[Normal Quest: Collect Heavenly Souls (Part 1) has been completed!]

As Izuku's new Shadow Soldier, a black and white wyrm, a serpent-like dragon he had named Karkinos, circled overhead, he looked over his Quest Rewards.

[You can receive the following Rewards:]

- 1. Item of your choosing from the Store

- 2. +20 Bonus Stats

- 3. Hidden Reward

"Accept Reward one."

[Please choose an item.]

The store page opened in front of Izuku, giving him a list of items that listed their costs in gold. Some of the middle tier items seemed to be in the hundreds of millions, but the true treasures cost upwards of hundreds of billions.

"What should I choose?" Izuku plopped down to take a seat as he scrolled through the list, considering each and every possible option. He wanted something that he wouldn't end up selling back to the store or to a real world vendor. "I've been earning some pretty good weapons from just clearing Dungeons, so is this even worth it?" Izuku paused for a moment, beginning to consider something and scrolled all the way to the bottom of the list seeing a Blessed Random Box. It had been sitting in the store ever since Izuku had picked the Cursed Random Box after doubling his Daily Quest requirements. No matter what he did, Izuku couldn't find a way to purchase it, but now…

"Blessed Random Box." Izuku disliked the idea of choosing something that could essentially be anything, but the Cursed Random Box had provided him with access to the Heavenly Palace, so this must be as good, right?

[Item: ?]

Item Class: ?

Item Type: ?

"Huh? No name? No Class? Not even a Type?!" Izuku stared down at a black, ornate and oddly shaped key. It held no description or hints as to its use. Sighing, he shoved it into his Inventory, "I'm sure I'll find a use for it one day. Accept Reward two."

[+20 Bonus Stats]

"Hmm. I keep approaching my Shadow Save limit, so I guess I'll put it all into intelligence.

Level: 93

Strength: 217

Vitality: 154

Agility: 185

Intelligence: 169

Sense: 131

[Mana: 11740/11740]

[HP: 37942/37942]

[Shadows able to be extracted: 225]

[Shadows able to be saved: 183]

"I guess that's all that exponential growth starting to kick in again. Accept Reward three."

[Hidden Reward: Recipe: Holy Water of Life.]

"A recipe? When did this RPG turn into a crafting game?" Squeezing the rough parchment paper in his hands, he caused it to disintegrate and prompt him with another item display.

[Item: Holy Water of Life]

Item Class: S

Type: Consumable

A mysterious potion that can cure any disease with powerful magic. The effect will only take place when the entire bottle has been consumed.

Required Items:

World Tree's Fragment

Spring Water of the Echoing Forest

Purified Blood of the Seraph

Izuku took a moment to simply stare at the System screen, rereading its words to ensure he understood it properly, "Any… disease?" His eyes narrowed and he closed the prompt, gesturing to the rest of his Shadow forces, "Forget slowing down for rest! We're marching onwards! Double time!" Above him in the sky, Karkinos roared in approval, swooping low to collect his Liege. "It's no longer about getting as many kills as we can. It's about tearing this place down as fast as possible!" Izuku stepped up onto the head of Karkinos, "You don't have to worry any more, mom… I'll be your Hero!"


"Why the hell are we meeting here?" Dabi asked as he strolled into the Agency Association's training hall, trailing just behind Ryukyu.

"Because patches!" Someone yelled out as the hallway opened up into a massive room, "The Koreans want to check us out!"

Dabi shot the source of the shout, Miruko, a confused glance. "The Koreans?"

"Yeah," A grizzled voice said as Dabi bumped into the chest of an all too sturdy man, "The Koreans." Looking up, Dabi met the orange eyes of a slightly beastly Korean man, who, despite his threatening tone and appearance, was attempting to hold out a hand to greet the two new arrivals, "Baek Yoon-Ho."

Ryukyu stepped in front of her… boyfriend (?) to take his hand and introduce herself, "And this is Dabi, another S-Rank friend of mine."

"You brought that fool?!" Endeavor shouted from the second floor, which overlooked the sparring center. Leaping down the entire distance like it was a step, he got in Ryukyu's face, "This… man, is only going to be a liability in the field."

Baek pushed himself between the two, "Hold on now," He said with a strong accent, thankfully, his Japanese was sufficient, "We estimate that the number of Nomu has increased exponentially since the last Raid, we'll need every able man we can get, especially any other AOE types."

A beautiful woman with short blonde hair similarly made sure that Dabi wouldn't do anything rash, "Besides, this Raid is no longer just about recovering the Island or preventing the Nomu from reaching the mainland, it's now brought an innocent girl with untapped potential into the mix." The woman then proceeded to whisper to Dabi, "And any enemy of Endeavor is a friend of mine."

Dabi smiled, "Cha Hae-In I'm guessing?" She took a few steps back and bowed low. "I gotta give you credit for kicking my old man's ass."

"It ended in a draw." Endeavor emphasized doing his best to act professionally amongst his colleagues.

"Hey so I noticed you brought most of the Ten here, but where the hell is All Might? If we're going all out for this thing, you'd think he'd be important."

"Oh! Hehe! Sorry about that!" A blonde boy with a UA school uniform ran over, "All Might said he couldn't participate, so he sent me as his stand in, Mirio Togata."

"A schoolboy?"

"I didn't get a chance to get my Hero costume from the school in my rush over, so I look a little unimpressive, but I promise you, I can fill his shoes!"

"Kid… I don't think you understand how big those shoes are."

Miruko finally hopped away from the bench she had been using to stretch and walked over, "It's true. He gave blondie here a run for her money."

"B-Blondie?" Hae-In asked.

Dabi sized up Mirio once more. He had felt an insane amount of Mana pouring off Hae-In, but he barely felt any from Mirio, which meant he was likely a physical-type. "Alright then, kid. Let's go a few rounds."

"Do you really think now is a proper time to be messing around?" Choi Jong-In, Korea's ultimate soldier, said through a translator.

"When else are the strongest from Korea and the strongest from Japan gonna have a chance to go at each other?" Hawks responded, "Besides, it's not like the Raid is gonna happen today or tomorrow. We still have to wait a full two days for all the navy and other preparations. I say let 'em go at each other!"


Floor 80 was a cakewalk, but Izuku still found himself prompted with two windows.

[You have been Rewarded with a Runestone for clearing Floor 80: Domain of the Monarch.]

Izuku immediately crushed the stone.

[Domain of the Shadow Monarch: The Stats of all Shadow Soldiers will be increased by 50% while fighting above their caster's Shadow.]

"Fifty percent is pretty damn good."

[Quest]

[Normal Quest: Collect Heavenly Souls! (Part 2)]

God's finest servant, the Seraph Lucifer, resides at the highest Floor of the Heavenly Palace. Kill him and collect his perfected Soul.

Quest Completion Requirement:

- Defeat the Strongest Angel, Lucifer

Rewards:

- 1. Highest Quality Runestone

- 2. +30 Bonus Stats

- 3. Hidden Reward

"The top Floor huh? I bet I'll find him at one hundred." He looked over his Shadow army, "Alright, it's becoming inefficient to move as one army, so I think I'll split you up into teams. We need to find those Entry Permits as fast as possible."

Smokey, Tusk, Tank, Igris, Hyo, and Karkinos each led their own teams, immediately dispersing from Izuku to kill as many Angels as possible and recover the Permit. Initially, he had been afraid that Karkinos would be far too beastly to lead a team or take proper orders, but like Smokey, he performed just as well as his peers.

[Karkinos Lv 1 Captain Grade]

"I guess that just goes to show how much more effective a Shadow is if it's a Grade higher. It's gonna be a bloodbath when Igris hits that Grade, he's only a few Levels away after all."

A/N: Real quick, Captain Grade is a Grade I made up to put some distance between Elite-Knight and Commander Grade.

Although, unlike the past few Floors, where it only took him an hour at most to recover the Floor Permit, he had been stuck on Floor 85 for nearly two hours now. "Could there be some sort of Boss Villain that's hiding from me?"

[Mana: 10247/12240]

"Two thousand Mana in an instant?!" Izuku turned his attention to where he sensed Smokey's team, "Whatever is attacking them, it's tearing them apart like it's nothing! I guess I've got no choice." Izuku made the snap decision to recall all of Smokey's team as his Mana dropped to eight thousand.

Another two hours later, Izuku was becoming more and more frustrated. After recalling Smokey's team, Igris had been attacked, then Hyo.

Doing his best to visualize the formation his Shadows were in, Izuku realized that in order to attack Igris's team and then Hyo's, they would've had to skip over Tusk and Tank. "Does that mean the enemy isn't strong enough to take them down? Karkinos hasn't been attacked yet either, though it wouldn't be wrong to say that in terms of raw power he outpaces every other Shadow Soldier, myself included." Izuku clapped his hands together, "Alright then, it looks like I've got some bait for 'em."


Hiding in one of the "divine" office buildings with his Stealth, Izuku watched over the street that Smokey and his team stomped down. All of his other Shadows had been recalled, meaning the only possible option for attack would be Smokey's team. He was arguably the weakest of all the Shadow leaders, so it made sense for him to be the bait.

"Oh! They're here!"

A flock of Angel Knights dropped out of the sky, their two sets of feathery wings working in perfect harmony to lower them safely to the ground. Unlike most of the other Angels, which simply attacked him without armor and rarely with weapons, these Angels were decked out to the nines. Their armor was beautifully crafted and perfectly interlocked to form an impenetrable guard. They carried similarly crafted long spears, ornately formed with specially designed shapes that would make any spear wielding Hero back on earth drool over them.

The first Angel dashed forwards, their wings giving them a burst of speed. Using his spear more like a sword, he cut all the way through Smokey's torso, bisecting him at his thickest area. It was a pretty insane display of strength, especially considering that Smokey should be around an A-Rank by now.

"Well, there's no reason to wait any longer," Izuku leapt through the window, shattering the crystal clear glass and disabling his Stealth as he crashed down on top of one of the Angel Knights, killing them instantly.

Another four rushed him as Tusk, Igris, Karkinos and the rest of the Shadows emerged from Izuku to handle the others. He killed those four with barely a wasted motion.

[You have Leveled-Up!]

"Looks like they were just enough to get me to Level 95."

Within twenty seconds, only the lead Angel Knight was remaining, their four wings and the rest of its body trembling as Izuku stalked towards them.

"I've been curious for a while now, so thanks for answering my question. It looks like Angel's can feel emotions." Izuku pulled out his longsword, "I'm really not a fan of killing someone who doesn't want to fight, so if you have over the Floor Permit, I'll leave this place without harming you." Izuku realized the proposition sounded somewhat hollow, as he had just mercilessly murdered the rest of the Angel's team, but he had yet to see a Villain that truly displayed fear, so he figured he'd give them an out. Noticing that the Angel was still considering whether or not to try attacking him, and that they seemed a higher Rank than the other Knights he had just killed, he cranked up his bloodlust.

The beautiful spear dropped from the Knight's hands and they fell to their knees, "Please forgive me! I was in the wrong! I'll give you the Permit!"

"That voice…" Izuku relaxed his stance, "Take off your helmet."

The Angel acquiesced, a long and thick braid of golden hair spilling out to hang next to her perfectly sculpted face.

Izuku's eyebrows raised, "She has a face? So far, the only Angel I've encountered that had anything close to a real face was Cray and that barely counts."

"Please forgive me!" She repeated, her blue eyes, accentuated by a blue eyeshadow on her eyelids, dancing between the dark and powerful forces surrounding her. "It is the duty of my clan to defend this Floor at all costs and not allow any intruders to exist."

"Clans? Just how detailed and immersive is this Dungeon?!" Izuku nodded, realizing that this girl was likely at the mercy of whatever voice compelled other Villains to kill all humans, "I won't kill you as long as you don't give me a reason."

"I understand," She said, still on her knees, "You seek the Entry Permit? If you deliver me safely back to my home, I can procure it."

"Tusk." The High Orc held one hand over his chest and bowed his head slightly before aiming a finger at the Angel girl, using Gravitation magic to lift her into the air and bring her right up into Izuku's face. As she got closer and closer, Izuku could tell a slight blush was forming on her face, but he ignored it and turned his bloodlust from a five, all the way up to eleven.

"How do I know," The color drained from her already pale features and her eyes became pinpricks as she went into a flight or fight response, but she couldn't move anywhere with Tusk holding her perfectly still. "That I can trust you." Izuku's eyes leaked glowing emerald light, and his figure became enshrouded in Shadows from the girl's point of view.

"I-I-I-I wasn't lying. A-Angels are not allowed to d-d-deceive."

Tusk allowed her to fall back to the ground as Izuku let up on the pressure and gave her a smile, "Fine. Help me get the Permit and I'll leave here peacefully."

"T-Thank you." She wiped at her eyes, a few tears had leaked out.

"So, what should I call you?"

She stood on shaky legs, scooping up her spear and helmet, gripping them tightly to try and stop the trembling. "I am Lady Esil, eldest daughter of the Radir Clan."

"So… do you have a voice in your head? Telling you to kill all humans?"

"Hmm?" Esil tilted her head as he looked up, contemplating the question, "Well no, but we do have another type of voice that tells us to "Protect the area we reside in.""

"How long have you heard the voice for?"

"The moment we opened our eyes?"

"Opened their eyes? Does that mean they were somewhere else before being put here?" Taking his time to formulate his next question he asked, "Then… where were you before you opened your eyes here?"

"The Angel World." She said matter of factly, "There was no warning, we simply appeared here."

"What were you doing in that realm?"

Esil's face became blank, her eyes unfocused suddenly, "War… we were preparing for… war."

"War? Against what."

"It was… it was…" Esil's voice became almost full of static, "You have surpassed the allowed amount of information. The conversation will be interrupted."

"Damn. I guess the System really doesn't want me learning too much. Oh well, I guess I shouldn't try to push it too far." Izuku called back his Shadows, "So… where's this home of yours?"


"Ugh!" Dabi was thrown to the ground hard enough to dent the concrete floor and knock the wind from his lungs. Miruko and Hawks belted out a laugh as he waved off Mirio's hand up. "Al… Alright… You can be All Might for now."

"Great!" Min Byung-Gyu, an S-Rank healer said, clapping his hands together, "Now that that's settled, may we be graced with the whereabouts of All Might?"

Baek Yo-Hoon smiled and slapped his friend on the back, "What's with the Shakespearean, Min?"

"Shakesp…?" Byung-Gyu shook his head, "This is why I'm becoming an english teacher and you aren't."

"That suits me just fine."

Mirio thought for a moment, "Well… All Might didn't tell me exactly what was going on, but he did say that he was searching for two people."

"Tsukauchi and Izuku Midoriya," Ryukyu said, quite confident in her guess.

The student shrugged, "That's what I would assume."

"Tsukauchi? I don't think I recognize that name. Izuku Midoriya sounds familiar though… oh!" Hae-In cried out, "Was he one of the students participating at the UA Sports Festival? He got stuck in that Red Gate right? Whatever happened to him? And why is All Might out looking for him?"

Mirio shrugged a second time, "All Might will be All Might. He's always had some strange interests in certain people. And Tsukauchi is a friend of his that went completely missing… totally off the grid, so I'm sure you can guess the reason for that particular search."

Hae-In noticed that her question about Izuku was not answered, but she let it go as Endeavor scanned over their group of Heroes and proposed a sparring match between all of the S-Ranks there; just to test everyone out.

"Yeah, I think I'll sit that out!" Dabi replied, going over to rest on the bench Miruko had been using to stretch. "Everyone here is an S-Rank, myself included, but that doesn't mean we're all at the same level. That Mirio boy… he seems too strong… could he actually be a match for All Might?"


Though Izuku now had Esil guiding him towards her home, they were still beset by waves of Angelic enemies. Apparently, those base Angels, the ones with no face, attacked anyone indiscriminately, even other Angels or Angel Knights like Esil.

Of course, it was barely a hindrance to Izuku and Esil, who rode Karkinos through the sky, heading for a gleaming white palace.

"How about that? A Heavenly Palace inside a Heavenly Palace."

Since Karkinos was a massive target and an easily perceived threat, Izuku and Esil decided to enter on foot, greeted by another guard, who responded to Esil's question about the location of her father.

"Lady Esil, he's currently in the throne room… but, I must ask, who is that man behind you?"

Esil didn't back down in the face of the massive and imposing guard, "He's someone of utmost importance, so treat him as you would treat any guest."

As they strolled into the throne room, Izuku found himself looking around, noticing all the qualities of a Boss fight. "Had I fought my way here, there's no way this wouldn't be the final bout. I feel like I got given a dialogue prompt and chose the pacifist run… is that a good thing or a bad thing though?"

Izuku was so caught up in his own thoughts he barely noticed Esil's father, another Angel with divinely handsome features, recoil at his presence.

"ESIL! How could you bring someone like him here?! No guest brings an army hidden in his Shadow!"

"Hmm, so he can see Igris and the others? That's interesting." His thoughts remained calm as the throne room guards leveled their blades at his neck. "There's no need for any fighting. I promised Esil I would leave her peacefully if you handed over the Floor Permit to me."

Esil's father paused, realizing that Izuku was the one who had been climbing the Floors recently, killing Cray and Seiryu in the process, "He's not someone we can fight, is he?"

"The Entry Permit… is that all you truly want from us?"

Izuku paused for a moment, "Well… actually I do need a guide, so I'd like to borrow Esil for a while longer." Izuku once again ignored the blush appearing on the Angel girl's face.


Esil's father asked Izuku to partake in a meal while they talked over everything. It had gone quite well, though Izuku was surprised when the elder Angel requested that above all, Esil remained safe.

Izuku assured the father that he would not allow her to partake in any battles and that he would protect her. Esil's face again grew hot at such a declaration, but Izuku didn't notice it this time.

Emerging from the magic circle on the 86th Floor and being greeted by the massive castle of the next Angel clan, Izuku was confused as Esil knelt down, taking off her backpack and removing some special bottle of alcohol, "My father prepared gifts for each of the clans so that negotiations would go more smoothly."

"Negotiations?" Izuku stopped in his march towards the castle, he had spared Esil because she had surrendered, but the truth was, he didn't have time to enact the same discussion with each and every clan, "Sorry, but there won't be any time for talking… I'll be back."

"You're going to kill them all?"

"I hope you aren't acquainted with them."

"N-No," Esil answered, "In fact, we're on bad terms with every single clan in the tower, but… I'm just wondering why you bothered to talk with my clan but not the others?"

Izuku shrugged, "I'm not sure… maybe you're just special.

"Eh…?!"

"For now, just wait here, I'll be done soon."


Level: 99

Strength: 223

Vitality: 160

Agility: 191

Intelligence: 175

Sense: 137

[Mana: 15736/15736]

[HP: 45195/45195]

[Shadows able to be extracted: 260]

[Shadows able to be saved: 201]

"How apt. I've reached Level 99 just as I completed Floor 99. Igris and Smokey both increased their Grade. Igris is now at Captain Grade and Smokey is at Elite-Knight Grade. School starts back up in only a couple of hours… I'll have to be quick with the 100th floor… then again… I haven't slept in quite some time… I'll need rest once I get back. I can always miss just one day right? After all, I've been training pretty hard during my days off."

Izuku turned to Esil, "It looks like it's time for you to go back to your Floor. Floor 100 is apparently home to an insanely strong enemy. I've noticed sharper and sharper increases in difficulty since climbing up these last five Floors. I'm not sure even I can guarantee your safety for Floor 100."

"So then… I'm no longer useful to you?" Izuku frowned at her depressed tone and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"You've helped me a ton… but what comes next… you don't need to put yourself in that sort of danger." He sighed, "Your father asked me to keep you safe, and the safest place for you now would be your own Floor."

Esil shook her head, "No. I want to come with you! I want to see the final outcome of your battle!"

Izuku scratched the back of his head, "What if something happens to you? Think about your father." Izuku normally wasn't prone to worrying about promises he made with Villains, but these "Villains" were closer to humans than some "Heroes" he had met.

"I'm… happy to know you care that much about me," Esil began.

"Okay, you're making it sound way too serious."

"But you can't control what I do and if I get hurt because of my own choices, then my father can't blame you! Besides… I… trust you to protect me."

Izuku sighed once more, but nodded, "Alright then… it's up to you." And with that, the two of them entered the magic circle and moved onto the 100th Floor.


Two hours after Izuku entered the 100th Floor of the Heavenly Palace, Korea and Japan boarded their respective team's helicopters, all of which were headed for one place. Jeju Island, the fourth Shie Hassaikai Raid. With nearly twenty S-Rank Heroes heading for the Raid, no one could've predicted just how wrong it would go.


Thanks for reading! It looks like I'm gonna try my best to go for longer chapters from here on out, but no promises of course, chapter-length can and will fluctuate. I've been very motivated and did my best to finish my school work, which is why I released a chapter only a day later! Make sure you let me know what you thought of the chapter and I hope to see you next time!