk showed up on the Island, the surviving witnesses say that he looked like a skeleton wearing royal robes and that his Quirk had allowed him to transform corpses into mindless monsters that followed his every wish. Using that Quirk, he was able to take over and destroy the Island in a matter of hours and captured many other residents that he didn't kill. He must have used one of the islanders Quirks to build that villainous looking tower that oversees the island and recently more intelligent monsters are showing up, which can only mean that he is getting stronger somehow.

When the president had asked who this horrible Villain was, a different voice had answered. "He goes by many names. The Dark Lord, The Whispered One, The Arch-Lich, The Undying King." The camera drone swirled around to catch a glimpse of the cave entrance where a man in cultist robes stood holding a large piece of paper in one hand and what looked like playing cards in the other. Many other zombified figures stood behind him. "But when your corpses rise, you shall only be calling him Master." he finished before the paper burned in blue flames and a ball of regular fire shot out from the cultist's palm which exploded and engulfed the camera drone, cutting the video feed for the president, only capturing screams before the drone was fully destroyed.

The Undying King had enslaved an entire Island in hours and kept the survivors alive just to send a message to anyone who tried to save them, that was what the president thought. If this "King" was worthy of a cult then they were clearly in the same sort of power range as beasts like All for One, sending in All Might on his own as he is right now would be foolish. At least now she knew what she assumed Warlock knew but didn't reveal.

However, having knowledge now didn't change the fact that Nabu Island is extremely off limits and that she would have to contact the families of all the Heroes she sent to Nabu Island.

Izuku sat on top of his apartment building that night, looking out to the street in his Warlock outfit and thinking back to the Zombie attack earlier in the day.

"I knew I had to do it...I'm just surprised I did. I didn't think killing them would come to me so naturally." he said out loud, turning his gaze upwards to the sky.

'They were not alive Izuku. What you did was a mercy to those tortured souls.' Couatl replied in his head.

"Still...it just felt strange how quickly I made the decision." He sighed and chuckled softly, "I guess that's the whole point in all this training, huh?"

'Your actions were not without good reason. Pride could be felt in how far you have come.' Couatl said, Izuku grinned slightly after hearing their weird way of saying they were proud of him.

Izuku stood up and looked out to the street again "So, training or patrol?" he asked.

'Before that, with your 3rd level achieved you have earned something special. Aside from your spells being cast at a 2nd level instead of a 1st. Your desire to note your thoughts have made it seem like a useful boon.' Couatl said, suddenly Izuku felt a strange thrum of magical energy emanate from his shadow, he crouched down and put his hand over it and it seemed to ripple like water at his touch. He pushed further and his hand sunk into his shadow as he felt something suddenly enter his hand, it felt like a thick hardcover book. He pulled his hand out and with it came a book.

The thick book was bound with dark leather and decorated with ornate gold decorations and celestial script. The fantastical way the characters were written made it look beautiful and incredibly important but only translated to "Property of Izuku Midoriya" which would be bad to just have out there but fortunately the only people on Earth who can read Celestial are him and Sylvar. The last decoration of gold on the cover was an image of a Couatl in a ouroboros position, biting it's own tail. When Izuku opened the book, he found that all the pages were blank.

"I was kind of expecting something cool inside the book, not that the book itself is a bad thing of course, it's great and of super good quality. I just thought that-" Izuku started rambling.

'Izuku.' Couatl said, in many stern voices.

"Right, rambling, sorry."

'The book is made of your reflection upon the earth. Like your own mind, what you know is locked inside, you simply need to look deeper to find what you require. The Book of Shadows. A book of your shadow. A book made from you. It knows all that you do.' Couatl cryptically explained.

Izuku, still getting used to Couatl's weird poem explanations, opened the book again. He stared at the pages, thinking about different things. He thought of the concept of magic and words appeared in Celestial, as an index of everything he knew about magic like the front page of a text book, everything from spell classification to the different types of magic were found on different pages.

He though about spells, specifically spells he knew and the letters changed again to an index of every spell he knew. Each cantrip, 1st level and 2nd level spell had it's own page, describing what the spell did and how to cast it, it even gave a visual aide for the hand movements. He decided to flip to his newest spells to see what they could do. He started with the Cantrips

Control Flames, incredibly versatile in a fire scenario and allowed him to control fire within 20 meters, from snuffing out an inferno to making one from a spark, changing it's brightness, colour and even it's shape.

The next cantrip on the list was Ray of Frost, an elemental beam of cold damage that can slow down those hit by it. With an elemental cantrip it would make practicing the different Transmuted Spell metamagic a lot easier. The thought of a spell called Ray of Frost being transmuted into fire damage was kind of funny to Izuku.

The final cantrip was Izuku's favourite as it seemed to most useful and interesting, Spare the Dying. A cantrip that can be used on any person in a critical condition, like bleeding out from a knife wound, and stabilise them for the time being. Definitely useful in a disaster scenario.

Izuku flipped over to his other latest spells, the 2nd level ones, Flaming Sphere was one he already used, a telekinetically controlled ball of fire. He would have to learn how to control it properly and not have it move on instinct as that could be dangerous.

One of the others was Misty Step which immediately interested Izuku, a short distance teleport of 10 meter range. Warping Quirks were so rare that any people with them are usually urged to become Heroes by the HPSC so being able to do it himself was something interesting. That could definitely be useful in any scenario, the only downside was that it was could only be used on himself so he can't teleport with another person but he could use it while carrying something.

The last spell was an absolute surprise at what it could do. Lesser Restoration. There was a list of things he could cure with this spell. Paralysis, poison, blindness, deafness and any disease. He was going to save way more people than he could before with this spell. It didn't even need some materials to cast with or a hidden price, just a few words and a wave and someone is cured of blindness. If this was the lesser restoration then he wondered what the greater restoration could do.

Izuku closed the Book of Shadows, and started climbing down and around the building to get near his room's window. As he looked inside he spoke a few words in Celestial as smoke started creeping off his body, this spell was naturally a faster one to cast than his other spells, like a Quickened spell.

[Misty Step]

In a puff of smoke, Izuku had teleported into his bedroom, which was an admittedly strange feeling. He changed out of his Warlock outfit and laid in bed. 'I think it's time to train these new spells.' he thought, ironically before falling to sleep. With these new spells at the ready, he had a busy dream ahead of him.

Chapter Text

(5 months before the UA entrance exam)

Tokyo - Kotodama district

The Seldarine Library, an old building that is only rarely visited in the current era and ran by an old man. Or at least that is what most people saw it as. To the magically inclined it was much, much more. Multiple rooms, halls and towers were hidden between and overlapping the existing walls of the library. Deep inside the winding mess of mind bending and non-Euclidean geometry was a large hall of seemingly gigantic proportions bordered by a maze of ceiling tall bookcases, hidden from the eye of any pedestrian wandering outside of the fantastical walls.

Yet, despite no way of actually knowing, some had a gut feeling that a clash between extreme powers was happening extremely close by, although they would simply assume it was a Hero and Villain deep in battle somewhere nearby.

However, deep inside the twisting manor that defied nature and physics, two beings whose souls brimmed with magical energy were staring each other down.

The first was Sylvar. Tall, bearing long, elegant golden hair, and wise in appearance despite his incredible age. He stood with confidence outside of a combat stance as he simply toyed with his staff, built like thin winding limbs of exotic wood entwined like snakes and forming a visage of a dragon's maw grasping at a large perfect sphere of silver pearl, holding the gem in place on the tip of the staff. Where once stood a kind old librarian who wished to aide those in search of knowledge, stood the Wizard he truly was and the magic instructor he so recently became.

The second of course, was Izuku himself, staring down the jolly old Elf, almost regretting having asked if he could train at the library last month. They stood while maintaining eye contact, equal distance from one another, akin to a showdown between samurai or Hero and Villain but instead with crazy magic people, Izuku couldn't figure whether that was cooler or not.

"You cannot stare your opponent into submission, young Midoriya. You won't be facing undead grunts and mindless fanatics forever." Sylvar advised calmly.

'He is correct, though you may be able to defeat others with a mere glance in time.' Couatl commented in his head.

'Not really helping right now.' Izuku thought back. It was true though, recently more zombies have been showing up and being covered up by the government to avoid mass panic. It was only a matter of time until the Undying King sends more than a handful of minions to fight him.

"All right," Izuku said, his comparatively much simpler magic staff sliding out of his coat sleeve and into his hand. He gave it a dramatic spin before holding it in a fighting stance, he was starting to think that Ashido's flair for the dramatic was rubbing off on him after hanging out with her and Kirishima so often. "Let's dance, Magic Man." He quipped with a cocky grin.

Immediately the Elf had vanished from sight with but a few unknown words, Izuku activated Detect Magic and scanned the endless looking arena for any Illusion magic but felt nothing before he just managed to avoid a small bolt of electricity that shot past his head and struck the floor, singeing the wood slightly. He looked up to see his magic tutor hovering a few meters off the ground, greens and yellows of Transmutation and Enchantment magic dancing around him like wisps of smoke that shifted while clinging to his form. Curiously there seemed to be a much larger amount of Transmutation magic around him than Enchantment, practically encompassing his entire body.

"Not every fight will be as linear as you think it's going to be either." Sylvar educated while still drifting in the air, he swung his staff as he spoke and a streak of blue lightning shot out and struck Izuku before he could dodge, the shock didn't hurt all that much but the whip of electricity had wrapped around his leg. Before he knew it he was flung into the air and in front of the old Elf who smiled before vanishing again with nary a word.

Izuku hit the floor with a thud before he threw himself back to his feet, looking around again for the Wizard only to be met with empty space once again. 'How am I supposed to fight someone who keeps vanishing?' he questioned himself before getting struck by something that hit his arm with a decent impact before briefly searing him with red hot flames. He had no time to complain however as he dodged two more bolts of flame by a hair, watching as they seared the spot on the wood floor he previously stood before staring back up at Sylvar.

"You need to chase your opponent, not stay sitting around here." The Elf instructed, he looked like he was enjoying himself, it was probably the first time in a while that he was able to not have to hold back his magic prowess.

"Kinda hard when you keep popping out of existence like that." Izuku remarked before he spoke a quick phrase in ancient language as black smoke billowed off his body. [Misty Step] He vanished in a small cloud of smoke before reappearing in another above his opponent, the tip of his staff already coated in a thin layer of frost as he spoke the incantation for another spell with clouded breath. [Ray of Frost] A beam of blue light shot in a straight line and managed to hit the chest of Sylvar, quickly spreading frost and ice over part of his suit.

"Impressive, but you're still thinking like an ordinary Human, no offence. Your brain isn't exactly the same as a normal Human's anymore, now is it?" Sylvar commented before he vanished again, Izuku passing through the air he just floated in and rolling into a ready stance.

'Jeez, what do you want me to do? I can't really fly around after you...Can I?'

'As of yet. No.'

'Dang.'

"Still nothing, eh?" Sylvar asked from behind again, Izuku turning around quickly to face him, "Let's see if this will kickstart it." he said before giving his staff a brisk swing, five magic darts made of light emerged mid swing and were suspended in the air equidistant from each other, they looked like they were designed based on hands of a fancy clock. "Let's see if an unavoidable attack will do it." he said before they all started flying after him like missiles.

Izuku ran, strafing around the Wizard and keeping him in his sights while still trying to outrun the magic missiles that chased him but they were surely closing in. He suddenly had an idea and waited until they were just behind him before slamming his staff into the ground, jumping and kicking off of it, he watched the darts fly below him as if in slow motion before landing on his feet, snatching his staff back afterwards.

He smirked confidently until the flying darts had shifted course like heat seeking missiles and turned back to hit him, 'Guess they really are unavoidable, figures.' Izuku thought before trying to block with his coat and bracing for impact. The five missiles struck his torso like mini Eldritch Blasts. "That was cheap!" Izuku complained to a Wizard who had since vanished from existence once again. "And that trick is even cheaper!" he continued to complain.

Izuku dusted off his coat and tried to listen for any kind of disturbance but stumbled suddenly, despite the Wizard holding back he had still taken a decent amount of damage. Catching himself before he fell, he heard a slight noise behind him, the sound was hard to describe exactly but sounded kind of like very brief but strong gust of wind. "I've got you this time!" Izuku shouted as he cast another spell.

[Quickened Flaming Sphere] A small ball of fire was launched out of Izuku's staff before quickly expanding to it's full height of almost as tall as Izuku. The ball of inferno careened across the seemingly fire resistant wooden floor toward where the Wizard would be standing if he were not floating, then Izuku swung his staff in an upward arc. [Control Flames] The ball was suddenly flung into the air and slammed into Sylvar who gave an impressed chuckle as the ball fell back to the ground, circling around the Wizard like a shark.

Sylvar dusted off his suit as he continued to float effortlessly, all the while he gave an impressed laugh, "Hohohoho, very impressive. Yes, very impressive indeed, I haven't had this much fun in a few hundred years! Alas, not quite what we are looking for is it? Hmm, no not quite. Perhaps just one more shove will do it." The Elf spoke with a childish grin. He raised his hand and spoke a few words in Celestial, Izuku recognised the word for "fire" as part of the spell. Then a ball of fire appeared above the Wizard's hand before he crushed it and pointed his finger to where Izuku stood, burning energy encompassed Sylvar's hand as he held back the spell for just a moment longer.

"I apologise if this doesn't quite work the way I think it will, I'll fix you right up if that's the case." The Wizard said, not elaborating further before a single beam of burning energy shot out of his finger right under Izuku's body, condensing into a single tiny bead of raging inferno before it's inevitable rapid expansion and devastating explosion.

Panic rose in Izuku's head, he knew he was supposed to be doing something but he didn't know what Sylvar wanted him to do. He just braced everything he could and thought as hard as he could to avoid the explosion somehow. He tried as hard as he could but nothing was happening, the seconds that felt like hours of struggling ended as the tiny bead of condensed fire quickly expanded into a roaring inferno.

Izuku closed his eyes as he braced as hard as he could to feel the heat of the explosion, preparing his body to power through the blast while simultaneously desperately trying to find an escape route in his head. In the end he simply waited for the flames to lash at him with a mad ferocity.

He waited...

And waited...

Alright now the waiting seemed tedious. Izuku didn't feel any fire or any further pain. In fact, he didn't hear or smell anything either, no magic sounds or burning wood, it didn't even feel like he was standing on anything. It felt like he was in his dream but he knew he was awake, the most uncomfortable thing was that he couldn't quite feel Couatl's attachment to him.

Well, that wasn't exactly true, he could feel that they were attached to him but couldn't feel their presence. Like he had a rope that was attached to Couatl but could only see his half of it. He reluctantly opened his eyes expecting to see nothing but inky blackness but as he opened his eyes he was met with something he was not expecting at all.

He saw many shades of grey light, shifting and swirling, dominating his vision. He attempted to move his body and did so with relative ease yet not through physical exertion but through seemingly sheer force of will with a strange yet not uncomfortable feeling. It felt as though moving through mud, slowly and inefficiently, like running away from something in a bad dream.

The first thing Izuku heard in this new place was naught but a whisper, seemingly coming from a hazy shadow just outside of his peripheral vision, what looked like blurred images from other places. Other worlds? Maybe other universes? They moved slowly, voices and images muffled as if viewed and heard through clouded water. Everything around him felt familiar yet strangely alien, it felt simultaneously off putting and comforting in a way it seemed his Human mind could not fully understand.

Phantasms of what could be Izuku's own world or perhaps a different one altogether drifted by him like a peephole through space, and where Izuku now existed, neither standing nor floating, just being, was what seemed to be the shifting grey ghost of the room he stood in moments before. A surprisingly large and oddly shaped hazy shadow floating around what he could only guess was Sylvar outside of wherever he was.

Izuku was speechless at what was around him, he had seen magic through spells cast by him and others but this...THIS! This made Izuku feel small yet bigger than ever. In comparison to all the mystery around him he was little more than a speck yet he had the power to see this and reminded him that he was the one who was going to save the world from ancient evils.

To see something so beautiful and wonderous that likely no other Human from Izuku's time had ever seen made him realise just how far he's come and want to see just how far he can go. Maybe this was that one push he needed. Maybe this was-

"WELCOME TO THE ETHEREAL PLANE!"

Izuku nearly had a heart attack out of shock and, if not for the weird rules of this place, would have fallen down in an instant. He looked to the source of the noise and saw Sylvar laughing at his joke, or rather what looked more like his ghost. It looked like a bit of colour had faded from him and almost pure white mist drifted off of him, like mist off an ice statue, eventually melding into the grey etherealness surrounding him.

"You scared me half to death you-! Why do you look like that?" Izuku looked at himself suddenly, seeing he now had similar attributes, "Why do I look like that?!"

Sylvar grinned at Izuku's reaction like a schoolboy after a practical joke , "Can't blame an old man for a harmless prank, can you? Hohohoho, well I suppose it would be easier to-" and just as fast as he had arrived he vanished again. Where he once "stood" was the oddly much larger, shapeless and hazy shadow that was probably him outside of this place.

"...Huh?" was all Izuku could say.

He popped right back into existence in the same spot a couple seconds later "Sorry about that, Midoriya, now let's get you back to the Material Plane shall we? I'll keep disappearing every 6 or so seconds so I'll try to speed this up." He gave a few unknown words and a snap before Izuku heard a slight "pop" sound and was suddenly back in Sylvar's giant training room.

The Wizard popped back in at the same time and quickly started dispelling whatever spell was making him warp between places, also dispelling his flight and drifting down with a small laugh. "Well done my boy! Looks like you really can step between planes, as I suspected of course. Hohohoho."

Izuku stood in relative shock, it was not the first time his mind had been overwhelmed by magic in general but it hadn't happened in a while. "What...What was any of that?!"

Sylvar tapped the side of his head, "Knowing about your little friend up there gave me the idea to try and help you use some innate magic abilities you might have. You can use Detect Magic at will, can you not? Hoho I wish I hadn't gotten so rusty, I used to be able to cast as many 1st and 2nd level spells I wanted without limit." he sighed wistfully, "How long ago was that now...500? 1000? Perhaps even 2000 years ago? Ah, those were the days..."

'Just how old are you!?' Izuku thought

He snapped out of his daze, "Right, back on topic then. Couatls can use that spell on command as well as Detect Thoughts and Detect Good and Evil, those might take a little more whipping you into shape mentally to get down though, reading minds isn't as easy as putting a magic filter over your vision. However, they also have a special ability that is oft forgotten by the arcane scholars. The ability to freely travel between the Material and Ethereal planes!"

The Wizard gave a slight dramatic gesture and used a small cantrip to make himself look and sound a lot more fantastical, "Ethereal Jaunt!" The cantrip faded a moment later, leaving the Wizard without his special effects again, "That's what I like to call it anyway. Am I missing anything about that my Celestial friend?" he asked aloud, seemingly to try and contact Couatl through Izuku.

'Wise as he is old, this Elf is indeed knowledgeable on the arcane. Izuku, it has been noted that your ability is slightly weaker than average. In a simple manner of speaking, it took slightly longer to charge enough magic to make the trip between planes. It is theorised that if you did not leave of your own wishes, you would be forcibly ejected back to the Material after some time. Furthermore, it is thought that your fragile body may only make the journey between planes once per Human day."

"So I have one use a day and a timer for how long I can stay in this Ethereal Plane? How long do you think I should have?" Izuku asked aloud, so his Elf friend could get some context to their conversation.

'It has been roughly estimated that with enough training you would have around 30 to 40 seconds before forcibly returned. However, as of this moment you may only have 10 or 15 seconds of time on your side. Take care not to return in the same space as a solid object. It is suggested that "Ethereal Jaunting" should be practiced, though a warning would like to be given to watch out for other creatures and dangerous weather.'

"Other creatures? What else is living in there?" Izuku asked anxiously.

"Oh nothing too interesting around these parts." Sylvar took the chance to explain, "Perhaps a lost soul or ghost needing a helping hand to pass on to the afterlife. Not to toot my own horn but I still know a few tricks to keep the place a little clean of pests here and there so you won't need to worry too much." The wizard explained with a smile, Izuku was kind of uncomfortable with the prospect of ghosts but, remembering he had fought several undead monsters, quickly got over it.

The Wizard suddenly held out his hand and summoned what looked like a small clock of glowing runes as if alerted to something before messing with it slightly, "Ah, it would seem it's time for you to head back home for now. Before you go, take these." he said before smacking his hands together with a wisp of flame in his hand, as he separated his hands the flame had morphed into two shapes before fading away, leaving two objects in the Elf's hands. One was a small vial of red, slightly syrupy liquid the size of a shot glass and the other was a scroll similar to the one Izuku had gifted him once before but of seemingly lower quality.

Izuku took the items and uncorked the glass, after not being stopped he took a tiny sip, it weirdly tasted like some kind of sweet fruit flavoured cough syrup he had once as a child. As Izuku continued to drink he felt his bruises and cuts heal themselves. Almost all the damage he had received moments before had healed like a spell was cast. The old Elf chuckled at Izuku's shocked face before handing him 3 more. "No adventurer is set without a few healing potions, no? These are much harder to make in this realm but it's still possible if you know the tricks. Hoho, don't spend it all in one place."

Izuku glanced at them before giving a determined nod and grabbing the scroll, "Oh it's in Celestial. Neat." He scanned a few runes and mentally translated them, "Identify...right?" Izuku asked trying to examine the script.

'Correct. A quite simple spell, it shall inform you of what an object is. A ritual spell as well. If you were to spend some time, you could copy this spell into your Book of Shadows and cast it indefinitely through a ritualistic process.'

"Wow, that's actually super useful! Thanks, Sylvar. I hope you don't mind if I end up using one of these potions in public, I have a feeling it will probably happen."

"Hohoho! Go right ahead, I enjoy reading all the confused comments from Humans on the internet when you start using magic in your Hero work."

"You know how to use the internet?"

"You don't get as old as me without learning to change with the times young man." The Elf laughed again before suddenly looking off to the side and making a slightly annoyed sound, Izuku assumed at the mess around him from the sparring match. He tapped his staff on the ground and the wood of the floor warped unnaturally to create a stairway on the floor leading down, "Alright Midoriya, go on now and save a few lives for me. I need to do some cleaning, you're welcome to come back for training anytime but deep in the woods is the best place to practice from personal experience. Oh, and come by tomorrow, I'll be sure to have some more gifts."

"Thanks again Sylvar! I'll see you later!" Izuku waved him goodbye before walking down the stairs, after a few steps he realised these were the steps leading to the first floor to the library near the entrance of the building, he turned around and only saw the regular stairs leading up to the second floor. He chuckled to himself at the mind bending magic before continuing to leave.

'Something is odd about that Elf, it cannot be properly seen through your eyes but it is thought he is hiding something.' Couatl suddenly said in Izuku's mind, making the green haired teen wonder what about him was suspicious.

'What makes you say that?'

'A Human's average life sits at around 80 years, whereas an Elf's stands at roughly 1000. Without a hint of Necromancy on his person, it is thought to be odd that he would have lived for over 3000 years.'

'Well, he's been helping us out for this long so I think we can keep trusting him.'

'It is hoped you are correct. If so, a truly powerful ally has been assured in the fight against Undeath.'

As Veratain Hai Sylvar watched the young Midoriya vanish from his extraplanar abode, he turned around to face the being that had chosen to intrude mere moments ago, interrupting the ending of his class on magic. Veratain could begin to feel a familiar slight disturbance in the air, it was something he didn't want to drag the young Human into just yet. This was his own fight against greater powers, one forged over thousands of years.

Veratain watched as a creature, pale white as bone in colour, creeped on all fours around the corner of a bookshelf. Like an incredibly tall and thin withered humanoid husk with far too many spikes and claws for Veratain's taste and an inhuman digitigrade leg structure. Faint stains of old blood coated it's long sharp claws and a tail of vertebrae ending in a scorpion-like point that swayed ominously as it crawled. The Bone Devil wrapped it's wretched body around a distant bookshelf and it seemed he did not come alone as 4 small red, bat-winged Devils flew around him like tiny personal body guards.

Unthreatened, Veratain merely tapped his chin in thought, "Now how does the likes of you end up here? Are you not far from home, Hell spawn?"

The bone white beast released a raspy snarl as it licked its razor sharp teeth. "The bonds that bind and seal grow weaker. The fabric of space grows thinner and thinner the longer HE is allowed to remain. HE is an enemy of Devil-kind, and the fires of Hell burn hotter in anticipation of his demise for that is the will of Asmodeus." The Devil growled once more before pointing a crooked finger stained by old blood at Veratain. "First though, we want what is rightfully ours."

"Oh come now, how much of a pay rise did that old fool promise this time? Sorry to disappoint, but your "Oh so powerful" master will have to wait in line with everyone else for their turn with my old soul."

"Do not mock us Golden One! Your soul was deemed sacrifice in the contract you signed! You will hand it over or we will take it by force!" The Devil spoke his classic spiel as Veratain was simply trying to figure out if this Devil was one he had sent back to the Hells once before. The Imps cackled as the Bone Devil reached for his gruesome glaive that looked as if it was carved out of the wing of a large Dragon.

"Tsk tsk, you Devils never learn do you?" Veratain merely snapped his fingers at the Bone Devil.

[Momentary Stasis]

The Bone Devil froze, as if time itself refused to pass for him. The Imps looked back and forth from the Wizard to their boss in a panic, apparently they hadn't been given a good description of their job today. Veratain's eye's shifted from their calming Elven blue to a brilliant shining gold as he moved his hands and spoke in ancient language.

Before the eyes of the Imps, a rend had appeared in the air as a temporary gateway to the Far Realm, a place far, far beyond the multiverse, was forcibly opened. From the pitch dark rend in space, many ebony black limbs of unknown cosmic beings reached out grasping and wildly flailing at anything they could from the small tear in reality.

[Evard's Black Tentacles]

Within moments the Imps had been reduced to a black sludge from the inky dark eldritch appendages mercilessly shredding them into mincemeat. After one limb had tried to attack the Bone Devil it was taken out of it's stasis early, looking around confused then angry at the change that had happened instantly from his perspective. Insect-like wings grotesquely burst from the Devil's back as it attempted to fly at Veratain. The Devil attempted to thrust it's glaive through the Wizard in a single forceful motion.

[Chronal Shift]

The Devil's movements slowed down dramatically, enough so for Veratain to easily sidestep the blow as a slight sound of a clock ticking could be heard around him. After a few seconds the Devil moved normally again and attempted to swing but found himself forcefully thrown and pinned to the ground from a strength that was not that of an old man. Golden eyes stared into the Devil's own sunken red ones as he felt something akin to razor sharp claws pierce through his chest and wrap around his heart.

"How about you consider this a lesson your boss should have taught you when you first ascended to this job. Some Realms are just off limits in this day and age. Oh well, at least you get to go back to Hell when you die." Veratain gave a polite smile as if he was not currently wrist deep in the ribcage of a Devil twice his current size, "I hope you can enjoy the demotion you master gives you when you get back home. Now, respectfully remove yourself from my home."

The Devil's heart was crushed seconds later, it yelled out in Infernal as it's body slowly melted into black sludge, it's soul was sent back to Hell to reform it's body. Veraitain shook the excess off his hand and cast a cantrip to clean it as his eyes turned back to their normal blue shade. "Sometimes I regret making a house outside of the Material Plane, it lets all sorts of pests creep through the cracks. However, it does let me do things like this."

He tapped his staff to the floor as bookshelves and the floor itself shifted around to form an impossibly angled spiralling staircase. Veratain chuckled to himself, "Hmhm, I do love magic. Now then, let's get back to work. That Midoriya certainly has a myriad of ideas when it comes to enchanting items, I'll have to ask for more of his ideas tomorrow."

The next night Izuku watched the streets below from his perch upon a tall building nearby his own apartment building, there was a surprisingly low amount of crime or disturbances tonight however, not that Izuku was complaining but it did make training against real Villains more difficult when there were no Villains.

'Well I suppose a Hero's job is to keep the peace after all. Not that I'm saying the other Heroes weren't doing there jobs good enough, I'm sure they were doing their best to stop the crime. Now I sound like I'm saying I'm better than the other Heroes, I'll just stop thinking now.' Izuku thought, beginning to understand Couatl's irritation with his rambling habit.

Izuku continued his search for any disturbances for 20 more minutes, running across rooftops and only finding the odd group of drunk friends walking down streets or late night civilian lit up by the street lights.

'I guess tonight is a low stress night.' he thought before he heard a sudden gust of wind behind him and the sound of boots hitting the roof he was on.

He turned his head to see Hawks, the current number 3 Hero of Japan. The blonde Hero gave a kind looking smile while lifting his goggles, "Oh man, if it ain't Warlock. What a coincidence, I was just flying over when I saw you." He said with a kind voice and smile.

Keigo wasn't sure this plan would work, Warlock was a very dangerous person even if he was presumably an ally, he assumedly knows all about the so called "Zombies of Nabu Island" considering he's killed them easier than anyone else who had encountered those things.

"So, you got a minute? I just want to chat, Hero to Hero y'know." Keigo offered with a kind façade, determined this time to take the mysterious Vigilante with him be it by peaceful or violent means.

The trench coat wearing stranger shrugged before sitting on the building edge patting the space next to him, Keigo quickly but subtly examined the area for any kind of trap before sitting, making it out like he was thankful to take a rest after a hard day's work even though this was the most stressful thing he had done in months. Even up close and with lights from streets below, the shadows that covered Warlock's face never gave way enough to make out any defining features except the vague outline of a mouth and those green piercing eyes that felt like they stared into Keigo's own soul.

"Man, when was the last time I saw you? Feels like forever, maybe that's just me being busy." Warlock said, his barely visible mouth in a childish smile. "Oh, I forgot to ask last time," He reached into his pocket which could mean he's using his Storage Quirk, considering the things he's taken out before he could take anything out right now.

He pulled out a pen and notebook, "Can I get your autograph?"

Keigo let out a hidden sigh of relief before smiling, "I keep hearing from other Pro's that you're a major fanboy, I guess I should've seen this coming." He signed the paper, expecting something bad to happen but nothing did. He handed back the notebook to the mysterious Vigilante who put it back into his pocket, however Keigo had also snuck a feather inside the pages. Once the book fell into the pocket though, he lost all connection to that feather like he was very, very far out of range, it was worth the test but it was also an eerie result.

Keigo let out a short sigh, 'No time like now to try this.' he thought, "So, Warlock. You're a pretty good Vigilante, huh? Don't worry, I'm not here to arrest you or anything. I'm pretty chill about that sort of thing unlike some other Pros."

Instead of an outburst or an escape attempt Warlock instead gave Keigo a small laugh, "I figured I couldn't hide that fact forever, huh? Guess my little card trick can only get me so far."

Keigo saw this as an opportunity to at least learn more about his Quirks, "It was pretty good though, how did you do it anyway?"

Warlock chuckled as he pulled a playing card out of his coat and placed a hand over his face, he mumbled something and suddenly light warped and shifted around him. After a second it was like he was looking at a mirror, Warlock looked almost exactly like Keigo, except without any wings, the playing card was now a Hero Licence that looked like his own but a few details wrong or missing.

"I usually did something like this." Warlock spoke in Keigo's voice, it was incredibly trippy and terrifying if he could just impersonate anyone or hide anywhere. Warlock did the same thing again, returning to normal and flicking the card which vanished from either a Quirk or just really good slight of hand. "Pretty cool, right? Took me a while to figure out I could do it with a card instead of just sticking it to my hand."

Keigo tried to keep calm in knowing just what Warlock could do "Haha, man I wish I could do stuff like that. It would get me out of so many boring meetings." Warlock was silent as if he was listening to something for a moment before chuckling to himself, he chose to not think to hard about it, "So, Warlock, how do you feel about getting your own Hero licence, it'd be way easier to have you on speed dial rather than just hoping you show up when you're needed."

"Really?! You're not kidding about that right?!" Warlock practically shouted, sounding more like a kid promised a toy they really wanted for Christmas than an adult. "I mean, I haven't gone to UA or any major Hero school for that matter so I don't really know if I'm qualified for that yet-"

Keigo feigned laughter, interrupted his rambling, "Aw come on. Seriously man? You're way stronger than some pros, plus you've saved a whole bunch of lives by yourself. Besides, I never went to any of those top class, fancy Hero schools either and look where I turned up." Hawks stood up and offered his hand, "What do you say, Warlock."

Warlock looked ready to grab his hand before stopping for a second as if in thought and standing up on his own, "I'm guessing I'll have to get permission from the Hero Public Safety Commission for this?"

"Probably not that much, I'm here to recruit you for them after all." Keigo explained, not revealing too much.

"Because I know how to kill Zombies and nobody else does." Warlock said as wind suddenly blew dramatically in the silence as what could be seen of Warlock's face was suddenly much more serious than before.

Keigo didn't expect this change in pressure so fast, "Was that part really so obvious?"

"The news covered up the first attack as a gas explosion and the Heroes who were there were taken in for questioning, the cultists were taken to Tartarus instead of normal prison like usual to stop any leaks. Furthermore, any security footage of any incident involving Zombies hasn't been leaked yet, despite that usually happening incredibly quickly, meaning it is very heavily guarded, not because Warlock "killed" in the footage but because you're trying to hide the existence of Zombies and to figure out how to kill them." Warlock explained. "So, the HPSC wants me so they can stop the Zombies from causing mass panic."

Keigo shrugged, trying to hide his worry of how perceptive this guy was, "Guess it's hard to hide things from someone like you. Yeah, that's why want you at the HPSC. Please, Warlock, help us in this fight." He admitted, though not revealing the full truth.

Warlock adjusted their coat, "To stop the Undying King and his armies is why I started doing this, I could use all the help I can get." he suddenly removed his hat, revealing for the first time a man in roughly his mid to late 20s, slightly long green hair, and those same piercing green eyes that could stare right through you. "I'd like to make a deal with who's in charge."

Keigo attempted to burn their face into memory to recognise it whenever possible even if it was likely a false identity, "Yeah, I'm sure that can be arranged. How fast can you get to the HPSC office building? Big important one, middle of Tokyo, you know the one."

"Uhh..." Warlock suddenly lost his aura of seriousness and pulled a phone out of their pocket and checked the time, "I mean, I could catch a train in about 10 minutes. I think it's around an hour long ride though."

"You can't, I don't know, teleport or fly there or something?" Keigo questioned, genuinely wondering if the seemingly super powerful and all knowing mystery Vigilante had to use public transport to get around. "Alright, y'know what? I'll give you a lift, how's that sound?"

The green haired man gasped with stars in his eyes, "Really? Oh man I wasn't prepared for this. This is such a great honour Hawks, I don't even know where to begin thanking you."

Keigo gave an odd glance before remembering the guy was still a huge fanboy of basically every Hero with or without hiding his appearance. He pulled out a pair of extra goggles he kept on him for extra passengers or his others broke. "How about you think about it on the way over." He said, tossing the goggles over to Warlock who looked at them seemingly in awe.

He flew around the childish but scarily powerful man as he equipped the goggles and lifted him up off the ground "Alright, try to keep your mouth shut unless you like swallowing bugs."

Despite his warning, Warlock cheered and whooped aloud as they flew to Tokyo.

It took only 35 minutes to get there but Izuku, while being carried by Hawks, was now in the dead centre of Tokyo in front of the honestly kind of intimidating HPSC office building. It was really impressive considering the distance between Musutafu and here but, knowing Hawks' reputation, it was likely he could have gone a lot faster without the extra passenger.

He was still giddy with excitement at the prospect of getting an official Hero licence but still needed to remain calm and cool, he was here for a negotiation more than anything. He wanted to know exactly everything the Heroes knew about the Undying King and his Undead, not only to protect them but to educate them in proper Undead removal.

Izuku had put his hat back on, concealing his already false identity once more before Hawks had landed at the entrance. A gigantic man in a suit guarded the entrance with a stone face both figuratively and literally, he had some kind of Golem Quirk. Several other men and women in suits were guarding the place both inside and out, all likely with powerful Quirks and specialised combat training. He probably would have judged the use of a suit as armour if his own outfit in the beginning of his career was not just a cheap suit with no magic enhancements.

Hawks had used his words and charm to get Izuku through easily, though only after being glared at by the man whose name was apparently "Boruda", but that could have just been a fitting nickname for the rock man double his height.

Izuku was lead into an elevator and travelled to a basement floor, Hawks looking as calm and collected as ever but he himself couldn't help but feel nervous, meeting the woman who was in charge of literally everything Hero related in Japan and who was basically just below the prime minister in the political hierarchy was a VERY big deal. Hawks lead him to a large set of double doors and had to swipe his Hero license, scan his eye and input a long code of numbers and letters, making Izuku realise just how confidential this is.

The doors clicked unlocked and opened to reveal a large conference room, seemingly lined with thick metal plates and more than likely built with extremely secure communications systems. A large table stretched across the room yet only 2 people sat inside.

On the left side was the most intelligent Hero and first non-human Hero, principal of UA high, Nezu. It was currently taking every ounce of inner strength to not fan boy over the hyper intelligent Hero who has the global record for most crimes solved including previously thought unsolvable crimes. Even managing to figure out the identity of the most infamous of elusive Villains.

Right in the centre on the other side of the room however, was the HPSC president herself, just as serious and intimidating as she looked during interviews he'd watched, staring directly at Izuku with a stare that could kill. 'Scary.' Izuku thought.

'Remember, they are just as, if not more so, afraid of you. In their eyes, you are as much of a threat as the Undead forces. Act calmly yet with confidence.' Couatl advised.

'Right, magic looks like multiple Quirks so they might think I'm on the side of the Lich. Also just because I'm on their side now doesn't mean I can't swap sides. I could also be using this as some kind of assassination attempt. Those are the kind of things they are thinking isn't it?'

'Yet they are showing that they trust you enough, the lack of guards within this room speaks volumes to such an extent.

'Unless they are invisible or super well hidden.'

'...It it certainly a possibility.'

Izuku bowed respectfully to the people inside before stepping in alongside Hawks, "I graciously thank you for inviting me, President of the Hero Public Safety Commission. I do hope I was allowed entry on good terms, making enemies of Japan's Heroes would be very...inconvenient, so to speak." He spoke, intentionally and desperately trying to play up his mysterious aspect.

She sat with her fingers intertwined and resting over her mouth before speaking, "Indeed, I would like to personally thank you for complying, I thought it would be much more difficult to get a hold of you. I hope you don't mind, but I would much rather get to the important topic at hand."

"The Undying King." Izuku said, earning a hum from the President. She flicked a switch on her side of the table, activating a screen behind her, revealing camera shots of an island, swarms of undead roamed and fostered in dilapidated streets. A large intimidating tower in the background of all the images. The plant life was greyed and dead with tanged messes of thorns being the only flora, as if no form of life could grow in the area.

"These images were taken on an island that is suspected to be the Undying King's base of operations. The group of scouts I sent there were sadly slaughtered, alongside the previous 1000 residents of the island." The president explained.

Izuku stood in silence as he looked down, a burning rage in his chest that was more than his own, '1000 innocent people, men, women, children...All slaughtered. Forced to fight for that Monster after their passing. The thought makes me sick.'

'1000 innocent Human souls, used as nothing more than a power source! More of his power must have been regained than was initially thought. It is nothing more than heresy against creation and life itself!' Disgust and rage were present in Couatl's various voices, emotions only presented when discussing the Lich and his wicked actions.

The President took notice of his silence before continuing, "We understand that these people were transformed into these "monsters" by the Undying King's Quirk, the "monsters" vary wildly in appearance and strength, though I'm sure you already knew all of this, seeing as you have already killed several."

Izuku looked up at the President "You're right about one thing, these "monsters" as you call them are Undead, they're more like near mindless puppets made of dead bodies rather than an actual person. They can range wildly in intelligence and combat ability from an animated skeleton to a behemoth made of 100 bodies, but they are all under his control. Before you ask, there's no saving them, they have already been dead so long and their very soul is now in the grasp of the Undying King."

The President hummed and rested her hands over her mouth once again, "And, how can you be so sure you can't save them? Quirks are very diverse as I'm sure you are aware."

"In a simple way of speaking, Undead are simply corpses held up by puppet strings, once you cut the strings they burst into blue flames and turn to ash. Unless you know someone whose Quirk is bringing someone back to life from their ashes there is no way of recovery. How I can be so sure however, I suppose you would call it Divine Intervention, so to speak."

Hawks looked at him with a mix of odd confusion and possibly subtle fear, "So, what? Are you some kind of messenger from God?"

"Not Exactly. I suppose more like a messenger of a messenger." Izuku chose to cryptically answer, earning a silence in the room.

'You are aware that is a grotesque oversimplification.'

'Yes, I know. Shush.'

After a slightly too long pause the President spoke up, her voice was still calm but it seemed her will was ever so shaken after talk of faith, "What are our chances of defeating this Villain?"

Izuku paused for a moment to think, attempting to figure out the best way to explain the essence of Undeath and Godhood to those who know none of magic. "If he were allowed to continue to exist, he would become beyond the reason of the physical world, where no thing of mortal man could threaten him. In a simpler manner of speaking, it would be akin to a character in a story challenging the one who wrote it. It could not be done. Only those outside of the "story" would have the opportunity."

The air was tense around Izuku, as he stared at the President, the one emanating an aura of fear was now himself. "However, if he were destroyed or sealed away somehow before this could happen, life and creation would be saved."

The President sat in silence, it looked as if she was mentally debating with herself before she finally spoke, "How do we stop him and his armies?"

Izuku paused for a moment "Are you familiar with exorcism? The spiritual practice of evicting an area of Evil or Spirits. Similar practices can sever the 'puppet strings' on Undead as it were. Use of silver based weapons is a reliable method, holy symbols carried by one with enough faith also helps. However simply destroying the body with enough brute force works just as well when it comes to weaker Undead. Although, to defeat the Undying King, you would need to attack him at the source, not just his Undead body. Yet, going headlong into his lair is nothing short of a suicide mission."

"So we lose if we wait too long, and we also lose if we rush in. How are we supposed to win?" Hawks asked.

"With patience and preparation. My own power is not yet strong enough to take on one such as him and likely won't be for some time. It would be best to train as many as possible in the methods of Undead destruction. Besides, if he were truly in conquest for a throne atop the world, he would have done so already by attacking much more than Japan. He is amusing himself. To him, Humanity is little more than a fuel source for his own powers, not to be taken seriously. This also gives us the upper hand of attacking harder than he prepared for."

"But, why Japan? Surely other, more densely packed places would be better to raise an army of corpses and religious fanatics?" Hawks asked once more.

"Perhaps it is because I reside here. I am seemingly the only one that he cannot gaze upon using his own abilities. Or perhaps there is something or someone else in Japan that has piqued his interest." Izuku noticed a very slight shift from the President and Nezu with those last few words.

"Can I ask something of you, Warlock?" Nezu asked, speaking for the first time since he had arrived and with that constant underlying cheerfulness that he had heard from interviews involving the animal Principal. "Is there a reason you have not once used the word "Quirk" when describing the Undying King's ability to animate the dead and your own abilities?"

Izuku thought for a moment, "In a few senses the powers of the King and I are one in the same, yet in many more they are vastly different. Quirk's are set in stone while the abilities of myself and the King are free to be altered and warped as is seen fit. Though there are many differences, especially in experience. Another way to explain it is that a Quirk only has the potential to grow from a set point and in a single direction, only one ability growing stronger yet unaltered. Training your own intelligence Quirk enough will not evolve it into something like Hawks', only growing to further your intelligence. Our own abilities have no set start nor end, potential may spring forth from any point and evolve to any other. If you were to give it a name as you would a Quirk, I suppose the name "Magic" would be most fitting."

"I see, thank you. How very intriguing." Nezu said with a smile, the only one who exuded an aura of calm in the sea of intensity formed by Izuku and the president.

"Might I ask a favour," Izuku began, speaking to Nezu before turning to the President, "One from the both of you?"

Before they could answer, the ground shook around them as if a mild earthquake had shook the building. Suddenly the phone that sat next to the President blared and she picked it up in an instant before listening and shouting "What!?" in shock of what she had heard.

She quickly clicked things on her computer as the screen behind her changed to security footage of the building's main entrance, behind the reinforced glass doors that were being held shut by Boruda and several others, was a horde of many undead. Skeletons and Zombies clawed at the reinforced glass as what looked like one of the guards to the HPSC with his head removed and replaced by a misshapen shaped skull banged the doors, leaving more and more cracks with every passing second.

Numerous thoughts rushed through Izuku's head but one struck out most of all and was the most pressing question he had.

'How did they find me!?'

Izuku did not dwell on this question however and while the others had begun to panic and act, he had attempted to tap into the raw magic inside him, feeling it spread through his body and seeping out, blurring the energy within himself and the Ethereal Plane. [Ethereal Jaunt] In an instant his body had felt weightless and the world around him had changed once again.

'Only about 10 seconds, better make the most of them.' He thought, moving his ethereal body through the odd grey environment and through the ceiling of the room he was in, and another, and another. After 6 seconds at full speed he had just managed to reach what he thought was the lobby of the HPSC building, making sure not to land on or inside anything before trying to force himself out of the Ethereal Plane.

He performed the same trick he used to get him into the Plane and forced himself back into the Material Plane. [Ethereal Jaunt] He appeared in thin air with a light popping sound and landed with a slight thud, earning confused glances from the remaining security guards.

Ignoring the sudden shocked expressions from the guards, he watched the undead monsters claw at the glass leaving more and more cracks and an unnaturally large skeletal hand attempt to punch through the glass.

Izuku prepared himself for a battle and grabbed his staff from one pocket and a small pouch out of another, immediately throwing the pouch into the ground as hard as he could, spreading a shiny silver powder across most of the room. He then ran up to the doors and pulled out two glass flasks of what looked to be water, uncorked them and flung as much as possible along the floors and doors while also making sure to sprinkle a small amount on himself and the remaining security guards.

"What the hell are you doing!?" A female guard shouted, panic and genuine confusion present in her voice.

"Trying to make it a little harder for them to kill us...Hopefully." Izuku responded, using the remainder of the water to cover his staff.

"Hopefully!?"

"Holy Water and Silver Powder should destroy the weaker ones, it might just annoy the tough ones though. Speaking of which, some of you should probably go protect the president." Izuku explained, moments before the glass doors shattered and a wave of skeletons and zombies clawed over each other to get through. As some guards ran away he pulled out a match and struck it against his coat, clapping it between his gloved hands.

[Control Flames]

He threw his hands out and with them came a wave of fire, evaporating the holy water on the floor and mixing with the silver powder. The weaker undead had almost all burst into blue flames as their magic was severed, while some others began shooting off blue sparks after the initial explosion. The stronger undead began to close in, crushing the ashes of their fallen comrades without care.

Izuku spun his staff dramatically, casting Control Flames to surround himself in the blue flames. "Alright you undead jerks," He pointed the staff to the hoard of monsters "Let's dance!"

Chapter Text

Japan  - Tokyo -  HPSC Office

Izuku pointed his staff at the remaining Undead forces attempting to push through the broken doorway as the blue fire and silver powder swirled around him. However any intimidation was useless against those Undead as he was attacked by a much faster Zombie, one with razor sharp claws and eyes like burning coals. He ducked just in time to avoid the fast and feral Zombie, a little more difficult to avoid than the sluggish and clumsy ones.

'Angry fast Zombie? I can take that.'

'That is a Ghoul, a slightly larger threat but one that can be dealt with quite easily. Avoid it's claws however, they carry a poison to inflict temporary paralysis.'

'Terrifying. I'll keep that in mind.'

The Ghoul tried to wildly flail it's claws at Izuku but he countered by slamming his staff into it's chest, causing a spark of blue flame to flash as it was knocked back. He gave a flick of his hand and threw the dying blue flames from the Undead remains at the Ghoul before slamming his staff into the creature once more, hearing a gross sounding crunch as a result.

The monster, not being very intelligent, tried to grab the staff but it's hands burst into blue flames once it did. Izuku ended the monster with an Agonising Blast through it's chest, yet he had no time to celebrate that small victory as more Undead remained and were pushing their way further through the doors. An armoured Wight forcibly kicking a Skeleton out of the way as Ghouls crawled over their allies' burned remains and a security guard shambled in but his head had been replaced by a weird jittering empty skull, puppeteering the body.

Izuku ducked as Ghouls tried to claw at him, rolling past the sword swing of the Wight and jabbing his staff into the skull parasite thing which was quickly destroyed. The Ghouls coordinated a dual attack, charging at different angles so he dropped to down low as they dived at him, double kicking one into the other and just slipping away from a dark metal blade slicing into him.

He cast Ray of Frost on the leg of the Wight, the thin blue beam of light freezing it to the ground. Izuku then ran back to the Ghouls, one of which had attacked a bodyguard and paralysed him completely with a claw attack to the chest, the others bodyguards were focussed on the other weaker Undead slipping through or the other Ghoul to assist. Izuku smacked it's head like a baseball before it could injure them any more, knocking it down before firing a Agonising Blast into it's head, destroying the monster.

He got just a second to relax before the Wight was upon him again after freeing itself, the needle-like teeth of the creature gnashing while it tried to absorb his life force. Izuku shoved it back before it could and dodged as the remaining Ghoul was launched past him and into the Wight, the Ghoul being sliced in half by the dark metal blade leaving the pale creature angered and stained with blackened blood.

Izuku quickly used Control flames to coat his weapon again before charging back at the Wight. Blade and flaming staff colliding over and over as his dexterous attacks were slowly getting the better of the monster, all the while the remaining security fended off the comparatively weaker Skeletons and Zombies that continued to slip past and shamble into the building.

Keigo had decided that the elevator would have taken too long and decided to just fly up the stairs, although flying inside was pretty inconvenient it wasn't like he had much of a choice when an entire graveyard is pounding at the front door. He flew past some of the security guards but didn't bother asking them anything, assuming the doors had been breached.

Once he burst into the entrance hall he was met with the sight of a dozen or so piles of still burning ashes, security attacking walking skeletons and Warlock shooting one of his usual green beam things into the chest of a pale "Zombie" wearing some kind of armour. Keigo immediately launched a few feathers at top speed to knock the thing's weapon out of it's hand, Warlock wasted no time finishing it off before throwing something to him. It was a fancy looking glass flask of water.

"Cover your feathers with it! Trust me!" Warlock shouted before having to dodge as a security guard with his head replaced by a weird looking skull lunged after him.

Keigo, not wanting to argue with one of the only guys who has managed to put these monsters down, doused as many of his feathers as possible with the water and felt no real difference in them. However, as he flew by, launching feathers at some monsters and slashing others with feather blades, he noticed them take much more damage and collapse into a burning pile that he was sure to keep his feathers away from.

"A little help?!" Warlock suddenly called out.

Looking back to Warlock he saw a swarm of those weird shaped skulls without a person's body this time, they were almost spider-like with 8 segmented legs ending in sharp points. It looked like the large number of them were getting to be too much for him and he went to fly over before everything suddenly turned completely dark.

Then he blinked and all he saw was the sky in all directions for miles, the feeling of constantly falling overtook him yet he wasn't falling any closer to any kind of ground. Just when he couldn't be any more confused he saw what looked like a woman in the clouds. Well, more like a woman made out of the clouds. Like a contained haze, part mirage part fog, blocking out the horizon like an oncoming storm and just as big. This "woman" cloud moved it's head and looked at him, giving a curious look like she was examining him before smiling.

Keigo blinked again, only to see Warlock being attacked by the skulls, though confused he still dashed to assist. As he flew however, the wind suddenly increased significantly around him and seemed to coalesce around his feather blade, then with a single slash the swirling wind had been released from the blade, twisting and swirling until a razor-like blast of wind launched from the blade. This "wind blade" sliced unnaturally clean through a few of the skulls leaving Keigo speechless at the thing he thought he just did, even though he knew he had no control over the wind whatsoever. What the hell was happening?

Warlock shot a beam of blue light out of his finger at one skull, making it freeze solid before he swung his staff like a golf club, launching the spider skull into a walking skeleton destroying both. He and Keigo were quick to destroy the rest of the skulls but Keigo was still a little out of it, still unable to know what caused that wind blast or how to recreate it.

As Warlock kicked the last skull away he turned to him, "Air blades? I didn't know you could do that. That's so cool!"

"Yeah, me neither."

It seemed the monstrous forces were being pushed back and Warlock ran to the broken door to continue the assault in front of the building. Keigo was quick to join, knowing he would be more useful when able to freely move through the air.

Izuku ran outside with his staff at the ready, finding the remaining Undead forces standing back like they had been ordered to stand at attention. He quickly tried to take a head count of the remaining enemy but the odd, hunched or deformed bodies made that difficult. Just as Hawks had ran out a figure appeared, hovering in the air above the monstrous army.

"It seems it was you who has freed my undying slaves. Such insolence." The floating robed man spoke, a face shrouded in shadow much like his own. He looked to Hawks "We thought you could be troublesome for us." he then gazed at Izuku "But I must admit, I had not even dreamed you would be present. But who am I to question fate, I am sure you shall both fit right in with those skeletal servants of mine."

While the Cultist monologued, Izuku launched an Eldritch Blast at him and Hawks flew at his top speed, attempting to slash at the man. Although just as blade and blast were about to connect the Cultist spoke a single word and a shimmering field of dark energy formed around him, the blast had dissipated and the feather blade had harmlessly bounced off his body.

"I agree, let us skip the pleasantries." The Cultist spoke in ancient tongue and spun shadow in his hands, forming a sabre of shadows and slashing at Hawks who blocked with his holy water coated feather blade, causing sparks of magical energy to light up the dim streets outside the government building.

As the Cultist did this the remaining Undead forces began their assault on Izuku, he took a deep breath and used two uses of Healing Light on himself, releasing a subtle glow of celestial energy from the healing wounds. He pointed his staff at the approaching forces as a holy light began glowing at the end of it, Izuku took aim and began to launch multiple Sacred Flame cantrips at the Undead masses.

Though they resembled flames the holy blasts gave off no heat as the bolts of divine energy burned the weaker charging forces while Hawks continued an airborne battle, sending what few feathers he could spare to assist and still keeping enough speed to keep the Cultist's attention on him. Though, the stronger and larger forces were only getting closer with the weaker Skeletons and Zombies falling.

Suddenly, barrelling out from the Undead forces was what looked like a large spider-like monstrosity made of multiple skeletons with the top half of a skeletal human body where the spider face would be, like a spider centaur. The "abdomen" of this monster was housing a few of the spider-skull things that had overwhelmed him earlier, the sound of clattering bones only got louder as it approached, the hollow eye sockets of pure white bone stared at him without eyes.

Izuku blocked as it collided with him, the sickle-like claws it had for hands being held back by his staff while it's jaw, split in half to look like mandibles, continuously jittered and clacked together. He struggled to hold back the monster until a powerful blow had knocked it away from him, causing cracking noises as it reset the position of the bones holding the beast together.

Izuku looked behind him to see Boruda the security guard, suit covered in blackened Zombie blood and cracking the knuckles on his stone fists, the golem of a man said nothing back and gestured his head to the remaining Undead still closing in. The skeletal beast charged at the rock man in revenge, colliding with a powerful impact but the bone blades could not scratch through his stone skin. Boruda then grabbed the skeletal torso at either side and bent over backwards, suplexing the monster into the concrete with the sounds of cracking bone and shattering cement echoing all around.

"Right, you can take that one." Izuku said to no response from Boruda. He left the two giants to brawl and started running into the fray, chanting in celestial the whole time, the heat building around him with each syllable and the tips of his staff streaked with a bright flame before spinning his staff to create a perfect circle of fire and with a final word collapsed the ring into a small bead of red hot flames.

[Flaming Sphere]

The bead expanded rapidly into a ball of raging inferno, charging faster than Izuku could run and colliding with the Undead forces, causing Ghouls, Zombies and Skeletons to burn rapidly, disintegrating into ash as the blue flames flickered through the careening sphere of scorching orange flames.

Feather met shadow again and again as the bright sparks continued to grow weaker, not from the shadow weapon dissipating but from the water on Keigo's feather evaporating over time. The cultist spoke words but did not sound human as he pulled out a bottle of something, Keigo tried to knock it out of his hand and in doing so shattered the bottle with one of his feathers but that didn't stop the cultist.

He continued to chant as the spilled liquid quickly flew towards him, being absorbed by the cultist through his skin. The cultist showed newfound vigour as if he was suddenly free from the pain his few wounds had already caused him, though the old wounds did not heal over. With a rictus grin he slashed with a blade of shadow once again, though this time it had slipped past the feather.

The feeling and pain of being deeply cut rang clear in Keigo's mind, but looking down there was no open wound or even a rip on his costume. Though in pain, Keigo looked past the cultist to see Warlock and Boruda making their way through the other zombies with the remaining security providing whatever backup they could. He gave a smirk to the cultist, "Look at that, looks like even an army like that can't help with an idiot like you in charge."

The cultist gave no attention to the insult and instead floated backwards speaking in tongues once again as five bolts of dark energy formed from the darkness of his blade, with a gesture they all launched in his direction. Keigo dashed backwards only to see them following him and matching his speed, he launched feathers at them but they swerved and dodged, coming closer and closer.

Keigo braced for impact, but as he did visions of that cloud woman overtook his vision once again and he found himself making a whistling sound without control over his own mouth. The wind picked up dramatically once again and surrounded Keigo, as it did what looked like his red feathers were mixed in with the torrent of wind but they were almost spectral, being able to see through them.

The black bolts of energy collided with the "wind shield", or whatever that was, and dissipated harmlessly. The wind continued and surrounded his feather blade once more, he looked at it with confusion but somehow knew that whatever was causing whatever was happening clearly wanted him to win. He swung at the cultist, who looked even more confused than he did.

The wind warped once more and fired another wind blade, and did so again with the next slash, and the next one. The wind blasts and feather blade coated in swirling winds were growing to be more than the cultist was expecting. He was losing ground quickly as the newly powered up blade collided with his own but would leave him open for the wind attack, slashing his body with razor sharp wind.

"Impossible! The Undying King is the only one who can grant such powers!" The cultist shouted in disbelief, "How!? How is this possible!?"

"I've got no idea." Keigo smirked, "Looks like that "God" of yours isn't anything special." He continued to slash at the cultist, delivering more and more tiny cuts from either wing or wind. The cultist however, grew agitated spitting more of those inhuman words again and vanishing in a cloud of dark smoke. Keigo launched his feathers out to scan for him but that wasn't necessary as he could be seen just above the monstrous army.

Izuku slid under the legs of another Skeleton, tripping it with his staff on the way out and planting it in the ground as he ran toward a much larger Skeleton, about 10ft tall. He jumped from his staff like a spring board and charged an Agonising Blast in his hand before punching the jaw of the giant as hard as possible, releasing the raw magical energy at the same time. The large empty skull burst into bone fragments as the remaining bones collapsed into a pile, quickly igniting in blue flames.

"I've always wanted to do that!" Izuku cheered, barely dodging the claws of another Ghoul. He collected the flames from the burning bones and wrapped his hands in the blue fire. He dealt a burning uppercut to the feral Undead and blocked another claw strike with his coat before shooting the fire in it's face, running back to grab the staff and finish it off with another Agonising Blast, removing the monster's head with a blast of red and green magic.

"It seems even a false prophet is able to withstand the King's strongest forces! You may have the bird fooled but your false gift shall crumble under the Undying King's almighty wrath!" The Cultist shouted in rage above the remaining Undead, ravaged by numerous small cuts and slowly bleeding.

"What are you even talking about?" Izuku questioned, genuinely confused about what he was rambling about.

"Enough chicanery!" The Cultist threw his shadow blade, Izuku tried to block with his staff but the blade made of magic energy simply shifted it's form to strike anyway, the blade passing completely through him and giving the feeling like he had been deeply stabbed in the chest with no real wound.

'What even was that!? Psychic damage!?'

'You are correct.'

'I was kidding! Why is that a thing!?'

As Izuku continued to rant in his head, Hawks arrived and slashed at the Cultist once more but he threw up another shimmering shield of dark energy to bounce the blade off his body. With that distraction in play Izuku had remembered the Flaming Sphere was still active, he quickly dragged it over through the Undead with his thoughts before pointing to it with his staff, swinging it like a baseball bat and launching the ball of raging inferno into the air using Control Flames.

"Hawks! Dodge!" He shouted, which Hawks very quickly did upon noticing the attack as the last few seconds of the spell were used up and the ball of scorching flames exploded on contact with the Cultist, leaving him heavily injured and lightly on fire.

"That is it! You have truly infuriated me!" The Cultist shouted, speaking that inhuman language once more and laughing maniacally as a shimmering field of multicoloured magic coated him. He pulled out a scroll and cackled, "I'll destroy you both with this! This shall be the end for you, False Prophet!"

Izuku pointed his staff at the Cultist before disappearing from his sight in a puff of smoke, the Cultist's eyes went wide as he looked around, only to see Izuku at the last second right above him. The air seemed to cool around him and his mouth steamed with every word of the spell, He waved his staff and launched a blue beam of light at the Cultist's mouth, covering it in a layer of ice from a Ray of Frost.

He continued to fall as he landed on the Cultist, grabbing hold of his robe as he tried and failed to shake Izuku off, desperately clawing at the ice around his mouth to speak the words on the scroll. "You know, I was wondering when you'd finally stop talking." Izuku said before the air chilled again only much more so than before, it felt as if the icy air was about to freeze his lips shut as the Celestial words came from his mouth, mist clouding around his face like he was speaking in a snowstorm.

[Transmuted Thunderwave - Ice]

With an ear popping explosion the freezing blast encompassed the Cultist, freezing all but his head in a block of magical ice and causing him to fall from the sky with Izuku still holding on. The block of ice landed and Hawks flew down next to him, Izuku quickly used Detect Magic and could see that, although the man was wreathed in magical energy, he was not Undead. With the Cultist unconscious the Undead around them had stopped moving, they were seemingly idle and awaiting commands.

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief until he saw Hawks raising his sword, "Wait! Wait! Wait! He's not Undead, you can't kill him!" Izuku shouted, holding his staff in the way of the sword.

Just before Hawks could say something a thin blast of green energy shot past the both of them and directly into the frozen body of the Cultist. Once it hit, the ice began to quickly crack but didn't melt, instead it started to turn into a grey dust. Just as quickly the Cultist's body also cracked, rapidly turning into a fine grey dust, in a simple matter of seconds the Cultist had died right before them while unconscious. Even if it was a Cultist, this person was still a living being and didn't deserve to die so cruelly.

Izuku turned around in anger to face whoever did that only to see another Cultist, long light brown hair poked through the hood but the face was mostly hidden. They stood on the ground a few meters behind them.

With Detect Magic still up Izuku could see the Magic that was surrounding this Cultist was far greater than his own, and their equipment gave off a much stronger aura than any of Izuku's. Not only that but their body was brimming with Necromancy magic. Whoever this person was, they were much stronger than him and the first Cultist.

Hawks immediately charged at full speed, "Don't!" Izuku yelled but it was seemingly far too late.

"STOP." The Cultist spoke calmly but with a fearsome echo, Hawks had been frozen in place completely, unable to move but completely aware of his surroundings. With Detect Magic Izuku saw the bindings of Enchantment magic holding him in place.

They continued to walk over to Izuku but he knew that if he tried to fight with both of his strong spells already spent while also injured he would not survive. However, the Cultist continued walking past Izuku and only stopped at the pile of equipment left by the dead Cultist. They knelt down and picked up the dark robe, dusting the previous owner off of it and burning it to ash.

"Only fools dream to deny fate." They spoke normally while still facing away, a female voice that seemed devoid of life. "You have no hope of stopping the future that has been arranged. What was wanted is ours so you should consider this a warning, soon Mankind shall see it's last dawn."

"No." Izuku spoke up, though he knew conflict would surely lead to death, "The Undying King will be stopped. The same goes for you and all his other minions too. We Heroes will defeat you." Even when death smiled in his face, Izuku would remain determined. He would save the world no matter how powerful his enemy is, he made a deal and planned to keep his word.

The Cultist faced Izuku and stared at him, though her dark brown eyes were not full of hate or malice but pity and sadness. Her skin was a very pale white but not decaying, almost looking at peak health. "Heroes...All you Heroes are deceived if you believe you can face him. A pitiful sight." They continued to stare before turning and continuing to walk away, "Though, there is no point in speeding up the inevitable. I believe we shall meet another day, Warlock of Light. When those bitter dark winds howl about you once more." They faced away from him and with a few unknown words of ancient tongue the space around her warped and rippled as she vanished without a trace, leaving the space she stood to ripple like water.

Izuku took this brief moment of respite to pray for those that died here, praying for those lost of both sides of the fight.

Keigo continued to struggle, unable to move his body or even his feathers until the effect stopped suddenly, dropping him to the floor unexpectedly. He quickly turned to face the new cultist but they had since vanished and Warlock sighed in relief. He rushed to the Vigilante's side, looking down to the dust covered equipment left behind by the first cultist post disintegration.

"What happened? Where did they go?" He asked Warlock, the trench coat wearing man simply looked to the space in front of him where the air seemed to ripple like water.

"We are so underprepared." He said looking down, he looked focussed like he was deep in thought, "Someone that strong...How do we even prepare to face that, let alone the Lich." His look of anxiety quickly washed away, "You're right, we couldn't have known, but now we do. We need to work overtime to even stand a chance."

Was he talking to himself? "Warlock!" Keigo said louder to get the man's attention.

"What? Sorry, I was thinking about something. Yes, the other one left. Gone. Poofed on out of space right over there." He explained, snapping out of his daze.

Keigo was confused, wasn't half of that cult's whole mission about killing Warlock? "They just left?"

"Yep, she cryptically told me we would meet again and burned the first guy's cloak. Actually, wait a second!" Warlock explained before his eyes turned white and he stared at a pair of boots and a dagger left in the pile of dust, next to a paper scroll that was apparently going to be used to kill the both of them. "Amazing...I wonder what they can do."

"Care to explain?" Keigo asked, genuinely confused as to what he was doing looking at a dead mans shoes.

Warlock turned around to explain but his expression of excitement shifted to one of curiosity again as he stared at Keigo's chest, "That wasn't there before..." he mumbled.

"Excuse me?" he asked, more concerned now.

"Were you cut with that guy's shadow blade?" Warlock suddenly asked, continuing to examine his body.

"Yes, what does that have to do with-"

Warlock pulled something from his coat, a small glass vial the size of a shot glass, "Drink this, I'll have to explain everything in a minute with the President and Nezu. We think that's the best idea." He said, cutting off Keigo before devolving into incoherent mumbles and picking up the dead cultist's stuff.

Though sceptical, Keigo drank the red liquid from the glass, the taste of a sweet fruity medicine quickly spreading over his tongue before he swallowed it. A warmth slowly spread over his body and the feeling of a deep stab wound faded away alongside any cuts sealing up like a week's worth of healing occurred in seconds. In his ever present confusion Keigo flew back next to Warlock who was approaching the HPSC building.

Suddenly exiting the building however was the President herself alongside Nezu and several bodyguards. She looked around the battlefield of idle monsters before locking eyes with Warlock. "I would like an explanation as to what happened here and why a graveyard worth of corpses broke down my doors and killed 2 of my guards." She spoke with anger hidden under a calm forged by years of her work.

"Don't look at me. Apparently they didn't even know I was here." Warlock casually explained, entirely different to his earlier politeness and mystery, no longer paying attention and dumping the equipment on the floor unceremoniously. "Nobody bother me for about 3 minutes. Hawks will explain everything." He said rummaging in his pockets.

The President gave Keigo a look that could kill, wordlessly demanding an explanation.

Izuku pulled the Book of Shadows out of his own shadow and opened to a random page to find the instructions to cast Identify through a ritual. He grabbed a stick of chalk out of his pocket and began to draw a circle around the items left by the Cultist, they had some latent magic energy in them so he was too eager to find out what they were. He began to draw more and more details around this circle, wheels of runes, Celestial script and symbols of Divination magic. The circle grew larger as he continued to add to it, becoming a few meters wide while constantly muttering Celestial, reading directly from his shadow book.

After the final line was drawn the chalk began to transform into a white light outward from that final point, slowly the chalk was consumed and transformed into a pulsing, glowing white circle of runic inscriptions, some wheels of symbols slowly rotating like a conveyer belt. With a few more words the white light grew from being pretty unstable to a smooth and steady energy.

Izuku kept his attention on the circle to keep it from vanishing while looking over to Hawks with Detect Magic and saw he still had that small lingering pure magic smudge in his body. "Hawks! I need you to stand in the middle of this circle."

Hawks turned around, noticing the circle for the first time, the President also turned and looked with curiosity. "You know what, sure. Why not? Enough weird things have happened today already." He walked into the circle and stood next to the boots, dagger and scroll. "Now what?"

"Stay there and don't move for...Let's say 7 minutes."

The President spoke up "I hope there is a reason for all of this."

"Oh please, let him continue. I find this all too entertaining." Nezu spoke up, taking a drink of tea before handing the cup to one of the bodyguards.

Izuku smiled at that, continuing the chanting of Celestial as different rings of runes floated up and spun around Hawks. The symbols continued to float and spin as Izuku's eyes changed to a pale white, continuing to chant in Celestial, a sight which was slightly uncomforting to everyone. Everyone except Nezu, who was watching with great interest and amusement.

After exactly 7 minutes of this the circles of white light all shattered and flew directly into Izuku's body, he shook his head as his eyes returned to normal. The information on these items filling his mind alongside confirmation that there was a tiny bit of pure magic in Hawks' soul. "Oh, that felt so weird." He stood up and the President approached.

"Now then, I would appreciate being told exactly what that was." She said, irritation very clearly growing in her voice.

"In due time all things shall be revealed, Madam President." he answered before picking up the boots and approaching Nezu. "Mr Nezu, I understand that you are the smartest person here."

"I would not argue against that." He agreed cheerfully.

"Please put these boots on and tap the heels together." Izuku instructed, "If you do that then I can tell every one of you everything in full honesty."

Nezu looked at him like he was sceptical but gave in, "Alright, I see no reason not to." Nezu slipped off the brightly coloured sneakers he was wearing and put on the boots that were much too large for him. However as he did the boots shifted in size and shape to accommodate, becoming a perfect fit. The President, Hawks and Nezu all watched with varying degrees of confusion and scepticism.

Nezu clicked the boots together, they watched as the boots released a slight hum and dull glow before it faded, then Nezu began to ever so slowly drift upwards. Nezu, despite having no Quirk to do so, had begun to levitate. It seemed he quickly began to understand the fundamentals of what was happening as he stopped himself a few feet off the ground, unexplainably floating in mid-air.

Izuku walked over and waved his hand above and below Nezu like a magician mid performance, "No strings attached above. Nothing lifting up from below. Now Mr Nezu how would you explain what is happening right now? Without any outside influence, how would you say you are floating right now?"

Nezu chuckled to himself, "I can't say I know how but I can say I have always enjoyed magic tricks."

Izuku stood away from Nezu, "How about another," He lifted his sleeves and stood too far way away to touch Nezu. "Nothing up my sleeves, no movement of the hands, no words from my mouth. Mr Nezu could you please tap the boots together once again."

Nezu did so while Izuku did nothing to influence the outcome. With a click of the heels the boots hummed and glowed again and Nezu began to safely drift downwards until he touched the ground without any damage to Nezu.

"Ta-da!" Izuku shouted before bowing like a stage magician after a performance. Nezu was the only one applauding as the President just stared and Hawks stood, no longer confused but just accepting of the weirdness around him. "Oh, by the way, that knife drinks blood so nobody cut yourself with it." He quickly added, pointing to the frankly evil looking blade still laying near Hawk's feet. Hawks took a few cautious steps away from it.

"Mr Warlock!" The President said sternly, "Please explain yourself."

"Alright, magic is real." Izuku nonchalantly revealed.

"...What?"

"Magic. Is. Real." Izuku put unnecessary emphasis of each word.

"I...Excuse me?"

"Magic. Real. Those boots? Magic! That knife? Magic! Me? Magic!" Izuku explained before pointing to Hawks, "Hawks? Surprisingly a little bit magic."

"Alright, that's enough! Guards!" The President shouted, the bodyguards standing at attention.

"Stop!" Hawks shouted, standing in front of Izuku, "He's telling the truth." The President stared at him but he continued, "During that fight something happened and I was able to briefly have control over the wind. I know that sounds impossible but I think that, as ridiculous and illogical as it sounds, some kinda "Magic" or whatever it was, caused that."

As the President continued to stare, Nezu stepped in front of Izuku as well, using the boots to float to shoulder level. "If you have an explanation for this that I, the most intelligent being on the planet, do not. I would love to hear it, Madam President. As it stands, it would seem that we simply overlooked the theory that Warlock may be supernatural in nature."

Izuku smiled at the President, "There is so much that you don't know. However there is someone who can show you everything." Nezu and Hawks turned to face him, "We do need a ride there though...I don't know how to drive."

The President sighed deeply, holding the bridge of her nose and looking down for a moment too long before looking to one of the bodyguards, "Get the Limo."

That one bodyguard ran off as the President looked around at the idle standing Undead. "How do I get these "Things" off of my property."

"Well nobody is controlling them so...I guess just," Izuku walked up to an idle Skeleton and poked it's skull with his staff, it immediately collapsing and turning to dust. He gave a brief prayer to the souls of those turned Undead before turning back to the others. "Do that."

The President ordered her bodyguards to destroy the remaining idle Undead with Boruda doing the most work as a black limo pulled up on the street, followed by several armoured black cars. She looked to Izuku who used Mask of Many Faces to change his suit to one of the bodyguard's suits, mostly doing so prolong his appearance as Warlock and not a teenager. "Very well, Warlock. Where is this person who will explain everything?"

Tokyo - Kotodama district

"This is a library." The President said, looking at the place the limo had stopped in front of.

"Very observant, were going inside." Izuku replied, jumping from the Limo and changing his appearance to his regular Warlock outfit. Hawks exited with Nezu, the principal floating next to and holding on to his shoulder, getting good use out of those magic levitation boots. Hawks simply looked exhausted, reasonably so as it was incredibly late in the night but also because he was having to take in all the magic stuff for the first time. Nezu was actually taking it surprisingly well for someone so intelligent, maybe he was just excited to learn new things.

The President exited while still circled by bodyguards and still giving Izuku a look of seriousness and scepticism, probably because Izuku had since given up trying to seem more mysterious than he really was. Being mysterious and hard to understand was Couatl's job.

Izuku tested the door and it was locked, he knocked a few times and waited awkwardly for a few moments. After what felt like far too long the door had opened by itself and Izuku walked in, seeing Sylvar at his desk simply reading from a book. The Elf wearing his Librarian outfit, the formal grey suit and sunset tie. Izuku turned around to face the rest, "Come on in, don't be shy. Take a seat and pick out anything you wish, just as long as you have a library card."

Hawks, Nezu and The President walked in cautiously but the door immediately slammed shut after her, leaving the bodyguards outside. "Alright, "Warlock" why have you come so late. Or perhaps I should say so early considering the time." Sylvar spoke, purposefully not using Izuku's name to conceal his identity.

Izuku ran up to the desk "I told them all Magic was real and," he pointed to the President "She doesn't believe me," he pointed to Hawks "He needs examining because I have no idea what's up with him," then he pointed to Nezu, "And he...I'm not sure actually, I think he's just tagging along." Izuku rummaged in his pocket and pulled out the scroll "Also I have a gift, a scroll that I have identified as Fireball but can't read at all."

Sylvar looked to the guests then to the scroll, standing up and waving his hands, muttering a spell before throwing a small wooden chest on the floor which rapidly grew to a decent sized chest, he walked to and opened it, placing the scroll inside before the chest shrunk back into the small version. Sylvar then spoke a few words and tapped Izuku on the head with his cane, teleporting the both of them with a ripple in space to directly in front of the President.

Izuku shivered "Teleporting always feels weird."

The President stood with importance and power even without her bodyguards, "My men can and will break down that door if you do not explain yourself this instant."

Sylvar chuckled, tapping his staff on the floor, "What door?" The President turned to see the door missing from where it once was. "Now, young lady, I know who you are and you should know this. Magic is real and all around you, every single thing has some magic in it. Just take a good look around you, an old man erases the door to his house and teleports across the room and yet you refuse to believe that something supernatural is happening. "That it must be a Quirk!" you think. Well Quirks are in fact magic. You see, long ago-"

"Enough! I refuse to be a part of this joke any longer!" The President shouted.

"Please refrain from interrupting me." Sylvar calmly said, waving his hand as the words he spoke seemed to create visible magic energy around his mouth, "May I make a [Suggestion]? Remain quiet, listen and remember everything I say." The magic quickly faded from his mouth and the President's demeanour shifted, no longer angry but listening intently.

"Long ago, when the Earth was younger and Humans were just beginning to learn to write. A grand kingdom in an alternate world had lost hundreds of thousands of lives and so turned to taking occupants from other planets, forming gateways to and from their own magic filled universes with this one and many more. Over the millennia creatures would stumble in and out of these first gates and many others created afterwards, creating tales of magic, wonder and mystical adventures. However, a great tragedy befell that grand magic universe and all of magic itself was very briefly erased, destroying these gateways and leaving Humans in the magicless word they find themselves in. For many years magic had only existed on this planet in brief, dying sparks but never grew to a brilliant flame. But 200 years ago a rift in space caused a wave of powerful pure magic to flow over the Universe, leaving remnants of magic to cause the first glowing child. This magic would create a new subspecies of Human that had innate magic abilities built into their very DNA, a Quirk."

The President snapped out of her daze and looked down in a mixture of emotions, completely silent. Sylvar tapped his staff on the floor and the doors appeared once more, "If you wish to leave, you may. But remember that this war against evil goes far deeper than Heroes and Villains. Far, far deeper than you can imagine." The President said nothing, and walked out, the doors closing behind her.

"Woah. You broke her brain. I didn't even get to ask my favour." Izuku said, pulling the Vampire Knife from his coat, "By the way, we got this evil bloodsucking knife from a cultist who I think was also a wizard."

Sylvar looked at it before shrugging, "Well, I don't have any use for it. You can keep it." He turned to face Hawks and Nezu, "Now then, something was wrong with you? What is it, a curse? A disease?"

Hawks began explaining everything that happened to him during his fight with the Undead and the Cultist, how he had visons of a place of infinite sky and a woman made of clouds. How he was absolutely performing some kind of magic somehow without realising it, being unable to recreate it on command.

'Do you have any ideas about this?' Izuku asked Couatl.

'The location he has described resembles that of the Elemental Plane of Air. Though, despite the name, the Plane is not entirely air, fragments of elemental fire, earth and water oft combine within and scatter throughout the Plane. It is thought that an expanse of naught but sky is uncommon at the very least but is understood as the likeliest location.'

'So could this cloud lady be a Goddess or something?"

'The knowledge on Deities outside of The Upper Planes is limited. It is possible, though it is equally possible this being possesses no Godly powers.'

"Sylvar, do you have any books about Deities in the Elemental Planes? We have a theory going on here." Izuku asked. In response Sylvar tapped on the floor with his cane and a row of books close by began to move like a conveyor belt until it stopped and a silvery spectral hand grabbed a single book bound in a high quality leather and runic language on the cover. Sylvar's Mage Hand placed the book on a table that had morphed itself out of the floor.

"It is not that specific, but this encyclopaedia of Deities in general should work for you." Sylvar called out before turning his attention back to Hawks.

Keigo was still not entirely sure about what was happening, but had long since given up on attempting to make sense of it. As illogical and childish as it sounded, he was speaking to a wizard in a magical library. He watched as Warlock obtained a book from moving wooden shelves and was reading at a table that built itself out of the floor. Nezu was sitting next to him like everything that was happening was completely normal.

"So, young man, this being, be it a Deity or another creature of high magical prowess, has chosen to imbue you with a spark of magic within your soul. It seems your affinity for flight caught the attention of a powerful being of the skies and wished to assist you." This wizard, Sylvar he think he heard Warlock say, explained.

Keigo looked back at Warlock again before responding to the Wizard, "So, what's his deal? Is he a "Wizard" like you? Is my "magic" like his?"

"No, he's a Warlock, he made a deal with a powerful being in exchange for power. You're not like him, it's more like the powers that be chose to give you a little nudge in the direction of learning magic. If anything, your magic is closer to mine, one that must be studied, practiced and learned." The wizard explained.

"So...I'm a Wizard?"

"Not quite. You are a warrior, a master of martial combat who is skilled in all manner of weapons. You are a fighter, plain and simple, but you are a magical fighter. Scholars of the arcane would call ones like you an Eldritch Knight."

Keigo deeply sighed, "It's...Definitely a lot to take in. Learning magic exists and that I have some kind of wind magic now."

"You get used to it!" Warlock shouted from across the room.

Sylvar hummed in thought for a moment before tapping his staff on the floor once again, waving his hands and creating a staircase out of the floorboards and bookshelves that extended outward into a portion of the building that was physically impossible for it to exist. "I might have something for you to help focus that fragment of magic inside of you, follow me."

He, followed up the stairs and into a room that looked like a grand museum, numerous immaculate weapons and armours being held in glass cases. Sylvar knocked on one of the cases and presumably cast a magic spell that unlocked the case, pulling a pristine silver blade out which seemed to be in absolute perfect condition, handing it to Keigo.

As he held the sword it felt incredibly light in his grip, unnaturally so, like his own feather blades. Upon closer inspection of the blade and sheath he found it was actually an old tachi design and not a more modern katana like he had initially believed due to the similarities. The blade moved swiftly in his hands like it was lighter than the air he slashed through and after a practice swing it produced a sound like the whistling wind.

"That blade was something of a project I made with a swordsmith I once knew, to make a blade that surpassed the fabled Kusanagi no Tsurugi." He chuckled to himself, "We failed, but what we did make was still quite the blade. We called it the Arashi Masamune."

Keigo's curiosity got the better of him, when feeling the magical energy flow within the weapon he couldn't help but feel a little excited, "Alright then Wizard, where can I test this thing out."

Izuku flipped through page after page of the book of various Deities, trying to find ones that focus around air or the wind. Though the book was written in an unknown script it had magically changed so that Izuku could read from it and when Nezu joined him he was also able to read from it.

The two had made very little in terms of progress, "My goodness, there certainly are a lot of Deities, it seems we skimmed past ones from the ancient Egyptian and Greek pantheons. Do you think this would mean that all of Humanities religious pantheons are likely to coexist?" Nezu asked, seemingly very excited to be reading about pantheons he had never heard of before.

"I'm pretty sure all a God needs to exist is enough people believing them to exist." Izuku explained, flipping to the next page.

'Grotesquely oversimplified yet not inaccurate.'

"Yes I know it's oversimplified, I don't want to recite a lecture's worth of information every time I explain anything magical." Izuku complained.

Nezu lightly chuckled, "I can only imagine that you are arguing with that being you made a deal with for your powers. I cannot say I'm not curious about it, I am simply thrilled to begin learning new things again."

Izuku laughed, "If anyone could learn everything about magic it would be you." He flipped to another page, "Say, could I ask about that favour again?"

"Why, absolutely Mr Warlock. After everything you have introduced to me today I can say with utmost certainty that I am in debt to you."

"Well if that's the case, then-" Izuku began before noticing the page in front of him, "Oh, wait never mind! This looks promising."

This page in this book of Gods and Goddesses showed several illustrations of a woman made of clouds or air, alongside a holy symbol of a cloud on a blue flag. "Akadi, The Queen of Air. A Goddess of wind, speed and flying creatures. Well Hawks definitely fits the requirements. Ah, it says here that she wasn't a true Goddess and was a Primordial of the Air, Primordials being an elemental species that once tried to compete with the Gods for dominance. After this was found out she left the Plane of Air and has since chosen to reside in a plane called Sky Home. A place made purely out of elemental air in the Elemental Chaos, an infinite Plane made of pure elemental, positive and negative energy."

"Well then," Nezu said before taking a dramatic sip of tea, "It would seem we have found exactly who we were looking for."

"...Have you just been carrying that the whole time?"

Keigo calmly held the Masamune, trying to attune himself with the blade, focussing his mind on the image of the wind flowing around the sword, holding his hand out to enhance his focus and to physically pull the magic he needed to him, holding it where he wanted it to be. With a quick breath he slashed once more with the blade coated in a raging gale.

[Wind Blade]

The metal blade sliced smoothly through a wooden dummy and the wind shot out from the blade, forming that recognisable razor blast of wind which flew to another target, slicing the second target clean in half.

"Alright, I think I finally got it." Keigo said, sheathing the Masamune on his hip. "I guess I'm going to have to keep practicing to see if I can make any other spells happen."

Sylvar gave a gentle applause, "And even in less than an hour, I'm impressed. However, you must remember, these spells are not just inserted into your brain. Unlike others magic users, you must make the effort to learn every minute aspect of the spells. What you have learned is a Cantrip, the simplest category of spells that can be used as many times as is wished."

Keigo nodded, trying to take in everything he had learned about magic and commit it to memory. "I think I should be going, I'll need to inform the President of everything that happened here."

"Very well, I shall see the three of you off." Sylvar said, tapping his walking stick on the ground again and making a staircase in the wall, leading down into the first main area he arrived in with Nezu and Warlock. Warlock had since removed his hat again, revealing the green haired man's face once again, however the hat was now being worn by Nezu, whose face was clouded by shadows like Warlock's normally would have been.

"Oh, your back. I was getting bored. By the way we found out about that Cloud Lady. Akadi, The Queen of Air who's technically not a Goddess but that's neither here nor there." Warlock said pointing to the open book which was picked up by a silver, ghostly hand controlled by Sylvar.

"Ah, I see. Well this is certainly interesting, she must have found you quite the amusing Human to have found an interest in you. I shall put some research into this." Sylvar commented.

Nezu handed Warlock back his hat, which he put on in an overly dramatic fashion to once more hide his face. Warlock ran up to Hawks, "Ooh, nice sword. Say, if you're going back to the President could you ask that favour for me?"

"Sure, what is it."

"I would like my own official Hero Licence and I want to be mentioned during this years Hero Billboard Chart event."

The first thing was not much of a surprise, it was one of the original offers made to convince Warlock to begin with, however the second request made Keigo let out a short laugh. Seeing as Warlock was able to make the people of Japan and even Heroes feel much safer from the UKF, he personally would have given him a spot in the top 10. "Sure thing, I'll see what I can do."

"I shall put forward an appeal for this, I must admit I find it quite amusing." Nezu added.

Keigo gave a quick goodbye before flying at full speed back to the HPSC building, what he was expecting was some solemn faces due to the deaths of a few guards. What he was not expecting was people frantically running back and forth and shouting orders around. He quickly located the President who, already previously looking stressed, looked to be in a state of pure distress.

"Madam President! What's going on!?" He asked, thinking something terrible had happened.

"Vital information has gone completely missing from both physical records and digital records!" She revealed.

"What information?" Depending on the information a leak could prove to be very bad for the HPSC.

The President took a deep breath and attempted to calm herself, "Have you ever heard the name, All for One?"

Izuku adjusted his coat after Hawks vanished from the scene, "Well, I should get going too. Still gotta sleep even with all this magic in me."

Sylvar held up his hand to stop him, "Not so fast, you aren't the only one with presents." He placed a tiny chest on the floor that was different to the one from earlier. With a few words and hand movements it grew to the size of a regular chest, he opened it and pulled out a pair of gloves that were identical to Izuku's current gloves. "These are Gloves of Sparking, snap your fingers and you create sparks to form fires using Control Flames."

Izuku put them on and gave a few snaps, creating brief sparks like a broken lighter. "I mean, it's cool but Hawks got a whole freaking sword."

"Keep giving me sass like that and I'll start charging you for these." Sylvar joked before reaching back into the chest for the next item, removing a similarly ornate staff to Izuku's own, however it was made out of a lighter coloured wood with sun shaped engravings. "I call this Day Break, a staff that can either damage your target with a regular bludgeoning hit or a flash of radiant magic. If you want to make a light in the dark then just lift it and say "Light"." as he said that the tip of the staff lit up like a torch, if it were dark it would probably aluminate around him pretty well.

"Oh and there is one more thing this staff can do, if you point at your target," He used his walking stick to clear the area and make a little wooden dummy in the centre. "Then simply say the command phrase, "Carpe Diem"." A tiny mote of light shot from the staff and stuck to the dummy before rapidly expanding and exploding into a pillar of bright light, searing the surroundings with holy radiant light. "Though this is only single use. It will recharge upon a new dawn rising, when day breaks so to speak." He chuckled to himself.

Izuku took the staff, and twirled it around, the ends lighting up with a shimmer of radiant energy before he pointed it upwards and dropped it into his sleeve, storing it in his magic coat. "I would like to apologise. Please keep making me cool stuff." Izuku feigned seriousness before giggling like a child, sliding the staff out of his other sleeve and spinning it again. "Seriously though, this is very cool. Thank you."

Sylvar smiled as Izuku continued to mess with the new staff, "Well I am glad you like it. Maybe this will teach you not to sass a Wizard."

"No promises." Izuku said, throwing the staff into the air and catching it in his pocket making it disappear once again.

Nezu, who was still completely enthralled by all the magic happening around him tapped Izuku on the shoulder, floating in the air to be at eye level. "Well, I believe we should discuss that favour now. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh right, I knew I was forgetting something." Izuku said, gently smacking his forehead. "Well, Mr. Nezu, as the owner and principal of the greatest Hero school in Japan and probably the world. I would like to request a position in your school."

Nezu hummed in agreement, "Very well. However, like all students, you will have to take an exam."

Izuku was about to cheer but stopped himself upon noticing exactly what Nezu said, "Wait, student! How did you-!? Ah, I mean, surely you're joking, Mr Nezu."

Nezu simply laughed to himself, "No matter how well you hide your appearance Mr Warlock, I am an educator who has watched thousands of young men and women become proud Heroes. Every single one had something in common, that burning flame of youth that would one day light up all of Japan with hope. It is hard not to see that in you." He explained before taking a dramatic sip of tea, "Now, despite this, I do have something of an offer for you."

Izuku grew rightfully curious, "What did you have in mind?"

"How would you like a temporary job at UA?" Nezu asked calmly with a kind smile, as if he had not just dropped a metaphorical bombshell onto Izuku.

"What!?"

...

...

...

Somewhere in Japan

Deep, deep down, far below a lively society lay a labyrinth of cold steel tunnels, an unseen base that housed not only the most gruesome of human experiments but the greatest of evils the world had ever known. Lurking deeper still in this wretched headquarters wreathed in evil was the one that for well over a century had terrorised not only Japan but the whole world and still is the cause of horror stories to this day.

Tall and imposing, the very aura exuded by All for One would be enough to terrify most into grovelling before him. Though injured from his last battle years ago, his respirator mask would hide these scars from the one who had chosen to intrude upon his humble abode. Even with every security system armed and activated, the single intruder had arrived right before him, without an ounce of fear in his being.

This man shuffled the deck of cards in his hands, though he could not see it perfectly due to his missing eyes, he could still tell that the cards were being shuffled expertly, cutting cards like a magician. He placed them onto his shoulder, sliding them down his robe into his hand. "Well, All for One, I believe this is quite the opportunity for you." He shot the cards in an arc from one hand to the other, "The Undying King has the power to restore your body to it's prime. By his divine word, our organisation would like to propose a partnership with you."

The prospect of his regained youth was a promising way to get his attention, "And, what shall you wish for in return." All for One's voice being warped and booming from his mask.

The robed man chuckled "Well, I can't say it was hard to miss those little experiments you sent to attack me when I so rudely intruded. We would like to suggest a trade of sorts. The knowledge and means to create these creatures in exchange for a body truly fit for the Demon Lord."

All for One could tell there was no lie being told by this cultist and a body in his own prime was quite tempting. Though with a new body he would not have a need for this cult in his perfect world. Yes, destroying them afterwards would be the best course of action. "Very well. I accept these terms of our partnership."

"The Undying King welcomes you with open arms." The man said before throwing the cards all around him, vanishing completely alongside the cards.

Beneath his intimidating, dark mask, All for One smiled.

Chapter Text

(4.5 months until the UA entrance exam)

Somewhere in Japan

Martialist had grown quite used to the bindings of Tartarus, though waiting to leave had gotten quite tedious. He wished the brothers and sisters of his faith could break him out sooner rather than later. Finding the whole ordeal to be quite boring he decided to sleep, expecting a visitor to extract him in late evening.

He awoke to find himself no longer in the brightly lit padded cell he had come to know and instead inside of a dark, ice cold room strapped to a steel table. His arms and legs bound so tight he couldn't even struggle to free himself, he was also quick to notice the gag placed in his mouth preventing him from making any noise, never mind call out for someone.

"Ah good, you're awake." An elderly male voice spoke, the light hanging above didn't illuminate much of his face but it did certainly light up the thick round glasses and a metal cart of what could be described as medical tools but looked closer to weapons of torture. "Then we can begin this new experiment." The elderly man moved closer to reveal a lab coat stained with blood and other unknown substances.

Also stepping into the light was a man he did not recognise but wore the same cloak and symbol of his clergy, with his hood down Martialist saw the long white hair draping elegantly around his shoulders and his eyes of grey with white pupils. Though this man was in the same chilled room, his breaths did not fog like his or the doctor's. "Doctor, I am hoping this demonstration won't be taking very long. I do have other businesses the Undying King would have me tend to."

"You can't rush when making a masterpiece, and with all these new tools to work with why waste a single second of experimentation. Leave that body there, I'll be using it in just a moment." The Doctor said, grabbing a thick syringe and moving to the side of him, he tried to struggle but all attempts were in vain, as was any attempt to scream.

The long haired man stood judgingly, dumping a body unceremoniously onto the floor, "You have failed twice my brother in Death. You were the closest any of us had gotten and you squandered your chance to kill that pest, and for what? To deny your birth right, your Quirk, the gift the Undying King had given on to you before you even knew of his existence. You bring shame to us, but don't fret Brother, your body will be reconstituted. You will be allowed to please our dark lord once more."

That was the last thing Martialist heard before everything turned dark and would never grow bright again.

Japan - Musutafu- UA High School

On a Saturday evening, well after any student had gone home, Nezu sat in the conference room of his prestigious school, requesting several members of staff in the different departments be present. He sipped from his cup as they filtered in, a sleeping Shota being quite literally dragged in by Nemuri and Hizashi. The other faculty members entering shortly after one another, once the staff had taken their seats he began the meeting.

"Thank you all for coming, I'm sure you are all curious about why I have called you here. As I am sure you are all aware there has been a slowly growing threat all over Japan of the Villain group known as the Undying King's Faithful. In response to this I have chosen to hire two new members of staff to fortify UA against an attack from any members of this group." Nezu explained.

"You think the UA barrier isn't good enough to stop a couple creeps in hoods?" Higari questioned, a rightful question from the one who built the security system.

"I do. I have come to understand that they posses a method of medium range teleportation that can completely negate the barrier's use, as well as many of our other defences. Our defence droids would also likely be rendered obsolete by the large number of their forces they can unleash at any given moment."

"A warping Quirk? That is certainly quite the troublesome thing to deal with." Nemuri commented.

"So, who're these new faculty members? If you're thinkin' it'll make the school safer than we can, I reckon it must be someone pretty darn good." Snipe asked.

"Well, I believe some of you will be quite familiar with one of them." Nezu said, turning to the door leading inside. "You may come in now." He called out.

The door opening to reveal an older gentleman with long fantastic golden hair, brilliant blue eyes and immaculate grey suit with a tie that depicted a glorious sunset. The elderly Wizard friend of Warlock, with a walking stick in hand and a kind-hearted smile of his lips. He entered alone, giving a formal bow to the other faculty, "Good evening, My name is Veratain Hai Sylvar. I am pleased to meet you all."

"Wait, wait, now. Where's the other one?" Hizashi asked.

Sylvar rolled his eyes, "He likes to make an entrance."

Suddenly in the centre of the room was a light popping sound and a man quite literally popped into existence in the air. The trench coat wearing man defied gravity as he slowly floated down to his feet next to the older taller man, he spun and bowed dramatically to the Heroes. "Good evening to you all. I, am Warlock. Master of Mystery and unrelenting thorn in the Undying King's side. Pleased to assist in the fortification of UA High."

Nezu smiled behind the cup he drank from, the Boots of Levitation had certainly proven quite useful in making an entrance. He took notice of the reactions from Snipe, Hizashi and Nemuri, ones more of excitement than surprise. The dramatic and confident persona of Warlock was possibly what interested the latter two. It would seem Snipe had been doing his independent research and knew of Warlock's Vigilantism, likely excited to not be the only ex-Vigilante at the school now.

"Alright, what's your plans to fortify the school then? How you plan on stopping any warpers is beyond me?" Higari asked the two more magically inclined individuals.

"Well, we plan on building our own barrier that should stop anything from appearing where it shouldn't, not unlike your own barrier Mr Power Loader but attuned to a certain "wavelength" to disrupt any attempt to teleport inside. We also spoke to Mr Nezu about an optional dormitory system to allow students to stay on the much safer UA premises." Warlock explained.

"Ah, the Height's Alliance plan? I thought that was still on the backburner." Ken brought up. His cement Quirk was a fundamental part in the planned building of the Height's Alliance dormitories but not as much for the next iteration of the dormitories.

"They were Ken, though with several improvements in design made by Mr Sylvar which not only guarantied a significant boost in student safety and comfort I decided to expedite the development of these buildings while handing over the construction privileges to Mr Sylvar." Nezu explained.

"I see, thank you for explaining. I hope to discuss these designs with you when possible Mr Sylvar." Ken said, seemingly happy with the clarification he got.

"Well, I do have other business to discuss. If anyone has any questions for these two before I continue with our meeting please speak now." Nezu said.

Nemuri immediately stood up, "So, is there a Mrs Warlock?" The trench coat wearing man immediately vanished in a cloud of smoke from the room. Nemuri chuckled as Hizashi looked at her with faux disappointment, clearly holding back a snicker. "Aw, what? I was kidding."

After the meeting the several Heroes left the conference room, the only ones left inside were Sylvar and Nezu. Izuku lifted one of the ceiling tiles and slid back into the room, using Mage Hand to put the tile back where it was once he touched the floor.

"Ah, so that's where you were hiding. I had guessed you would have gone further away." Nezu said as Izuku removed the Boots of Levitation, giving them back to the principal.

"Well Misty Step only has a range of about 10 meters." Izuku explained.

'And you had used it to escape embarrassment.' Couatl said, many voices clearly judging him for his immature spell use.

'I think anyone who could teleport would use it to warp out of embarrassing situations.' He thought back.

"Alright, I believe we should discuss our plans for the real fortification of UA." Sylvar said, clapping his hands together with a wisp of flame and turning it into a large scroll of parchment, unrolling it on Nezu's desk and revealing a drawing of a top down view of the UA campus and surrounding area. He gave a few magic words and rubbed a piece of fabric between his hands, pressing it into the parchment and spreading the magic over the image. The drawing glowed a subtle purple and emerged from the paper forming a 3D hologram-like image of all the UA property. Sylvar moved his hands and brought the illusion to the middle of the room.

"My, how impressive." Nezu said with a smile, impressed by the versatility of magic once more.

Sylvar waved his hands and formed a complex ring of multiple circles, runes and symbols beneath the property, "This is a pipe network I devised to run beneath the school and surrounding area. If we run holy water through the pipes and give me enough time, I will be able to create a continuous invisible barrier of Abjuration magic around the school that should block lower level teleportation into the premises."

"Low level teleportation? So if they used a higher form of teleporting then they would break through?" Izuku questioned.

"It's a very big barrier, one that is also charged with enough Illusion magic to remain invisible. Making something so impenetrable would require a lot more than the time we have. Besides it would require a lot more resources to make enough higher level teleport scrolls to make a meaningful attack. Spells like Teleport and Gate would negate this barrier but they are 7th and 9th level spells respectfully, it would be unlikely anyone but the Undying King himself would have those spells available on standby. Not to mention making high level scrolls is incredibly tedious, I doubt he would be able to make enough for an all out attack." Sylvar explained.

The illusion zoomed in on the front gates, showing two new statues alongside the busts of famous Heroes. They were large lion-like Komainu statues. "I was going to go with a more western Gargoyle design but I figured that these guardians would fit in better if they looked like this. Of course I could have hired actual Gargoyles but I have a bad history with fiends and they may have eaten one of the students so Golems would work better overall." Sylvar continued, moving the illusion to several other locations on the map with other new statues that were also Golems.

"I will also need to create a doorway into my extraplanar home on the premises, since it is located in it's own Demi-Plane it would be the optimal place for a sort of "panic room" in case of an evacuation." Sylvar explained, clapping his hands together and making the 3D model vanish in a light puff of purple smoke. "That is all I believe I will be able to do on my own in just a few months. Alongside the plans for the improved dormitories, with enough funding and man power this should get done around the time the next school year begins."

Nezu nodded, seemingly quite impressed with the sales pitch for the new security systems. "Well, aside from the troubling thought of Gargoyles, I believe there is nothing to worry about in these defence systems. I will be making some changes to our current defences as well, some new security cameras, motion sensors, defence droids and the like."

Izuku raised a hand like a student in a classroom, "Just a quick question, Sylvar. Are you sure you can get all of this done in just a couple months. I mean, it just seems like a lot of magic that needs to be used and not only that but the physical cost to make that many gallons of holy water just seems way too high."

Sylvar chuckled, "Young man, you think overmuch. If you believe I thought of these methods without the tools to do it you are sorely mistaken. Besides that, I now have a budget provided by Mr Nezu here, probably enough to buy a small country."

"Well it has put a sizeable dent in my personal funds Mr Sylvar, I do hope you will be spending it wisely." Nezu said with a smile before turning to Izuku, "By the way Mr Warlock, I will have to put a name down for your profile on the school records, one other than Warlock. If you could give me a name, I would be grateful."

"Can it be a fake name?" He asked immediately.

Nezu simply chuckled, "I never said it had to be yours, just a name."

Izuku paused for a moment, he had quickly realised he was still very bad at lying.

"...Jack..." for some reason this was the first fake name that came to his mind.

"Jack?" Nezu asked for clarification.

"...Yes? Jack Midoriya." Izuku said in a rushed panic, almost immediately realising his mistake the very second the words left his lips.

Nezu paused, "Ah I see, "Midori" meaning green, like your hair and eyes in this form. Very clever." he chuckled.

"Yep." Izuku was all he was able to choke out, breathing such a heavy internal sigh of relief it was like he exhaled his soul.

'Your luck continues to know no bounds, Izuku. As does your inability to speak untruth. Frankly, it is found almost comical.'

'It's not funny, I'm dying out here!'

'Twas a figure of speech.'

Sylvar tapped him on the head with his walking stick, knocking him out of his stupor. "Well then, "Midoriya", I'm sure you are quite busy. Run along now, I will be conversing with Nezu for a while on our plans for UA's defences." He intentionally put emphasis on "Midoriya" as if it were an inside joke.

"Right! You got it!" Izuku said leaving the conference room at top speed.

Veratain sat for a moment as Midoriya left the room in a visible panic. "So, I don't suppose this means you'll continue your search for his true identity?" he asked Nezu, the principal sitting with an amused look on his face.

"Ah yes, the true identity of Warlock. It truly is a mystery, is it not? The world may never know." He said jokingly, chuckling to himself before sipping from his tea.

Veratain gave a sly grin, "You already knew didn't you?"

"A few days after his blood was tested for a Quirk I ran through a database of every Quirkless person in Musutafu, knowing this was his preferred territory and likely his home. I quickly classified any file on the Midoriya family immediately after deducing and confirming his identity to protect them." Nezu explained.

"I'm guessing you didn't tell the President about any of this." Veratain said, pouring himself a cup of tea with a conjured Mage Hand.

"Upon learning what little I could about him, I knew that eventually the HPSC's ideals would surely clash with Midoriya's. Truth be told I've already set up a plan to ensure the safety of the Midoriya family." He took another sip of tea, seemingly for dramatic effect. "Besides, I wouldn't want to miss out on all the entertainment." he laughed.

Izuku wandered the halls in UA still in his Warlock appearance, taking in the scenery as the light of the setting sun filtered in through the large glass windows. It felt a little surreal to be standing inside the school he had always dreamed of being in. The large empty halls giving a slightly ominous feeling, like a usually bustling city street being devoid of people or a school yard at night, just a feeling he was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.

'What a weird feeling.' he thought to himself.

'Kenopsia.' Couatl suddenly said.

'What?'

'The forlorn atmosphere of this place once bustling with life, now abandoned. The word you are searching for is kenopsia'

'Hmm, now that I have a word for it it kinda feels less fantastical.' he thought.

He continued to walk around the halls for a few more moments before looking out of one of the windows at the sunset, he began to think about the other day where the Undead attacked the HPSC office, how there was a much more powerful Cultist who didn't kill him. From magical aura alone he could tell she was much more powerful than him or any other Cultist he had met.

'Hey Couatl, why do you think she didn't kill me. She was an Undead with the Cultists wasn't she?'

'It is unknown to one, though it is known that some Undead possess varying degrees of free will. Liches, Vampires, Ghosts. If it possesses a higher cognitive ability it is believed one might retain the ability to act upon one's own accord. Perhaps they simply did not desire to kill you.'

'What I don't understand is why?' He thought, leaning on a handrail still staring at the sunset. 'If she killed the other cultist then that implies that she has a vendetta against them, unless it was to make sure he didn't talk. But then why burn the cloak if that was the only reason? If she was rebelling against the Lich then why would she keep working for and worshiping him?' Izuku planted his head on the handrail, "Ugh, too many questions."

"I ain't interruptin' anything am I?" He heard a voice say next to him, seeing Snipe: The Ranger Hero, standing next to him also staring at the sun.

"Oh! Uh, no. Nope, just looking at the sunset. Thinking about...stuff." Izuku said.

"Stuff huh? Well, can't say I ain't guilty of doin' the same. Always gets me thinkin' 'bout the past, what I coulda done different." He said, letting out a small sigh from behind his mask. "Well, I'll be leavin' you to your "stuff" now. Just know it's nice not bein' the only ex-Vigilante in the faculty."

"Woah, wait?! You were a Vigilante?!" Izuku blurted out.

"Guess it ain't really common knowledge. Back then I would've called myself a "Wandering Bounty Hunter", lookin' back I was more like a homeless Vigilante. Nezu found me back then, still ain't even sure what he was doin' in America at the time, but he saw somethin' in me. Next thing I know I'm learnin' Japanese, getting a license and teachin' kids." Snipe explained. "Strange how life turns out."

"I always assumed you were from America."

Snipe let out a small laugh, "What? The cowboy getup give it away?" He adjusted said cowboy hat, "I'm from Illinois, but I never found home that great." He looked out to the sunset again before turning to walk away, "Well, that's all I wanted to say. Just remember that bein' a Vigilante is mighty different than bein' a Hero. One learns to appreciate peace a little more than the other." He started to walk away.

"Hey, Snipe." Izuku called out, causing the gun toting Hero to turn his head, "Can I get an autograph?"

He let out a short chuckle, "Sure thing."

Izuku's Dream

That night Izuku decided he was feeling confident, wanting to increase his training difficulty. In the dark void of his dream an area made to look like a forest clearing had been made out of geometric shapes of light, like an early 3D videogame's graphics. Enemies made of red light quickly emerged from the tree line.

Izuku remained defensive, blocking and dodging the attacks and learning what he could before using his staff to smack one with a sword away from him. One that looked like a magic user launched a cone of fire at him like a flamethrower, he snapped his fingers with the Gloves of Sparking and Used Control Flames to launch his own plume of fire back at the magic caster.

He barely dodged as a much taller, more armoured looking enemy jumped out from the flames, swinging with a large two handed sword. The enemy tried to swing again but it's swings were telegraphed heavily from the slow swing of a heavy blade. He jumped over a low swing and smacked the enemy on the top of his helmet, running up his body while bludgeoning anything he could with the staff. He jumped down from the taller enemy down to the magic user, attacking as he landed and knocking them down.

The 3 enemies shattered into red particles as they were defeated, then they all fused into a much more imposing figure. The red light flaking off of it to reveal what looked like a three headed lion, but one head was that of an evil looking goat and another was a dragon-like head with blue scales. The beast also had a dragon's wings and tail, also with blue scales.

"What the hell is that!?" Izuku shouted before the beast roared in a cacophony of the three screaming animal heads. The beast charging him with ferocious lion claws which he barely dodged, he did not dodge the angry headbutt of the goat head though as the horns bludgeoned his body with enough force to crack ribs. Electricity crackled around the dragon head's mouth as it tried to bite him, fortunately being blocked by jabbing it's face with his staff.

Izuku was not expecting this to put it lightly, he had been pitted against monsters before but this beast was much more evil looking than the last giant monster he died to in his dream, a Manticore if he remembered correctly. Why couldn't he just fight another one of those instead of this chimeric abomination that was filled with rage and lightning.

Izuku, though panicking, had a sudden, very stupid idea but in his adrenaline fuelled state he thought it was a great plan. "Hey Ugly. Why don't you shoot that electricity at me. Someone so stupid like you could never get a good hit in melee." He taunted while running away.

The monster roared and chased after him, using it's draconic wings to fly faster than it could run. The smell of ozone filled the air as the lightning crackled around it's dragon mouth.

Izuku smiled, just before it fired a blast of energy he quickly spoke a few Celestial words, smoke beginning to billow off of him before he vanished in the smoke, casting Misty Step and reappearing next to the dragon head and grabbing on to it, desperately trying with all his might to twist it to face the other heads. The dragon head fired it's blast of lightning, like a stream of thunderbolts shooting from it's mouth and searing the goat and lion heads with electricity.

The monster shook him off, clawing at his body on the ground and slicing deeply into his chest. Izuku knew he was still in the dream but it still hurt like hell whenever he was injured in the training simulation in his head. He began to speak words of Celestial again, fire on the tips of his staff and spinning it to make a circle but as it collapsed into a bead of fire he changed the elemental nature of the spell as the air began to grow frigid and icy.

[Transmuted Flaming Sphere - Ice]

The growing sphere of flames warped and changed into one of icy winds, swirling in a perfect sphere, chunks of ice and snow being thrown around inside the frigid ball of frost. He launched it at the beast which screeched inhumanly as ice began to grow on the beast but it quickly flew upwards and away from the ball, before divebombing Izuku with it's claws and fangs bared to kill.

"Bring it on!" Izuku called out to the beast as it came to kill him.

Izuku stood up in the blackness of his dream after dying once again in a simulated fight, watching as the light in his chest flew out and Couatl formed from it majestically unfurling into the brilliant winged snake they were.

"You know, when I said I wanted something more difficult, I was expecting something like, "Oh these ones can only be hurt by magic and these ones are immune to magic." or something. I didn't mean eviscerate me with a three headed murder machine!" Izuku complained.

"You performed well under the unfair circumstances. One could be impressed with your creativity in the face of overwhelming power." Couatl praised, their voices echoing all around with their mouth still remaining still.

"I'd be grateful if I didn't have to learn how it feels like to be eaten by an evil goat." He said sarcastically as he shivered before collapsing on the floor in exhaustion. "Can we take a break, like 10, 15 minutes."

Couatl began to gently circle around Izuku from above, gliding elegantly while moving effortlessly. "Very well. You may rest."

"Woo!" Izuku cheered, raising his arms in the air while still laying on the floor. A comfortable sofa forming underneath him and lifting him up while he still laid down. "So, about the next level. When do you think I'll be ready for that?" He asked.

"It is thought you are nearing the point at which you can achieve Level 4 without any permanent or temporary harm."

"Sweet! And if I level up right now?"

"Permanent or temporary harm."

"Oh, it's not like a percentage chance thing?"

"It is not."

"Hmm, well what new things do I get from it? A new spell? Or do I get another invocation thingy, like Agonising Blast?"

"One new Cantrip and one new spell." Couatl stopped circling and instead chose to float effortlessly next to him, "Though one and others have come to a conclusion that you should be knowledgeable of the abilities you receive before the level increase to prevent confusion. It was also thought you may wish to choose the spells yourself.

"There are choices? I just assumed anyone would get what I got." Izuku said, sitting up on the sofa and beginning to think while watching as Couatl flew further away, beginning to float idly. "I guess I'd like something to cause a distraction, you know so I could get the jump on Villains or so I can slip away unnoticed. Something like that."

"Such a request can be arranged, the Cantrip known as Minor Illusion will provide well for this cause. Do you have any requests for the other spell?"

Izuku thought for a moment before shrugging, "I think it would be best to give me something useful at the time. I keep having to have to level up right before a fight, maybe if I'm against a lot of enemies I could get something with a big area of effect."

"Speaking of which, it may be possible to "upgrade" one of your already known spells once you level up by replacing your knowledge of it with a different spell of similar use yet greater effect. In this scenario, the spell known as Thunderwave may be replaced with a separate spell known as Shatter."

"That sounds pretty good. What makes it better?"

"A dramatic increase in range, no longer limited to being cast directly before you. As well as an increase in damaging area and potential damage output. Though this spell will require a small shard of Mica when cast. Veratain Hai Sylvar is likely to possess a sum of this crystal so you will not need to venture to another shopping mall and get attacked by Cultists."

"I mean, I'm probably going to get attacked by them anyway. I always seem to end up wherever they attack, it's weird."

"Indeed."

Izuku got up from the sofa, it vanishing back into the void when he stopped touching it, "Alright, let's get back to training!"

Japan - HPSC Underground Testing Facility

Yokumiru stood alongside the President as they descended deeper down into the facility via an elevator. He himself having been losing sleep from filling out all the paperwork around the deaths of some of the Presidents elite guards and the loss of important data and continuing to cover up attacks from the UKF.

"Mera, give me some good news." The President ordered after remaining silent on the ride down.

"Well, the "Zombies" that were detained from the attack on the Mie Prefecture have yet to show any reaction to any substances you ordered to have tested. They show a great resistance to any firearms we use, several offensive quirks seem useless against them. The only things we have that managed to deal any lasting damage was the dagger that Warlock had provided in return for a Hero licence and the high amounts of physical damage from your elite guard's Quirks."

"That's acceptable, I wish to test the latest weapon design." The President said, her stern look not changing.

"Of course, Madam President." The doors opened and Yokumiru led the President through the facility, any personnel giving a respectful bow to her as she passed. They eventually reached a large reinforced steel door guarded by two guards in full protective gear and assault rifles, they each turned a key to open the door revealing a long room similar to that of a shooting range, several facility workers standing to the sides of the door.

At the far end of the room was one of those shambling corpses, moaning and struggling but affixed to the wall with steel restraints behind strip of black and yellow stripes to warn how close was too close. In the front of the room was a single pedestal, a semi-automatic pistol similar in design to the standard issue police handguns. The magazine of the gun had been loaded with silver bullets.

The President walked up, loaded the pistol and immediately fired a bullet into the torso of the walking corpse. No immediate reaction. She shot another bullet into the skull, though the damage was obvious there was so reaction from the monster as it continued to struggle to free itself. The President then fired the remaining bullets into the Zombie, the creature was still for a moment but then continued to struggle though much slower. She ejected the magazine and placed the gun back on the pedestal.

"This experiment was a failure. I hope you all understand that the longer it takes to build mass produced weapons capable of killing these monsters, the more innocent people die. Let that incentivize your work ethic." She commanded, the facility workers looking already overworked simply bowed in forgiveness. The President then walked away, Yokumiru following close behind.

"Mera, have the workers been able to determine anything about the dagger?" She asked, while walking through the pristine white halls of the facility.

"We haven't been able to remove any samples from the blade or handle, we had two workers of Christian and Buddhist faith respectively hold the dagger and both felt an overwhelming sense of dread upon contact. We tested the dagger on a death row prisoner as you requested, it drained the entire body of blood. The next person to touch the blade directly stated that he felt an extreme feeling of euphoria. We had to detain him after he tried to stab another worker. Right now it's the only weapon we have to kill these monsters." Yokumiru explained.

"I see. Mera, take me to the dagger, I wish to personally inspect it." The President ordered.

Yokumiru was hesitant but could not object, "Yes, Madam President." He led her through more of the facility until they reached another door, guarded by another pair of armed guards, opening the doors revealed a large white room with a pedestal in the middle, the dagger held by a stand under a glass box.

"Mera, leave the room and deactivate the cameras observing this room. Then lock the doors. Do not open them without checking the cameras first." Yokumiru was unsure of the President's intentions but was in no position to argue.

He left the President in the room, deactivating the cameras via a console by the door and locking the mechanical steel doors shut.

The President calmly walked over to the dagger, gently removing the glass box and examining the dagger. She removed a flask from her suit pocket, dousing her hands in holy water received by a Catholic priest. She reached for the knife, taking hold of the handle and looking at the engravings on the wicked blade that resembled veins.

She immediately stabbed the knife into the her shadow, an immediate reaction occurred as the darkness that made up her shadow flailed and spasmed.

"You've been following me for a while. Reveal yourself now and I won't have to take drastic measures." She called out. Her shadow began to expand and rise from the ground in the form of smoke that didn't float into the air but stayed low to the ground as if more dense than air. Then a black substance started seeping from the smoke, coating the once white room in impenetrable darkness.

Darkness continued to form from the smoke, covering the entire room in a film of absolute blackness, yet the President could still see herself in this darkness. From where her shadow once was a figure slowly emerged, warped, soot coated horns poked out of smoke first followed by the skull they were attached to. An almost skeletal head that seemed to resemble the skull of an elk fused with that of a human, the skull was missing a lower jaw. The remainder of the creature was wreathed in smoke and dull flames that billowed off it's body but the skull was visible and had some flesh remaining. Though this flesh looked as if it have received 4th degree burns that were never treated.

"How interesting. Humans cannot see me when I harbour within a shadow yet this one did." The creature spoke in a unnervingly almost normal voice that was too human to be it's own, speaking without any lower jaw or tongue. The blood sucking dagger remained in the creature's chest until a three fingered hand ending in bone-like claws also covered in soot and burnt flesh emerged from the ever burning smoke of the creature and pried it free. "Are all such Humans prone to violence, tis a strange place."

"I didn't notice at first but you have been following me ever since I left the house of the "Wizard". If you wanted to kill me you would have done so already, you were watching. Tell me who you are and why you are watching me and I may consider letting you live." The President ordered, feeling no fear toward this creature.

"Ahh, the Golden One's abode. Tis a nexus of magic, many creatures end up there, very few intentionally. This Human was my method of leaving and I thank this one for that. Though it was not coincidence that lead me to this one, we both have something the other wants do we not? Does it not wish for a way to destroy those who still live beyond death?"

"Tell me who you are." she calmly demanded.

"To say who I am? Tis foolish, give me a name as it pleases this one."

"What would I have that you don't?" She asked.

"This one's position of power is unique. I have not seen it in realms prior, I wish to see more of this world and its people. It's greed. It's corruption. It's lust and gluttony for power. I wish to watch from this one's eyes, who watches over the goods and evils of this region. In exchange I can lend knowledge, power, whatever it is that pleases this one."

"If I were to refuse your offer. What then?" She spoke, continuing to not show any sign of weakness as the burning smoke danced around her like a predator toying with it's prey.

"This one cannot call for help. It chose to lock itself within here with me. Tis an unfortunate outcome, to decline an offer as plentiful as mine."

"This room will not be opened until I wish it to, you cannot leave this room if you kill me. It is also air tight and has sprinklers loaded with holy water that can be activated from outside. Right now you are at my mercy, I can and will decline anything I don't find acceptable."

Though it was impossible to tell, it seemed the charred jawless skull of the monster smiled. "I think I am liking this one." From the smoke emerged a piece of paper that seemed immune to the low fires that licked at it and a quill that scribbled unintelligible script. "I am the scribe of this contract, yet it requires a signature. Pray tell what this one wishes to refer to me as for our business?"

"If we are to form a contract I wish to alter any conditions. I will not be giving up anything of high importance for something as trivial as information." The President lied, she would sacrifice much if it came down to it, if it was necessary to rid the world of the Undying King's evil.

"This one need not worry, negotiations can be worked upon. Now give me the name we shall do business under."

The President looked at the creature, the dark gunpowder-like smoke that billowed around it and the dull fires that seemed to be blocked by impenetrable darkness. "For the means of our contact, I shall refer to you as Kayaku"

"Kayaku. Ka-Ya-Ku. Kaa. Yaa. Kuu. Yes, I like this name. Very well and what would the name of this one be."

"Are you not the one who chooses?"

"My name holds power where this one's does not. Speak thy name and we shall begin the negotiation of our contract."

The President took a deep breath, staring into the empty eye sockets of the charred skull of this devilish creature. "My name is Sayaka. Sayaka Fuhai."

"Sayaka. Sa-Ya-Ka. Let us discuss our business together, Sayaka. Our partnership."

Yokumiru waited patiently by the door for an hour until a knocking could be heard from inside, he used the console to view the cameras as was requested before opening the door to reveal the President. She had blood leaking down the left side of her face that had already stained most of her suit. "Madam President! Is everything alright? What happened!"

"Mera, who is developing the weapons for use against the Undead monsters?" The President asked, completely ignoring his question and unburdened by the blood.

"A-ah, the team I chose is made up of several facility staff who specialise in designing military arms and a few with Quirks useful for manufacturing unconventional arms." Yokumiru explained.

The President pulled a sealed envelope with an unknown wax seal out of her suit pocket and handed it to him, "Give that to your team and have them build it by tomorrow."

"Y-yes Madam President." Yokumiru said, a feeling of dread creeping over him as he held the letter.

The next day Yokumiru had lead the President down into the facility again and into the same weapon testing room once again. Attached to the far end of the wall were now 6 Zombies, all in steel restraints and behind the warning line as they normally were.

The pedestal now held a new firearm, a large handgun somewhat similar in design to the M1911, one that seemed much too unwieldy to use. According to the report of the weapon Yokumiru received, the gun was 33.5cm in length and weighed 4kg. The gun was designed to shoot explosive .454 Casull rounds, the blessed steel bullets bearing a core made from a melted silver Christian cross from a popular Japanese cathedral. Due to the design of the weapon it could only hold 6 bullets in the magazine. The lead design engineer stated that the weapon would need to be wielded by someone with great physical strength or at least a strength Quirk to actually use it and not get damaged from the recoil.

The President calmly picked up the weapon in a single hand, much to the shock of everyone in the test chamber, she loaded the gun and aimed at the Zombies. She released a shot into the torso of the far left Zombie, it completely eviscerating the torso and leaving the body to burn away in blue flames. The President systematically shot at each Zombie, destroying it completely until all that remained at the end of the room were the burning ashes that were once Zombies.

"I'm impressed. Continue using this bullet design and build a gun usable by the average Japanese police officer. I would like this weapon for self defence, I will require more ammunition. Expect a dramatic increase in funding." The President spoke, before staring at the burning ashes left behind by the Zombies. She placed the weapon back on the pedestal and began to walk away, Yokumiru following behind once again.

"Mera, get me a phone call with the Prime Minister. I have business to discuss with him." The President ordered as they entered the elevator to leave the facility.

"Of course, Madam President." Yokumiru responded, trying to ignore the feeling of being watched he couldn't shake for some reason.

Japan - Kirishima Residence

On a Sunday evening Izuku stood at the front door to Kirishima's house. He took a deep breath before knocking, he got two knocks before the door suddenly swung open to reveal both Kirishima and Ashido excited to see him.

"Midobro!" Kirishima shouted with a toothy grin of pointy teeth, his once completely black hair now accented with a rouge streak of red in the front, matching his already red eyes.

"Midori!" Ashido called out, she looked the same as usual but was wearing an incredibly bright coloured shirt with the word "ACID" written on it in giant psychedelic coloured letters.

"Hey guys! Woah!" He said as they both pulled him inside, "I brought snacks, drinks and my favourite All Might Movie." He said, trying to take off his shoes with both hands full with shopping bags. Ashido took one from him but only to start rummaging through it.

"I'm surprised you only have one favourite. There's, like, a bajillion All Might movies. Aha!" She said before pulling the movie case free. "All Might and the Space Villains. Oh I watched this one a bunch as a kid." She then posed like All Might in one of the climactic scenes of the movie. "You won't be able to defeat me foul Villains, even with your space weapons! I stand for Peace, and Justice, and everyone on Earth!" She quoted, doing an All Might impression before snickering to herself.

"MANKIND HAS NOTHING TO FEAR! BECAUSE I AM HERE!" Izuku quoted, doing his own, very accurate impression of All Might as they walked through the house.

"Wha!? That's so cool! How did you do that!?" Ashido asked, shocked at how uncannily good the impression was.

Izuku chuckled, "A lot of practice."

Kirishima had already taken the other bag and moved to the kitchen, "I'll get all the snacks ready! Don't let Mina eat all the popcorn again!"

"You can't stop me Kiri!" She shouted back, grabbing a handful of popcorn from a large bowl.

Izuku laughed at his friend's antics, "What movie did you bring, Ashido?" he asked.

Ashido got a devilish grin as she ran over to her pile of belongings in the living room. "My dad is a crazy old movie buff so I got the best horror movie I could find in his collection." She pulled out a thick movie case and an entire old video player. The movie case had what looked like an astronaut on the cover with the tagline and title. The writing was in English but he knew enough of the language to read the box. "The ultimate in alien terror." the title of the movie was simply "The Thing".

Izuku opened the unfamiliar box to reveal a black rectangle in the box. "What is this?" he asked, unfamiliar with the technology.

"It's a VHS tape. It's SUPER old, like before the 2000s old. My dad likes to collect them, buying them from all over. This movie isn't the Japanese dub but it does have subtitles."

"Wow, well if it's that old then the effects must be pretty bad right? Like funny and not scary...Right?" Izuku asked nervously.

Ashido gave a sinister smile in response, chuckling to herself from behind the movie case.

Kirishima walked in, holding bowls of snacks in each hand, "Mina don't scare him. Why did you even bring a horror movie anyway?"

"It's almost Halloween, the best time to watch scary movies!" Ashido replied in excitement.

"It's still September." Kirishima deadpanned in response.

"It's close enough." Ashido pouted.

Izuku chuckled at their back and forth, going to help Kirishima with the snacks, Ashido eating them the second he turned his back.

That night Izuku watched the movies with his friends, laughing at the comedy Kirishima picked out. Cheering at his own All Might movie and making fun of the cheesy dialogue. And being terrified of the movie Ashido picked out, thinking how practical effects from the late 1900s could still be so scary after so much time. Ashido clearly had the most fun during that movie, watching her friends scared reactions more than the movie itself.

'Couatl,' Izuku thought to the celestial snake, who had remained silent throughout the sleepover as per Izuku's request, 'Can I not do any training tonight?'

'I shall allow it.'

'Thank you'

'Sleep well, Izuku.'

For the first time in a long time, Izuku slept a normal sleep, dreaming a normal dream. On a futon in a room with his friends who cared for him. Izuku's dream than night was not one of Horror movie monsters or vicious training but of another fun day out with his friends. A pleasant calm day without Villains, and without Cultists, surrounded by his caring friends.

Chapter Text

(4 months until the UA entrance Exam)

Japan - Musutafu - Midoriya Residence

Izuku sat in the kitchen as he ate breakfast, absentmindedly making notes of Heroes in his notebook while a spectral green hand floated between the bowl of rice and his mouth, occasionally feeding him using chopsticks. He continued to make small talk with his mother while writing, both of them payed some attention to the news broadcast but not fully listening.

"You know, they said on the news the other day that the price of silver has shot up again. That woman at the hair salon I told you about was saying she was planning on buying a fancy silver watch for her anniversary before the prices sky rocketed." His mom said. The amount of silver in Japan had taken quite a dip recently, no doubt Sylvar's doing in having to make so much holy water. Pure silver was good for destroying Undead and was a major component in making the substance for some reason, it probably had something to do with the fact silver is seen as being incredibly pure.

"The same lady with the frog Quirk?" Izuku asked, continuing the conversation.

"Oh no, she wasn't there that day. She had lighter hair, I think she was also complaining about her job. Customer service, so I don't blame her." His mom corrected.

"Ah," Izuku nodded, eating another mouthful of rice, turning his attention to the news.

"In other news, cities all along the coasts of Mie Prefecture are nearly finished rebuilding after the multiple extreme scale Villain attacks last month, the culprits still remain unknown but authorities have said that they are working as best they can to track the individuals responsible. The residents of cities all across Mie have claimed that a rampant increase in Villain activity has been caused by these attacks, in response the HPSC has stated that they would be increasing the amount of Heroes patrolling the area, including the number 3 Hero: Hawks." The news reporter explained, then playing recordings of Mie residents giving their stories on the events.

It took a moment to put together but Izuku remembered that he saw something online about some of the Cultists being sighted in Mie before and after the attacks had first been reported. This and Hawks being sent to patrol the areas clicked together, making it obvious these attacks were the work of the Cultists, though clearly all the evidence had been covered up for TV. Even the Mie citizen testimonies were clearly changed or even fake as to not instil fear on to the Japanese people.

'So, that's just one series of attacks out of many recently that could have been committed by the Cultists.' Izuku thought, 'All across Mie Prefecture coasts? How many attacks were there that even I didn't know about? It doesn't help that I've only got a set area I can patrol at once, now they actively attack the places furthest from me. Well, it's a good thing Hawks can handle the distant threats. I'll need to ask him about the truth on these attacks when I can.'

"Izuku, honey." His mother said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Hm? Yes?"

"You're still training your Quirk in your spare time, aren't you?" she asked, still unaware to the truth about his magic.

"Yeah, I am."

She walked over and kissed him on the forehead, "Just remember to stay safe, ok?"

"Of course Mom." he gave a bright smile, "I'm always staying as safe as possible." he said, not completely lying as despite his dangerous occupation, he has not once gotten injured in a way that could not be healed. So, technically he was always staying as safe as he could.

"Ok, Izuku. I'm going to work, I'll probably be home late again so don't stay out too long. I love you." She said as she grabbed her bag and coat, leaving the apartment with a wave.

"Bye, love you too." He called out, waving goodbye with both his real hand and Mage Hand.

After waiting for a few minutes he went to his room and grabbed his Warlock coat and used Mask of Many Faces to make it look like he was only wearing his school uniform. Then he removed a hidden mobile phone from the coat pocket with the only contacts being Hawks and Nezu, he texted Hawks to meet him at Sylvar's library later in the day. He wanted to know everything the HPSC was hiding about the attacks across Mie Prefecture and any other attacks they were covering up.

Then Izuku put the phone back into the extra dimensional space of his coat and grabbed his school bag, heading out the door to school for the day.

'Training would be far more efficient without the need for this school.' Couatl's many voices said in Izuku's head.

'I need an education, and do you know how many problems it would cause if I just stopped going to school?' Izuku thought back.

'It is thought that One could simply insert such paltry information into your brain without issue.'

'I'm already getting a cheat sheet for magic. I don't need to cheat on my tests as well!'

Japan - Tokyo - Tokyo Skytree

Keigo stood at the top of the Tokyo Skytree, the tallest building in Tokyo to get as close to the sky as possible without flying too high up in the open sky. He stood at the very top of the structure, over 600m in the air, the wind was a little harsh at this height but that was hopefully a good thing for what he was about to do.

He held the Masamune in his hand, the blade was sheathed but the magic energy that flowed through it could be felt coursing into his hand.

"Alright, so, right off the bat I'm not really the praying type. If I'm supposed to do this some other way, sorry I guess." He said out loud, he focussed on the wind around him as it changed from simply blowing past him to starting to circle around him. It kind of felt like the wind was curious about him, looking over him from all around.

"Ok, I'm going to take that as a good sign. So, you are aware of this "Undying King" guy, right?" He asked aloud, the wind that passed felt a little warmer than before.

"I'm going to assume that meant yes and keep going. Do you think that Warlock, the Wizard, me and all the other top ranked Heroes could beat him?" The wind had slowed down after Keigo asked that, almost coming to a complete halt as if stopping to think. The wind picked up again yet it was slow and not harsh, but carrying a significant chill.

"So that's a no, I'm guessing. So, if we were to launch an attack now, with all the manpower that the HPSC and the JSDF can provide, we would be screwed to put it lightly?" The wind picked up dramatically but only very briefly, a grave chill to the air that Keigo could not help but shiver at.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I agree. After all these attacks, it suddenly hit me that this isn't the ordinary Villain group robbing banks. This is an army of nihilists who worship death itself with nothing to lose. Hell, they don't even need to worry over casualties, not when they just make more soldiers from the bodies. Everyone protecting Japan needs to get a hell of a lot stronger if they want to really protect this country. Guess I'll have to keep training with the whole magic thing, huh?" Keigo said out loud to the wind before smirking, "Well it doesn't matter what kind of training it is, not when you're the fastest learner."

He took a deep breath and threw three 100 yen coins into the air before gripping the Masamune tightly, a thrum of magic travelling up his arms, down his shoulders and into his wings. Keigo let out a short harmonic whistle and the wind glid over his back, his feathers briefly glowing with a subtle red energy before three suddenly shot off of his wings. Completely encompassed in the red magic and moving wildly, they looked almost ethereal as they shimmered with magic.

[Magic Missile]

The feathers moved like they were alive, having to control them in a very different way than he would his regular feathers. They arced and changed angles with unnatural ease as if the laws of physics no longer applied to them, they each hit one of the coins, one after the other, knocking them higher into the air. Keigo then flew up after them and thrust his sword forwards, all 3 coins had been pierced perfectly equidistant from one another on the blade.

He smirked before he flew back to the peak of the Skytree and removed the coins before sheathing the blade, "Looks like that's one more spell mastered." he said to himself, the feathers had lost their sheen of magic by now and since returned to his wings. Suddenly he got a message on his phone, the device buzzing in his jacket, it was from Warlock to meet him in the evening at the Wizard's magic library. He figured it was important and made sure his phone would remind him.

He decided that he would fly to the HPSC office, the President would probably want to tell Warlock something, or more accurately, hide something from him. She had begun to keep to herself somewhat more than usual, though the introduction of magic to her worldview alongside the ever growing threat of an Undead army attacking was probably the cause.

Japan - Tokyo - HPSC Office

The President sat in her office, multiple sets of lights in the room were on to keep shadows to an absolute minimum. She typed on her computer, writing one of the multiple emails that she needed to send to continue to cover up the real damage caused by the UKF, arrange the rebuilding in the major cities and send Heroes to patrol around places of higher value. Just as she had finished typing and sending one of the emails off, she had a knock at her doors.

She was not expecting a visitor nor had she received a call to inform her of anyone, so it was more than likely Takami being impatient. "Enter." she said, the doors clicking open to allow the Hero to enter, he did so and stood at attention. "What is it, Takami?" she questioned.

"Warlock has arranged a meeting with me. I assume he wants to know the truth about Mie and in turn every UKF attack the HPSC has covered up." He answered.

She sat in thought for a moment, thinking about what to allow Warlock to know. "I see. We do need him to be on our side as much as possible, he and that old man are powerful assets that this county needs in order to fight against the threat of those monsters. You will tell him everything he wants to know, but everything that is strictly classified shouldn't be revealed. Anything pertaining to the testing facility is to remain classified until further notice. Understood?"

"Yes, Madam President." He answered, taking his leave moments later, the door closing with an electrical lock.

The President sat in silence for a moment before breathing a sigh, smoke beginning to pool out from beneath the keyboard of her computer. She grabbed and placed a cigarette near the smoke, a small lick of flame lighting it before she moved it to her mouth. "If you want to know everything Warlock, I can assure you everything I do is to protect this country." she said to herself, breathing out a puff of smoke.

The smoke seemed to grow restless from underneath the keyboard, "The grovels of spineless Humans make for tedious listening. These lesser Humans blindly follow as you bark orders. But are you not just another gear in this unending machine? Are you not just the dog of this "prime minister" to equally grovel at their word? Bark and bark. Just barking the orders you've been given. Are all Humans bound by these chains like mutts? Both physical and metaphorical, each bound as tightly as the other." An inhuman and mocking voice creeped out from beneath the keyboard, that infernal creature taunting her using a different person's voice than before, though it was still spoken in such a way that it gave off no real feeling of humanity. It was likely he had stolen that voice from someone, alongside every other voice the devil spoke in.

The President grabbed a spray bottle out from her desk, lifting the keyboard and spraying the unholy smoke with holy water. A slight fizzling sound and a chuckle emanated from the smoke as it dissipated. "Tis a curious thing, to see the Hells and Earth share so many similarities." Kayaku's devilish voice spoke before his smoke faded.

"You stay quiet. The only reason I did not choose to kill you is that I do not trust Warlock, especially not when accompanied by a man that can warp the minds of others. I don't particularly trust you either, but I know you can't harm me or plot against me, as per our agreement." The President said.

The smoke from her cigarette shifted and formed a brief visage of Kayaku's skull-like face, "I don't find aught of a threat from your tongue. You are aware of my goals as I am yours. They are shared, are they not? Us both wish to forfend this visage of Death. To bring a relative order back to these lands. We will share this means to our separate ends." The visage of smoke faded with anther spray of holy water.

"I said stay quiet." she ordered. The President was now left in silence once again to type emails. The smoke from her cigarette drifting around her as if it was taunting her, the faint sound of laughter occasionally materialised as it drifted past her ears.

A few seconds passed before the President stood up and walked to the light switch, shutting off all lights in the room, leaving the room only basked in a dim light from the computer. "Actually, Kayaku, I would like to make another agreement." The smell of smoke quickly filled the room as a dull flame's glow materialised to show the visage of the devil in question, mere inches away from the President's face. "I want you to follow Takami. Gather information on Warlock." She ordered, no hint of fear in her voice.

The devil drifted around her, circling like a predator around it's prey in an attempt to unnerve the President. "For such a task, I will require recompense of equal value. Your prisons have certain detestable criminals lined up for execution, am I correct? I'm sure none would bat an eye if one, no, two were to disappear. The choice falls not to me. It is yours alone." The devil ended it's sentence by creeping close to her face, the dull flame of his shapeless body barely lighting the charred skull that acted as his head.

The President paused for a brief moment, "Very well, we have an agreement." The instant the last word left her mouth the room was lit up once again and the only remains leftover from the devil she spoke with was a written copy of their agreement, already signed by her and Kayaku. She opened a locked cabinet in her desk, filing this contract away alongside several others. She took one last drag from her cigarette before giving a deep sigh and going back to work.

Mie Prefecture - Yokkaichi City - Hosanin Ward

After the evening sun had finally set upon the wrecked towns and cities all around the edge of Mie a lone figure stood atop the scaffolding frame of a building that was under construction, the workers long since slaughtered as a chilled and ominous wind billowed past. The ivory white hair of the man drifted in the breeze alongside the long dark cloak draped over himself, his ashen white skin reflected elegantly in the pale moonlight. Behind and below, also standing on the scaffolding was a man dressed in combat gear and wrapped in many, many red bandages.

"So, humanity still thinks they can outlive the unliving. Do they not know who they trifle with? With the strength I have been gifted by the Undying King, I have been granted a body truly fit for my almighty Quirk! Not only that, but more Quirks have been gifted to me as one of his supreme guards! Yet they still think me a simple Villain of the week! They think to rebuild from all I destroy, like a wretched fungus sprouting from an old fallen tree! Disgusting!" Nine monologued, grimacing in disgust.

"Um...Nine, Sir." Mummy spoke up behind him. "Not that I would question any order you give me, but are you sure that converting to this creepy religion was a good idea? I mean you started acting pretty weird after joining."

Nine looked behind him, staring into Mummy's eyes, his own grey eyes flashing yellow briefly and Mummy's doing the same as his posture suddenly slacked. Nine stepped from his elevated position, slowly drifting down through the air to stand in front of Mummy. "Do you think Slice or Chimera would question me, Mummy?"

"...No, Sir..." Mummy said, in a trance-like state.

"Come here, Mummy. Any who dare to stand against me should die, shouldn't they?"

"...Yes, Sir. They should..." Mummy said, shuffling forwards until the two were centimetres apart.

Nine smiled, the moonlight gleaming and reflecting off of his fangs before they were violently plunged into Mummy's neck. He didn't struggle as his blood was drained and the sweet liquid flowed into Nine's mouth, filling him with a overwhelming feeling of euphoria and ecstasy. He continued to drink like his thirst was never ending until the body of Mummy was emptied and only a husk-like shell of his former self remained.

Nine released Mummy who unceremoniously fell to the floor. He wiped around his mouth, licking up any blood that had dribbled down his face. A fleeting feeling from his former humanity made his un-beating heart ache for his former friend and comrade but he quickly shrugged it off, considering such a feeling to be weak in his new form. He placed a hand upon the empty husk of Mummy's corpse, dark and powerful energy flowing into and around it, sawdust and sand from the construction site rushed into the corpse as it struggled to stand.

Mummy stood up once more with great difficulty, looking like a puppet held up by strings with sand and dust drifting from his body. His wrinkled and bloodless skin matched well with his bandages and this new form, making him look more like his namesake. "See Mummy, my dear friend. Don't you feel the glorious power of Death coursing through you? Don't you think that Chimera and Slice should feel such tremendous power?"

"...Ye...es...N...ine...S...Ir..." Mummy droned, lifelessly.

"Hmhmhmhm! Hahaha! Yes, Mummy. Let us show this rotten world of the living the Death they should fear and worship!" Nine laughed, shouting into the night as he still felt the overwhelming high of drinking Mummy's blood.

"...Wor...Ship...Dea...th..."

"HAHAHAHA-" Nine laughed before suddenly stopping, a metaphorical creeping chill crawling up his spine as the icy wind billowed past, the uneasy feeling of dread forced upon him and souring his mood. "Ah, I see. This foreboding energy in the air. It would seem this already crumbling city would see further destruction very soon. Don't you feel it? The black winds howl about this city, Mummy. Let us show these surviving fools the true overwhelming power of Death!"

Suddenly, Nine felt another presence similar to his own nearby, he turned to see the brown haired girl he had previously granted the power over death. Admittedly it was by accident after his first test of his new found power. Though a mistake of trial and error, she had thus far proven somewhat useful to the Undying King's cause and would seem to follow commands he gave. Though it seemed remnants of her humanity still persisted for now, something he would need to correct.

"So you would choose to show your face here again, for the first time since your death. Perhaps you too feel the foreboding emanating from this place, or is it fate drawing you to the place of your death? No matter the reason, I have use for you. Make haste to the most used route to enter this City Ward and prevent any from crossing over to interfere." Nine commanded, his eyes briefly flashing yellow as he did.

The cloaked girl, whose true name he neglected to learn nor did he care about, bowed her head as her own brown eyes flashing the same yellow once she received her order. "It will be done." She replied emotionlessly, stepping off the building and vanishing from sight, the feeling of her presence quickly escaping Nine moments later.

Nine turned to face the streets that still had people living in them despite the ruins of his past attacks, "Come then, Mummy. It's time to feast."

Tokyo - Kotodama District - Seldarine Library

As the crescent moon hung overhead in Tokyo, Keigo opened the door to the grand library expecting to step into the beautiful entrance hall with the smell of old books and wood polish hitting him but instead found himself in pitch blackness. 'How welcoming.' Upon stepping inside the door behind him had vanished completely.

Keigo figured that Sylvar and Warlock were simply trying to unnerve him, revealing more information in the process. He had gone through a lot of training to suffer through much worse than a haunted house to reveal classified information.

"Hello, Hawks." A voice said behind him, Warlock suddenly appearing out of the darkness as he turned around.

"Warlock, what a nice surprise." Keigo said, attempting to lighten the mood.

"What happened in Mie, Hawks? What really happened?" He asked, ignoring his attempts at humour. He began to pace around Keigo in a circle. "I know the Undying King's forces are behind it, Hawks."

Keigo sighed, knowing he shouldn't have hidden it from Warlock for so long but orders were orders, "I suppose we should have come to you with this when it first happened. As I'm sure you know, areas all along the coast of Mie was attacked, ranging from small port towns to city wards close to the sea. 4 areas were struck the worst: Katosillius, Rasho, Kadota, and Hosanin, all different wards in Yokkaichi City and were practically reduced to ruins, though rebuilding has been going on since just after the attacks. It has since been somewhat repopulated by the survivors who fled and new occupants." Keigo explained.

"...How many people died?" Warlock asked hesitantly, as if afraid of the answer he would be given.

"We don't know exactly, but we estimate at least 25,000 more deaths than were reported from across all of Mie. Under the circumstances it could have been much worse but it's still a tragedy. One that the public don't need to know about, unless you want national panic, which is exactly what those monsters want." Keigo explained. He watched as Warlock seemed to stop in thought, though his face was near impossible to see in this darkness it was clear his teeth were grit in anger. He remained silent, simply staring into space as his hidden expression continued to change as if arguing with himself in his head.

The room lit up suddenly, revealing the entrance hall of the library and the Wizard standing not too far away, "I see, how dreadful. If I were to hazard a guess, this attack was more of a display of power. Likely to show that they finally meant business, or maybe to test for the best place to invade from first. What happened to the attackers in question?" Sylvar asked.

Keigo looked around briefly, taking in the weirdness of magic, "Most were caught by us Heroes...eventually. Though the Zombies gave them trouble, they were dealt with. Some of those freaks escaped though, I can only guess back to their island base. Shame we can't bring the attack to them." he explained.

"It's possible they exposed their power so more people go to worship the Undying King and then gain the very powers they displayed here in turn or perhaps ensure their protection from the Undead? Did all of them throw away their humanity when they joined that cult!?" Warlock spoke up, very obviously irritated upon learning the truth.

Warlock being truly mad was something Keigo had yet to see, and frankly he did not want to be nearby if his magic powers grew more powerful when it happened. "If that's all Warlock, I do actually have other work to be doing tonight." Keigo said before his phone suddenly rang, the President being the caller. He didn't even get a chance to say hello before she shouted through the device.

"Takami! Hosanin ward is under attack again by Cultists and Monsters, get there immediately! I am sending over whatever reinforcements I can as we speak!" The phone hung up immediately.

"What was that about?" Warlock asked.

Keigo steeled his expression, "They're attacking, Hosanin again! I have to hurry! If I travel as fast as I can I can get there in a few minutes!" He shouted as he flew for the exit before he slammed into what were once the doors, but were now in fact now just another part of the wall.

"Not so fast, young man." Sylvar said, clapping his hands together, creating an ornate scroll from a small wisp of flame, "I can get all of us there much faster." He unrolled the scroll, the magic energy that flowed from it was so powerful Keigo could almost see it. He looked off to the side with glowing white eyes and moved his hands before seeming satisfied. "Ah good, yes that place will do nicely. Alright, everyone stand close by."

Keigo flew over, somewhat cautious of more unfamiliar magic, while Warlock ran over overflowing with determination. Sylvar read aloud from the scroll and spoke in a completely unfamiliar language that perplexed Keigo the more he listened to it. As he continued to chant, a small mote of gold light appeared between all of them on the wooden flooring and erratically darted around them, splitting apart multiple times leaving lines of magic in it's path. In a matter of seconds the motes created an intricate magic circle of this light, making smaller circles of runic symbols around each person.

Once the light stopped moving it suddenly grew brighter, and brighter, until a powerful flash burst from the circle. After being briefly blinded, the feeling of complete nothingness surrounded Keigo for a brief yet uncomfortably long time until he felt himself being pulled by an unknown force at immense speeds, this mysterious experience lasted only a few seconds until a second blinding flash of bright light shone over him. As he rubbed his eyes from the flash he quickly realised he was now outside and in the dark and rain, standing in the middle of a city street.

An odd hazy feeling similar to paraesthesia spread across his body as he adjusted to the sudden change, he now realised that he had been warped to Hosanin in a matter of seconds. Keigo had no time to gawk at the magic though, as he heard people screaming in fear almost immediately. He flew up to the sky and scanned the area, seeing a dozen bolts of lightning fall from the skies, the screaming coming from that direction. He looked down to the others, "Follow me!" he ordered before flying at top speed toward the Villains.

Mie Prefecture - Yokkaichi City - Hosanin Ward

The streets that were so recently repaired from a war torn appearance were again filled with screams, civilians running as billowing fires flared in the buildings that were so recently rebuilt and torrents of harsh icy rain fell from dark clouds in the night sky. The Heroes stationed here had already been effortlessly defeated, lying face down in the rubble, struggling to even breathe after seeing just a glimpse of the power of the Villain who confidently stood among the carnage.

Among the destruction was a single Sidekick of one of the Heroes, the reality of the situation seeping in as the man he worked under, Gunhead, lay in a puddle of his own blood. On his hands and knees, breathing heavily in the rain, he looked up to see the Villain staring down at him.

"There is no reason to resist. Your saviours are no more." The Villain monologued, striding through the dilapidated street before standing over the younger Sidekick who tried to stand up, grabbing the support item from his superior.

The Sidekick's body shook in terror as he stared into the grey eyes of the Villain, one more powerful than any he had ever seen before with a fanged grin upon his face. "I can taste your terror, Child. All that anxiety and doubt." The Villain said before moving fast enough to blur, wrapping his hand around the Sidekick's throat. "It's delicious."

The Villain threw the Sidekick unceremoniously to the ground, "Give in to your fear. Flee screaming, and I'll let you live."

The Sidekick, couldn't help but tremble in the face of this monster before ultimately giving in to the Villain's demands, fleeing from the scene, screaming and crying desperately for help.

"Hahahaha! AHAHAHA!" The Villain laughed until he cut himself off, dodging just in time to avoid a red feather blade from slicing through him. He was suddenly on guard, especially as several more tiny feathers flew at him. He blocked them with his fists, feathers that could crack concrete ricocheting off like they were harmless. He was distracted however, as the Heroes and surviving civilians had already been evacuated by these red feathers.

Keigo sent the survivors back to Warlock and Sylvar before he flew in at top speed with his feather blade, going to strike with the blunt end to knock the Villain unconscious, however the blade was grabbed by Villain effortlessly. "Pathetic, the number 3 Hero can't even scratch my skin. Do you really believe you have the power to stop me?" The Villain threw the blade while Keigo was still holding on, launching him back into the air.

He controlled all the idle feathers he used to move survivors away to attack from all angles, which as expected were blocked, but then he threw his two largest feather blades, arcing through the air and impaling the shoulders of the Villain. Keigo breathed deep, the wind howling around him in the storm and travelling up his arm and past his outstretched hand as from the very air itself, the Masamune formed in his hand. He dived, going to slash at the Villain but the blade was stopped by something.

What looked like a long red cloth had stretched out to protect the Villain. He quickly looked to where this cloth came from and saw what definitely looked like a Zombie covered in these same red cloth wrappings. 'Great, now there's two of them.' He thought to himself.

The Zombie screamed a dull droning scream as several whips of this red cloths shot off it's body, shooting towards Keigo. He flew back, trying to slash through them with the Masamune but they clearly weren't normal bandages. Some kind of magic made it so they resisted the blade's edge, refusing to easily cut. He switched to blocking as whip-like wrappings attacked from all angles, effortlessly carving through buildings, cement and street lights as they attacked.

The Villain laughed, pulling the feathers out of his shoulders, the slashes on his body and cloak closing up almost immediately. "If you can't even beat Mummy, you should give up any hope of challenging me!" He shouted before a beam of green and red energy struck his chest and caught him off guard, Warlock showing up late to the fight. "So another fool would wish to confront Death incarnate."

"Hawks! They're both Undead, don't hold back! Woah!" Warlock shouted, barely dodging a red bandage that came too close and carved through the pavement centimetres away from him. .

'Good to know.' Keigo, gripped the Masamune, feeling the magic course into his body and releasing Wind Blades with each slash of his sword, cutting the bandages to ribbons. However they were soon replaced by even more, seemingly regenerating from the Zombie's body. The attacks continued getting more and more frantic as Keigo flew across the air, slashing any attack launched by the motionless Mummy.

"Mummy, separate this winged nuisance from his friend. I wish to fight this one alone." The Villain ordered. This Mummy immediately flinging itself at full force with it's bandages, looking as if the bandages were more in control than the Zombie using them. Keigo followed, still trying to get close but being stopped by a barrage of magical cloth each time.

Izuku ran into the fray, cautiously approaching the white haired Cultist. "You would face me then, Warlock? A foolish choice, False Prophet. But better a fool than craven. If you wish to make such foolhardy actions, then I shall humour you, Child. I shall allow you one strike upon my divine form, free of consequence. If you fail to injure me however, I shall drain your pitiful body of all of your blood." He monologued with a fanged smile and his arms outstretched, goading an attack.

'It has been observed that this opponent is far more powerful than you. Plan accordingly for an encounter of overwhelming power. Assistance shall be attempted when possible.'

'Fight smart and don't be an idiot. Got it.'

Izuku was not in the mood to produce a witty comeback or taunt for the zealot, he was understandably furious that this Cultist would attack this place again after already killing so many people, furthering the mindless bloodshed in the process. He pointed his staff, Day Break, at the Undead as light began to build up on the end of it. "Carpe Diem." He said seriously, his words laced with malice and a potent divine magic as he watched the mote of light shoot out and stick itself to the Cultist's chest.

"HahahAHA! You call that an attack! How patheti-" The monologue was cut short, as a grand beacon of divine light engulfed the Villain and disintegrated several severed bandages on the floor. The pillar of bright, holy light burned all that it touched with positive energy and divine fire. The column of light dissipated moments later, leaving the Villain with a myriad of burns of their once clear pale skin and pitch black cloak.

"I see, so this is your strength. I may have to put forth some effort into this fight." The Villain said, calmly pointing to the sky and calling down several devastating lightning bolts all around, striking buildings, streets and almost striking Izuku himself. However, he had just managed to avoid the attack as he ran at the Villain, striking his face with his staff, releasing a spark of holy light with the impact.

The Villain hissed in response and punched Izuku in the stomach in retaliation, an incredible and inhuman strength launched him into a nearby building, crashing through the wall. "Your Quirks may be plentiful, but your body is just that of a mere Human! I, Nine, have ascended beyond Humanity!" He shouted, deep purple wounds that had appeared over his face quickly closed and healed over, leaving him with only the damage provided by the holy magic.

The Undead Villain began to ascend into the air surrounded by swirling winds, pulling a completely black, perfect sphere the size of a baseball that absorbed all light around him from his cloak and held it aloft. "I call upon your power, Undying King! With these sacrifices made in your name and this artefact forged by your divine might, Dark Orb of Shinobutō! Raise the dead to do my bidding!" He shouted, the orb shattering into many tiny threads of darkness, flying into crumbed and burning buildings and seconds later countless Zombies and Skeletons crawled from the ruins. "Minions of Death, search out anything that lives and destroy it! Obey the will of Nine, and bring forth Death!" Dozens of Undead monsters were summoned in that instant, creeping through the streets as surviving civilians ran in terror.

After being punched through at least one wall, Izuku could feel that he had definitely broken something, pulling his last healing potion from his coat and drinking it to bring him close enough to a normal state.

'Perhaps it would be best to produce a strategy that does not rely on placing yourself at risk of instantaneous death.'

'If you can think of anything, I'm open to suggestions.' Izuku thought before he quickly started to take notice of his surroundings and started to think up a plan. He just noticed that wherever he had ended up was some kind of bar with a lot of drinks, some with a noticeably higher alcohol content. 'I think I can work with this!'

After Midoriya had run away, Veratain was left with the remaining civilians and Heroes in the middle of a street to patch them up with potions. He opened another tiny bottle containing a lesser heath potion, standing over another Hero and pouring the magic liquid over their body, it being absorbed through the skin and stitching closed any open wounds on the Heroes body. For a moment the Hero's body remained still as the rain drifted off over him

The Hero then sat up in an instant, wearing some kind of white mask with four holes and with gauntlets that resembled the chamber of a revolver. He very quickly became dazed from his injuries and took notice of the worried civilians and the other Heroes around him also partially injured. "What happened?" He asked, his voice muffled by the mask he wore.

Another Hero, or perhaps a Sidekick, ran up to him and helped him up, "Gunhead! Thank goodness you're okay. That Villain was way tougher than we thought."

The Hero, Gunhead, changed his posture immediately to go on the offensive, "Wait, the Villain! Where is he? There are still civilians here, we need to-" He cut himself short as he clutched a wound that hadn't fully healed yet.

"Relax, Gunhead, we're a safe distance away thanks to Hawks, and our injuries are taken care of for the most part. You can thank this kind gentleman for that." The Sidekick said, pointing over at Veratain.

Veratain smiled kindly, his unimposing old man appearance making him seem like one of the civilians. "No need for thanks, I'm just doing what little I can to help. Though, I do believe we should get going now. I'm sure nobody appreciates staying in the rain with the danger of a Villain so close by. Would one of you Heroes be kind enough to lead us to a safer area?"

Gunhead nodded, "You're right, sir." He faced the civilians and began to explain how he and the other present Heroes would lead them to a safe area to treat any wounds and protect them until further help arrived while Hawks would deal with the danger. However, it was not long after when a woman among the civilians screamed out, pointing ahead of the group.

Coming through the streets was a hoard of rotting Skeletons and Zombies of the former residents of this neighbourhood, the visage quite uncomfortable to look at even for a seasoned wizard like Veratain.

"What are those things!?"

"Not again! I knew I shouldn't have come back to Yokkaichi!"

"Gunhead, what do we do?"

"We'll have to fight through, we have to protect the civilians!"

Veratain calmly walked ahead of the Heroes, much to the objection of Gunhead "Sir, please leave this to us Heroes. We will protect you." He immediately called out, caring for the safety of an old man. Touching as it was, Veratain was quite impatient at the moment. He held out his walking stick and traced a spectral circle in the air, quickly morphing and shifting into swirling rings of runes before him which crackled with magical electricity. He reached into his suit pocket and removed three silver pins, throwing them through the magic circle he created.

[Chain Lightning]

The pins were instantly charged with magical electricity and shot from the circle like lightning bolts, arcing through the air and striking three Undead at the front of the crowd. Sparks and lightning shot from the monster's bodies as they quickly disintegrated and the electricity spread out from them, lightning arcing from Zombie to Skeleton and vaporising several other Undead in the same instant.

The circle vanished and Veratain then calmly walked back behind the Heroes after dispatching close to a third of the attacking monsters. "Well I hope you don't intend on making an old man do all of the work."

The Heroes and civilians stared equally in awe before the Heroes snapped back into focus, "Right, thank you sir, but we can take it from here. Stick behind us and stay safe." One of the other Heroes said.

Veratain smiled innocently as he stood behind Gunhead and began to quietly mumble as a subtle dull glow began to encompass his hand. He then quickly poked one of the gauntlets that the Hero wore, the subtle dull glow quickly spreading over one and then doing the same to the other gauntlet. [Magic Weapon] He then stood back and watched as the Heroes began to dispose of the Undead menaces, Gunhead's punches and suppressive fire doing major damage to the monsters for reasons unknown to the other Heroes.

After a short wait, the Heroes returned to the group of civilians and Veratain to once again lead them to safety, he figured it would be best to stay with the group for now to ensure that the survivors did not get overrun by monsters. At least until the threat of the weaker Undead was taken care of.

Keigo continued to chase the Zombie Mummy as it wildly flung itself through the streets and over buildings, the bandages that would carve through rubble moved erratically in wild contrast to the sluggish main body that barely moved and just moaned as if in pain. As the two flew through the city ward, Keigo's feathers would be launched out to evacuate anyone from the immediate area before continuing his assault.

Mummy eventually stopped fleeing and began to go on the offensive again, trying to slice him up with the magical wrappings that were tougher than metal. Keigo was definitely fast, but these attacks were not only as fast as bullets but so numerous and with such tremendous strength that he was forced to be on the defensive. Only occasionally able to slice the bandages with a Wind Blade but they would quickly be replaced.

The wind suddenly picked up as he swung the Masamune and a thrum of magic emanated from the weapon as if trying to communicate with him. "Not much I can do on the ropes like this. If you have a plan, I'm all ears." He said out loud hoping that wind goddess was listening, plucking a few feathers from his wings to try and arc through the barrage of bandages but they were quickly swiped away once they got too close to the main body.

Keigo suddenly felt the sheathe to the Masamune that was firmly attached to his belt also pulse with energy. "This feels like a stupid plan. But I guess when it comes to this kind of thing, having faith is kind of important." He quickly dashed back and sheathed his blade, the wind brushed past him and made a distinct whistling sound past his face. He quite literally couldn't help but repeat this whistle himself.

[Zephyr Strike]

The bandages approached once again but the winds around Keigo grew harsher than the storm around him. He felt powerful streams of wind glide along his body, over his shoulders, across his arms, past his legs and through his wings. It took a few seconds to realise that these streams of wind had seemingly stuck themselves to Keigo's body. No, that wasn't quite right, it was more that he himself had fused with the gale around him, the wind was now emanating from his very body.

Whatever this magic was, it wasn't something Keigo knew. 'What is this magic? Did it come from the Masamune?' He thought to himself as he felt the wind billow from, and around his body.

He drew the Masamune as he dashed forwards, the wind behind him pushing him harder and faster than his wings did alone. The winds of the storm no longer battering him around as he flew, instead guiding him between the attacks and guiding the blade as it carved through part of the Zombie's body, slicing through several bandages in the process.

He flew out of the Zombie's range as the wind boosted him away at incredible speed from the counter attacks. Keigo gripped his weapon confidently as the Zombie groaned, clutching the wound he gave it as sand and dust began to pour from it instead of blood. He suddenly shrieked an inhuman wail as many of his bandages all extended outward, stabbing into buildings and rubble and then flailing wildly in all directions like a desperate barrage of attacks to his everything in range.

He carved cleanly through the surrounding buildings, the roads and anything unfortunate enough to get caught in the whirlwind of razor sharp bandages. After the attack though, some of the red bandages began to wrap around clusters of debris and rubble, forming humanoid shapes. A small army of mummies each with a single glowing eye but wildly different proportions all gathered around Mummy himself, guarding him but tethered to the main body all the same.

'It's just one thing after another with these crazy zealots.' he thought to himself, wishing he could just go back to catching the simpler criminals instead of fighting monsters and rampaging cult fanatics.

Keigo prepared to attack as another barrage of whip-like bandages carved through air and concrete alike, though now the streets below and the main body were guarded by surprisingly agile puppets. The wind blared once more as he dared to charge in and strike the main body again.

Nine entered the ruined building he had flung the foolish Warlock into, once an izakaya or similar establishment. Upon entering he quickly saw the Warlock leaning against a wall behind the bar and clutching his chest, clearly too wounded to even put up a fight.

"What a shameful display. I don't even want to put an end to you with my own hands anymore, to spare sullying them with a weakling's blood. Instead I shall simply kill you with one of the new Quirks I have been gifted by Japan's own Demon Lord!" He proudly announced, the building creating a fitting echo for his dominating form.

"Demon Lord?" Warlock questioned, gasping as he clutched his chest, the building echoing his voice all around Nine.

"I see no reason to explain such a thing to someone who is about to die. Martialist's failure was toying with his gift, he relished the ease of ending a life with a pathetic gun instead of using the Quirk the Undying King ensured him. But my philosophy is different! I shall relish destroying everything with the god-like powers that I have been gifted! I shall not show you the mercy that he did!" Nine shouted.

His eyes began to glow a bright red as he felt energy being gathered there. "Face the Quirk the Demon Lord of Villains has gifted me, Warlock! Feel the terror of my Laser Eyes, False Prophet!" The two beams of burning red energy shot directly into Warlock's forehead and neck, a shot so clean and precise he could see outside from the holes he had just made.

Nine closed his eyes and laughed confidently at his victory, "That was hardly a challenge, for now I'll drink your blood to heal the wounds you gave me, then I shall have to finish by plucking the feathers from that flying nuisance. Well, that will be as easy-"

"-As plucking the wings from a Fly. Is that what you were going to say?" Warlock's voice suddenly echoed around once more.

Nine opened his eyes in shock to see Warlock still standing, with a hole clean through both his head and throat, yet he was smirking confidently. "What!? H-how can this mere Human live with a hole in his head!?"

Warlock laughed back at him, "How about you take a closer look." He said pointing upwards. Nine's eyes followed to where he pointed, only to see a clock. It took a moment, but he soon realised the numbers were backwards. 'Backwards? What? Wait! Wait a damn minute!' "A MIRROR!?" Nine shouted in disbelief.

He looked behind himself just in time to see Warlock as he shoved a glass bottle into Nine's mouth as he was shouting and uppercut him with a fist glowing with bright holy flame, shattering the bottle. A horrible, acidic burning feeling came over his mouth as the glass shattered, filling his mouth with the acidic substance and glass shards. "Wwrryyyyyy!" he hissed, running over to the bottles of alcohol and rapidly pouring anything and everything he could onto the burning in a desperate attempt to lessen the pain.

"Holy water. Against an unholy Vampire like you it must be hurting like hell. I thought you might have been one the second you mentioned drinking my blood, there actually aren't many Undead that can really eat or drink aside from Vampires. You not seeing your reflection in that mirror just proved my hunch right, though it's weird your clothes were also invisible. Well that doesn't matter, now I know exactly how to beat you." Warlock announced, breaking off a leg from a wooden chair, "All I need to do is stake you in the heart."

Nine threw one of the half-empty bottles to the ground, "You insolent wretch! I will flay your skull with my bare hands!" He shouted turning around to face his enemy. Warlock was already next to the exit, mumbling something incomprehensible, "You think you can run from me you craven!" Suddenly the air got hotter and hotter as Warlock was clearly holding something back.

"You should really pay attention to what you drink, Vampire. All those bottles were filled with some very alcoholic drinks, and now that alcohol is all over yourself and this bar. Looks like you weren't smart enough to see the trap of a "mere Human". Why don't you chase all that alcohol down with a Fire transmuted Thunderwave!" Warlock shouted as he released whatever he was holding back.

Suddenly, an incredibly loud explosion sound almost burst Nine's Vampiric eardrums, then the blaze came and ignited all the alcohol Nine had spilled everywhere. He screamed as Warlock jumped from the building. The building itself was quickly engulfed with an inferno with Nine still inside.

Izuku fell to the ground just as the building had erupted into a fire, he was immediately met with an angry hoard of Skeletons and Zombies when he jumped out. He put his hand behind him, using Control Flames to drag some fire from the building into his hands before throwing his hand out, shooting a blast of fire out similar to a flamethrower but much smaller in scale. It was closer to a bottle of hairspray and a lighter than a flamethrower.

He attempted to clear some of the Undead to make a path to escape, but as he converted another Zombie to ashes he heard someone clear their throat behind him. He turned back to see the building he had just set on fire, only to see the Vampire atop said building, his cloak had burned away, revealing some kind of black metal, almost plate armour with dull glowing purple accents he had worn underneath.

"Did you truly believe you had stopped me, you cowardly fool! Know that you face your demise, not something as pathetic as these pawns before you! I am the unholy judgement of the Undying King!" Energy crackled across the Vampire's body as he held his hands to the sky before violently throwing them down to the ground.

The sky rumbled like an earthquake as a tremendous wave of countless Lightning bolts began to fall all around, striking everything in sight, including the undead hoards and Izuku himself, knocking him down with the incredible pain shooting through his body. Even in pain, Izuku held his ground but Nine then ran up and threw a punch to his chest, knocking Izuku away and making him drop his staff to the concrete.

Izuku collapsed to the ground, the pain was unlike any other he had experienced thus far as the electricity and feeling of broken bones shot through his body. Though still in pain he attempted to use his Healing Light, but suddenly the Vampire appeared in front of him faster than he could react. Nine kicked Izuku in the jaw, launching him back with a loud crack, skipping his body across the street and into the side of another building.

Izuku attempted to stand up to continue the fight but was instead picked up by the neck by the Vampire. He held him up, his supernatural strength making it easy to not only lift him but effortlessly kill him in this scenario. "Look at you, pathetic. A Human like you can only withstand a few strikes before crumbling to the ground. Yet after you have thrown everything you had at me, I remain standing. I am divine! I am the victor!"

"You're...wrong." Izuku said, weakly as he breathed heavily, yet was sneaking in the verbal parts of a spell with each breath out, just needing a few seconds more until he could cast it.

"Oh? Wrong am I? Tell me then, you pathetic excuse for a saviour. Tell me why I'm wrong!" Nine said confidently, sure of his victory over the enemy within his hand.

"Because..." Izuku smiled confidently at the Vampire before grabbing his arm, "I've not finished throwing things at you yet." Izuku said simply as a light began to glow from his chest and quickly move down through his arms as he finished casting the spell. However, he had grabbed the arm of the Vampire instead of holding his hands outstretched, and as the light reached his hands the compressed blast of holy light in the form of a Guiding Bolt shot point blank into the arm of the Vampire.

With a blast of holy magic so close and in such a tightly compacted area, that part of Nine's arm was completely disintegrated in a flash of ash and holy light, leaving his left hand and forearm on the ground. Nine hissed and screamed in pain as he clutched his burning wound, leaving Izuku freed from his grasp. Izuku, after cracking his jaw back into place and thinking quickly, knew Vampires can regenerate easily and re-attach a lost limb. Izuku did the first thing he thought to do and grabbed the severed arm of Nine and shoved it into his coat pocket and into the extradimensional space inside. He would have to remember to throw that into the sunlight later, unless he wanted to keep an evil severed hand.

'Couatl, Now! Level me up please! This is the perfect moment!' Izuku thought, wanting to finally be rid of the Vampire.

'You're body is hypothetically compatible to achieve this next level safely. Please brace for any unlikely outcomes and annihilate this nuisance.'

Izuku felt the pure magic in his chest begin to slowly extend over his body as it thrummed with power in time with his heartbeat, pumping the magic energy through his entire body. He watched as a light began to glow from his body and even seep out of his more open wounds, feeling his pain dull more so than heal. He started to feel a slight burning sensation across his entire body, though uncomfortable it was preferable to getting struck by lightning again.

The Vampire watched as Izuku stood up with the confidence of a man who knew he would win, dusting himself off without a care for the injuries on him. Any cuts or burns had a light pouring from them like his very blood was holy.

Izuku felt his stores of magic be restored, but had completely forgotten how to cast Thunderwave even after using it just moments ago. Instead a new spell took it's place in his mind alongside a brand new spell he didn't know but knew it would be helpful.

"What is this!? What are you doing!?" The Vampire cried out, anger and pain still very present on their face but a slight fear also creeping in.

Izuku reached into his pocket instead of answering "Catch." he said throwing a small piece of Mica out of his pocket for the Vampire to grab. Just before the mineral fragment could touch the Vampire, Izuku had already spoken the Celestial incantation to complete the spell, he dove out of range from the attack and pointed to the shard before clenching his fist.

The small piece of Mica suddenly began cracking, those cracks instantly expanding out from the crystal itself and into the space around it. The cracks in space had formed around the vampire, making everything look somewhat distorted, like looking through a cracked mirror. Then an immense shattering sound echoed all around as the spaces where the cracks were had shattered. Any part of the pavement caught in the area was shattered into stone shards like glass, alongside what looked like large, perfectly clear broken shards of the air that fell to the floor and quickly shattered further into nothing. The Vampire screamed as the eardrum bursting, glass shattering sound surrounded him and as space itself had momentarily broken with him inside of it.

[Shatter]

"Woah. I was not expecting that." Izuku said, "Guess it really is better than Thunderwave, it looks flashier too." he continued, growing proud of himself for being able to do something so cool. He reached into his pocket and removed his old staff, since his newer one was about 10 meters back the way he was kicked.

"You absolute cretin! Can your pathetic mind even comprehend what you are dealing with! I, am a Vampiric Lord! I am the almighty Nine! I am the right hand to the God of Death! I will not be ridiculed by an irritating Child with a stick!" Nine screamed, ranting as the purple marks had begun to heal, much slower now than they were before.

Nine dashed at Izuku, growing furious and trying to kill him as quickly as possible with his one remaining hand. Izuku had instead put his guard up, intent on redirecting any blow with his staff instead of attacking for the moment. With each attack successfully knocked away, the Vampire was growing more and more rabid and wild, trying to strike with claw-like fingernails instead of any kind of Quirk. Izuku had seemingly driven the "Almighty Nine" into a mindless rage.

Though this was still cause for concern for Izuku, his attacks would surely do tremendous damage if they stuck him and it was only a matter of time until one did. However, in his rage Nine had become predictable enough to reliably counter. Instead of attacking though, Izuku tried to pull and pry off the armour covering Nine's heart, the wooden stake alone would probably not penetrate through it.

After each swing was redirected, Izuku would go for the armour plating, trying to wrench it off even a little before the next attack came. However, the Vampire seemed to learn Izuku's own patterns while in his rage, eventually getting more attacks to land, though they were just scratches little more than skin deep, they were like a timer until Nine got a real and deadly strike on Izuku.

Finally, Izuku was able to pull off the armour piece that covered the chest, he knew that all he now needed to do was impale the heart of this monster and the mess would end. The Vampire hissed and screamed in a fit of savage rage, it seemed they both had the intention of ending the fight in that final blow.

Both Hero and Villain charged at each other, Izuku wielding his makeshift stake he had coated in holy water and the Vampire with claws that could rend steel.

In a single moment, both Hero and Villain charged, set to deal the finishing blow.

The two collided at the same time, the Vampire's claws had pierced through Izuku's shirt and his collar, completely breaking his right collarbone and severing the subclavian vein as blood poured from the wound, seeping through his shirt and down the Monster's arm.

However, Nine was in much worse shape. The wooden stake, under the influence of Guiding Bolt's guiding effect, had punctured the chest of Nine and impaled directly into his heart. The wound hissed and sizzled like water droplets on a hot pan as blue sparks began to start shooting from the puncture wound. With a few final words in Celestial, Izuku's hand was coated in a holy flames once more as he forced the stake deeper into Nine's chest while casting a Sacred Flame into the Vampire's heart.

Nine stumbled backwards from the blast, his hand falling from Izuku's body as he did, causing Izuku to clutch his own bleeding wound in turn. Nine tried to grab the stake from his chest but it was quickly overtaken by a burst of blue fire, bright flames exploding from his body and erupting from the wound. A Combination of holy fire and the blue flames of decaying magic were spreading over Nine's body from the finishing blow.

"No! I can't...I can't!" Nine cried out, the blue fire beginning to spread rapidly over his body, "You...You're just a Human! I...I-I am the highest life form!" The fire suddenly burst out, burning away at the Vampire's Undead body until his body began to break down. "I won't...be beaten! That's it, you've pushed me too far!" He shouted as he lunged at Izuku, trying to swipe at him one final time with a now bony limb that crackled with electricity.

Izuku punched his arm away, it crumbling to dust in the air immediately after the blow was struck. Nine either lost his ability to speak in that moment or grew so mindless in rage that he could only scream wildly. His body leaked light as the blue fire overtook him, blasting from of his now visible skull, out of his eye sockets and mouth. Izuku shielded his eyes, as the sight was both grotesque and blindingly bright.

'His body is leaking some kind of energy! Is it the energy from all the life he's absorbed?" Izuku thought, "Give in already, release the power you stole from thousands of innocents!" He shouted as the light and blue flames from Nine's body shot high into the sky like a beacon, so bright it briefly lit up the street Izuku was standing on. With a dying scream his body finally crumbled away, the blue pillar of fire dying with him. He left nothing but ashes and a charred wooden stake, one that was nothing but charcoal at this point.

Izuku looked behind himself to see what remained of the hoard of Undead as they quickly slowed down to a complete stop, some already collapsing into dust simply from being bumped into by others. He spoke a brief prayer in Celestial and used 3 uses of Healing Light to heal himself as he caught his breath, taking mental note of him having 5 total uses of this healing ability now. His collarbone still felt somewhat cracked and he still had his fair share of injuries, but he would save the last of his healing in case someone desperately needed it.

He breathed a sigh of relief and turned again to face the ashes of the Vampire. "Even if you were a monster, I hope you can find some peace in the afterlife." He said, before speaking a short prayer in Celestial, grabbing Day Break from the floor, and destroying the few remaining motionless Undead. He began running to a higher vantage point to try to find any sign of Hawks.

Keigo flew past once more, taking chunks out from the mummy-puppet things with each slash of his sword, but not being able to strike the main body, Mummy himself having grown more defensive after initially taking damage. The wind still blared past and from him, making Keigo even faster than before and able to slip between the cracks of the mummies attacks like he was made one with the wind.

Suddenly, a bright blue light briefly appeared in the sky, a pillar of blue fire in the distance. Hopefully that meant the other Undead guy was taken down, especially seeing as the rain had begun to immediately slow upon the fire's appearance. "Alright, one down. One to go." He said to himself, before flying through Mummy's carnage to attack again.

Seemingly in response to the bright light, Mummy clutched his face in his hands, letting out a raspy screech as his bandages swung in all directions again. Keigo slipped through the swings of the weaker mummies, slicing through the bandages and releasing the rubble insides, cutting his way through four or five before coming to the main body. He gripped the Masamune tightly, preparing to cleanly slice through. However, just as the blade made contact he stopped in place, losing all momentum. Mummy's hand and bandages wrapped tightly around the blade.

Keigo didn't even have time to think about anything before several bandages all as strong as steel had wrapped around him and pulled him close to Mummy. Keigo getting a good look at his ugly dried up Zombie face. He saw as his dull, sunken, pale orange eyes were overcome by a glowing yellow energy which shattered like glass and dissipated. "...Ni...ne...Avenge...You..." He spoke in a raspy voice akin to a heavily dehydrated and emotionless man.

Keigo tried to struggle his way free but the bandages held him completely still, enveloping his wings to the point he couldn't even move the feathers. Mummy opened his mouth, revealing a set of ivory white fangs, his white teeth being a gruesome contrast with his otherwise decayed appearance. He continued to struggle, desperately trying to pull his way out of Mummy's grasp but nothing he could do got him any closer to breaking out.

In a single, swift motion Mummy plunged his fangs into Keigo's neck. He screamed in pain as his blood was drained from his body, feeling himself grow weaker with each passing second of his life being consumed. In contrast, Mummy's withered body had begun to heal, his skin going from wrinkled and drained to a deathly pale but healthy appearance, his musculature bulking up somewhat as well.

'My body...It feels so much weaker, like he's taking more than just my blood. It's like he's absorbing my life itself!'

Mummy broke away from the attack, he now looked as if he was in the prime of his life, probably even greater than how he looked before he died. Keigo on the other hand was not doing well with two puncture wounds in his neck and lacking in lots of his blood.

Mummy stood up tall, gazing at his newly empowered body while unceremoniously dropping the weakened Keigo to the floor. "Nine, my saviour. My Master. I shall avenge you by ending those who dared to cross you!" He announced, standing over Keigo with his bandages extending outward from his back, moving like they were alive and a part of him rather than just dragging around a lifeless corpse. Mummy raised his hand up with bandages following suit, like he was going to stab Keigo with all of them at once, a blood-soaked smile with ivory fangs glistening in the light of a streetlamp potentially being the last thing Keigo saw.

Keigo took a deep breath and drew from what little strength he had left. [Second Wind] He let out a weak laugh, his muscles harshly ached and his body barely had the energy left to escape yet he still let out a cliché cocky heroic chuckle. "You think I'll just lie down and die? Sorry to ruin your moment, but that wouldn't really fit my brand." He confidently remarked, though from his position beneath Mummy, the Villain thought that this had to be a bluff.

That was at least until he saw the scarlet feathers strewn about the street quickly move around, forming a line of feathers that the wind had quickly begun to billow around unnaturally. Keigo let out a short, sharp whistle as wind suddenly swarmed around him, completely covering him in swirling winds as he continued to whistle, the sound mixing with the swirling winds to sound almost like a song.

[Kinetic Jaunt]

In a matter of seconds the winged Hero had soared from his position on the ground, flying past Mummy, his remaining puppets and the dropped Masamune. The swirling wind arced and swirled in the path the scarlet feathers had set out, almost moving like a graceful dancer, evading past any attack Mummy threw in those few brief seconds.

After some distance was made, the swirling wind almost entirely dissipated as fast as it arrived, leaving Keigo a slightly safer distance away with the remaining wind still swirling around him in time to the tune the gale played. He struggled to stand up, having to use the Masamune as a crutch to prop himself, he was definitely reaching a point of exhaustion, the spell he had just cast taking a lot out of his weakened body.

'My feathers can't do jack against this guy's destructive power, and with my weakened body the Masamune will only barely be able to block those attacks. All I can do right now is out speed him. I guess if I can keep him busy for a little longer, Warlock or Sylvar can give me a hand.' He thought before he held the Masamune in a defensive stance, taking a deep breath with a fake look of confidence plastered on his face. "Alright, you Undead freak! Just try to hit me!"

Yokkaichi City - Hosanin Ward Outskirts

At the very edge of Hosanin was a dreadful sight, the ashes of many Zombies combined with the rain coated the street in a fine grey sludge. What looked like several armed and elite police members lay presumably unconscious throughout, with shining silver bullets scattered all around. Out of the whole emergency group sent to immediately assist in Hosanin, only one Hero still stood.

Slugger: The Baseball Hero, one of very few that had fought these monsters before and lived, though he had Warlock to thank for that. He stood with his left arm badly damaged, staring down the monster that had taken down the team of 30 armed police and 4 other Heroes. A monster in the shape of a female human, with long brown hair and eyes, skin paler than snow and not speaking a single word to anyone as they silently demolished the team.

"Villain, no, whatever you are! If you do not back down, I will be forced to attack with my strongest technique. I don't know if you will survive, so give up now or face justice!" He shouted, the monster coldly staring in response.

Suddenly, the monster spoke in a cold, dead, female voice. For some reason Slugger was hoping it couldn't speak, thinking that something so inhuman wouldn't be able to. "All who have tried before you have died. Time and time again. Cities crumble, shadows rise, the black winds howl. Do you truly believe you will be the one to break the cycle?" She asked, though not in a threatening manner, but as if simply stating a fact in a dry and emotionless voice devoid of interest in Slugger.

Slugger tightened his grip on the reinforced baseball in his one good arm, looking around at his teammates he didn't know all that well but still fought side by side with. He changed his stance, even if his body shook and his mind screamed at him to run, his heart guided his actions the same way it always had on his path to being a Hero.

He stood his ground as he activated his Quirk. Energy fed into the ball, increasing in power and speed as the ball began to spin in his hand. He shouted as he prepared to throw the ball, "It doesn't matter what you think of us! A good Hero never gives up in the face of adversity! And neither will I!"

He threw the baseball with all his might, using as much of his Quirk as he possibly could to unleash his strongest possible attack. "Perfect Pitch - Gyroball!" The ball soared through the air like a missile, a burning trail following behind the ball as it spun at incredible speed toward it's target, attacking the monster woman to stop her terror right here and now.

The ball connected to the monster's head, completely eviscerating the entire lower left quarter of her head. A boost of confidence to Slugger was completely shattered as the monster didn't seem to care at all about the injury. Then, a dark smoke poured out from the wound and replaced the part of her face and jaw that was destroyed. Pale skin and red muscle grew over the smoke until it looked like no damage was ever done to the monster.

Slugger fell to his knees, wallowing in his fear and despair, until a bright light overtook the streets. It was like the sun had suddenly rose in the night, however this light was a bright blue, coming from a pillar of burning blue flames that shot up from the middle of the Ward. The sight seemed to enrapture the cloaked monster woman for a brief moment before the light vanished as quickly as it arrived.

The monster looked like she was in pain, clutching her face as her eyes burned with a bright yellow light. For a brief moment the fallen bullets, empty casings, loose rubble and even the nearby bodies began to float upwards around the Monster, though as quickly as it happened they all fell relatively harmlessly back down in an instant.

She stood up straight and looked down at her hands, looking over them as if she had never seen them before, before clenching her fists and staring out to where that burst of blue fire had come from. She turned away from Slugger, ignoring his presence completely as she walked toward the city ward.

Slugger picked up a nearby rock but a sharp, immobilising pain had shot through his arm the second he tried to throw it, caused by using his Quirk so much already. He watched helplessly as the monster made it's way to the city, until it had stopped and turned around.

The monster's eyes looked different now, more Human in a way Slugger couldn't explain after returning once again to that brown colour. "A dark wind howls once more for this place. If it is fate you wish to change, change the fate of those who would sooner perish." She said before turning away once more and vanishing before his very eyes, seeming to fade into a cloud of dark mist that drifted into the city ward.

A powerless Slugger was left to dwell on the events that had just occurred, choosing to call for reinforcements. He then thought about those words the monster said before looking over all the unconscious bodies around him, prioritising their medical treatment before he would pursue.

Chapter Text

Mie Prefecture - Yokkaichi City - Hosanin Ward

The shrill sound of steel scraping against steel filled the air as Keigo desperately blocked every attack launched by Mummy, the winds still howling from the storm before and Keigo's magic after. His feathers shot out in straight line, guiding him as he flew backwards, surrounding him with rhythmic gale as he used the dance-like movements of Kinetic Jaunt to dodge the string of whipping attacks launched his way.

Keigo stood his ground after making some distance, the winds still swirling around him. He knew that if he diverted all his attention to fleeing, he would be struck down in an instant. Despite his initial advantage in speed, the strength and speed of Mummy had increased dramatically after he had drank most of Keigo's blood. He continued to hold his sword defensively, having no way of dealing damage or calling for back-up without leaving himself exposed, and in his already weakened state that was basically a death sentence.

Mummy seemed to grow frustrated, letting out a hissing noise before sprinting at Keigo, however instead of attacking like usual he used his bandages to lift himself into the air above the Hero and send a barrage of whip-like strikes down at him. "Pitiable winged Hero! Die like the pest you are!"

It took all of Keigo's concentration to avoid getting skewered, barely blocking the onslaught as Mummy's thunderous attacks struck down from above like a rain of heavy spears. Mummy got annoyed once more, gathering the bandages he was whipping from all angles, wrapping and compressing them together, focussing his attack in a single area with full power. This attack was far more powerful as it slammed into the Masamune's edge but refused to cut, Keigo felt his muscles strain and bones begin to creak but knew that if he faltered it would mean certain death.

Keigo suddenly noticed that while he struggled under the weight of the attack, Mummy had manoeuvred behind him, aiming to strike Keigo from his blind spot. Mummy went to strike with his fist, but Keigo let out a short whistle as the wind blew behind him through his wings and imbued his feathers with magical energy once more. [Shield] A group of his feathers quickly gathered together and formed a type of ghostly shield of swirling wind and ethereal feathers that blocked the attack, making Mummy falter for a moment.

In this second of confusion, Keigo managed to shove the attack to the side of himself and flew past Mummy, further down the street as the wind sung out behind him, taking a slash at Mummy with the Masamune as he did so. The sword carved through Mummy's neck with surprising ease, though his body no longer leaked with dust and sand. His wounds were red with fresh blood yet he did not bleed, as if his veins were full but the flow of blood was halted entirely through unnatural means. He guessed that if he took the time to listen he wouldn't hear a heartbeat either.

The wound immediately began to stitch itself closed as Mummy viewed it in amazement, he rubbed his hand along where the wound was as he laughed a sickening laugh, smiling with his fangs glistening in the gleam of the streetlights as he approached Keigo. No longer defending himself with his bandages, he now approached with his arms outstretched and bandages menacingly drifting behind him. "I see, so this is what Nine meant. In death, I have become so much more."

Keigo wasn't about to waste this moment, taking aim for Mummy's neck once more now that the monster chose to stop defending. The blade effortlessly carved through flesh once again and sliced between the vertebrae of the neck, Mummy's head falling backwards behind his shoulders as what little remained of his neck muscles held his head onto his body. However, in a disturbing display, a mockery of life and logic, Mummy continued to laugh with his almost fully detached head, grabbing his head and moving it back to where it should be, the wound sealing as soon as exposed muscle was reconnected.

'Damn it! Shit! Damn It! I'm screwed!' Keigo thought in a panic, figuring fleeing would be the best solution after all. However, the very second he tried to fly away, the bandages wrapped around his wings again, threatening to rip them from his body with a single movement as they held on with a crushing grip.

"It seems I underestimated this gift. You cannot harm me in a way that matters. But this feeling inside of me...This ceaseless, burning ache of hunger. It can be quenched by you, can't it? Quenched by your blood." Mummy monologued calmly, "Come! Feed me and join me in death, Hero!" He cried, beginning to slowly pull Keigo back towards him, savouring every moment of fear and dread.

Keigo quickly looked for anything he could do to escape, noticing a dark fog that had begun drifting through the street, one that neither Mummy nor he himself seemed to create, yet he was sure he felt a strong magic presence from.

"DROP!" A somewhat familiar voice suddenly boomed around Keigo and Mummy, the bandages once tightly wrapped around him immediately going slack. Keigo wasted no time and dashed away into the air. Once far enough away he watched as a dark mist began to drift over the street, coating it like a blanket of darkness. The smog billowing and writhing like waves across the ocean, 2 or 3 feet deep and moving like it was alive and amorphous.

Mummy looked around with a look of concern until suddenly a figure rose out of the dark fog, a Cultist that Keigo had seen once before with long brown hair and brown eyes, that powerful female Cultist had returned. She emerged from the mist, it seeming to drape over her like a robe as she stood about 10 meters from Mummy, the two staring each other down as Keigo flew to the top of a building a safe distance away. He was ready to dash if they decided to team up against him, but used some of his feathers to listen in in the conversation.

Mummy's bandages writhed around behind him like furious serpents as he scowled at the Cultist, "You...So you too gained this power. You're a fool. Don't you see that we must both avenge our Master! Though this one is mine to consume, we may yet still have our revenge!"

The female Cultist, wreathed in shadows stared blankly with brown, uncaring eyes. "So, he is already dead then..." She breathed out a disappointed sigh, her breath not fogging in the air. "Though it will allow me no peace, I will take my revenge through your life instead." She plainly stated, the blackened haze wrapping around her body like it was alive, morphing and changing shape, solidifying into some kind of ethereal armour. The armour looked like it was partially made of a dark ghostly metal and tattered leather, with her hooded cloak and mantle seemingly of the same smog that drifted through the street.

She reached out her hand toward Mummy and another projection of shadowy energy crept up her arm, into her hand where it warped and shaped itself into some kind of sword. An onyx longsword, too large and unwieldy to be used with one hand, yet she did so anyway, with a wicked single-edged blade that swept backwards towards the tip, the handle wrapped in worn bandages and a dark vicious look about the weapon that made a shiver creep up Keigo's spine even from such a distance away.

"You intend to kill me?" Mummy laughed, his bandages wrapping around nearby rubble and creating more puppet mummies. "It's useless. You know as well as I that we are both made immortal by our Master."

"Our Master clearly wasn't. No thing, no life is forever. I'll prove that to you here." She said calmly, swinging her sword as a dull white light glowed around the edge.

The female Cultist and Mummy both stared each other down, each just about to begin their battle. Keigo quickly began to think of how to guide Warlock or Sylvar here to assist, clutching the wound still present on his neck. He looked up and saw the dark night sky was still covered by storm clouds, a pulse of magic in the handle of the Masamune giving him an idea.

He pointed the Masamune to the sky, focussing on the sky and clouds, the wind billowing around the blade as he raised it over his head bringing it down with a powerful slash before pulling the sword back, slashing sideways to create a cross shape. He felt the magic energy leave the blade as a sudden brightness filled the street from the moonlight peaking through the clouds.

[Skywrite]

A large X shape appeared in the clouds directly above himself, separating them and shining the light of the moon down upon Hosanin. Keigo grinned before he felt his muscles give out in his legs, collapsing to his knees with the Masamune still in his grip. "Come on, Warlock," He said to himself as his breath began to stagger, looking at his hand that clutched his neck wound, now thoroughly coated in blood. "Shit. I really didn't want...to die yet."

Izuku looked around from the rooftops, carefully jumping from building to building in his still battle damaged body, looking for any sign of Hawks or Sylvar. The only things he could see were the lights of the city, lights from people fleeing in cars and the occasional fire. He was quick to extinguish any of those he saw.

"Come on, Hawks, Sylvar. Any sign of either of you would be great right about now." He said to himself, leaping from another rooftop and onto a fire escape ladder, climbing it to get to an even higher vantage point. His wounds aching, but not slowing him down by much.

'I don't suppose you have anything you can do to find them?' He thought to Couatl.

'A solution is technically possible, though it would take time, a luxury you do not possess. It is understood that assistance is limited from such great distance. The physical form that one possesses is still deep within the vastness of space.' The many voices of Couatl explained.

"Damn it." Izuku mumbled, until he noticed something happening to the pitch black cloud cover over the city. It looked like the clouds were sliced in half by a blade, revealing the light of the moon through them. He watched as another section of the clouds suddenly separated, creating an "X" in the sky. "Oh...that's really cool." Izuku said in a brief stunned silence.

'With mastery over the skies, your winged ally is likely the cause of such grandeur. Make haste, Izuku . A great danger can potentially be foreseen.'

"Right!" He shouted with a burst of determination. Izuku made his way to the area marked with Hawks' signal, guessing the centre of the X marked the spot where he was.

He ran and leapt, going to jump from one roof to another until he suddenly felt weightless in mid-air. He briefly panicked until he noticed the voice of an old Elven man behind him. "Good to see you're doing well." Sylvar was effortlessly floating in the air behind him, though Izuku did not fully understand how to control his current circumstance, unable to stop spinning once he began to turn to face the Wizard.

"I see you are not accustomed to flight, perhaps you should consider getting lessons from your feathered friend." He gave a small chuckle, he made a faint glow from the tip of his walking stick before pulling what looked like a rope made of magical energy from the staff, throwing it around Izuku's waist before flying over to Hawks' signal, dragging Izuku along behind him.

"Where were you!? I was fighting that Vampire on my own!" Izuku shouted, the wind howling quite loud as it billowed past the flying duo.

"A Vampire? Did he have any stronger minions with him?" Sylvar asked, a serious concern on his face.

"Yeah, Hawks was fighting him." Izuku explained, going on to briefly describe the bandage wrapped Undead.

Sylvar said something unknown but Izuku guessed it was an Elvish curse word, "This is certainly troublesome. When a True Vampire dies, its lesser Vampire spawn minions then become True Vampires themselves. Hawks is now fighting against someone potentially equal in power or perhaps even stronger than the Vampire you faced alone." Sylvar explained. "Though you killing a Vampire alone is certainly an impressive feat."

"He was pretty cocky and overconfident, monologuing a lot and talking like he was all powerful. It seems like he didn't even know his abilities as a Vampire, or at least his weaknesses. Enough holy energy eventually put him down by cutting off his regeneration...and his arm." Izuku explained, "Thankfully, overconfidence is something Couatl taught me how to avoid having early on in our training."

'It is thought you require revision on this lesson with how often you rush into danger without forethought. Though a lecture can be postponed until relative safety is assured.' Couatl remarked.

'I'm trying my best over here!' He thought back.

"It seems he didn't put effort into training his new body after becoming Undead, a surprisingly common occurrence among those few sentient Undead. Being immune to aging often makes people lazy you see. Though if a Vampire did train their body sufficiently, it would grow at a rate far greater than that of a normal Human. You should be thankful such a man was crippled by his own hubris." Sylvar advised.

They continued flying through the sky, over the buildings and streets that were uncomfortably empty of any people. Hawks had made it quite a distance away to fight against his now Vampire enemy if the damage to the city was anything to go by. Izuku began thinking of potential battle strategies, thinking about everything that bandage Quirk he briefly saw could possibly do, and what the best way to use his latest spells to combat the Vampire would be.

The female Cultist dashed forwards, her accursed blade carving through the puppet mummies like they were made of paper. With each swing the fog would drift across the blade, casting a trail of darkness, though whenever the blade carved through the puppets it would be surrounded by a dull while glow that barely cut through the mist. She approached silently, relentlessly and indifferent to Mummy's attacks as she slaughtered the minion mummies, giving a dead stare to Mummy as she did so. Each movement she made was blurred with the smog, the mummies would miss each strike before being cut down. Mummy tried to rearrange them but she allowed him no quarter, darting past and through them like a ferocious whirlwind of death.

Mummy hissed in response to this display, drawing back his bandages and letting loose a barrage of attacks. His bandages swung like whips, carving through the concrete like it was air, similarly slicing through the cultist's armour and body, leaving bloodless wounds behind. They both quickly reformed however, not unlike Mummy's own regeneration, a fact that greatly irritated the undead man.

She pulled back her sword and spoke in an inhuman language, the smog coating her entire body before she vanished entirely. [Misty Step] Mummy looked around panicked, thrusting his bandages out and through the mist to hit something before he felt a searing pain in his torso, seeing the blade thrust through his body from behind. The Cultist ripped the blade free, taking another slash and carving a chunk out of Mummy's arm.

Mummy jumped back, pushing himself from the ground with his bandages, but another slash connected to his leg. Each wound caused by the blade burned with incredible searing pain and refused to heal properly, though the severity of the wound mattered not when Mummy was already one with the dead. His own bandages just wrapped around the wounds, holding them closed for the time being until they healed later.

He attacked once again, his bandages focussing for the blade, wrapping around it as Mummy ripped a stop sign from the ground, lifting it with ease thanks to his empowered form. He yanked her weapon away, tossing it into the mist as he swung with the stop sign, his improvised weapon bending and snapping in half over her ethereal armour.

She reached out and touched Mummy's chest with her whole hand, a dull pink-ish shimmer cast over him before the female Cultist reared back and threw a devastating punch into Mummy's face. A blinding white energy similar to some of Warlock's magic crackled up her arm from her fist as it connected with Mummy, causing a grand explosion of bright holy magic. [Smite: 3rd Level] Mummy flew backwards into a building, his face sizzling and smoking with a great burn across his entire left side that crackled with dull blue flames.

The female Cultist was surrounded by smoke once again, however it was coming from the arm she punched with. Or rather the lack of arm. Everything below her right elbow had entirely exploded and the wound seemed to burn with the same dull glow of blue magical flames. She hissed slightly in response to the new stimuli, unfamiliar with the pain, though it did not bother her too much. The loss of a limb being a minor injury to one such as her.

Mummy growled through heavy breaths, baring his fangs in rage which glistened in the moonlight as he clutched some of his wounds. The left side of his face was severely burned from holy magics, his left eye disintegrated in it's socket from the devastating attack, leaving him with a ghoulish appearance once again. "Undying King, Master of my Master before, I pray to you in my time of need! Grant me the strength I need to overcome this foe, in exchange I shall give unto you my everything! Heart! Mind! Body! And Soul! Just let me kill them!" He cried out, desperate in the moment. Mummy desperately prayed and looked to be in great pain until a sudden change physically overcame him.

The Cultist watched as Mummy's shouts of pain turned to laughs, prying himself free of the wall and standing on his feet. Though his wounds persisted, he seemed to be ignorant of them now or simply didn't care. A dark necrotic energy seeped from his own wounds as a glow of crackling ethereal magic began to form in his left eye socket. "This power...Hahaha...This searing pain! Let me share it with you!" Mummy shouted through grit teeth, looking up at the Cultist once more. [Form of Dread] A deranged expression with a wicked eldritch and ethereal eye had overtaken Mummy's face, a sickly, dark energy draped over his body like a ornate robes, Mummy's left hand had also been overtaken by this eerie mystical energy, crackling with unreadable symbols and arcane magics.

Mummy lifted his altered left hand and pointed it at her, magic seemed to arc across it like electricity and continued to build up until a strange wave of green light shot out of it. Mummy's arm shot backward from the attack, seemingly unprepared for the blast's reaction on his body. [Repelling Blast] The wave-like blast of magic was a familiar green in colour, far too similar to the attacks of the Warlock. On contact with the Cultist, the wave blasted her back with a powerful repelling force.

She slid backwards, scraping ethereal armour into shattered concrete until she collided with the wall of an apartment building. Though the attack caused little damage, her head was wracked with images of this visage of Mummy, a skull-like face that was staring with a permanent rictus and grim smile, due to the lack of facial muscles. Ceaseless screams and ravaging darkness clouded her mind, all visions showing Mummy to be the cause. However, she had been exposed to such imagery from the moment she gained this monstrous form. She managed to tear her way through the imagery forced upon her mind, just in time to see Mummy's next attack of bandages.

The bandages thrust forward with incredible speed, piercing through the wall of the building with almost no resistance. However they did not hit the target, the Cultist jumped up to avoid the attack yet did not fall back down, Mummy looked up to see her standing on the side of the building like gravity was now sideways for her, her body and ethereal steel and leather armours no longer blurred by the dark mist that blanketed the streets, though by now that mist had already started to fade away.

She stared at Mummy once more, holding out the stump that was once her right arm towards him as a tendril of darkness emanated from the wound. The dark energy whipped around and shifted rapidly, changing shape to form a unnatural facsimile of an arm. Muscle and pale skin seemed to grow over the energy, forming a new arm entirely within a few seconds that was subsequently covered by her ethereal armour morphing over it. With her new hand she pointed at Mummy, [Command] "GROVEL!" she said in a stern voice that unnaturally boomed around her like she screamed it at full force.

The commanding voice that had affected Mummy once before shook his mind, making him almost fall to his knees before he powered through, snapping himself free of the mind control. He continued his macabre grin before holding his own hand out to the Cultist, [Toll the Dead] The sudden and growing sound of echoing and dolorous church bells filled the air around the street, causing the Cultist to clutch her ears as her current wounds festered and regenerated cuts began to reopen. After this, Mummy leapt up out of the mist using his bandages, swinging himself into the same wall his target stood. Though, while she somehow walked on the wall's surface with ease, Mummy had instead imbedded his bandages and feet into the wall in order to cling into it.

It was at this moment that both Undead heard a commotion at the top of the building, a voice they both recognised. The Warlock. Mummy knowing him as the false prophet and the cause of death for his previous Master. The Cultist remembering him from their previous encounter around a month ago.

Mummy threw himself skyward using the full force of his bandages while the Cultist ran up the wall, running up the wall as if gravity continued to pull her toward the building instead of the earth, teleporting upwards with another Misty Step to get the extra boost in distance over Mummy.

After flying toward Hawks' signal in the clouds for less than a minute at top speed, Izuku and Sylvar spotted the Hero on top of a tall building on his knees and clearly wounded. Once they reached the rooftop the flying spell's effect ended quickly, as did the ethereal rope around Izuku. Hawks remained motionless on his knees near the edge, still clutching the Masamune in his hand but not reacting to their presence at all.

'Crap! Crap! Crap!' Izuku was quick to run up to Hawks, he was unconscious and had definitely lost a lot of blood. He started mumbling in Celestial as a dull glow appeared in his hands, overlapping and pressing them against Hawks' chest over his heart. [Spare the Dying] The magic shot out in a small pulse like a defibrillator, thankfully feeling a heartbeat in the chest after the cantrip had been cast.

"Sylvar, anything to heal would be great." He called out before clasping his hands together, speaking a brief prayer in Celestial as the bloody wound on Hawks' neck began to subtly glow and heal over, scarring like weeks of healing had passed in seconds. [Healing Light x2] He used his last two uses of Healing Light on Hawks, leaving him without anymore reliable healing that didn't use his stores of magic.

Hawks stirred slightly, a good sign that he wasn't going to die. Izuku went to pull him away from the edge of the building and just as he began to drag Hawks' unconscious body back he heard what sounded like screaming coming from the street below. Before he could go to the edge to investigate he saw someone suddenly jump up over the edge of the building and land on the roof top with them.

The same female Undead Cultist that didn't kill Izuku at the HPSC Office crested the edge of the building, an shimmering ethereal armour covered her body as a dark fog drifted over her shoulders like a cloak. "Again we meet, Warlock of Light. Perhaps this meeting too was fated to happen. Unfortunate then, that there is no time for conversation."

"What are you-" Izuku started to say but was quickly interrupted by another person coming over the edge of the building.

The red bandages wrapping around and writhing behind him were all that remained to be recognised of the now Vampire. His face burned and scarred seemingly by holy magic with his left hand and eye socket overflowing and crackling with pure magic. "YOU! You who killed my Master! I will rend! You! Apart! I'll kill you! Wwwrrryy!" He shouted, the visage of a decaying skeletal grimace over his face and darkness flowing over him like robes. He thrust his bandages out, intent on impaling Izuku with them.

The female Undead held out her hand toward Izuku as a shimmering field of dark magic appeared in front of him, the attacks scrapping against the shield of magic and causing a shower of sparks as the attack glid across it.

Sylvar waved his hand as an ethereal silver Mage Hand began to drag back Hawks further away from all the conflict. "Alright, enough of that. Get back down there." He said before casting a another spell, a translucent wave of silvery magic shooting from the Wizard's walking stick. The magic remained as an aura of shimmering sliver magic mist that surrounded Mummy, then the Wizard clasped his hands together and the the ethereal silvery magic suddenly collapsed in on itself, rapidly shaping and solidifying into a solid hollow sphere of the same magic.

Mummy screamed and clawed at the sphere, attacking it constantly from the inside with his bandages but did not even scratch it, only able to push against the inside like a giant hamster ball. The female Cultist walked over and kicked the ball off the building with little effort.

"That only lasts a minute so make the most of that prep time. My magic is better for support than battle, I'll take Hawks somewhere safer to treat him." He then began to cast another spell, an glowing arcane clock of runic symbols and clockwork gears appearing in the air as he turned his hand and increased the speed of the clock hands.

The spell looked to be complete but he held it back, compressing all the magical energy in his hands into a small grey bead, handing the object to Izuku. "Take this and break it in your hand when the sphere breaks. Be warned, it's effect will likely last less than a minute and will have a drawback when it ends." Izuku took the bead with a determined nod, it felt like a glass marble and was about the same size.

Sylvar looked suspiciously at the female Undead, "Not often the dark wages war against itself. Do not harm the Warlock and I shan't confront you." He threatened, before holding onto Hawks' shoulder and vanished from space, the air rippling like water where they were.

Izuku looked to the Undead, who touched his shoulder, removing a scroll from somewhere beneath the ghostly, dark armour. "I have no ill will toward you that was not forced upon my mind, Warlock of Light. Even with my Mast...with Nine's death under your belt, you are still far too weak to dethrone the King. Consider this brief partnership a test." She said before reading the incomprehensible words from the scroll.

The magic from the scroll flowed over the Undead and Izuku as it burned in blue flame, a feeling of weightlessness overtaking him as he briefly felt nothing around him before feeling pulled downwards at an angle and stopping abruptly. The moment the feeling subsided he found himself teleported to the street below the building he was just on, severe damage covered every visible surface and object.

Mummy was also down here, muffled screaming and cursing coming from within the sphere as it rolled slowly and mostly harmlessly around the street toward them. The female Cultist walked over to a large, generally evil-looking sword on the ground and picked it up with a single hand. She held a hand over her weapon as she spoke an unknown language again, a dull flare coming from her hand as she hovered it over the length of the weapon. Once she finished she swung the weapon which lit up immediately, the blade was suddenly wreathed in flames that illuminated the street around her, though no such light penetrated the cloak of mist that draped down over her shoulders.

"Prepare yourself, Warlock of Light. If you wish to continue defying fate, start by not perishing this day." She said. The two waited in anticipation for the battle to continue, the sphere that restrained Mummy would break apart in mere moments.

Veratain appeared in an alleyway with space briefly rippling around him, he felt he was a good distance away from the battle that would soon ensue between the Vampires and Midoriya. He leaned Hawks' unconscious body against the wall and pulled something from his pocket. A monocle made of silver and the lens made from clear quartz, he spoke a few words in a language unknown to Humans and the item let off a subtle radiance.

He looked through the eyeglass, any colour fading into grey except for a colourful aura around any wound on the Hero's body, the particular colours glowing between yellow to orange to red, indicating the severity of the injury. Thankfully Hawks' injuries were all closed, thanks to Midoriya's previous intervention. "Alright, it looks like your body is healed up. Though you still lost a lot of blood, fortunately I have something for that." He said to a still unconscious Hawks.

He reached into another pocket, his hand entering the extradimensional space within and mentally calling for the item he needed, it soon finding it's way into his grip before he pulled his hand out. He removed a small bronze coloured ring, an engraving of a branch looping around it with tiny jades embedded into it to resemble leaves.

This was a Ring of Regeneration, he placed it on Hawks' finger as it immediately started to give off a subtle dull green glow from the jade crystals. "I only have the one ring, so I'll be taking it back after you've regained your lost blood. It should also begin healing the other lesser wounds you received in the meantime." He spoke before a disturbance caught his attention. The sound of destruction in the direction he teleported from, indicating the bandaged Vampire had broken free of his spherical prison.

Veratain let out a small sigh, "I suppose I should keep an eye on them. Make sure the young Midoriya doesn't get too in over his head." He said to himself, reaching into the extradimensional space of his suit pockets once more. He removed a small silver and gold whistle that was designed to resemble the head and body of an eastern style dragon, blowing into it gave way to no sound, or rather it gave way to a sound he could not hear with ears of an elf. However something else heard it.

A sudden weight on his shoulder indicated the device functioned correctly, he turned his head to see the tiny, red-brown coloured, dragon-like creature perched on his shoulder, a tail ending with a scorpion-like point swaying behind it. He reached out his hand to the Pseudodragon, the beast leaning into the touch as it was pet, it was similar in size and personality to a small cat. "It has been some time since I last called upon you, my familiar. If you may, please watch over the battle 300ft to the south-west, let me know if anything happens to the green-haired lad." He spoke his order to the miniature dragon.

The Pseudodragon listened intently and chirped seemingly in agreement before taking off from Veratain's shoulder, heading the direction it was told to. "Right then," he said, turning his attention to the slowly healing but still unconscious Hawks, "Now it's just a matter of waiting."

A tense moment passed second by second, Izuku could almost hear his own heartbeat thumping in his chest. He held out his staff ready to attack or defend, holding the tiny mote of magic in his other, ready to break it at a moment's notice. For another few seconds the street was eerily quiet, all except the flames crackling across the Undead girl's blade. Even Mummy was silent in apprehension, seeming to understand that the spherical prison that held him would soon shatter.

In that second, a tiny crack formed on the sphere of magic and just as it did a thousand more cracks formed and the sphere evaporated back into a mist of magic. Mummy was quick to strike, launching whip-like bandages at Izuku. However, the other Vampire was faster, her body blurring with the smoke of her cloak as she dashed and swung her blade overhead, severing the bandages but just missing Mummy's body, a thunderous metallic clang echoing out from her blade when it struck the ground.

He hissed and glared at Izuku with his glowing spectral left eye, holding out his magically overcharged hand with his sickening smile on his face. It was then that a thunderous sound of church bells rung inside his head, a wave of negative energy shooting through his body as his barely healed wounds ached and burned. He shouted and grit his teeth but he couldn't push through the magic as his older wounds started to bleed again.

In frustration and pain, he crushed the mote of magic in his hand. [Haste] A sudden burst of Sylvar's magic flowed over him as he heard a distant sound of a clock's ticking decreasing in speed. The bandages around Mummy and the flames from the female Vampire's sword seemed to slow down by a lot, as did everything else around him. An overly energising feeling overtook him, similar to Expeditious Retreat but much more extreme in concentration.

He ran past Mummy, the bandages around him moving so slowly that Izuku could easily side step and slip through to reach the main body. He swung his staff into Mummy's already damaged face, a burst of divine energy bursting from the strike before Izuku jumped back and dodged the slow moving attacks once again. With so much extra movement to make with his newfound speed, he mockingly spun and posed around the flailing bandages, much to Mummy's irritation. Ashido really was a bad influence on him.

The female Vampire watched as the Warlock moved with such incredible speed his body began to blur, she changed her grip on her sword and swung in a circle like a cyclone, bandages severing and burning up in her blade's flame. She then dashed into closer quarters, thrusting her sword forwards. However, her blade was stopped by Mummy's hands even through the sword still burned him.

Mummy hissed and shrieked, his seemingly ever regenerating bandages extending out again in all directions. Piercing through the Vampire's body multiple times, though Izuku was still moving so fast he could easily dance around each bandage before it got too close. "Die and scatter, Dog!" Mummy shouted in a victorious cry. The female Vampire was pinned by being impaled multiple times.

Mummy then saw from his peripheral the damnable Warlock again, attempting to strike him from behind. He grinned madly as his phantom eye and hand flared with energy again. A torrent of bandages that were unavoidable, even if he was faster than before. They cracked like whips before they struck, gliding through air with the same ease they would carve through his flesh. However, somehow, his attack harmlessly passed through the Warlock and into the concrete.

In that moment of confusion, Izuku jumped over the Minor Illusion he created of himself, running on the bandages and thrusting his staff into Mummy's chest with a blast of radiant magic and releasing a Sacred flame at the same time thanks to his increased casting speed. He jumped away in the flash of light he created from the attack, avoiding another slash of magical cloth and past the female Vampire who seemed to be melting into some kind of mist.

The female Vampire's body physically broke down into a dark cloud of smog, her body dissolving and phasing out of the pinning attack with ease, the mist drifting over and reforming herself next to Izuku, her flaming sword continued to scorch the cement until Mummy picked it up, cackling as he swung it with ease. The flames illuminating his grotesque corpse-like face after taking so much holy damage.

Mummy darted forwards, his speed rivalling the female Vampire as he swung the sword toward her, though the blade's momentum was stopped completely as Izuku leapt in front of the blow, bracing against the weapon with Day Break. "You! False Messiah! Why! Won't! You! DIE!?" Mummy cried, swinging the blade with each shout. Each blow was blocked by Izuku, but the force of the blow still battered him, the bone and sinew in his legs straining and threatening to snap under the pressure.

Mummy raised the sword up in the air with both hands, ready to deliver a devastating blow downward. Izuku knew he had to dodge and was just about to, until the energising magic that was running through him was suddenly cut off. Sylvar's spell had ended and a great lethargy had overtaken Izuku's body, the consequence of using the spell to enhance his body.

The blade arced downwards heading directly for Izuku, but never found it's target. The female Vampire stood in front of Izuku blocking the attack with her arms, her ethereal armour being the one thing that held the blade back. She looked behind her to Izuku, who was just managing to re-adapt the sudden speeding up of everything to it's normal speed. "No more tricks?" She asked in her blank voice.

She shoved the blade away with her armoured arms, grabbing Mummy's arm that was holding the sword, his body giving off a brief shimmer of magic. She twisted herself around, stomped her foot down as the already ruined street cracked further, throwing Mummy over her shoulder and into the wall of a building across the street then placing her hands together.

"Just one. Now feels like a good time." Izuku held his hand together, a chant of Celestial leaving his lips that seemed to overlap on itself, like his voice was playing a second time half a second after he spoke. As he continued another voice joined, then a fourth. Izuku's body seemed to blur and warp as he spoke, then he threw his hands apart, as his body also split into four identical slightly spectral bodies. [Mirror Image]

The 4 Izuku's moved in unison as they turned to his Vampiric comrade, "How's that for a trick?" Four voices said in unison before they all twirled their staves and moved through each other to get into a battle ready stance. "These are just temporary illusions, don't expect me to be 4 times stronger."

"Then we should finish this quickly." She replied as Mummy pried himself from the wall, flaming sword in hand and bandages writing behind him. It was hard to tell if he was close to death, he already looked like a corpse and had been sparking with bright magic since Izuku saw him.

Izuku and his illusory copies ran at Mummy, weaving through one and another as he ran. Mummy looked between the four in confusion, before hissing and launching his bandages in all directions to try and strike all of them. One bandage pierced through an Izuku but that one quickly fizzled away, the others twirling and jumping between attacks and through each other, adding to the confusion of which was real.

Mummy hissed as Izuku got closer, he went to strike with his staff, aiming at Mummy's face again where it was already weakened. Mummy dodged the strikes of all 3 Izuku copies, not taking any chances of getting hit with any more holy magic. He held out his hand encompassed in magic which suddenly released a green wave of energy that looked similar to an Eldritch Blast. The blast made no contact fortunately, but another illusory copy was targeted and evaporated in the blast, Mummy cursing violently in response.

He raised the sword, intent on bisecting Izuku with the burning onyx blade, swinging it down at full force until a cloud of smoke appeared between the two as the Vampire teleported using what looked like Misty Step. She grabbed the blade with her armoured hands, flames licking across her arms as the ethereal armour sparked with magic.

She and Mummy struggled with the blade, trying to pry it from the other's grip. Mummy began to wrap his bandages around the handle to get a better hold but a sudden thin beam of blue light struck them, ice and frost quickly spreading over as they froze solid. Mummy glared at where the beam came from, seeing Izuku and his illusory duplicate back to back and both pointing a finger gun at him with frost smoke drifting from their index finger. The two illusory Izuku's then blew the smoke away the finger guns to mock Mummy.

With a final stronger pull, the bandages shattered and the female Vampire pulled the sword free, flipping it in her hand to hold onto the grip. She thrust the sword forward, going to piece through Mummy's chest. However the blade was stopped by more bandages wrapping around Mummy's torso several times over like layers of armour.

Before she could push any harder, Mummy raised both hands, planning to slam down onto the Vampire. Before he could however, Izuku used Control Flames, the fire from the sword suddenly brightening and bursting out over Mummy's body, the bandages catching quickly being so bundled up. "You! Both of you! Kill! Kill! I'll kill you!" He shouted, the bandages thrusting out, piercing through the Vampire and going to wrap around Izuku.

Half of the bandages grabbed the illusory double, it evaporating instantly. The other half wrapped around the real Izuku, tightening their grip to a bone crushing level, twisting his limbs to lengths they shouldn't and wrapping around his neck, his neck audibly and uncomfortably cracking as his vertebrae were pushed to their limit before they would snap.

The Vampire stared at Mummy in the eye as he continued to grin through the struggle, briefly glancing behind her to Izuku then to her sword. She thought about her options for a moment and grimaced, hissing in frustration before spinning around and slicing through the bandages that were holding Izuku, cloth burning as it was sliced and going slack immediately afterwards. She tried to turn back and slash at Mummy again, but he jumped away from the blade making a tactical retreat.

Izuku and the Vampire watched as Mummy began to flee, throwing himself as fast as he could through the street, moving faster than either of them. He then watched as she spoke in that unknown language again before vanishing from where she was, the air rippling like water.

The Vampire reappeared directly above Mummy in mid-air, driving her sword downward. Mummy's momentum had changed direction immediately, the both of them plummeting to the ground. Mummy stabbed through her with his bandages but they didn't do enough damage to stop what had already begun.

Izuku ran after them, although he was slowed down from his wounds he reached the street Mummy had fled to just as the two hit the ground. The Vampire girl had turned into a cloud of mist again before hitting the ground, harmlessly drifting over the concrete. Mummy on the other hand immediately crumpled under the force of the drop and the flaming sword plunged in his abdomen. The mist reformed over Mummy's body around the blade in the vague shape of a Human before shifting back into the female Vampire. She pulled the sword free of Mummy's body before going to plunge it back down into his chest, the blade beginning to glow white with a holy light.

Suddenly, in less time than it took to blink, the Vampire was no longer directly over Mummy, and was instead standing next to Izuku, sword still in the air and just about to impale. Thankfully, the Vampire noticed the change in time to pull back the sword, not skewering Izuku and only plunging the sword into the concrete. Both confused, they looked over to where Mummy should have been, his body gone from the crater his body made.

"What? Where did he-" Izuku said before he suddenly heard something, the Vampire noticing the same thing. A dramatic, smug slow clap. They both looked up to see a man dressed in the usual Cultist robes, he wasn't floating purely in mid-air but was instead standing on a thin platform that somehow levitated. The trademark dark hooded robes made it very difficult to make out any kind of facial features, especially in the dark of the night.

An unnatural and ghostly chorus of lamentation began to form in the air, like a backing track of unknown voices sang by the wailing of the damned. As the macabre choir echoed around the street, the Cultist man spoke with a bow to those below himself. "Bravo. Truly impressive, False Messiah. I hoped you would fall, but even I found myself captivated by the performance."

Izuku turned to the female Vampire still beside him, flames still wreathing the blade she had freed from the street. "Have you seen this guy before?" he whispered.

She replied in a whisper, but did not turn away from the man, "Only in passing. He's as much of a threat as the rest."

"However, I'm afraid our meeting, much like yourselves, will be short lived. It is not often the Dark Lord bestows one of us with such greater boons of strength, so we've repossessed the Mummy for now. Though with how well you hit it off, I'm sure you two will meet again." He began to cast some kind of spell, the platform he was standing on breaking apart into smaller pieces, floating around him. "But since you've entertained me for so long, allow me to leave you with a parting gift. Be sure to survive now, I'd so hate to waste our fated foe to something so trivial."

Whatever pieces the platform was made from drifted around the man, spinning wildly in the air before the man vanished along with his haunting choir and all but one of the pieces. The single piece of the platform fell to the street below, revealing it to be a simple playing card as it harmlessly fell to the ground. Suddenly an impenetrable darkness crept around the card, coalescing and raising to form several vaguely humanoid figures.

What looked like several leg-less torsos of a person made out of a smoky, shadow energy with unnaturally long arms and hands tipped with long razor sharp claws. Large, bat-like wings viciously burst from the backs of the creatures, with webbing looking like decaying fabric. Their faces were eerily inhuman, looking more beast-like than human, with razor sharp teeth, beastly tusks and large horns that curved back like a goat.

"Oh come on! How many more things do we have to fight!?" Izuku complained, his body beginning to struggle to move due to all the injuries he had sustained tonight and the adrenaline in his body beginning to wear off.

The monsters, whatever they were, leered at the two. One let out a tongue of the same shadowy substance as it's body and licked at it's savage teeth. However, they all noticed something, a look of fear overcoming them as they looked behind Izuku and the Vampire. Suddenly a tiny mote of light that Izuku immediately recognised flew past and stuck to the creature in the centre, it immediately panicked and screeched inhumanly along with the other creatures but could not do anything before a sudden pillar of bright light filled the space that the creatures just were, one much larger than the one Izuku could make with Day Break.

Izuku looked behind him to see Sylvar holding a pendant made of gold and silver with a sun-shaped gemstone in the centre, the pendant still glowing with magic from being used to cast such a spell. Behind Sylvar was Hawks, although he was conscious now the damage done to him was still very present in his visible weakness, he supposed that healing potions could only help so much against major blood loss.

The pillar of divine light remained for a few seconds before Sylvar lowered the pendant, the holy column vanishing shortly afterward leaving nothing but a circle of scorched street behind. The Elf looked down at Izuku and the Vampire girl though his usual innocent smile was not present, instead he had an air of seriousness about him. "You two, did anything strange...More strange happen just a few moments ago? Things moving in an instant as if teleporting but showing no sign of such magics?"

Izuku stepped forward to talk, seeing as the Vampire girl stood back in silence. "There was something. We had almost beat Mummy but suddenly she appeared directly in front of me, Mummy vanished and another Cultist arrived. This all happened in what felt like a blink of an eye." He explained, Sylvar getting a sour look on his face when presented this information.

The Wizard looked irritated, "I had hoped they hadn't the ability to do so. It seems I've been blinded by my hopeful delusions of the enemy." He took a breath before looking back to Izuku, "It would seem the Cultists have access to much greater magic than I initially thought. While I firmly believe it was a scroll created by the Lich that caused the effect, I believe they have the means to briefly stop the flow of time."

Izuku looked down in thought and worry, feeling a sense of dread at the thought of the Lich's forces having such a power, "Stopping time? Is that even possible?"

Sylvar nodded, "I'm afraid so, I once freely had access to a similar magic, though even I am not immune to the effects of age. Thankfully, I am very aware of the spell, it's effects and limitations. Time was only halted for around 12-30 seconds, though it is odd to measure in seconds when time is frozen. Although the caster can not directly effect anyone during the frozen time, only moving creatures around like pieces on a board, else the spell would end prematurely."

"So, we have Zombies, Vampires and freaks who can stop time?" Hawks clarified, sighing as he used the sheathed Masamune like a walking stick, "I need to ask for a raise."

"Alright, so we're just a few steps behind in terms of magic power. Nothing we didn't already know. This is fine." Izuku said out loud, mostly trying to convince himself rather than anyone else around him. He looked back up at Sylvar, "By the way, do you have any more healing potions? I am very hurt." He admitted.

The elderly Wizard sighed in response, removing a potion identical to the ones he had given Izuku from his suit before and handing it to him. "I don't own a factory for these things you know? Potions are expensive!" He scolded as Izuku very quickly drank the potion. Most of his wounds closed and scarred over as his bones and joints felt a lot less strained. Not really close to fully healed, but it was better than nothing.

The Vampire placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder, a dull holy radiance around her hand as Izuku felt his wounds heal up slightly more, her own hand seemed to smoke a little when she did this. Izuku smiled at her and thanked her in response, though she just gave a blank stare in return, forcing him to wallow in an awkward standstill.

There was a brief moment of silence among the group as they took in the destruction around them, the Vampire mumbled some form of prayer to herself as the ghostly armour that covered her body was reabsorbed into the darkness of her cloak that draped over her entire body, the sword vanishing as well in a similar manner. It was hard to tell what she was wearing under the cloak, especially when it seemed to block any kind of light from entering.

"I need to speak with you privately." The Vampire said to Izuku, breaking the silence. Suddenly she reached out to Izuku's shoulder again and spoke the same words she spoke earlier, another scroll burning in her hand as he felt his body suddenly vanish from the Material Plane and felt himself be dragged somewhere else upwards and much further away. When he felt the world around him again he saw he was on top of another building quite a bit further away from the street they just were.

It was too dark to see much from up here so Izuku held up his staff "Light." The tip of Day Break letting out a bright enough light to see the rooftop he stood on. He turned to face the Vampire who stood at the edge of the building, interestingly she didn't cast a shadow but that was the least of Izuku's concerns. More importantly was what the Vampire wanted to say to him so urgently.

She was silent for a moment but eventually spoke up as she continued to look almost longingly over the city below them, some portions still wrecked. "Behold, all of it lays in ruin once again. Gone is the original Hosanin, and all the dreams and ambitions of it's people." She said staring out to the city before turning to face Izuku, "I lived there once. But I was another person then..."

One month ago. In the dead of night came a storm unlike any other, torrents of icy rain fell on fleeing civilians as hundreds of bolts of lightning fell from a pitch black sky that rumbled like an earthquake. Buildings crumbled and the streets were ravaged. Fires spread, encompassing entire roads as Heroes and emergency services tried desperately to stop them. Then came the monsters. The Humans brought back from the dead, attacking anything living.

Relentless savages, killing for no reason and hunting for the next victim. Zombies and Skeletons picking off the slow and weak, the sick, elderly and children. Ghouls chasing down fleeing crowds, ripping them apart with their claws. Wights attacking in groups, cornering survivors, slaughtering Heroes. Monsters born from death that craved nothing but destruction. The army of death came that night, and butchered everything with a pulse, paving the streets with blood.

One girl, a teenager, helpless to save anyone, running away with her family. A dreadful nausea overwhelming her from using her quirk too much already, being carried by her father as they fled in terror. Just as they thought they had made their escape, a pale man with long ivory white hair descended and murdered the girl's father, punching a hole straight through his chest.

The girl collapsed to the ground with her father, the mother tried to help but the white haired man approached her, restrained her and bit down into her neck. What was left after the few seconds no longer resembled the girl's mother in any way. Just a withered, empty husk.

That girl, in a fit of rage, despair, loss and grief, threw a punch to the man. The man caught it effortlessly and smiled at the girl, his bloody fangs in her face as she cursed and shouted in a blind madness. That girl stared into that man's eyes until he drank of her as well, the blood leaving that girl and all the life she had within her.

From the inner depths of that girl's heart lay a revenge so great it lived on even in death, a thirst that would only be quenched by the slaughter of that man who took everything from her.

"From the corpse of that girl, I was born. " The Vampire paused after recounting that story, looking back over the city again.

Izuku listened intently, unsure on how to comfort the girl or if she would even accept it. "You are still that girl, don't you want to be with your family now. The man who took your life has been slain, your life and the lives of your family have been avenged."

She sighed, her breath not fogging up in the cold night air, "I've existed only for the thought of slaughtering that man. Ever since his strange magic bound me to his whim, training ceaselessly since my death to slaughter him. And just as it was the last we spoke, the binds around my mind were weakened by your presence. To think he would perish by your hand as well, and even in the same place I myself had died. Fate is truly poetic, isn't it?"

Izuku walked next to her, "Do you want to be free of this? I don't know much about being Undead, but I can't imagine it feels particularly good."

"I do not feel much now. I hold no attachment to that girl who came before me, nor those loved ones she remembers. I have no attachment to her dreams and memories. I am just the remnant of a grudge with an aim ever singular. Though, I wonder, if I am truly that girl? Or am I just piloting her reanimated remains? Even this body differs from hers, as if I hold no relation to her." She looked over to Izuku, "Still, it is better that I remain in this world for the time being. Another time, I may take you up on that offer, but for now there is work to be done. Here, you should take this." She rummaged beneath her cloak of impenetrable dark mist before her arm creeped out of the shadow inside.

She handed Izuku a pendant of a small skeletal left hand seemingly made of gold, a pearl decorated to look like an eyeball was nestled in the centre of the palm. "What is this?" He asked.

"A symbol which the zealots of the Undying King use for worship, I won't be needing it so you might as well take it. I have found other things to praise in my freedom. However, Warlock of Light, know that you are not yet strong enough to face the King. Before him, all are as leaves cast to the bitter winds that howl about Death's black wings. Stay this course if you wish, but know your fate will be the same as all the fools who tried before." She warned, as if on cue a chilling wind blew past them. Izuku shivered while she remained uncannily motionless.

"I know, I'm working on it." Izuku said in defence, knowing increasing the power of his body and mind was an irritatingly slow process.

"Then you should work faster. Those were no empty threats when last we met. Someday soon, Humanity will witness the final dawn of this world as they know it. While your actions may slow the process, the inevitable is the waterfall at the end of the river that is fate. While you are certainly determined to push against it, you are but a shadow cast upon its surface. You provide no resistance against destiny's ceaseless current. You should see that you are prepared when that last day comes."

Izuku was silent for a moment before he looked back up at her, "The light that rises in my soul and flows through my veins tells me to be brave, and gives me the strength to stop these otherworldly threats! I made a promise. I will save the world from that monster! Nothing, not even fate is going to stop that! I will stop the Lich and I will be the Hero that the world needs!" A determined look on his face, one that gave no illusion to the cause he fought for.

The Vampire gave him a stoic look, "Hmhmhm," she chuckled lightly, "You and that girl. In another life, you would have been friends, I'm sure." She said almost wistfully. She stared out at the city for a brief moment, "With the threat of their demise gone, the survivors will rebuild again. Those bitter black winds have now drifted away from this city. Those who fuel my vengeance have left, so too should take my leave. I will find nothing here but longing for my mortal days." She walked away from the edge and towards the middle of the rooftop.

Izuku walked beside her, "What is your name?...Or I guess, what was the name of that girl? If everything was taken from her, and nobody will remember her, then I can at least do her the honour of carrying her memory."

The girl paused for a moment, looking as if she really had to think about the name. "It was Ochaco. Ochaco Uraraka was her name."

Izuku placed his hand on his heart, "My name is Izuku Midoriya. I swear, Uraraka, to remember and honour your name. And when the time comes you want to rest, I will grant you that everlasting peace."

Uraraka gazed for a moment at Izuku before looking away once more, "Very well, Midoriya. I have a morbid feeling those bitter black winds will call me to you again in the future. Farewell, Hero of Light." She said before what little of her that was not coated in darkness, was suddenly eclipsed in inky blackness. Her body quickly shifting and morphing until it deformed and broke apart into many shreds of shadow that formed into a flock of bats that flew over Izuku's head and into the night sky.

Izuku watched her fly away in the form of several bats, wondering how exactly that worked before looking around the building he was on and realising he didn't know where he was. Upon catching sight of the large X still in the sky a little ways away, he started heading back to the other two.

"Was it really smart to let that Vampire leave if they are such a problem?" Keigo asked the Wizard, having been given a small lecture about Vampires since Warlock left with one.

Sylvar was currently petting a small dragon-creature on his shoulder as they had the conversation, "I have a feeling it's nothing to be fearful of at the moment. Bigger problems lie in the Undying King and his minions, problems that this unlikely ally of ours seems content to assist in."

"And the fact they are Undead doesn't unnerve you at all? You don't think they could just betray us when it suits them? Forgive my scepticism, but I'm not exactly thrilled to trust a Vampire." Keigo asked, gesturing to the bite scar on his neck. "By the way, I'm not going to turn into a monster or anything right?"

The Wizard rubbed his chin in thought, "You do have a point, but the same argument can be said of anyone. From what we know, which is very little, that girl seems to be on our side. Now about that Vampirism, open your mouth." He explained, pulling what Keigo assumed was a magic magnifying glass out of his suit.

Keigo opened his mouth as the old Wizard inspected his teeth, "Oh my, that doesn't look good at all." The Wizard said, an air of seriousness about his voice.

"What!? What is it!? Am I going to turn into one of those monsters!?" Keigo asked, genuinely panicking about the old man's comment.

"It looks like that wisdom tooth hasn't come through yet. That's going to be an uncomfortable week for you." Sylvar said simply, a smug grin plastered on his face.

Keigo took a second and let out a sigh, "I'm fine aren't I?" he said, pinching the bridge of his nose over his goggles.

"As a fiddle my boy!" The Wizard laughed.

It was then that Warlock had shown back up, sliding down the drainage pipe of a nearby building and making his way through the street. "Hey guys, sorry I- Is that a Dragon!?" Any sense of professionalism about the man immediately vanished as he excitably ran up to Sylvar.

"It's a Pseudodragon my boy. Don't be shy, he's friendly." Sylvar chuckled, gesturing to the tiny Dragon.

The Pseudodragon jumped down from Sylvar's shoulder and approached Warlock, it's movements weirdly similar to a cat's. It sniffed his outstretched hand before rubbing it's against him, Warlock petting the top of the miniature dragon's head before it's wings expanded and it suddenly flew upwards, perching on top of Warlock's hat. Warlock chuckling to himself as he continued to scratch under it's chin, the tiny dragon purring in response.

Sylvar clapped his hands together to get everyone's attention like some kind of school teacher, "Alright, well if it's the same with everyone else, I want to go home. Now since I'm Warlock's only way home, he is also going to leave. Hawks, would you also like a ride back to Tokyo?"

Keigo looked around at the ruined street, "Somebody's going to have to explain this, since most survivors probably saw me tonight it should be me. I'm going to help any more survivors get to safety."

"Oh, you don't need to do that last one, I've already sent a few air elementals to help around the city while you were unconscious. They should have saved anyone in the immediate area by now. Those other Heroes you saved earlier should have also set up a safety zone by now as well." Sylvar explained.

"Sorry, what was that about "air elementals"?" Keigo asked, reasonably confused by the Wizard's magic jargon.

"Creatures made of elemental air. They mostly stay neutral and don't care for human affairs, but they owed me a favour. One of these elementals lives in that sword of yours as well. They shouldn't cause any issues, just say it was a Hero's Quirk, that usually eases people's minds these days." The Wizard casually explained like he wasn't dropping bombshells of magical knowledge.

"There's a creature living in my sword? So I wasn't talking to that wind goddess when I talk to it then." Keigo said, looking down at the Masamune as a small breeze drifted around it.

"Oh no, that goddess just gave you a little nudge in the direction of using magic. If you've been interacting with the wind lately, it was probably that elemental, must have slipped my mind to mention that before. Although that elemental may act as a kind of conduit of sorts for divine intervention for you since it would have a significant connection to Akadi."

Keigo pinched the bridge of his nose again and took a deep breath in, "You know what? I should just stop questioning magic stuff. I'm just going to go do my job."

"That's probably for the best." Warlock commented, the tiny dragon still sat on his head.

Keigo gave his goodbyes as Sylvar drew a circle of runes and symbols on the street with a piece of chalk that glistened with orange like a crystal. As he finished drawing the circle it began to glow a bright orange colour and began to swirl with magic as a portal in the ground appeared with a ring of orange around the edge. Sylvar and Warlock hopped inside with a wave goodbye before being sucked through the portal.

Keigo pulled out the phone from his jacket, calling the President who picked up quickly, "All threats have been neutralised, Madam President. Nothing of value could be gathered from either Vampire. I'll get you more details in a full report."

"Takami...Did you just say Vampire?" The President questioned, sounding genuinely confused as Keigo realised how strange that sentence must have sounded.

"I'll...double time that report, Madam." Keigo said in a defeated tone, knowing there was no short way of explaining the night's events. The President hung up in response before Keigo flew back into over the city, using his feathers like a radar to detect anyone who survived only to find any survivors already in a safe zone made by the other Heroes in the area.

Although, he couldn't shake the feeling there was someone nearby, he eventually assumed it was one of those elemental things the Wizard mentioned before descending to calm the survivors down.

Tokyo - Kotodama District - Seldarine Library

Izuku felt the sensation of being pulled through the space between spaces at impossible speeds until he stopped suddenly and appeared behind the front desk of Sylvar's library. Izuku shook his body as a tingly sensation remained from the teleporting. He noticed a circle of faint light on the floor of the same design as the runic circle he and Sylvar had just used to teleport, before Sylvar moved a rug back over it that had been flung several meters away from the teleportation.

Izuku yawned into his hand, stretching his neck as it still hurt from what Mummy did to it earlier. "Well...that sucked. This was supposed to be a 5 minute conversation with Hawks, why do things around me always escalate?" He complained out loud though to nobody in particular.

Sylvar, started rearranging his desk with a mage hand and his Pseudodragon helping him, "Well that's just how it is for you Humans, sprinting from one thing to the next. Of course from your perspective it's a snail's pace, but when you can count your age in millennia you Humans just never slow down."

"I guess you're right." Izuku leaned against the desk, using Minor Illusion to create a cat toy and begging to absentmindedly play with the Pseudodragon. "Say, one of those Vampires mentioned something that really interested me. He mentioned something about a "Demon Lord". You probably know stuff about that, right?"

"Ah, well those would be the most powerful Demons of the Abyss. A handful are even lesser deities, usually worshipped by murderous Warlocks and crazed cultists. Though none quite fit the bill around Undead more than Orcus, and if he were directly involved, we would definitely know. But this realm is too hidden in the Material Plane for a demonic infestation. Although there were those shadow demons earlier, that does raise a few questions." Sylvar replied, lecturing Izuku while multitasking in organising some of the bookshelves, the shelves themselves impossibly moving around like conveyer belts.

"Wait, I thought Demons were from the Hells?" Izuku said, slightly confused.

"No, no. Devils are from the Nine Hells. Demons are from the Abyss. An easy and common mistake to make. Or you could do it on purpose to really irritate them, they hate that. They're different creatures, but both are equally unlikable." Sylvar clarified.

"There's a difference? They seem pretty synonymous."

"Oh yes. While the two types of creature are similar in that they both eventually form from the souls of the departed evil, they are so very different that they have been at constant war since they both spawned into being. Devils are tricky, smart and follow their own set of specific rules, though they more often than not twist their words. Demons are ruthless, chaotic and as varied as the infinite layers of the Abyss itself. I'm surprised your Celestial friend never told you about them." Sylvar explained, having created a small chalk board behind him and now giving a lesson on the two fiend creatures.

"We started working on learning about the planes of existence, but I only really learnt about the Prime Material and a little about the Ethereal. Couatl tried to teach me about the whole Inner and Outer Planes thing, but my head started hurting pretty soon after." Izuku explained, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment before snapping his focus back to questioning. "Anyway, that Vampire mentioned a "Demon Lord of Villains". Does that ring any bells?"

Sylvar thought for a moment, idly rubbing his chin with a silver Mage Hand. "Demon Lord of Villains...Demon Lord of Villains...I believe there was a Human who shared a similar epithet not too long ago. He supposedly died a few years back, but that doesn't mean much nowadays, the Lich could have easily brought him back. All For One, a real piece of work that one.

"All For One? I thought he didn't exist, like some kind of modern fairy-tale? Then again magic is real...so are fairies now that I think about it. Either way, I thought he was just some made up story to scare kids who misbehaved with their Quirks. Telling them All For One would steal it in the night?" Izuku questioned.

"He was real, and quite befitting of his title. He could give and take Quirks as he pleased, although he couldn't do the same with Magic as I found out when I once confronted him. I believe it acts like a cut, copy and paste using the Quirk Gene itself, though I can't say for sure. Unfortunately, he was completely Human and I'm technically not allowed to interfere with purely Human conflicts, only those of magical or apocalyptic nature. By that point in history, Quirks were uncommon but still a completely Human phenomenon by this point." Sylvar explained.

"Wait, why can't you interfere with Human affairs? Are you bound by some kind of sacred oath or something?" Izuku asked, never having heard about this refraining from Human problems before.

Sylvar chuckled to himself, "That would take a long, long time to explain, and you don't have the years to get through it all I'm afraid. Let's just say I had a rule-breaking and rebellious phase back in my youth and now I am bound by divine word to not interfere, unless a problem is supernatural or sure to cause Human extinction."

Izuku pouted in an overly dramatic fashion, "Fine. Keep your secrets." He immediately switched back to acting normally as he gestured to his Warlock outfit, there was still a lot of grime and blood on it. "By the way, can you help with this supernatural problem?"

Sylvar rolled his eyes and waved his hand with a quick mumble of unknown words, Izuku being cleaned of any dirt and blood like dry erase pen off of a whiteboard, any damage to his Warlock clothes also being magically stitched up. "Well, young Midoriya, I suggest you leave and go home now. Don't worry about All For One, you have much larger problems you need to prepare for. And do at least try not to get into any trouble on the way back." he said, tapping his walking stick onto the wooden floorboards and making the front doors unlock and open.

Izuku ran to the door with a wave, putting a hand over his face as his appearance changed to that of his usual teenage self in casual clothes. "No promises!" Izuku called out before the doors closed behind him. He made his way to the nearest train station and changed his identity a few times on the way to make sure he wasn't being trailed, just in case.

He took the train back to Musutafu and after an hour he eventually made his way back to his apartment. Once Izuku got to his front door he noticed the lights were off, meaning his mother was asleep by now, like he was supposed to be at this time of night. 'Alright, I just have to poof inside and sneak into my room without making noise. Shouldn't be too hard.'

Using Misty Step, Izuku was able to easily teleport into the apartment without a sound and snuck back into his room, changing out of his Warlock clothes and hiding them in his room. He basically collapsed into bed, his physical exhaustion catching up with him once he finally stopped to rest.

'Izuku, an important task must be performed. Your training shall be postponed for tonight. Enjoy your rest.' He heard Couatl say in his head, quickly jolting him back from almost falling asleep. He did not question this nor did he have the energy to give a sarcastic reply. Instead he gratefully leaned into his bed, falling unconscious almost immediately afterwards from just how tiring this day was for him.

Somewhere in Japan

Ochaco stood in the abandoned house she had found, she didn't know where she was anymore, or even who she really was anymore. She walked across wooden floorboards, a fitting, ominous creak following every footfall. Opening the door to a random room she found it was a bedroom, though the furniture had severely decayed after so long without maintenance. A dusty, cracked mirror sat in the corner of the room, one that didn't display her reflection, a permanent reminder of who and what she was now.

She approached the mirror, looking into it and hoping with every blink that she would be able to see herself again, though perhaps it was best that she couldn't see what she had become. She didn't know what she should feel, what she would have felt were she alive, what someone should be feeling in this situation.

"I lost everything. My home. My life. My...family. It should hurt...Why doesn't it hurt?" She said out loud, her voice completely devoid of emotion. "Have I lost that part of me? Can I no longer grieve my family? My lust for revenge clouded my mind, reduced me to a husk, a thing. The brief flicker of Humanity within me slowly withering alongside my body. Am I all that is left of me?" She said, her hand reaching out and caressing the mirror along where her face should have been. "Will I ever live as a Human again?"

Ochaco looked longingly into the distance, recalling one of very few memories she still remembered of her once family mere days before the day tragedy had struck. Over the course of several minutes she set up a makeshift shrine to her family, she kneeled down beside it and prayed for her family. As she did her skin began to sizzle and burn, but she continued through the pain nonetheless. "How I wish I could return to that time...Mother...Father...Do you enjoy the other side? I want to join you soon, but please forgive me. I don't know why I wish to continue this existence, but I owe more than I can give to that man and I wish to repay that gift of freedom he gave to me." Ochaco prayed, hoping that her parents could hear their daughter's voice.

She backed away from the shrine, her burnt body beginning to very slowly regenerate. She held her arm out, her wicked, dark blade forming from a wisp of shadow crawling up to her hand. "Izuku Midoriya. Warlock and Hero of the light. If you will venture deeper into the rising darkness, then please," She swung the blade, it glowing a brief dull white as she held it before her, "Let me carve your way. Let me act as your protector in the shadow, to guard your back in the rising dark while you offer to shield those in the light."

The sound of a drop of liquid hitting the floor suddenly caught Ochaco's attention, noticing a single drop of blood on the floor. A moment passed as another fell, it took a moment to realise they were coming from her, steadily flowing down her cheeks. She wiped her face with the sleeve of her cloak, "Ah...I suppose, even a monster can shed tears."

...

...

Nabu Island

The Island was devoid of life. Any kind of flora, even the grass had long since withered away to dust. The buildings around the island had all crumbled away into mounds of debris, the water around the island was completely still and even the wind and clouds refused to drift past the island. Nabu Island was a land where Nature itself dared to tread. The only sign that anything still remained on the island was the monolithic tower that was darker than the clear night sky, like a monument of pure shadow.

There was a brief flicker of movement in the air in the middle of one of these streets as several fluttering cards suddenly appeared in the air, swirling in a small spiral as a cloaked man appeared in the centre of it. He held his hand into the swirling cards and watching as they all flew into his open hand one by one, forming a deck of perfectly stacked cards.

He shuffled the deck briefly in silence before flicking a single card onto the floor, it landing face up. It was still for a moment before the card stirred and shook and the heavily damaged body of Mummy was forced out of it, as if he was magically stuffed inside and removed from the card without any further damage to himself. The card that held Mummy quickly flew back into the deck before the idle shuffling continued.

"You aren't going to heal him, Hanafuda?" A voice called out behind the cloaked man. Hanafuda, the man shuffling the cards, turned around to see another one of the Undying King's loyal followers. This mysterious man looked like a very average Japanese man: with slightly long black hair, black eyes, rectangle glasses and an appearance that would be seen as the epitome of completely plain and ordinary. Although he was not dressed in the cloak or robes that would hide ones appearance, instead wearing an open black trench coat with an otherwise very casual outfit, the holy symbol of the Undying King hung around his neck, unhidden to the world on a chain.

However, despite the casual and nonthreatening look of the man, Hanafuda immediately dropped his cards upon recognising him, taking several steps backwards to create distance between the two of them, all but cowering in fear before the plain looking man. "W-well he is a Vampire, they can heal on their own. Besides I would need blood to speed up the healing."

"It's hand to hear you from so far away, Hanafuda. You should come closer me so I can hear you better." The plain looking man said, clearly not planning to move closer by himself. He hesitated for a few seconds before he took a single cautious step forward, however as he did he immediately tripped over and used his hands to block his fall.

As Hanafuda's arm connected to the ground a terrible pain shot through the entirety of the arm he landed on, as his bones immediately shattered in several places with such an incredible force that was logically impossible at the speed he was moving. Bone fragments pierced the arm in several places as he began to bleed profusely. He screamed in pain as he clutched his mangled arm, the blood beginning to pool around the crippled Mummy who began to crawl over to lick up the blood from the ground.

"There, that should be enough blood for him to heal." The man spoke up, before casually trying to walk past the two injured on the ground. "I'll see to it that this Mummy chosen by the God of Death is given what he needs to kill the Warlock next time."

Suddenly Mummy stood up, though he was clearly delirious as evidenced by the mad and continuous ranting and raving in a slurred speech from his numerous injuries to the head. He tried to attack the mysterious man for unknown reasons, perhaps it was blind rage or perhaps he mistook him for the Warlock. However, as soon as Mummy ran at the man, a pile of rubble next to Mummy began rumbling. The pile collapsing suddenly and throwing several chucks of concrete at Mummy which somehow shredded through his Vampiric body with ease and left him collapsed on the ground again.

The man faced Mummy as he was being pinned under more falling rubble. "Since you were chosen by the one true God, I will forgive you this time. But know this, Hoyo Makihara. If you even consider trying to confront me, if the thought enters your mind for even a second. You will die. This is not a threat, but a warning of a law that only God himself has ever defied."

He turned away again and began to walk toward the tower in the distance, "I'm excited about your invitation into our family. Once you are sane enough to speak we'll have much to discuss." The man walked away without a care in the world, leaving nothing behind for his fellow worshipers of the Undying King but their grievous wounds and a lingering sense of dread.

Chapter Text

Japan - Musutafu - Dagoba Municipal Beach Park

Eijiro sat with Midoriya and Mina around the stairwell he used to carry trash up to load into All Might's pickup truck. A few months had passed since he agreed to All Might's proposition and he had been working with all his heart to make his body perfect for One for All. Looking out over the beach it was clear to see that he had made progress, if he continued on this pace he might even clear the whole beach in another month's time.

He snapped his thoughts away from his working out for now and Eijiro started focusing on Midoriya and Mina. Mina herself was sitting on the railing of the seawall, leaning back enough that it looked precarious but not so much that she would fall. She was currently explaining her Quirk to Midoriya, who was frantically writing in his notebook while simultaneously asking a thousand questions.

"-So when you produce acid, does it feel like anything in particular? Does it smell like anything? How do you control how acidic it is? Do you know what kind of acid it is, or is it more of it's own thing?-" Izuku continuously ranted, scribbling down the answers to his previous questions.

"-Well it feels kinda tingly but if I produce too much too quickly, or make some super acidic, it starts to burn. It doesn't really smell like anything. When I'm about to make the acid I sort of have to choose how acidic I want it to be, I always just thought of it as a slider between two points. I don't really know what kind of acid it is, I just know it melts stuff.-" Mina replied to each question with the same speed and intensity that Midoriya had asked them.

It was pretty obvious that she found it fun to see how fast she could talk and if she could keep up with the speed of Midoriya's speed questioning. The rapid back and forth lasted a short while until Izuku finally finished asking questions, ending his note taking with a dramatic flourish.

"Hey, Midobro. You really like taking notes don't you? Why is that?" Eijiro asked as Midoriya closed his notebook, stuffing the book in his All-Might jacket.

"Oh, well it's been a hobby of mine since I was little. Although, ever since I...discovered my Quirk I tend to get more out of hand. I still don't know everything I can do with my Quirk, so if I ever discover I can do something new I'd like to have some knowledge of the subject. So if I discovered I could make acid for example, I'd look back at the notes on Ashido's Quirk for information." Midoriya explained, excitedly going through his thought process.

"That's pretty smart. I guess your Quirk is pretty unpredictable, you never know what you'll find out you can do next." Eijiro commented, impressed with how well thought out the idea was. Considering the wide range of things he could do as Warlock, it seemed like a sound strategy.

"What is your Quirk anyway, Midori? I don't think you ever told me?" Mina asked, hopping down from the railing and standing behind the two boys.

Midoriya stood up, "I'll show you, it's called Magic. To explain it simply, if I make the right sounds as "Magic words" and do the right hand gestures then I can make some stuff happen." He explained, taking a few steps back and doing exactly that, he mumbled something and moved his hands around. In front of him was a slight shimmer of green light before it grew and warped until it formed a ghostly green hand. This was something Warlock hadn't used as far as Eijiro was aware, considering how smart Midoriya was he likely had a few tricks he hid so he could still use his Quirk but not get caught as his alter ego.

"I can do this and a couple more things but the words and hand motions for each are completely different. It's like trial and error to figure out a new "Magic spell" as it were." Midoriya continued explaining, moving the hand around by making small movements with his right hand, making it do a thumbs up and pick up a rock from the ground and throw it down at the beach below. The rock harmlessly bounced off some trash before the hand waved and vanished in a small puff of green smoke.

Mina gave an impressed whistle, "Wow, I didn't know Quirks could get that complicated. Guess that's why you've gotta train with it all the time, trying to figure out all those magic words has got to be annoying, right? Still, it's so cool, like you're some kind of a magician!" She complimented.

Midoriya scratched the back of his head nervously, "W-well I'm not the only one training hard. Kirishima's already cleaned up most of this beach." He said, still unable to take a compliment. He looked out to the beach, while it was definitely visibly cleaner than it was a few months ago it was still far from clean. Eijirou supposed he had been putting in a lot of effort to clean the beach up and train with All Might but he still felt far too weak to receive One For All, whether that was his self-doubt talking or not he didn't know for sure.

"No kidding. What is that Yagi guy feeding you Kiri because you were not always this jacked!" Mina commented, making Eijirou slightly embarrassed at her very direct comments.

"Yeah, Mr Yagi said I bulked up a lot faster than he was expecting so we're trying to work on my quirk a bit more now. To protect people I've gotta become an unbreakable wall!" He exclaimed while flexing and activating his quirk on his arms with a sound like metal scraping on concrete. After enough training his hardening Quirk visibly looked more durable and felt easier to activate to a higher calibre of defence.

After a dorky dramatic move like that he expected some kind of reaction out of either Midoriya or Mina but neither said anything. For a very brief second he thought he felt someone behind him and quickly looked behind himself only to see nobody there. When Eijirou looked back to his friends he saw that they both had a look of confusion on their faces.

"My eyes weren't playing tricks on me, right? You saw that too Midori, didn't you? That wasn't one of your "magic tricks" or something, right?" Mina asked, a slight apprehensive look on her face.

"I saw it, but it wasn't me. For a brief moment, maybe less than a second, someone was standing right behind you Kirishima." Midoriya said completely seriously, as if his attitude as Warlock was slightly seeping into his normal self.

"Maybe it was a ghost! Ooh, is this beach haunted? I guess not even a ghost can resist Kiri's manly charm!" Mina joked, immediately lowering the tension as she mimicked the flexing pose he had made with a smile. Midoriya immediately broke character as he laughed at the performance. Eijirou also chuckled at the joke, although he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was definitely behind him in that moment. With how serious Midoriya immediately got when it happened didn't help that feeling that something could have been wrong, but he chose to not think too hard about it, although if it happened again he would definitely tell Midoriya about it.

The three of them continued to laugh and joke until Mina suggested they go somewhere else, suggesting a café to take advantage of the fall season drinks. They all agreed but all the while he couldn't shake off the thought of that person behind him. He also noticed Midoriya look behind the group a lot more than normal, especially behind Eijirou himself, while comforting that he was on the lookout, the repetitive nervous look behind them was unnerving. Maybe something hot to drink would take his mind off of it.

Somewhere in the Seldarine Library

Nezu took an offer for tea with Sylvar in his expansive labyrinth of rooms hidden within the walls of a seemingly ordinary library. While his intentions for doing such a thing were strictly to understand more about "magic" and how it works, as well as gathering further details into the fortification oh his school, he was admittedly smitten by the temptation to try teas from lands far beyond Earth.

He had been lead through several doors, each leading to a room more impossible to fit within the boundaries of the library he had first entered. It seemed the Wizard considered Nezu a friend, or at the least a close acquaintance, giving something of a tour through especially interesting rooms. Some that interested him the most were what seemed like a museum of various fantastical objects kept behind ornate glass and metal boxes and cases, a room that somehow contained a large section of mystical forest as if it were pulled from the earth and placed seamlessly within the house, and a comparatively much smaller room with bookshelves that reached the unseen ceilings and an elaborate and high quality wooden desk with reams of parchments and several jars of ink that each glowed and glittered an array of mesmerising colours.

The room Nezu was eventually lead to however was the most fascinating, though to call it a "room" would be misleading. Immediately obvious about this area was the little ground that was there was floating in a great, seemingly infinite expanse of space. A marvellous view of ever drifting nebulas of colours, both speckled with deep dark streaks of blackened void and dots of bright light like the distant stars. On occasion a slight movement of some kind of large whale-like creature or fish-like schools of tiny creatures could be seen in the distance, causing small disturbances in the sea of space dust.

Floating in this expanse of space was what resembled a portion of a street, with neat cobblestone paths and potted unknown plants around the corners, the edges blocked by ornate fences of a silvery metal with a subtle blueish tint. Along this floating portion of street were what seemed like Victorian-style street lamps, though in a sleeker, ornate design and made of the same metal as the fencing. At the centre of this portion of floating street was a table of a golden metal and glass, alongside two chairs of matching design and an equally elaborate tea set on the table.

Nezu hopped up onto one of the seats, a tea cup already being filled with a vibrant green tea by a floating kettle. A strong, unique aroma emanating from the beverage both sweet and fresh, and yet entirely new to him, being difficult to accurately describe. Taking a small sip of the drink revealed a complex flavour with mellow grassy tones and a natural sweetness that was stronger than other similar teas he had in the past, finishing with a pleasant, rich and savoury ending.

"Well, this tea is definitely unique. Although, given the atmosphere of this "room", I was expecting a more overwhelming experience. I'm glad however, I much prefer a tea that can calm the soul, even with this expanse of space around us." Nezu said, beginning the conversation in this strange and wonderful area.

"No need to worry, it is mostly illusory, this area is just where I prefer to relax. Though, I am glad you like the tea, the leaves came from a plant I was given as a gift from the Feywild long ago. I'd give you a cutting of a branch from the tree itself, were it not so temperamental. Now, what was it you wished to discuss? If you wanted this conversation within my home it must be something quite important." Sylvar asked, the floating kettle pouring a cup for the Wizard.

"Yes, I wanted to discuss how soon our defences will be operational against the "Undead". I hate to admit it, but I am afraid that as the terrorist attacks by the Lich's cultists continue to grow in size and casualties, if an attack were to occur here before you finish I'm not sure the students will be safe. I want to know how soon this barrier around the school grounds can be formed." Nezu admitted, his demeanour slightly more nervous than his usual intellectual air of calm.

Sylvar thought for a moment, taking a sip of his tea before speaking, "To explain this effectively, I will need to explain some things about magic first, though it may be difficult to fully understand without context on how magic feels. Spanning across all of existence, there is a force that technically "doesn't exist in this world", that is raw, unfiltered magic. Because this force "Doesn't Exist", it can't be sensed or manipulated by anything that "Does exist" if that makes sense to you, this was why very few things learned of magic in your world, before the existence of Quirks of course. Now, how magic moves through all of existence is "threads", countless unseen threads that travel across every inch of the multiverse. This is what scholars of magic refer to as the "Weave"."

Nezu listened to the lecture intently, making mental note after mental note. He was absolutely fascinated by the concept of magic and so this conversation would be something that he would like to recall in great detail. Perhaps he would begin writing his notes and thoughts on magic in a journal.

Sylvar continued his speech, using a small illusion spell to make an image of grid-like sheet. "The Weave can be visualised as a sheet of interlocking threads all around us, though it can not be felt by any sense we posses, because it "Doesn't Exist". If someone did possess the knowledge to feel out and call to the Weave, absorb and manipulate this raw magic into a shape they desired, they can. Though it would often take years to learn how to do so, unless given assistance through higher powers or creatures that possess incredible levels of magic power. Even then, one must practice their mind and body in order to not suffer under the effects of holding more magic than their body can contain."

Nezu nodded along with this explanation. "So, the power you, the young Midoriya, and this "Lich" posses is the ability to manipulate this "Weave" to create certain effects?" He asked to clarify.

The Wizard nodded, manipulating the illusion again to create 3 figures that clearly represented Midoriya, Sylvar himself and the lich as a robed figure, with the lich and Sylvar standing next to one another. "Myself and this Lich presumably use magic in the same ways, using our learned knowledge of the arcane and the Weave to manipulate it directly to many effects. Midoriya is a Warlock, while he likely has no knowledge of the Weave, he can still manipulate it through the guiding hand of his Patron. So while his knowledge on magic is more limited, he does not need to research and access the weave directly to use it."

With a flick of his hand the illusionary image was warped again into a picture of the main UA building, around the building was a grid pattern that likely represented this "Weave". "Now, casting spells can be likened to reaching to the Weave and altering the raw magic within to cause the effect you desire. Since this magic "Doesn't Exist" it doesn't have to follow conventional laws of physics. Energy can be created or destroyed, gravity can be ignored and reversed, even the flow of time can be ground to a halt. But to cover this area of land with the protection it needs, that is much more than a simple spell."

The illusion changed again, the grid-like Weave warping around UA and holding an unstable dome shape around the School before breaking apart and reforming the grid. "While there are spells that can make barriers, and spells that can stop magic's flow, creating a barrier this large is impossible with an ordinary spell. A barrier like this is what the Elves of old would call a "Mythal", using the power of several powerful mages to warp the Weave directly and produce an effect several times stronger than anything a single mage could create. Even I alone can not create a Mythal of the lesser magnitude that is planned, so a team of magic casters would be needed in order to protect the school."

A twinge of fear struck Nezu, "Are you saying that we won't be able to create this "Mythal" after all?" The Wizard shook his head in response, earning a sigh of relief from Nezu as he drank his tea to calm his nerves.

"I do have a plan, and a back-up plan if plan A takes too long. I'm sure you know that the Hero known as Hawks has developed his magic quite well, and the spark that granted him his instinct to pull from the Weave only appeared when he had an interaction with a Divine being. If being chosen by a divine being was all it took to use magic, surely the Gods would have selected several others and done the same by now. I have a theory that Izuku Midoriya has a part to play in this event in some way, something about that young man can affect the distance between the Planes of Existence." Sylvar explained, a serious and contemplative expression on his face.

"How can you be so sure? One instance is hardly enough evidence to draw this conclusion." Nezu argued, curious about this possible aspect of Midoriya.

"Oh, but it wasn't just one instance Mr Nezu. While training within my home he has inadvertently "Thinned the gaps between universes" so to speak, which allowed for a few accidental stragglers, not to worry they were quickly sent back home. Midoriya has also shown to distort magic in some way inadvertently, weakening the mind control on a Vampire's minion for example. If my theory is correct and Izuku Midoriya can distort the Weave in this way, he will inadvertently create more people who can cast magic." Sylvar theorised, using illusions to give visuals to his explanation while he spoke.

Nezu stroked his chin in thought, "Well that is an interesting theory, but we would have to find people that the Gods themselves find interesting or worthy to obtain such a power. I believe it was pure coincidence that allowed for Hawks to obtain his magic. You would have to catch lightning in plenty of bottles."

Sylvar nodded in agreement as a school of flying fish-like ethereal creatures flew overhead and turned to fly underneath the floating street. "That is true but I do have a plan B. I may be able to produce a Mythal with the few magic casters we already have on our side, though I would have to get through the struggle of contacting higher powers to help. It is riskier but it is also faster than hoping Midoriya encounters the right people at the right time."

"So either way you would need many magic casters to help. Well I certainly wouldn't object to learning a few things to help." Nezu said in a jovial tone, wondering how well his vast intelligence would help him, or if it would be like learning everything all over again.

The old wizard gave a smile and chuckled, "I always did want to get into teaching, I suppose I can't argue against that idea. I'll see what beginner texts I can find for you."

The two wise men continued the chatter and drink teas from distant Planes, discussing important plans about how to correctly fortify UA against the Undead and tips for understanding the basics of magic, but also having debates on which tea is the best. Nezu argued that the Shizuoka prefecture produced the best tea, Sylvar was unwavering in his stance that the best tea he had while on Earth was in China during the Zhou dynasty, which made Nezu mentally question how old this Wizard was.

After all the conversation and tea was finished Nezu announced that it was time for him to leave and that he was to return to the UA building for a meeting with All Might. Sylvar was kind enough to lead Nezu to the exit, waving his walking stick at the bluish tinted metal fence, causing a portion of it to rise and form an arch, inside the arch formed an elaborately carved wooden door, an equally elegant handle of the same silvery blue metal.

Once Sylvar opened the door for Nezu he saw the interior of his office, curiously he stepped through the doorway and despite a small shiver once he stepped out and into his comparatively much cooler office he was completely fine. Nezu turned around and simply saw the door to his office, the same sliding doors used throughout UA, though Sylvar was standing next to it.

"I placed an entrance to my home inside the UA building, though it isn't a static entrance and can replace almost any existing doorway on UA property. I'll let you know how to activate the doorway when I teach you some of those magic basics. For now I'll go back to preparing the school's defences, enjoy the rest of your day, Mr Nezu." The Wizard explained before disappearing with a few words and a ripple in space at his door.

Nezu smiled to himself at the playful use of magic before taking a seat at his desk. The phone on the desk almost immediately blaring the second he sat down, the caller being registered as Toshinori. "Good day Toshinori, I trust you aren't overexerting yourself. You know how Shuzenji gets when you wind up pushing yourself too far."

Toshinori chuckled awkwardly on the other end of the phone, "Ah, yes... Well, I'll have you know I've only used an hour's worth of time today, but I'll be a tad later than I thought. Don't worry though, I will be there as soon as I can."

Nezu hummed in response, "Well I should hope so, it really is like you to ask for meetings and then arrive late."

"Haha, sorry sir. I never was much for time management, even back in the day when I was a student." Toshinori joked.

"You really don't need to be so formal with me Toshinori, just because you'll be working at the school."

"Well that's something I wanted to discuss with you. You see I believe I've actually already found a suitable successor for- Oh, sorry si-Nezu! Sound's like a robBERY IS AFOOT! AND WHENEVER THERE IS A CRY FOR HELP, JUSTICE WILL ANSWER! I'LL HAVE TO CALL YOU BACK, BECAUSE I! AM! /beep/ /beep/ /beep/ " The phone fell silent as Toshinori hung up.

Nezu sighed, though he couldn't hide his smile at Toshinori's antics. "Toshinori, you really haven't changed at all since those days. Let's hope that successor of yours will follow in your footsteps well."

Tokyo - Prime Minister's Official Residence

The President of the HPSC stood in the office of Japan's Prime Minister with one of her black suit wearing bodyguards, this bodyguard was around a foot taller that the president herself and had his entire face and hands covered in white bandages, leaving no visible skin.

The Prime Minister, Hiroshi Sakamoto sat at his desk, at either side of him were his own bodyguards, a large man with a lion-like Quirk and another man of average height with dark windswept hair and an otherwise extremely neat appearance. The Prime Minister himself had neat dark hair with a few streaks of grey, with a lean and athletic build with an above average height. Despite not having a Quirk, he is able to hold onto his position and possess a good relation with the public and Heroes alike.

"Prime Minister, I will need access to the medical files on every Japanese citizen. If you allow me access then we can finally have a method of controlling the Warlock." The President said, standing her ground despite having asked multiple times for access to these files, and being denied each time.

Hiroshi shook his head, "Madam President, I'm well aware of your intentions on having this "Warlock" figure face proper justice. However, I stand firm in my belief that what you plan to do is unethical and will continue to forbid it as long as I am in office." He said, also not giving up despite not changing his facial expression from a calm and comfortable smile.

"Prime Minister. I wasn't asking." The President said, reaching into her suit and removing the "Anti-Undead Weapon" that her weapon's research team had devised, pointing the, what should be unwieldy, firearm at the Prime Minister.

In a matter of milliseconds the President's shadow expanded rapidly and coated the entire office, no light could pierce this inky blackness and the smell of burnt flesh and smoke filled the air. The weapon was fired, the flash produced by the gun briefly revealing the mangled visage of Kayaku behind the President with one wicked claw on her shoulder and the other guiding her arm. The large lion-like bodyguard leapt in front of the bullet, a flesh searing fire burning around the wound as the lion man fell to the ground.

Smoke began to billow around the President as her left eye seemed to ignite in it's socket, the whites of her eye turning black and the iris burning like a flame. She reached out and pointed at the Prime Minister, a sinister dark energy around her left hand as she spoke in a language whispered to her by Kayaku, ghostly tendrils of smog and darkness appeared around the Prime Minister, wrapping around and digging into his body like thorny vines.

[Hex]

The other bodyguard ran at the President, throwing hand signals in front of himself before vanishing from sight, reappearing in front of the President to attack her. However, the torso of the President's Bodyguard violently burst open, a clawed hand of torched flesh and blackened bone ripping out of a limp and lifeless body which fell like a puppet with it's strings cut, and grabbing the arm of the attacker.

Kayaku grabbed this bodyguard who had some kind of ninja-teleportation Quirk and pulled his body into the dark shadowy smoke that encompassed his physical form. Though the bodyguard scrambled and flailed he was held with an infernal strength and pulled ever deeper into the darkness "There is no hope to escape. Submit to me Human." He spoke out loud, snickering and cackling like a fire crackling and snapping. That bodyguard was no longer a part of this world.

The Prime Minister hid underneath what he assumed was his desk, he searched for the panic button but the darkness hid everything, even though he could see himself everything else seemed to completely vanish into the abyss. The inky black tentacles of smoke around his body sickened him, he couldn't touch them or pry them off but they dug into his flesh and felt completely unnatural.

The lion-man bodyguard stood up again, his suit, fur and flesh all terribly burnt around the bullet wound. He went to attack the President as well, a clawed hand connecting and ripping flesh, the unarmoured president received what should have been a fatal wound but she did not relent. He tried to swing again and punched her away, knocking her several meters away, though she simply stood back up. Feats of durability previously unheard-of from the middle aged woman.

Before the lion-man could do anything else, the President aimed the gun at him instead, her right arm began to smoke and eldritch flames began to emerge from cracks in her flesh. [Arcane Shot - Grasping] She fired the weapon with another powerful flash and cloud of gunpowder smoke, the bullet streaked with dark energy before striking the chest of the target. Instead of continuing it's course through the body, the bullet exploded into snaking thorny ropes of smoke and darkness, wrapping around the lion-man and embedding into the inky abyss of the dark around them, piercing deep into his flesh like hooked tendrils.

The bodyguard shouted and roared in pain as Kayaku drifted over to him, savage clawed hands cupping each side of the man's face as the skull-like head of the devil stared into the lion-man's eyes. "Submit to me. Let all of this one's pain disappear. Give your all to me." The terrified expression on the bodyguard very quickly went slack and he collapsed, the vines of darkness around him dragging him into the inky black floor leaving no trace of his existence.

The Prime Minister emerged from behind his desk and was still coated in limbs of an impenetrable ichor of darkness, he held his hands up in surrender but the tendrils still wrapped taught around him. "What are you doing!? Why are you doing this Sayaka!?"

The President didn't answer him and looked instead to Kayaku, he had no lower jaw but she could tell there was some sadistic smile on his face. She gestured over to the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister watched as this beast that was in no way Human slowly creeped closer, everything else seemed to vanish into the darkness as only him and the beast remained. It grew closer and closer with the sounds of bony claws scratching the ground with every step, dull flames crackling and popping, lighting up segments of the burnt flesh of this monster that was never seen in it's entirety. The closer it grew the thicker the smell of burning flesh grew and the tighter the darkness seemed to wrap around him.

"I would like to make a deal, Hiroshi Sakamoto. You will die, a wretch and useless like your guardians before you. Or you can submit everything you own and are to me and by extension my current "Business partner" who so desperately wishes for such things." The Devil spoke, his voice switching between the two slain bodyguards' voices with each sentence, creeping ever closer until his skull-like face was mere inches away from the Prime Minister. The smell of burning flesh and sound of snapping fire taunting and torturing the pitiful human.

"Y-you can't do this! You don't know what you're doing! This country will know what you've done if you kill me!"

"I assure you, I am very good at impressions. Your skin will make a comfortable residence if you refuse my offer." A single claw from a three clawed hand caressed the prime minister's cheek as the devil spoke that last sentence, leaving a shallow cut and a feeling of dread. "This deal weighs heavily in your favour, Mr Prime Minister." From the dark smog and dull flames formed a contract on parchment, detailing how "everything that the Prime Minister "owns" will then become the property of the scribe and any individual the scribe dictates", the devil extended a hand and offered a quill to sign with. "Well, Mr Prime Minister. Live or Die. The choice is yours alone."

The President sat in her limousine, currently being driven back to the HPSC office. She lit up a cigarette and took a puff, any hint that she had been in a battle had completely vanished due to something Kayaku had done to "ensure the safety of his business partner", which she recalled was one of the things she specified in their original contract. The price of their original contract being her left eye and left arm which now belonged to Kayaku, though they would remain attached to her, Kayaku could still supposedly act and see through them.

She exhaled and the breath of smoke began to shift and warp into the horned skull-like face of the devil. "The deed is done. Everything the Prime Minister would call his own is now shared by us "business partners". I will require my payment, a family of four Humans innocent of crime or sin, I believe we agreed to. I hope you had not forgotten the price for your conquest."

The President took another puff, sighing out the breath of smoke. "You will receive your payment within the day. It should satisfy you."

The devil cackled and giggled with glee, "Amazing how twisted you must be, Sayaka! No matter how inhuman I have been deemed, it is your voracious hunger and lust for a justice and order that does not exist in this world that is truly most immane. Just what more will you sacrifice for "Justice"?" Kayaku laughed in her face before she rolled down a window and the cloud of smoke was blown out of the limousine.

She put out her cigarette and took a deep breath, "I will do anything to protect my country." She said out loud, she didn't know anymore if this was the truth or an attempt to push herself forward for the greater good. Either way it was all she believed in ever since she got the job as President of the HPSC and in the years of sacrificing and crawling her way to that position.

With another sigh she opened a note book to a list of things she needed to do, crossing off "Speak with the Prime Minister". 'Now to find out what I can about that "Vampire girl" Takami informed me of.'

Japan - Kanagawa - Nasokaru City - St. Michael's Church

Ibara Shiozaki was walking through the ossuary of the Church she volunteered at, while practicing with her Quirk in preparation for the UA Entrance Exam she did not falter in her attendance to the Church and made every effort to help in the preservation and cleanliness of this holy site. Though the ossuary was a grim place to be, given it was a large dark stone room filled with the remains of people, Ibara was not one to hide in fear of death, knowing it was merely the next step in the journey of life planned by God.

The ossuary was located in the serene and solemn graveyard behind the Church, the peaceful sanctuary well stocked with trees that would bare cherry blossoms in the spring, the ossuary itself located adjacent to the rows of headstones. The structure was small but it tunnelled below ground into a blessed home for the dead to rest, the exterior adorned with intricate wooden carvings depicting angels, guardian spirits and holy motifs.

Ibara had finished dusting the multiple sarcophagi that adorned the ossuary, and went to place a votive candle at the rack of already lit candles so that she may pray for those that had died and had no friends or family to pray for them. However, as she walked her foot suddenly caught something solid and she tripped forwards, hitting the stone floors with her hands first. The fall was not bad, only tearing the skin of her hands slightly, though the impact caused the candles on the votive stand to wobble and shake, threatening to fall over.

Ibara quickly pushed herself up and used her Quirk, her hair made up of many vines precisely and accurately wrapped around each individual candle stopping the structure from falling. She held it steady with her hands and made sure every candle was in it's correct place before internally breathing a sigh of relief. She turned back around to look at what she tripped over, it was pretty dark and the only light available was from the candles and a flashlight she had brought with her. Shining the flashlight down at the ground she saw a pair of legs very briefly in the light, though as soon as the light was shone on them they were pulled back behind one of the sarcophagi.

"You there!? Excuse me? Who are you?" Ibara called out to no answer, she carefully stepped over while still holding the flashlight, "What are you doing here?" She continued until she reached were the individual had been but nobody was found in that spot, "Huh? I could have sworn I saw someone?"

"This book, it's The Bible isn't it? I imagined it would be thinner." A female voice spoke up behind her next to the votive candles, though it sounded devoid of most emotion. There was someone standing next to the votive stand, though their entire body was hidden behind a deep black cloak aside from their head. They looked young, possibly as young as her, with brown hair to her shoulders and brown eyes, though most notable was their very pale skin. Ibara watched as they flicked through the Bible she had dropped when she tripped before reading out loud, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." The blank voiced girl quoted before looking over at her, brown eyes shimmered with candle light but portrayed no emotion.

Ibara was shaken up to say the least, a chill crawling down her spine like her brain calling out to her that this person was a great danger. She felt like she shouldn't speak but this person already knew she was here. She pulled together her courage and spoke clearly despite her fear, "I-I'm sorry, but the ossuary isn't open to the public without permission from the Father. I'll have to ask you to leave." She spoke with a confidence that quickly began to diminish after the person didn't respond for a while. It seemed childish to think, but Ibara began to think she was speaking with a ghost.

She watched the figure place the bible back on the ground, oddly a slight smoke or gas drifted off of her hand before she let go. The figure bowed to Ibara, "My apologies, but I'm afraid I cannot leave right now. You see, I am terribly allergic to sunlight. The sun will not set fully until around 6pm, I am unable to leave until then. That is the reason I was resting here, I'm sorry if you were frightened." The girl spoke, her voice still gave way to no clear emotion though her words sounded honest and true.

Ibara felt pity, believing the girl's story and understanding that having such a condition would lead to such a troubling life, thinking that was where the girl's odd emotionless mannerisms stemmed from. "I see...Is there anything I can do for you until then?" Ibara asked, stepping closer to retrieve her Bible on the floor.

"No." The girl replied before standing aside from the holy book on the ground. Oddly, a fine smoke still drifted off the cover and pages of the book. No damage was done to the book itself but a subtle smell of burning remained in the air.

Ibara held the Bible under her arm before beginning to walk away from the girl, though she was still quite intimidated she felt an honesty from the girl and so felt a need to not force the girl to leave. "I won't tell the Father about you being here, but you should leave once the sun sets. If you need to use the Church itself as a shelter again, please don't be afraid to ask. I will put in a good word with The Father if you choose to do so."

"Are you really so trusting? I could be a thief trying to steal from these graves, or worse. Or will you simply report me once you leave?" The girl questioned, she didn't sound aggressive in her tone but more so genuinely confused. As if the very notion that someone would perform an act of kindness to her was unthinkable.

"No thief would lie and say they are allergic to sunlight, I don't think even the Devil would tell a lie such as that. You might seem a little bit creepy, especially in the dark of this ossuary, no offense, but I do believe you are an honest soul." Ibara spoke up, turning to face the girl and giving a reassuring smile that she would not need to worry.

She heard the girl be silent before sniffing slightly, "You fell didn't you? On your hands, are they hurt?" She asked. Ibara looked at her hands, now closer to the candle light she saw that the skin was torn along her palms and fingers, while not terrible it was deep enough to begin bleeding. The strange girl walked up and examined Ibara's hands, though she moved so fast that Ibara swore she didn't see the girl move but rather teleport.

The girl held her hands over Ibara's and spoke up again, looking into Ibara's eyes. Ibara felt almost hypnotised, she didn't want to look away. "You were kind to me, much like another person of faith I know. I would like to return the favour with a gift, if you ever find yourself in grave danger hold onto this and call for me. I will answer." The girl spoke before mumbling something. Before letting go of Ibara's hands, a light began to shine from the gaps between their hands and that slight burning smell returned. Ibara felt a small weight in her hand before the girl walked backwards back into the shadows of the ossuary, fading into the darkness like a droplet being absorbed into a pond.

Ibara looked in her hand and saw that there was a rock in her hand, though it was oddly carved and designed with little shapes and what looked like kanji at first glance but were no characters she had seen before. It was then that she noticed any damage done to her hands had vanished completely, as if it were never there. Confused, Ibara looked around the room once more for the girl but she had vanished. Though she quickly accepted that this must have been this girl's Quirk in action.

"Thank you, kind stranger. I didn't get your name, but I'm sure we'll meet again to properly introduce ourselves." Ibara thanked the empty darkness of the ossuary before turning and ascending back up the stairs. As she walked back she began to think, if that girl who could heal wounds would join the Church she could make lots of people happy. If the Father allowed her to use the church as shelter, she would ask that girl to assist the sick and injured. Perhaps, through helping others can that girl allow herself to be helped by others.

For a brief moment in thought, Ibara thought she felt a presence behind her. Turning around she didn't see that girl or anyone and assumed it was nothing. Though the feeling was brief and a stark contrast to the eerie atmosphere that girl gave off. It was gentle and warm, like a loving embrace from a parent.

Nabu Island

The desolate remains of Nabu island were near silent, with the exception of the groan of distant undead that wandered aimlessly. The eternal night sky was free of clouds and the moon hung endlessly over the ebony monolith of a tower that remained to be the one area where the eternally loyal living could rest, though as more followers were amassed the addition of stone homes around the monolith formed something similar to a small town. Although, the homes were placed sporadically and uncaringly with seemingly no rhyme or reason by the Undying King.

Hoyo Makihara, though he had thrown that name away long ago in favour of Mummy, stood among the dead plant life and ruins of the buildings that once populated the docks of the island. His body had healed thanks to his new form Nine had gifted him, though his face was still heavily scarred and his left eye socket remained empty from that battle with the Warlock and the Traitor, scars ached with his rage and of a pain he wished to put the Warlock through tenfold.

The ocean was still, there were no waves to crash into the shore or a breeze from the sea, even such things as nature refused to tread upon the Undying King's domain. Mummy looked out over the motionless sea, thoughts of the Warlock, the one who killed his master and the one who scarred him this way flooded into his mind once again. A necromantic energy of festering darkness spread over his left hand as he gripped it tightly, fangs bared and snarling at a foe that taunted him without end. "Foul light bringer...Soon I will deliver justice for my master Nine."

"You are still weak, Hoyo Makihara. You will be going nowhere." spoke a casual voice behind him, one that caused a shiver of fear through Mummy even in death. He turned to see that other cultist who always seemed closest to the Undying King, he was still so casually dressed and plain looking but every time he even thought about attacking him for a disagreement something would always happen to stop him. Was it a Quirk, or a blessing from the dark god he begrudgingly worshiped in Nine's place?

Mummy held his tongue though he wished to spit every curse he could at the man, instead letting him continue speaking. "First, the traitor must be eliminated. Then we shall amass even more followers in Japan. By his divine power, our dark lord has shown us the leader of the Meta Liberation Army, I'm sure you are aware of this group. Since they love to praise Quirks so much, I'm sure they can be convinced, by the divine might of the man who created them!" He announced, growing from a calm demeanour to a frantic and zealous uproar as he ranted, reaching a crescendo with his final statement.

He seemed to calm down after the religious outburst and finished his speech. "And if they refuse our kind offer. We have plenty of methods to convince them otherwise." He swung his arm behind him, with his trench coat swishing behind like a cape, another reason Mummy despised looking at him. "You will stay on the island, the Undying King wishes to have an audience with you. You should consider this a great honour. Myself and Hanafuda, that sorry excuse for a jester, will be leaving for Japan. Pray the God of Death finds you more useful than that fool Nine before you."

"You dare to dishonour him!" Mummy shouted, instinctively defending his master, his boss, his friend.

"Play with fire and you get burned. A lesson better learned sooner than later. The weak go quickly to their graves." He replied.

"Watch your tone, you wretch!" Mummy growled and hissed as the wrappings around him unfurled to kill.

"...You wish to fight then?" The plain man asked.

A growing feeling of dread spreading around him, swarming and swirling like rapid dreadful winds that only existed to him through some sort of 6th sense. These bitter dark winds snapped him back to reality, knowing he would end up more injured if he went through with this. That would make slaughtering the Warlock more difficult. Mummy's bandaged retracted and wrapped back around himself.

"A smart choice. Now get to the tower. Our Dark Lord demands it." The man responded before removing a scroll from the inside of his coat and reading from it aloud, vanishing from sight and leaving the air to wobble like a disturbed puddle.

Mummy growled to himself as that feeling of dread was lost immediately, he looked over to the obelisk of monstrous darkness that the Undying King resided in and began to walk.

Mummy finally reached the entrance of the tower, realising just how tall this structure really was, and how strange the air felt around it. It felt as if the pure essence of death oozed out of every crack in the stonework of the monolith of pure black stone. There was a set of oversized double doors that stretched to 20 or so meters in the air, ornately decorated with skeletal carvings and human remains strung up like a warning.

That same feeling of dread had washed over him, it had been since he had gotten close enough to see the tower's true might and size. His blood would run cold and his heart would have been beating in his throat if not for the fact he was dead. He thought about turning back several times over, thought about running to anywhere but this island, but he already swore his everything to this "God". Whatever was going to happen he could not escape, no matter how much ran.

He placed a hand on the doors and in an instant a great booming voice entered his mind, one that would have shaken the earth with it's volume had it been spoken aloud. A demand, an order. A single word with an absolute authority that could not be disobeyed.

"FLY"

Mummy felt the gravity of Earth no longer pull him down to the ground, he felt himself begin to float. Just as he began to get a hold of this feeling he was shot upwards at ludicrous speeds. He had no control, it was as if the God of Death was dragging him up like a puppet by the strings. Second after second ticked by and he continued to fly higher and higher, faster and faster, thinking there was no possible way the tower was truly this tall. His soaring finally came to a stop and his feet touched the stone when he could swear they were just short of reaching past the clouds, he could look down upon the entire island and beyond from up here.

It was then that Mummy saw him, the man he believed to be the God of Death himself, standing in the very centre of the tower's apex, the dark stone and his dreadful form lit by the light of the moon. He looked like an ordinary man but was much taller, wearing a dark suit and some sort of dark helmet. Mummy could feel the ocean of dread weighing down on him, like he was about to be swallowed up by the abyss and each time he thought he reached the bottom the abyss sunk deeper and deeper.

Mummy bowed reverently to the figure, though it laughed at him in response. A deep and reverberating chuckle, distorted and warped through the helmet. "You are bowing to the wrong God." They spoke up, which made Mummy flinch in fear, if he was not the Undying King, then where was he?

Suddenly Mummy was struck by a wave of dread far beyond anything he had experienced beforehand, one that had him violently collapse from a reverent prayer to laying flat, as if crushed by thousands of tonnes of force. He could barely lift his head from the ground as a pure necrotic darkness coalesced before him, like a portal into a place of pure malice and pain.

It was a mass of red cloth that first left the darkness, oversized robes on a mass larger than the man he thought was God by two times. Golden accessories hung from the robes, inlayed with gemstones larger than fists, the robes tattered and frayed but regal and divine, truly the thing a God would wear. Barely able to crane his neck upwards he saw the face of this God, a skeletal one, a permanent rictus grin on his face with a single spectral eye that glowed with a brilliance and majesty that it was as if staring into the sun in his undead form.

Though this was not the only face on this God's body, the cloak was open and many more skulls revealed themselves alongside the skeletal remains of potential hundreds, even the mutated Quirked skeletons were not spared this fate. Though the body was made up of a great thousand corpses it this retained this humanoid form, with arms and hands made up of multiple conjoined bones forming the true form of this God. An amalgamation of death. The true visage of the end. The fate of all man. A King who reigned Undying.

"STAND"

A single order boomed out and again Mummy could not disobey, he stood even as the weight of dread pushed down on him and swirled like a thousand monsoons. The God, The Undying King looked at him and pointed a giant finger made up of grafted and fused human bones, with but a simple gesture the power inside Mummy swelled several times over. Swelling and burning like lava pouring through his veins, pain and power threatening to rip him apart in but an instant.

He screamed as he continued to stand not of his own will, this eldritch power surging through him and burning him from the inside, he felt his skin peel and muscle split as a necrotic darkness poured from every inch of his body. Like a container filling far beyond what is could possibly hold, he felt he was going to explode. The darkness overtook him forming almost a mimicry of the robes the God before him wore, the socket of his missing eye flared and burst with strange energies as a spectral eye appeared once again. For the first time since that day against the Warlock, his left arm crackled and burst with a mysterious radiance, he had returned to this gruesome form.

[Form Of Dread]

His body burned with a rage and pain, his mind focussed it solely onto the Warlock. His goal to kill him, not for himself or the God, but for Nine. The God lowered their arm and stared at Mummy with a single unblinking spectral eye in it's right socket, similar but incomparably grander than the one in Mummy's left socket.

The God spoke up once again, a voice that boomed and echoed like it both rained down from the heavens in a divine fury and burst through the earth with a hellish wrath.

"Far too weak. It must be remade. A vessel so fragile can not hold my power."

The Undying King turned his unblinking stare to the masked man who stood by his side.

"Shigaraki. My Chosen. Do what you must to strengthen it. Let it keep it's rage. It's lust for revenge may yet prove of use."

Mummy trembled in a fear far greater than any emotion he had felt in his death or his life. He was nothing before this God, he looked to the other man, this "Shigaraki", this "Chosen" of the God of Death. He looked at him, though he wore a mask Mummy could tell he was smiling with every sick idea he had to "strengthen him".

This Shigaraki bowed to the God and looked at Mummy intently, "Of course, oh gracious God of Death. I will enjoy this greatly." He said, walking closer to Mummy with a single extended hand as the Undying King faded back into the abyss. "Let's see just how many Quirks a form such as this can handle."