Two KDX-111 Destroyers, two KDX-IV Destroyers, four DDH-975 Destroyers, one DDH-971, and 12 Frigates were all deployed near the north side of Jeju Island, all of them carried Heroes of some type, and all were meant to handle any of the Nomu that tried to escape the island.
Inside one of the helicopters that was deploying the S-Rank Heroes, Cha Hae-In, Baek Yo-Hoon, Ma Dong-Wook, a massive man with matching strength, Choi Jong-In, Korea's "ultimate soldier," Lim Tae-Gyu, an archer, and Min Byung-Gyu, their healer, were joined by Mirio Togata and Miruko, both of which had insisted on joining the main assault team.
"I never understood the whole Hero name thing," Hae-In said to Miruko, who smiled wide at the girl five years her senior.
"Well from what I hear, even you Koreans have some names."
"I-I don't underst-"
Miruko lightly punched Hae-In's arm, "Come on Dancer, don't hide it."
Hae-In's face went bright red and she had to resist the urge to hide herself away. She had earned the title of Blade Dancer or just Dancer from those who had seen her fight, but because she was greatly embarrassed by the title, the head of her Agency had banned the usage of it amongst their employees. Unfortunately for Hae-In, the name appeared to have leaked out.
"I appreciate you joining us, Miruko, but I'd prefer if you didn't distract one of our most powerful fighters."
"Heh, sorry. That's what my Guild does with each member before a dangerous Raid. It typically distracts them from the fact that they could lose their lives to otherworldly Villains."
Mirio rested a hand on Miruko's shoulder, giving her a somewhat stern look and interrupting the "conversation," "You can call me Lemillion while we're on mission. Since we're about to drop, I figured we should go over the battle plan. The main reason the past Raids on Jeju failed was because of the Boss Villain, a human-type nicknamed Overhaul. His magic involved breaking down anything he touched to a molecular level, instantly killing them. It was for that reason that physical-types were at such a disadvantage in his presence, which is why I'll engage him up-front while the rest of you make sure I can divert my full power to him."
Baek shifted uncomfortably in his seat across from the cameraman, "I'm not sure… I'm not sure I can allow someone your age to handle that burden alone."
Mirio flashed him a blinding smile, "It's okay, with my Quirk, there's no way he can touch me, I'm the best choice! And besides, All Might is entrusting me with everyone's safety while he's gone, if that means I have to fight him, then I'll gladly do it!"
"Jeez kid… You better not die on us. The world needs more people like you."
"Oh! Looks like the Japanese teams are in position!" One of the helicopter pilots called out.
"This is Endeavor, all points check in," Endeavor held a hand up to his ear as Gang Orca came to a stop next to him, signaling this was their spot.
"Hawks and Musha are in position."
"Jeanist, Crust, and Fat Gum all set."
"Ryukyu, Dabi, and Edgeshot are raring to go."
"I still have no idea how you talked me into helping, Kyu."
Ryukyu chuckled, "I promised you the opportunity to punch Endeavor in the face, remember?"
"All points begin operation. Unleash it all."
From the helicopter, a massive burst of magical energy could be felt from all four points.
"Alright people! That's the signal!" Baek called out, "Japan's Heroes will be able to hold that agro for about an hour, so let's get this done!"
"Hey camera guy!" Miruko yelled out as they were about to leap out of the helicopter into the hollowed out mountain that had become filled with Nomu tunnels, "Just so you know, we're here to eliminate the Boss and kill the Nomu-type that's producing all of their offspring. Protecting you isn't included in that mission!"
He nodded, gripping his sword, "I may not look like much, but I am an A-Rank."
As they leaped out, Choi clearing a path with his insane fiery powers, the navy activated their own special equipment, an electric jamming satellite that blanketed the island in a signal that cut off any communications between the Nomu, as most of them had some sort of way to talk to one another or their "Queen."
"Well, let's get started." Choi placed his hand on the ground, spawning a couple dozen balls of fire that danced around the hundred different tunnelways. It took him only a few moments to stand once more and start down a pathway.
They encountered the odd Nomu creature here and there, dispatching it without much difficulty, but upon reaching a massive hollowed out cave, they were greeted with a real sight to behold.
Rows and rows of hundreds, if not thousands of pure black, slime looking embryos. Unlike most other creatures, Nomu's were not born from eggs or from a womb, instead, their goopy, yet to develop bodies were simply plopped out anywhere the Queen desired and they grew from that. It was rather disgusting.
"Well well well, after taking the girl, I was wondering when the next attack would be. Frankly, I'm disappointed." A guttural and raspy voice said, directing everyone's attention up to an outcropping of rock, where a man with two normal human arms and two dark unnatural arms rested, "I suppose I should introduce myself… I am Overhaul… and you're all my prey."
Six hours earlier, Izuku emerged onto the 100th Floor of the Heavenly Palace. It was quite beautiful. A peaceful garden with blooming flowers and a bright blue sky. Esil and Izuku remained in place for a moment before realizing nothing was going to attack them right out of the gate and they cautiously began strolling through the greenery, eventually coming to a plaza of sorts, a quiet and calm fountain spewing out water.
It was so relaxing, that had Izuku not known this was Floor 100 of a dangerous Dungeon, he would've laid down in the grass and taken a nap. Thankfully, he knew better and as he exited from the slight thicket of trees that obscured a bit of the sky, he was grateful that he had not gotten pulled in.
Hovering just above the fountain was a purely white being. His armor was completely unlike anything Izuku had seen so far. It was as detailed and as finely crafted as Esil's, but it didn't have the same sense of uniqueness he had seen in the other sets of armor.
Three sets of wings hung behind him motionless, seemingly having no impact on his levitation. He only had an upper half, the area below his torso fading into a milky white fog of sorts that was attached to him. His hands were pressed palm to palm in front of his face in prayer, eternally silent as he beseeched his creator.
[Skill: Army of Heaven as activated.]
"What?!" Doors made from fine white marble burst out of the ground, opening to release hundreds of Angels. "He wasn't praying, he was activating a Skill!"
The Angel turned to face Izuku, confirming what he already suspected.
[The Strongest Angel, Seraph Lucifer.]
Izuku scoffed, "Why does everyone have the most wordy names?"
Lucifer's aura far surpassed anything else Izuku had felt inside the Dungeon, but while there was a bit of apprehension in the air Izuku wasn't necessarily worried. After all, on his climb to Floor 100, he had obtained a few more pieces of the Olympian Armor from the Angel Clan's armories.
[Item: Olympian Helm]
Item Class: S
Item Type: Armor
+40 Intelligence
Set Effect will activate if this item is equipped along with:
Olympian Armor pieces.
Set Effect 1: +5 All Stats
Set Effect 2: (Locked)
Set Effect 3: (Locked)
[Item: Olympian Necklace]
Item Class: S
Item Type: Accessory
+20 Intelligence
+20 Sense
Set Effect will activate if this item is equipped along with:
Olympian Armor pieces.
Set Effect 1: +5 All Stats
Set Effect 2: (Locked)
Set Effect 3: (Locked)
[Item: Olympian Ring]
Item Class: S
Item Type: Accessory
+20 Strength
+20 Vitality
Set Effect will activate if this item is equipped along with:
Olympian Armor pieces.
Set Effect 1: +5 All Stats
Set Effect 2: +10 All Stats
Set Effect 3: (Locked)
Level: 99
Strength: 253
Vitality: 190
Agility: 201
Intelligence: 245
Sense: 167
[Mana: 25238/25238]
[HP: 47395/47395]
[Shadows able to be extracted: 367]
[Shadows able to be saved: 221]
In his rampage through the last dozen or so Floor, Izuku had greatly expanded his army to include 49 Angel Archers, 20 Angel Knights, 30 Angel Mages, bringing his total Soldier count to its maximum of 221 Shadows. The Angel Knights were really the only ones with any true power to them, but Izuku decided that having some flying ranged attackers would be useful as he could always Level them up later. As it turned out, Esil herself was not an Angel Knight, but an Angel Noble, and incredibly rare and powerful species, which made sense considering she was the leader of the group that had attacked Smokey, but he simply hadn't expected someone like her to hold so much power.
As Izuku looked around at the Angelic army that appeared out of nowhere, the Seraph's arms spread out to either side, conjuring two massive maces from seemingly nowhere. Though Lucifer made no immediate moves, his face hidden by a helmet, his forces drew closer and closer, to the point where Esil began to become nervous.
"Um… Sir Midoriya?"
"Not yet."
Some of the Angels hit the ground running, trampling the perfectly manicured grass as they charged towards Izuku.
"Not yet…"
Esil began to regret having pushed so hard to come with him, but then a Shadow spread out from under Izuku, spreading wide over the entire garden.
[Skill: Domain of the Monarch has activated. All Shadows within the Monarch's range will have their Stats increased by 50%]
"Come Forth!"
The ground the Angels were running over erupted with Shadowy spears and other blades, skewering the white beings from below as the Shadows pulled themselves up to the real world. The cool blue of their bodies replaced by a dark and menacing purple. Although, it did nothing to modify the red of the Orcs or the white of the Angels and Karkinos.
[Tusk is using Skill: Hymn of Giants on Karkinos.]
[Karkinos is using Skill: Divine Retribution.]
As Karkinos grew to a size that was only comparable to a skyscraper his maw opened wide, letting forth a beam of white energy that scorched the earth and seared the Angels to a crisp. The ones that were too close to Izuku for Karkinos to hit, well, Igris had something to say about them hurting his Liege.
Instantly, a battle between two hundred and several thousand had shifted to a battle between two hundred each.
Lucifer crossed his maces in front of his chest, signaling to Izuku that he was about to use some sort of Skill. He was too far away for a melee attack, so Izuku wrapped Esil in his arms and turned his back to Lucifer preparing to leap away as Tusk created a barrier between the two to buy time.
[Lucifer is using Skill: God's Will.]
Slashing with both maces, Lucifer created an x-shaped artifact of solid light that carved a path through everything it touched.
Izuku's Mana dropped by about two-thousand as it tore through his army and slammed into Tusk's shield. The High Orc's eyes widened as he realized that for the first time since being summoned as a Shadow, his shield was being broken. Roaring, Tusk poured as much of his energy into the Hymn of Protect as he could, succeeding in holding it back just long enough for Izuku to exit the blast radius and then, it exploded.
The blinding fire enclosed at least a dozen Shadows within its radius, stealing another thousand Mana from Izuku, "Igris! Smokey! Hyo! Tank! Get those maces out of his hands! Karkinos! Clip his wings!"
Hyo sent two separate waves of ice to freeze each arm as Tank dove at the right while Igris and Smokey headed for the left using the bear's weight to pull down Lucifer.
The Seraph's three sets of wings went to flap, likely to unleash some sort of attack or attempt to escape, but Karkinos was already on it. The massive serpent-like body swooped down from the sky, his talons flashing as they slashed across Lucifer's back, completely cutting away two of the sets.
Izuku finally set Esil down behind what seemed a safe spot, "Stay as far away from the battle as possible! I've got to go help them!"
[Skill: Sprint Lv. 3 has activated.]
Even as he was weighed down by two Elite-Knight Shadows, a Captain Shadow, and restricted by the ice magic of another Elite-Knight, Lucifer was managing to make progress, his arms pushing back against the enemies holding him down. The ice began cracking and Igris and the others began losing any grip they had on the maces. Karkinos circled back around, his jaws primed to snap down on the Seraph's head, but before he could, Lucifer's remaining wings got off one beat.
Four feathers fell from his back and became eclipsed by a glowing light as they shapeshifted to four white and gold longswords, all of which rocketed through the air, dicing up Karkinos like a blender and forcing him to pull back as his body was decimated. It all seemed to be going wrong, but Izuku finally joined the battle, charging forwards as nothing more than a blur and slamming into Lucifer's chest, denting the armor heavily and allowing his Shadows to wrest away his weapons.
Pulling out the Juggled Blades, Izuku sent them spinning through the air, cutting down Lucifer's two remaining wings and ending his assault on Karkinos.
Somewhat freed from the weight of the Shadows, Lucifer stumbled backwards, finally breaking the ice as the milky white mist on his bottom half coalesced to form a solid shape. Without his wings it seemed like he needed his legs to stay upright.
"Monarch…" The Angel muttered, "You intend to kill me. Take a good look before you do so. I am you and am I what you will become." His blinding armor creaked and cracked, twisting into a demonic form as it was overcome with a black color that spread up it like a virus. "I, Lucifer, am the most powerful vessel of God… but I am also that of a Fallen Angel." Two new bat-like wings shot out of his back, "I am your past, Monarch," He spat, "And I am your future!" His gauntlets curled into hooked talons, looking sharp enough to tear through just about anything.
"Yeah?" Izuku asked, "Well the future looks pretty ugly," Leveling his longsword at him, he smirked, "So I think I'll just kill it."
"RAAARGH!" His claws slashed through the air, creating dark blades of energy that flew by Izuku, who had to jump and dive over them to avoid getting cut.
Rolling to his feet, Izuku's arm hauled forwards, cutting at the ankle of the twenty foot tall Angel turned Demon. It growled unnaturally at him as his fist clenched, ready to crush him into a paste, but Tank covered Izuku's body with his own, the blow crashing harmlessly into his back.
Igris jumped from Lucifer's arms aiming for his head as he flicked his whip. Lucifer ducked at the last moment, the whip continuing onwards to slice through his wings like they weren't even there.
Landing behind the Boss of the Heavenly Palace, Igris was buffed by Tusk, growing nearly as tall as Lucifer himself. Swinging his sword with the same power that would be given to a club, Igris cleaved into the side of Lucifer's armor, biting his skin and letting flow a spray of gray blood.
Lucifer's free hand batted aside Smokey as he rose to his full height to claw at the Demon. At the same time, he gathered more of that dark energy into his foot, stomping on the ground and sending a shockwave strong enough to throw all the Shadows and Izuku off balance, knocking them to the ground.
He picked up Tank by the neck with his massive hands and flung him away, apparently deciding that he was more trouble than he was worth Spinning around, he slashed at Igris, cutting his body into five separate pieces.
[Mana: 8730/25238]
"How did it get so low so quickly?!" Looking back to the rest of the Angels clashing with his army as he activated Stealth, Izuku realized that on average, the Angels outpaced his Soldiers. So far, the only reason they had been keeping up at all was because of Tusk's AOE attacks, his shields and his buffs. In fact, Tusk had been working overtime to help both teams and it was quickly wearing him down. "We have to finish this now!"
"Hit him with everything!"
[Tusk is using Skills: Hymn of Frenzy, Hymn of Strengthening, Hymn of Giants, and Hymn of Combustion, and Hymn of the Fire Dragon]
[Karkinos is using Skill: Divine Retribution.]
The two beams of heat hit Lucifer from both the front and back at the same time turning his dark armor into a white hot mess of melted metal. He roared in pain, but wasted no time tearing off his armor like it was paper and manifesting a shield of dark energy that held back Tusk's blast for just a moment. That one moment where his hand was held out was just one moment long enough for Igris's whip to sneak through, severing the arm at the elbow. At the same time, both blasts cut off, Tusk and Karkinos's energies exhausted just as Izuku leapt forwards, driving his fist into Lucifer's chest, creating an unnatural crater in his skin and causing him to skid backwards.
Lucifer fell to his knees, his withered and gray chest scorched with burns that would cause anyone to beg for mercy. But to the credit of the Fallen Angel, he simply reached up to his head with his remaining hand and pulled off the helmet that was quickly turning to slag. His head was full of once golden hairs, now turned pure white and a face that had once seemed eternally youthful was old and decaying.
"I have served as the guardian of this garden since my Lord put me here. I did my best to protect its purity, even taking on the powers of the Devil to make certain I would be strong enough when someone like you arrived… but it appears my efforts were in vain." Lucifer looked out over the scorched garden and the Angels fighting Shadows, "You have corrupted this place and I believe you will corrupt many more, so I have no choice but to- ugh?"
Izuku had stabbed Lucifer in the chest, piercing his heart, "Sorry, I would've let you have your last words, but it sounded like you were going to do something dangerous."
Lucifer croaked out a wheeze and his fist opened, releasing a blinding light attached to a golden sword. "Mo… narch… what… side… will you… be on?" Izuku withdrew his sword, allowing Lucifer to collapse onto his back.
[You defeat The Strongest Angel, Seraph Lucifer.]
Izuku collapsed onto his butt, breathing hard as he watched the body of the Fallen Angel turn into golden dust and float into the air, sprinkling itself over the melted armor, repairing a few pieces and turning them into the white and gold pattern Izuku recognized as the Olympian armor.
[You have obtained Lucifer's Soul.]
[Normal Quest: Collect Heavenly Souls (Part 2) has been completed!]
Turning around, Izuku saw that most of the Angels had been dealt with, but he also saw one of his Shadows sprinting towards him, a body in their arms and Izuku went cold. He stood and dashed over, meeting them halfway, recognizing Esil's golden locks and perfect face. Where her stomach should've been, there was a long dark wound and Izuku realized what had happened. Lucifer's energy slashes hadn't stopped at him, they had raced past, one of them heading for the area Esil was watching from.
Izuku felt around clumsily for a pulse. If she was still alive, the strongest potions from the store could maybe save her. But… he felt nothing. She was as cold as ice.
"Dammit…" Izuku's hand went limp, falling to his side as he clenched his jaw, "I… Should I give her a burial? I could use… no… no! I wasn't given power over death just so I could bury someone!" Izuku gave his Shadow a solemn look, "Set her down."
As if he was handling a newborn, the Shadow gently laid her on the grassy ground.
"I'm sorry for this, Esil… but it's my only option, so please, Arise."
The Shadow that had carried her to him was shot backwards as a mass of darkness erupted from Esil's stomach, encapsulating Izuku in a bubble of ink-like night. From inside that bubble he was shocked to see bits of that golden dust from Lucifer sprinkling the Shadow. Moments later, two bright eyes gazed back at Izuku, blinking in surprise. The bubble began to shrink, condensing into a form, taking a humanoid shape with three sets of wings.
[Shadow Seraph Lv. 9 Captain Grade.]
[What would you like to zzzt.]
[Shadow Seraph has been renamed, Esil Radir.]
"What?"
"Sir Midoriya?" The Shadow asked, white accents tracing their way up her body, coming to a stop on her face as it mimicked the features of a specific Angel girl.
"Esil? You can… talk?"
[The Monarch's desires, the Shadow's will, and the Seraph's blessing have granted Esil Radir the ability of speech.]
Esil smiled at him, "I don't think my father's going to be very happy with me… after all, now I have to spend all of eternity with you." Her voice was filled with pure joy. It was so much of a relief that Izuku nearly passed into unconsciousness, after all, he had been awake and fighting for the past three days straight, but he resisted, instead choosing to open his Daily Quest Reward, "Accept Status Recovery." For some strange reason, unlike the other Gates Izuku had been inside, this Dungeon did not reset his Daily Quests everyday, so he had saved the Status Recovery for an occasion just like this.
As all of his exhaustion was washed away, he was left with nothing but a smile and a pile of loot. One item in particular catching his eye.
[You have obtained Ingredient Item: Purified Blood of the Seraph.]
"Hold on just a little longer mom, I'll be there soon."
Back in present time, the four Japanese teams were busy handling all of the Nomu pouring out of the mountain. "Come on, Musha!" Hawks joked as he lazily hung back, leaning against a tree, his feathers swinging through the air, cutting the Nomu like they were paper, "You're falling behind in kills!"
"Not all of us care so much about simply looking good, Hawks," The old man inside the armor replied as he cut another Nomu out of the sky, "It seems like far more Nomu have flight capabilities than we originally anticipated. If they have this many then why did they only send the one Nomu to the mainland? Were they waiting for something? Or simply protecting their Queen?" Silence was the only thing that followed, surprising Musha, Hawks never remained this quiet during Raids, even during the stickiest of situations, his mouth never stopped.
Musha wasn't sure why, but it sent a chill through his spine and as he dealt with the final Nomu nearby, he spun around, the only trace of Hawks left being his decapitated body. "Wh-What?!" Musha reached up to his ear to signal the other points, but his arm never made it, it was torn off before he could even blink. The last thing he saw as before a fist punched through his skull was a dark black exoskeleton.
Thanks for reading! These past three days I've had tons of motivation and a lack of homework so I've done my best to get these out while I still can! I'm sorry to end it on another cliffhanger, but here felt like the best place to end it for now as I didn't want to cram in too many fights or reveals or whatever. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed and will let me know what you think! See you next time! We'll see if I can upload four chapters in four days haha!
