"W-What is this?" Kamakiri asked in shock as the tunnel opened to what could only be described as a throne room. Thousands of High Orcs filled the room wall to wall, leaving only a single strip of walkable space in the center of the room wide enough to fit the length of a semi-truck.
"This… this amount of Orcs… they'd destroy all of UA and the surrounding area before even the S-Ranks could stop them.
"Welcome humans," The Orc at the head of the chamber, presumably Kargalgan growled. Noticing their tense forms and anticipating an attack, he gave a toothy grin, his tusks and bony armor accenting his evil aura like a fine wine alongside a steak. "Tell me something. Do you fear me?"
A massive burst of magical energy escaped him, slamming against the teens like a shockwave. All of them fell to their knees, unable to even comprehend such power. They had felt the stores of Mana in S-Ranks before, but that was controlled, simmering beneath the surface like a still pond. This force… it was just evil.
"Why… Why'd you bring us here? Your warriors could've killed us easily."
"Entertainment." The Orc leaned on his arm lazily, "I cannot remember how long we've been stuck here, but I do know that we will be free soon. Regardless, a leader must provide for his men. We will kill you one by one… until the portal releases its hold on us."
Shoji peeled his gaze off the floor to see that one of Kargalgan's guards, who all wore intricately designed bone or pelt armor, had stomped up to him.
"He'll be the first to claim one of your lives."
"Okay…" Shoji muttered under his breath, just loud enough for his classmates to hear, "If we hit him all at once, with Mineta restraining him, we can win." His breathing sped up as he leapt to his feet and launched himself at the bodyguard, "NOW!"
"Gravitation Magic."
Shoji expected himself to either fly into the air or get slammed into the ground, but neither happened and he continued forwards only to get slapped aside by the Orc like he was a fly. It felt too heavy, like someone had smacked him in the face with a 20-ton sledgehammer. Groaning and pushing himself back onto his hands and knees, Shoji saw the true target of the Gravity Magic. The other six classmates were on the ground, trembling as the Orc's magic forced them further down.
"I said we'd do it one by one. I will not allow you humans to try and survive through ignoble trickery."
The bodyguard raised his two massive cutlasses, aiming to cut Shoji in two, or at least, that's what it looked like. Instead, the swords cut straight down just as Shoji stood, severing his two arms at the same time.
"AAAAAAH!" Shoji collapsed to his knees for a third time as the pain overwhelmed his senses.
"It's a shame you humans aren't stronger, your screams are so much more enjoyable when you actually put up a challenge for my men." Kargalgan sighed and raised a downturned thumb, "Looks like one's already down. Don't worry, we'll make your comrades last longer."
The Orc placed one of his swords against Shoji's neck, earning a deafening cry of applause from the crowd, overshadowing the student's cries of despair.
"Damn…" Ryukyu shook her sore fist. A dozen punches to roughly the same area from the four S-Ranks had done virtually nothing.
"Hmm," All Might held a hand to his chin before pulling out his phone, "Looks like I have no choice but to rely on him."
Dabi's and Endavor's arms were still ablaze with the most powerful flames on earth. Abusive relationship or not, Dabi was still his father's son and his father would never give up on a task as simple as this.
"Are you giving up, Number One?" Endeavor jeered.
All Might nodded, "Yes… There is only one person I know who can break the seal on a Red Gate. And judging by our progress, or lack thereof, they aren't among us."
"It's quite alright," A smooth voice said emerging from one of the arena's nearby hallways, "Now there are two people you know who can do it, Toshi."
Turning around, Dabi scoffed, "Get out of our way, little man. An A-Rank like you can't handle out impacts at this range." Tsukauchi ignored Dabi and continued strolling up to the Red Gate, hands in his pockets and face as calm as could be.
Taking a second look at him, All Might began to notice something. His aura was calmer than before, and he seemed bigger than before, like he had grown overnight.
"Step aside," He said to the three still slamming their fists into the Gate, creating a crater of rubble around them.
"Like I'd listen to some Monitoring Division bastard," Endeavor spat, his desire to open the Gate only fueling his flames further.
Ryukyu, on the other hand, did listen and laid a hand on Dabi's shoulder, "Come on… we're not doing anything."
"And he's going to?"
All Might was the one to answer, "Yes… he will."
The sheer awe in his voice was enough to catch even Endeavor by surprise and all of them looked up to the Number One Hero. The supposed strongest Hero in the world was looking over at Tsukauchi like he was a deity. He had finally realized what the others could not.
Dabi and Endeavor reluctantly stepped back, allowing Tsukauchi full line of sight of the Red Gate. One hand lazily extracted itself from its pocket, raising into the air and pointing its digits at the Gate. His eyes squinted and strings of white light shot out from his hand, latching onto the invisible grid that barred dimensions. Within seconds, the energy cracked and shattered, removing the red color from the Gate.
Ryukyu hesitantly thrust her hand at the portal, finding that it passed through without incident, "How…?"
The four turned around, intending to grill Tsukauchi for answers, but he was already gone.
"What… just happened?"
All Might sighed in relief, "The second Ruler has been born."
Shoji knew that it would happen any second now, the blade was perfectly positioned to slit his throat. He was faint, blood loss and fear dragging him further towards unconsciousness, but he was determined to not fall asleep. It could be considered an odd sentiment, but he wanted to be awake and look his death in the eyes.
But the sword never moved, even as Shoji trembled and fell over, the last of his strength gone, the sword remained in place. In fact, the entire Orc was frozen and Kargalgan called out to him in confusion, "Kill him!"
"Sorry your highness," A voice deadpanned as the back of the room was thrown into chaos, bodies thrown every which way, revealing Izuku and his army, "But my Shadows will have to be your entertainment for now."
"Kill the others," Kargalgan commanded, pointing at Shoji and the other six.
Izuku was at the back of the room, he shouldn't have been able to come to their aid in time and yet, as another six Orcs appeared to stab their weapons through the students, they froze just like the bodyguard. The means were revealed as Izuku raised his sword into the air, another three dozen feathers shedding off of it and racing to stab into the nearest Orc.
[Skill: Paralyzing Storm has activated. Up to five dozen feathers can be shed from the sword's outer layer and be sent to paralyze enemies for a short time.]
"Tank!" Izuku shouted, pointing at his classmates, "Go get them!"
The Nomu's beak-like mouth bobbed in acknowledgement as it used its asinine strength to leap over the entire army of Orcs and land next to Shoji just as the Orc broke out of the paralysis. Of course, he didn't have any chance to react and was delivered an powerful uppercut, sending him flying up into the ceiling, lodging into it like a chandelier. It only took Tank a few more moments to tear the other nearby Orcs into pieces. He attempted to peel the students off the floor, but other than Shoji, Kargalgan's magic kept them pinned in place.
Izuku quickly took note of this and heaved up a spear that was twice as long as he was tall. Before entering this Gate, it might've been hard to accurately throw, but Izuku had just waded through an army of Orcs to get to this chamber, his Level had risen dramatically. He had forgotten that his Stat growth was just linear when it came to his Level. Unlike the Stats given by his armor, the Stats given by his Level increased his power exponentially. "That explains why I feel stronger than I did with my armor."
Taking solace in this knowledge, Izuku felt confident that he wouldn't miss and he hauled his arm forwards, launching the spear like a ballistic missile at Kargalgan.
"Hymn of Protection."
At the same time a massive blue Mana shield appeared in front of the Orc, his Gravity magic wore off, finally allowing Tank to scoop up all seven students, some with squeals of fright, into his massive arms and leap back to the horde of Shadow Soldiers.
"It doesn't matter how strong you or your Shadows are, we outnumber you two hundred to one."
"Maybe! But then again!" Izuku shouted back, "Arise." Kargalgan and the few remaining students that were still conscious, despite their fear, looked on in shock as bright red and black Shadows began pulling themselves from the corpses of the High Orcs. "You shouldn't look down on us. It could end up being your downfall. After all, we've all Leveled up quite a bit." Izuku crouched down, his sword hanging just behind him ready to slash, "Kill them all."
It was disgustingly easy. While some of his lesser Shadow Infantry struggled even fighting one High Orc, Igris, Hyo, Tank, Smokey, the rest of the bears, and the Magicians tore through droves of the Villains with ease. And as the battle continued, things would only grow easier as Izuku and his army continued to Level Up and claim more Orc Shadows for themselves.
Izuku was slower to catch up to his Shadow's kill rate since he was still getting acquainted with his new sword, but his higher Level and more powerful Stats also meant that he was no slouch.
Izuku had always shied away from blades, he'd been too afraid of the skill they required as an E-Rank. He didn't have the strength to swing them fast enough to outpace the fancier sword skills others had built up, the speed to dodge and maneuver around his enemies, or the perception to anticipate his opponent's next move, but now, he had more than enough power to see why others wielded them. He still preferred his gauntlets, but Izuku couldn't deny the satisfaction he felt as the sword carved an Orc in half.
"Hymn of Blazing Fire."
"Tank!"
[Skill: Defender has activated, all ranged attacks will be drawn to the user for 10 seconds.]
The massive AOE fire blast that Kargalgan spat out compressed into a single beat of heat that slammed into Tank, practically destroying his entire body.
"You act so arrogant with such useless puppets!"
"Useless?" Izuku shook his head, acting as if he was disappointed in the High Orc's observational skills, "My "puppet" is just fine." Izuku's Mana slowly ticked down as Tank reformed from essentially nothing and gave a high pitched growl aimed at Kargalgan. "As long as I have Mana, you cannot win."
"You'll run out of Mana before you can kill all of my men!"
"Is that so?" Izuku asked, reaching his hand into his inventory and pulling out a Mana potion from the store, "Well, I suppose we'll see about that. Until then, I'll have my men play with yours." With a smirk still plastered on his face, Izuku activated Stealth and disappeared from the world.
As Izuku went to take on the boss, Hyo, Igris, and Tank were facing off with the three remaining bodyguards of Kargalgan. Hyo froze two of them as Tank and Igris bore down on the third, pummeling him into the earth. They repeated the process with the other two by unfreezing one and killing it. It wasn't an honorable way to fight, but who cared about honor when Villains were trying to murder you.
"Don't ignore me!" Izuku shouted, slamming his fist into Kargalgan's knee, shattering it as he bounced around, using his Agility and Strength to his advantage, "You have no time to worry for your guards! They'll be dead soon anyways!"
"RAAARGH! SO WILL YOU! Hymn of Petrification!"
"Sorry, but it looks like we're a bad matchup," Izuku's massive sword slashed straight through the Orc's elbow like it wasn't even there.
"Why?! Why didn't my magic work?!"
[Skill: Longevity has activated. All diseases, poisons and status effects are healed, and sleeping will explosively increase regeneration ability.]
Izuku offered no solace and only continued his assault, causing Kargalgan to roar in rage, "Hymn of Giants, Hymn of Strengthening, Hymn of Rage, Hymn of Combustion!" The Villain grew to at least four times his size as the rest of his buffs took effect and his fire attack engulfed the entire area he and Izuku were fighting in. "Are you still taking me lightly?!"
"I wouldn't consider you any more threatening than those I've faced before," Izuku said, exiting Stealth right on the giant's shoulder. "After all, bigger targets are much easier for me to hit."
Kargalgan's eyes widened as Izuku jumped from his shoulder to his face, driving the massive Angel sword into his eye. It was too close of a range for the Orc to activate his shield and he cried out in pain and rage as he went to claw at his eye, but Izuku was already moving on.
"You've lost… do you know why?" Izuku slashed at the back of his enemy's knees, dropping him to the ground, where he looked up to quite the awful sight. A teen with an obscured face, the only distinguishable trait being his glowing green eyes, and his three loyal bodyguards standing behind him as guards, "Because as a Magician, you've lost your guards, which means… you've lost your life."
"Could it be… the Mon-" Izuku cut off his rambling by stabbing through his skull and releasing the sword's feathers inside to shred his brain.
[The Dungeon's Boss has been slain.]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
Level: 86
Strength: 154
Vitality: 106
Agility: 137
Intelligence: 156
Sense: 118
[Mana: 230/7912]
[HP: 27164/27164]
[Shadows able to be extracted: 156]
[Shadows able to be saved: 121]
"It's a shame there's a limit on how many Shadows I can have, otherwise I could have an army a thousand strong. Oh well, at least I got some strong Shadows out of this and now… to take his." Izuku lorded over Kargalgan and muttered, "Arise."
[Shadow High Orc Lv. 10 Elite-Knight Grade]
"Hmm, I've been seeing a lot of Elite-Knight Grade recently."
[Choose a name for the Shadow Soldier.]
"Kargalgan is too wordy. In battle I'll need something much easier to call out to." He scanned the Orc's body up and down, looking for any type of distinguishable feature, but the only thing he could focus on were the Shadows enormous tusks. Izuku sighed, "Fine. It's pretty lame, but for now, you're Tusk."
By now, Izuku's Army was reaching some pretty insane levels and the lineup looked as such: 63 Shadow High Orcs, 25 Shadow Bears, 19 Shadow Infantry, 6 Magicians, 3 Shadow High Orc Bodyguards, Smokey, Tank, Igris, Hyo, and Tusk.
[Item: Orb of Avarice]
Item Class: S
Item Type: Artifact
The strength of all Magic is doubled when held.
[Item: Juggled Blades]
Item Class: S
Item Type: Dagger
+150 Attack
This Dagger can duplicate up to eight times and its trajectory when thrown can be controlled mentally.
It was some pretty amazing loot, but Izuku still found himself disappointed, "Am I ever gonna get my gauntlets back? My best Skills rely on using them."
Izuku's back exploded with heat as blue flames licked the area. Of course, with his Sense Stat, he had felt it coming a mile away. Tusk's Hymn of Protection had kicked in before Dabi's attack could reach him and now the S-Rank had about 120 Shadows aiming their respective weapons at him.
"DABI!" Ryukyu screeched, moving to hold him back, but Izuku stopped her with a shake of his head.
"You're Touya Todoroki?" Izuku asked.
"You're damn right you little shit! I was gonna give you today as a grace period, but since no one can really prove what happens in Dungeons, I thought this would be the most opportune time!" He looked about to launch forwards into battle with the teen, but Izuku interrupted him.
"Your brother tried to kill me and got another innocent person killed for no good reason other than money. He was evil and I acted in self-defense. I should have nothing more to say than that. But… he was your family," Izuku bowed low, "And I am sorry for your loss."
"W-What?" Dabi had expected a multitude of responses, such a sincere apology was not one of them. It wouldn't have been weird for Dabi to see Izuku grovel and beg for his life, but it was weird when he saw the teen offer his condolences.
Ryukyu watched with rapt attention as All Might scooped up Shoji and rushed him out to the healers while Endeavor herded the rest of the still shell-shocked students out.
Dabi let out a low growl and the flames on his arms died down, "F-Fine… you win kid…" The ring of Shadows broke open as he walked away, back the way he had come from, "There Kyu, you happy?"
Ryukyu gave him a sarcastic roll of her eyes, but smiled all the same and said, "Yes. I very much am." Following after him, Dabi noticed she walked closer to him that she had been in years.
Izuku let out a sigh as he finally found himself alone in the cavern and he collapsed to his butt. He figured that with his own power and the power of the Shadows, an S-Rank like Dabi should've been easily overpowered, but he certainly didn't want to fight him any longer, probably thanks to the fact that his Mana was still regenerating. "Everyone saw me Extract Tusk's Shadow, so they know how I get my Summons now, but the real problem is my aura. There's no way All Might or Ryukyu didn't notice my rapid growth in strength… so are they simply waiting to talk to me in private, or do they really not realize what they sensed?"
Igris laid a hand on Izuku's shoulder as if attempting to comfort his Liege after a long day of battle. And while Izuku was tired, he also felt satisfied, he had gained plenty of Levels, some loot, expanded his army, and he now knew something that put a smile on his face. On an individual level, his power had just barely surpassed that of Bakugo's. He had reached his goal.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Recently, me and some friends on my Discord Server, discord . gg/DeFqz5F, came together to make my newest fic, Class 1-C: Enigma on my page. We all put a lot of effort into creating our OCs and the story, so I'd really appreciate it if some of you readers go check it out! See you next time!