Stellian disappeared from Izuku's view, Beru crashing into him with the force of a MOAB and shaking loose the Genesis Blade that was biting into the Monarch's side.

"KIEEEK!"

Izuku shakily stumbled over and recovered the sword, storing it in his Inventory as Beru continued to slash apart Stellian's skin with his four sets of claws, managing to scrape through even the metallic cover. The Monarch and the King of the Nomu danced through the sky, their impacts like thunderclaps. If anyone in the room had still been conscious aside from Izuku and Yaoyorozu, they might've appropriately thought it to be the end of the world. Each time their attacks connected, they sheared away another part of the ground and the buildings around them.

Izuku was grateful that he had spent part of the Seraph Ashes on resurrecting Beru as he watched the two clash. With that and the Domain of the Monarch, the ant-like Nomu had far surpassed the strength that even S-Ranks would consider godlike. In fact, even as a Monarch, Stellian found himself getting pushed back, Beru's attacks strong enough to lift him into the air and knock him around like he was flying of his own volition.

Looking back to the rest of the cafeteria, Izuku was stunned by just the sheer amount of bloodied bodies on the floor. Each one had at least a few nickel-sized or larger holes somewhere on their person. Stellian's magical shrapnel was now responsible for the fifty-plus still bodies on the floor, most dead, but some still alive, if just barely as they bled out on the ruined floor.

Izuku was frozen in shock by the number and almost didn't notice Yaoyorozu shouting at him as she did her best to take care of Nejire and Tamaki.

"Izuku! Your potions!"

Reason returned to banish the fog from his mind and he jumped into action, pulling dozens of potions from the store and pouring them into the student's mouths, closing up most of their wounds. Unfortunately, before he could get to Bakugo, the ceiling broke open in a different spot, Beru and Stellian crashing to the ground, Stellian using his massive weight to slam the bug-like Nomu into the concrete.

"I grow tired of this prey," Stellian said, wrapping his hands around Beru's throat and pouring massive amounts of Mana into his frame.

Izuku's eyes widened in disbelief as he felt Beru's essence being erased. His Shadows could infinitely regenerate as long as he had Mana, but it appeared that Monarch's didn't play by the same rules. He no longer even seemed to mind as Beru tore his flesh with his claws.

Stellian grinned as the Nomu's legs began to fizzle away, the Shadow breaking off in chunks. In fact, he was so caught up in the action he didn't notice Izuku swinging Daybringer with all of his might into the side of Stellian's head.

[Skill: Infinite Strength has activated.]

Daybringer made a CLANG against Stellian's head as it flung him off of Beru and through the cafeteria walls, trampling the grass of the courtyard as rubble settled around him.

Growling, the Monarch pulled itself to its feet as Izuku helped Beru do the same.

"My Liege… he seems to have become stronger. I can no longer handle him by-"

A cracking noise filled their air as Izuku pulled away from Beru, ice encompassing his body entirely.

"Come now, Stellian, leave alone the boy. Ashborn and the architect will not be happy if it takes them another 10 years to find a host." Izuku spun around, seeing a collection of dark purple mist hovering around Bakugo's prone form.

"Kurogiri."

The misty figure bowed, "Ah, my apologies human, but Kurogiri is the name of my host. I am The Monarch of Frost, Iruit. It appears that Stellian has started a rather unnecessary fight with you." He waved his hand and one of his purple Gates swallowed the Steel Monarch whole. "We are just here to collect Baran's host. In the meantime, we look forward to your rebirth oh, Shadow Monarch."

Izuku began sprinting towards Iruit as he laid a hand on Bakugo's back, "Until next time human."

[Skill: Infinite Strength has activated.]

But it was too late. By the time Izuku's fist reached the place where Iruit had been standing, he was gone. The strength from his Skill diffused into the air, creating a blast of wind that tore apart the back of the cafeteria, breaking the massive building into two.

It was such a strong blast that Yaoyorozu, who had been busy healing everyone behind him, was nearly thrown into the air. It even smashed open the ice prison of Beru, letting him free.

"My Liege! Are you-"

"Heal the others," Izuku said, his voice low and despondent. "The goal of the Monarchs was achieved. They're not coming back, so you can focus all of your effort on healing all of the students here."

Beru bowed his head and went to assist Yaoyorozu, knowing that there was nothing more he could say to his Liege to aid him.

Izuku took a moment to suck in a heavy breath and curse himself for failing to stop the Monarchs before turning around, pulling out his potions once more. He could worry about his failures later, for right now, he needed to save as many as possible.

It wouldn't be wrong for someone to claim that Izuku disliked, or even hated Bakugo. However, as much as he hated him and would like nothing more to beat him to a pulp for all the years of bullying he suffered at his hands, the prospect of another Monarch being given a host was a terrifying one. Being that host sounded far worse. It was hard enough to even stand next to Stellian or Iruit, what would happen when another one was given form.

"If All Might is right and Antares is still in this world, that means that they at least have three Monarchs, with Baran on the way."

Izuku dropped to one knee next to Nejire Hado and Tamaki Amajiki, "Damn…" Holes covered their entire body. It was a miracle none of the shrapnel had hit them in the head. They were somehow still alive, but Izuku wouldn't be able to save them with his potions, "Beru, focus on these two for now."

Perhaps it was immoral of him to assign treatment based on the victim's Ranking, but Izuku knew that with the threats that were beginning to appear, keeping the strongest alive was their best chance at handling it.

"Mmmm," Nejire groaned as her eyes opened, surprising Izuku as he poured more potion down another student's throat.

"Not many would regain consciousness that quickly, she must be stronger than I thought."

Unfortunately, as Nejire forced open her eyes, the first thing she was greeted with, was Beru's insectoid face.

A shrill scream escaped her throat like rising steam as she scrambled weakly away from the Shadow bumping into Izuku.

"Woah woah. It's okay… it's okay." Izuku grabbed her shoulders and obscured the view of Beru, waving him off to tend to the next batch of students, "He's with me."

"B-B-But it's a bug!"

"Is that what she was worried about?" Izuku shook his head, "Sorry, but he's the only healer we have right now. Please try to remain as calm as you can for the sake of the others."

Nejire's eyes widened a bit as she looked around, noticing the number of bodies, "...Oh my god…"

"I need to go help the others, so just stay here and rest for now."

But Nejire shrugged him off and did her best to stand, "N-No… the other buildings were hit, I need to go make sure everyone's okay."

Izuku cursed inwardly, knowing he couldn't waste anymore time arguing with her and nodded reluctantly, jumping back into his efforts.


It took thirty minutes to evacuate all of the main building. During that time, several of the upper floors collapsed altogether. The only reason it didn't result in the death of three dozen people was that Karkinos and the Nomu cleared out those floors first.

It was thankful that his Shadows didn't tire because it took another thirty minutes before the rescue teams came to Izuku once more. As he sent more Shadows into the building to make sure it didn't collapse one of the rescue workers walked up to him, "How long can those guys of yours hold that thing?"

"They don't tire, so indefinitely, why? Have you not found Cementoss yet?"

"We… have."

He didn't need to say more for Izuku to get the idea and his expression hardened, "Well, we can't just let this thing collapse."

The worker shook his head, "To fix the damage… The only ones who could do that would be Cementoss or an army of construction workers. And no construction team is gonna step inside a building like that, it doesn't matter how many Summons you've got supporting the thing."

"Then where's the body?"

"The… body?" The man shook his head, "Kid… you don't wanna see something like that. It's…" He trailed off, unable to say more.

"I've seen men with most of their bodies gone, people missing their heads, and much more. I can handle it."

The man huffed, "Well… why?"

Izuku grimaced, "How good are you at keeping secrets?"

"Uh… what?"

"My Liege asked you a question, human. Can you keep your mouth shut?"

"I… yes," The man replied with a pale face.

Izuku nodded, "We need Cementoss, so that's who we're going to get."

Maybe it was the undeniable essence of death pouring off Beru, who was standing directly behind the worker, or the glow in Izuku's eyes, but some way, somehow, the man seemed to grasp the deeper meaning of what Izuku was saying.

"I-It's this way."


Izuku had already experimented with the Shadows of the six Heroes he had taken, he knew that their Quirks still worked as Shadows, so it was no surprise to him that the Shadow of Cementoss was no different.

It only took the Shadow fifteen minutes to stabilize the entirety of the building with his Quirk. Sure, the upper floors were still pretty wrecked, but now, the building itself was in no danger of falling.

The worker who had assisted Izuku in finding the crushed body of Cementoss looked on with something akin to a mix of fear and awe. Izuku had utilized Cementoss's Shadow inside the building itself, so now one had actually seen the resurrected Hero and teacher working hard to save his school. In the same way no one saw that, no one would see Izuku rest a hand on the teacher's shoulder and nod, "Cancel Extraction."

Unlike the situation with the six Heroes, Cementoss had not been spoken for about his preference for remaining alive as a Shadow and as such, Izuku chose to release him back to his peaceful rest. With that, all 504 Soldiers slunk back into Izuku's Shadow, resting as their Liege walked back outside, not another word said to the worker.

Emerging into the sunlight, he noticed a wave of reporters swarming towards the building, but police and agents from the Association stood in their way.

"All Might. Principal Nezu, it's a relief to see that you two are okay."

Principal Nezu nodded, a small black cat in his arms, "It was only thanks to my friend, Aho here. She seemed to sense the danger before it reached us, managing to convince me to get under my desk in the nick of time."

Izuku ignored the odd explanation and turned to All Might, "It was another…"

"Monarch," All Might finished, "I entrusted Principal Nezu with that information long ago."

"Right. It was that Kurogiri guy, who said he was the Monarch of Frost, Iruit and another Villain, who said his host's name was Muscular and that he was the Monarch of the Steel Body."

All Might scowled, "Stellian. Him and Aeic fought many battles against each other. Even with both sides despising the other, Stellian and Aeic held a special amount of hatred for their rival."

"Iruit said they were taking Bakugo to become a host for Baran."

"The Monarch of the White Flame. He's possibly the weakest of the eight Monarchs, but he still is a Monarch and we cannot allow young Bakugo to be taken over. Did they give any possible clues as to where they may have been taking him?"

Izuku shook his head, allowing All Might to give a heavy sigh, "As I expected. But… there still is hope. A Monarch cannot merely emerge from the gap between dimensions and take hold of a host. We have seven days to find where they'll be building the Gate for Baran to emerge from."

"Seven days, just like the amount of time it takes for a Gate to break open and release Villains onto the world."

"I'll send out every last Shadow I have, they'll find him."

All Might gave him a concerned glance, but nodded, knowing that his unrelenting force would be one of their biggest assets towards locating Bakugo. "Well, until then, I think it would be best if you tried to relax for the next few days. You've had a rough day and you can leave the searching to us and your Soldiers. Needless to say, school won't be resuming anytime soon."

Izuku reluctantly agreed, but decided to ask one more question as his Shadow army leaked out from under him and began their meticulous search through the city. "How many…?"

All Might lowered his head forlornly, "Cementoss was the only teacher we lost, but… ten other faculty members and twenty-six students died from the initial explosions, another thirty died from Stellian's attack. The number would've been higher had you and Yaoyorozu not assisted in the treatment of your classmates."

Speaking of Yaoyorozu, the girl was currently in an ambulance, receiving nutrients and recovering from using her Quirk so much to create healing potions and medical supplies.

Izuku took a moment to let out a breath before nodding, "Alright, I suppose I'll rest for now… after all, tomorrow's a big day… I suppose," He said, his voice melancholic. In reality, tomorrow was a huge day, but now, it was harder to feel excited about it. "If you learn anything, make sure to call me."


Esil floated through the halls of the Naval base, four of her wings hanging out behind her, the other two cocooned gently around Eri. She smiled down warmly at the little girl who was shouting for her to go faster.

Just a few days ago, this sight had raised the eyebrows of more than a few of the personnel, but by now, the men and women simply enjoyed the blinding smile of Eri. They enjoyed it… even if they felt a little jealous about the fact that it took a Shadow creature to draw out that smile when they could not.

Esil saw how much happiness the smile of a child could bring to her surroundings and with every fiber in her being she hoped that it would raise her Liege's spirits after the previous day's incident.

Currently, Izuku and Yaoyorozu were waiting outside, having ridden over on Izuku's motorcycle and while they waited for Esil to be granted permission to leave the base with Eri, Izuku looked over his Stats.

Level: 105

Strength: 259

Vitality: 196

Agility: 247

Intelligence: 281

Sense: 173

[Mana: 26938/26938]

[HP: 48145/47395]

[Shadows able to be extracted: 782]

[Shadows able to be saved: 557]

Remaining Stat Points: 30

"I've been saving up some of the Stat points from my Daily Quests because I was unsure of what to put them into… if I hadn't saved them up, would I have been able to stop the Monarch's?" Izuku tried to shake off those thoughts though, the beings were on another level, it was entirely unlikely that those Stat Points would've saved Bakugo. "Well, since Intelligence increases the strength of my Shadows, I suppose I should put all my points into that. It'll be the first Stat to surpass three-hundred too."

Level: 105

Strength: 259

Vitality: 196

Agility: 247

Intelligence: 311

Sense: 173

[Mana: 29473/29473]

[HP: 48145/47395]

[Shadows able to be extracted: 851]

[Shadows able to be saved: 672]

Remaining Stat Points: 0

"Izuku," Yaoyorozu said cheerfully, bringing her boyfriend out of his thoughts, "She's here."

Looking up, Izuku's expression immediately brightened.

Matsuo, the Ensign in charge of Eri's care, was holding the girl's hand as he walked out of the gates that bordered the Naval base, Esil floating along behind him. Eri, instead of the ragged clothing Izuku had last seen her wearing, was now dressed in a white dress shirt, with a filly red pinafore over it. Under that she wore white jeans with brown boots covering her feet.

Izuku crouched down as she got closer, her eyes twinkling brightly as she recognized the face of her savior. "Hi Eri… Do you remember me?"

She nodded furiously, "Aunty Esil told me lots of stories about you!"

"Aunty… Esil? Well… I guess she has been taking care of her for the past two weeks or so." He looked up to see pure joy on the Shadow's face, "Hang on… Esil's only been around me to see a bunch of battles… she didn't tell Eri about that did she? A child shouldn't hear about their adoptive parent slaughtering entire castles of Angels."

Just before Izuku could ask what stories she had heard, Eri asked a question of her own, pointing up at Yaoyorozu, "Is she another Aunty?"

Izuku chuckled and looked up to Yaoyorozu, who gave him a look of amusement before crouching down as well. "Well, you're coming to live with me and Izuku, right?" Eri nodded, "So what would you call him?"

Eri thought for a moment before her entire face lit up with hope, "He's my daddy!"

Izuku turned bright red, wanting to hide his face from the smirking Ensign, but at the same time, his heart beat in response to the little girl's declaration and he couldn't help but feel like he was making the right choice in taking her in.

Yaoyorozu continued with her reasoning, "Then if Izuku is your dad, I'd be your mother."

Realization filled Eri's eyes and she shouted out, "Yay!" As she leapt forwards, her small arms wrapping around Yaoyorozu's neck to hug her. It was enough to catch her by surprise, sudden tears forming in the teen's eyes, surprised by how much she already cared for this little girl.

Wrapping her own arms around Eri, Yaoyorozu stood, holding her against her chest as she wiped away the small tears, "So… are you ready to go see your new home?"

"Yeah!"

Ensign Matsuo grew nervous as he noticed the motorcycle behind them, "Um… sir? I hope you don't plan on taking her home on that. If it's necessary, we have other vehicles that you could borrow-"

Izuku waved away his concerns, "Don't worry, that was just for getting me and Yaoyorozu here. Igris." The Shadow Knight emerged, one of the three Shadows that was not currently out looking for Bakugo, "Could you take that back to the penthouse garage and meet us there?"

Igris held a hand over his chest and climbed onto the motorcycle, its exterior becoming larger and smoky as Igris adapted it to his own size and appearance. "Huh… I had no idea he could do that."

"Oh! I'll ride with him!" Esil volunteered suddenly, running over to board the bike behind Igris, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Huh?" Izuku asked, "Don't you wanna come home with us? It'll be quicker?"

"Um… well if someone pulls Igris over, he can't talk, so I should be there to make sure nothing goes wrong."

Izuku held a hand up to his chin, "I didn't even think about that, thanks Esil, we'll see you at home."

"So then… is your home close to here or…" Matsuo trailed off, entirely confused by the unfolding events.

Izuku shook his head with a smile, "Stop stressing, we've got our own way of moving around." He wrapped Yaoyorozu in a hug, Eri sandwiched between them, "Thank you for your help!" He said, saying goodbye to the man, "Exchange."

"Hold on… what-" Matsuo was cut off as Shadows obscured the three's view and when it faded, they were standing just in front of a penthouse building complex. It stretched pretty high up, to the point where it looked similar to an office building in terms of size.

Izuku had stationed one of his Shadows outside the entrance just so he could instantly take Eri home.

"This… is your home?" Eri asked with disbelief, an expression that was mirrored by Yaoyorozu, who had yet to see the penthouse apartment Izuku had picked out for them.

"Our home now," Izuku corrected, "We've got the top two floors all to ourselves. So why don't we take a ride up there?"


"Izuku… this is… insane…" Yaoyorozu was at a loss for words. Even as someone who had spent her early years in luxury, the past few years had been less the same rich life she could've had, so something like this… it was insane.

"The apartment stretches out for the entirety of both floors. We've got five guest rooms, one I've already decked out for Eri, a master bedroom for us, like half a dozen bathrooms, a gym, a huge kitchen, our own personal theatre and game rooms, and… an indoor pool and jacuzzi."

"A-Are you sure this is something we can afford?" Yaoyorozu asked, stunned as she walked over to the clear glass that stretched around the entirety of the floor, giving them a view of the city.

Izuku chuckled, "Beru's magic core sold for a hefty amount, but believe it or not, some of the drops I got from the Heavenly Palace sold for far more. This place could be considered far below our price range to be honest. Just one of the perks of being an S-Rank." He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist as Eri clambered over the sofas and went running through the hallways. "Feels pretty surreal doesn't it?"

"What? You mean the fact that two sixteen-year-olds are living like kings with an adoptive daughter at their age?"

"Heh, yeah."

Yaoyorozu turned around and planted a light kiss on his lips, "It does feel pretty surreal, but I hope this dream never ends, because it seems pretty close to paradise. Now, we've got a daughter to take care of and it looks like she's got way too much energy, so why don't we teach her to swim?"

"Uhhh…" Izuku froze for a moment, like a computer buffering, "We?"

"Well yeah. Why?" She smirked, "Do you not wanna see me in a bikini?"

Izuku blushed, "N-No… it's not that… I um… I don't know how to swim either."

Yaoyorozu chuckled, "Alright, then I guess I'll just have to teach you both. I'll go help Eri get a swimsuit on, so you do the same and I'll meet you by the pool… if I can find it in this huge place."

Izuku acquiesced with an embarrassed nod, watching Yaoyorozu strut away to scoop up their new child. He was about to run to his own room, which was also Yaoyorozu's now that he thought about it, but before he could, a ringing interrupted him. It was his phone, ringing with a special alert from the Association. He answered it, "Hello?"

"Young Midoriya, I'm sorry to say this call has nothing to do with Bakugo, but an A-Rank Gate opened just by your phone's location," All Might explained, "It's… well it's halted traffic to a standstill, do you think there's any way you could take care of it by yourself?"

Izuku sighed, looking back to the hallways, where he heard the giggles of his adopted daughter and girlfriend. This was his first day with her, he couldn't just abandon her, could he? Somehow, All Might seemed to sense his apprehension. "Young Midoriya, I understand your concern, but as your mother once explained so brilliantly, Heroes don't get to choose when they are needed."

Izuku shook his head, "It's just a traffic jam, right? It's not like the Gate's gonna break open any moment."

"The nearest Raid team that can handle it is at least two hours away from being able to reach it. By that time, the city's traffic will come to a standstill, it'll be a far bigger problem than just a traffic jam. Besides, with your strength, it should only take you an hour or so."

Izuku sighed once more and gave in, "Alright, but you owe me for this. I'm gonna have to go tell the girls why I have to disappoint them."

All Might sounded a little guilty by then, "I understand. I apologize."

Izuku ended the call, getting the distinct feeling like this wasn't going to be the last time he'd have to apologize to Eri or Yaoyorozu for leaving on short notice.


Thanks for reading! It seems that some of you have already noticed, but there's a new tag on both the and AO3 sites, Nejire Hado! That's right, now there aren't just two, but three girls vying for Izuku's heart. For anyone wondering where this sudden addition came from, well just the other day, while I was streaming the writing of this chapter, we hit our donation goal, which was to add a girl to the Harem each time it was reached and Nejire Hado was the lucky winner! As such, sometime in the near future, she will be joining Momo and Miruko in their quest! I suppose it's fitting that this chapter was released on Nejire's Birthday! Hope to see you next chapter!