Since I've been getting a decent amount of questions recently in reviews, I figured I'd answer a few of the ones I thought were more important. Crazybeebee asked if I would be adding Ryukyu to the harem of Izuku and while I already responded to them, I felt like it was an important thing to address as a whole. No, I will never add Ryukyu to Izuku's harem. Voltrike92 was wondering why Izuku couldn't cut off bits of the world from people like the other Monarchs could and why they were so much stronger than him. That's because Izuku doesn't actually have the full powers of a Monarch yet. He's still developing to put it simply. Also each Monarch has their own set of powers and such. Finally, a few of you were curious about the state of Dabi. He is not actually going to free himself by annoying the crap outta Baran, that declaration of his to be a stubborn pain in the ass till the end was more of a character moment than a story moment. Furthermore, though it's a bit of spoiler to say this, freeing Dabi from Baran isn't going to be the next big story arc or anything. Baran is sticking around for quite some time. Anyways, with those questions out of the way, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
[You have slain the Dungeon Boss!]
[The Dungeon Boss was the Marshal of The Monarch of Frost, Iruit's Army.]
[Calculating the total amount of experience earned.]
[Due to the enormous amount of experience, the process will take some time.]
Izuku looked over at the corpse of the dragon, torn to bits by his hundreds of Shadows. "Was he really that strong? He didn't seem like it." Of course, Izuku was proven wrong as messages filled his view.
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
"Six times?!"
Level: 114
Strength: 268
Vitality: 205
Agility: 256
Intelligence: 344
Sense: 182
[Mana: 35649/35649]
[HP: 49734/49734]
[Shadows able to be extracted: 1538]
[Shadows able to be saved: 723/913]
The insane boost was almost enough to make him forget the loss of today. Another Monarch entering the world, and more of the Heroes being lost and injured was nothing good. On top of that, he had to worry about whatever to do with Bakugo's comatose state. When Igris had been carrying him, Izuku had picked up on a faint heartbeat, so he wasn't dead, but who knew how long his stability would last.
[You have obtained Frieg's Stash.]
It seemed like the dragon had a hidden treasure trove in his abode.
[You have obtained a mountain of gold: 50 Billion Gold.]
It was a hell of a lot of Gold to use in the Store, but it still wasn't enough to buy the top items, which were listed at hundreds of billions. Next, Izuku looked over the loot of Frieg's corpse.
[You have obtained Ingredient Item: Frost Dragon Scales.]
[You have obtained Ingredient Item: Frost Dragon Blood.]
[You have obtained Ingredient Items: Frost Dragon Bones.]
[You have obtained Instance Dungeon Key: Dragon's Domain.]
"That's a lot of Ingredient items, it's a shame I didn't get the Shadowsteel Fragments that I needed for the Evolution Core, but at least I got a new Key! I haven't seen a Key in some time… in fact, now that I think about it, the last key I got was that one with no description." Pulling that pure black key from his inventory, Izuku was disappointed to see that he still didn't meet its requirements. "Well, maybe if I take on the Dragon's Domain Dungeon, then I'll meet its requirements."
Looking back to the corpse of the dragon, Izuku raised his hand, "Arise."
[Extraction has failed. 2 Attempts remaining.]
"Your master is gone, he abandoned you to die here. Arise."
[Extraction has failed. 1 Attempts remaining.]
"Is it because he was stronger than me? The Shadow Army killed him easily, but that was only because they were all working together to kill him."
Izuku shook his head, gathering the last of his desire, knowing that it impacted the Summoning to some degree, "Arise." Time seemed to freeze for a moment as the Shadows rose up, gathering above Frieg's head… and then vanishing.
[Extraction has failed. The Shadow will no longer be extractable.]
"Dammit!" Izuku cursed, stomping his foot on the ground, cracking it in his anger.
"My Liege!" Beru said, flying back, "I have returned for… battle?"
Izuku called back his army, leaving only Beru and Ifrit, who formed a dragon, preparing to lift him back to the Gate's exit, "Sorry Beru… you missed the massacre. How are the Heroes doing?"
"Three are recovering well, but the fourth, the one you call Edgeshot appears to be close to oblivion. And the annoying blonde one, he has yet to wake up, but the other healers decided he was… stable." Beur faltered for a moment, attempting to recall the word. "All of them were flown to a hospital in a helicopter."
Izuku sighed, "Well… good job saving the others."
"Thank you, my Liege."
Beru bowed and placed a hand over his chest as Izuku climbed aboard Ifrit, "Now, let's get out of here."
Getting back to the Gate took only a few minutes on the back of Ifrit, Beru flying beside him, but since the Gate's exit was too small, Izuku couldn't emerge on a flaming Shadow Dragon like he had planned, so Ifrit and Beru followed close behind him as he stepped through, a roar greeting him.
It was so loud Izuku could've sworn that it was another dragon greeting him. In fact, he nearly readied himself into a defensive stance he was so taken back by it. But it was not a dragon. It was a crowd of thousands. Reporters, civilians, other Heroes. Everyone was cheering with all of their might, some throwing their fists into the air.
Izuku looked to his right, at one of the Association men named Hajime, "What's going on?"
"Twenty minutes after you entered the Gate, the measurements changed drastically. It was so powerful that we could only measure it as an SSS-Rank." Hajime adjusted his tie somewhat awkwardly, "The Mana coming off of it was so intense that none of us were strong enough to pass through the Gate to come warn you. When the news broke of Japan's first SSS-Rank, people dropped everything and came running. It… seems that nobody had any doubt about you clearing it… although when that dragon and ant came out with those five, people started getting a little worried." Hajime suddenly squinted, counting in his head quickly, "Wait… is Dabi not with you?"
Izuku shook his head.
"Then… he's dead?"
Izuku paused, completely unsure of how to answer. He wasn't sure how much of the host's consciousness remained when they were taken over by a Monarch, but he was sure of the fact that Dabi's body was completely lost to Baran. "It's… Yes… I'm afraid to say that he's dead."
"Damn… we just keep losing these guys." Hajime turned to report to one of his superiors as Beru and Ifrit both spoke to Izuku.
"Oh my Liege! What a joyous moment! The peasants of this world are finally acknowledging you in full!"
"Yes, my Liege! Give them a wave, it'll send them into hysterics!"
Izuku gave Beru a cautious gaze at his use of the word peasant, "There's not much left to do here. Let's go check on the others in the hospital."
Ifrit nodded and stepped forwards, awing the crowd, which cheered even louder as he shifted to a more aerodynamic shape than any other he had taken before. It still had his draconic head at the front, and four scaly legs holding him up, but his body was wider and his wings looked rigid, with little flaps at the back, much like an airplane's wings. In fact, as Izuku continued to stare at the new shape, he realized that it was meant to mimic a jet fighter of sorts, with two circular ports at the back of his body, red flames escaping from them.
Izuku chuckled, instantly understanding where this had come from. One night, after an exhausting day of searching, he had come home to Yaoyorozu with a bowl of popcorn, waiting for him on the couch. Eri was already asleep and she wanted to watch a movie. Somehow, they had settled on a subbed version of Top Gun. Apparently, Ifrit found the fighter jets deeply intriguing.
Taking his place on the draconic jet plane that was Ifrit, Izuku followed his advice and raised his hand up to head height. As the port on Ifrit's stomach began spewing fire, lifting them into the air, similar to how a VTOL would work, the crowd went wild, screams of gratitude, a few expletives levied against the Villains, and Izuku swore he could pick out a few guys and girls begging him to marry them.
Once Ifrit was high enough to avoid roasting any of the nearby Association Agents, the thrusters on his back kicked in, sending them flying forwards.
Any normal human would've been thrown off instantly, but Izuku stuck to the back of the massive fighter jet with ease, looking calm as winds tore at his clothes. At this rate, it would only take a few minutes to reach the hospital. He could already hear Miruko complaining about the doctors letting her out of bed.
"You dumbasses! I'm fine! Let me up!"
The female doctor in charge of her care balked as the Rabbit Hero shoved away her covers, "Miss Usagiyama! You broke twenty bones and ruptured a few organs!"
"I know, I was there." Miruko swung her legs over the bed and stood, "Come get me when it's something serious." She walked out of the room, completely stunning her doctors and completely unconcerned with the fact that her butt was hanging out of the hospital gown.
"Hey you!" Miruko shouted at one of the nurses at the nurses' station. They froze, a little scared of the loud bunny girl, "Where's the flaming asshole and Ryukyu?"
"F-Four-fifty-one."
Miruko wasted no time making her way there, not in the least bit worried about her clothing. Shoving open the door with a severe lack of concern for the rest of those inside, she burst into the room, surprised to already see Izuku there, standing over Ryukyu's bed, "He… said that?" It seemed that he was too engrossed in his conversation to even notice Miruko.
Ryukyu's eyes darted over to the unconscious Endeavor, then Miruko, then back to Izuku, "Something about being "tainted by the mark of a Ruler." And he said something like, "You as well?" When he grabbed Endeavor."
Izuku glanced at Endeavor skeptically, "Him? You choose him of all people?"
"Yo!" Miruko announced her presence with a shout, "What's going on here?!"
Izuku's eyes snapped up to Miruko, finally noticing her presence, "Oh… um… sorry, I was just kinda rambling to myself." He nodded dismissively, "I'm glad to see you both are alright. You'll have to excuse me though, I need to go take care of something else." He squeezed past Miruko, who made sure the back of her gown was fully pulled open, but Izuku didn't even glance on his way out.
Ryukyu laughed loudly as she noticed her friend's expression droop.
"What?!"
"Oh, it's nothing! I just never thought I'd see you of all people fall this hard!"
Izuku could've sworn he heard Ryukyu give a shrill scream as Miruko jumped onto her bed, threatening her vugarly.
"My Liege," Beru said, standing next to Izuku, who sat on one of the chairs next to Bakugo's bed, "Forgive me, but you realized something while in the room with the weaklings… didn't you?"
Izuku turned a glass bottle in his hand over and over, gazing into the crystal clear liquid inside. "I could be wrong, but what Baran said… it makes me think that we've got not one, but two potential Ruler hosts in this hospital."
Beru nodded, "Perhaps my Liege should talk with the one they call All Might. He might have some ideas as to how to convert them."
Izuku nodded, he had been thinking the same thing, "Then there's only one thing left to decide." He raised the bottle of the Holy Water of Life up to eye level, its glass distorting Bakugo's limp form on the bed. "Do I waste one of these things to save him?"
In the background, the news played clips of the skyscraper-sized Gate in Korea and the newscaster made one very important thing clear, "No one is coming to help Korea, they are on their own."
Thanks for reading! I know this chapter is pretty damn short, but I kinda just needed a bit of a setup chapter for the next time I updated! See you then, when I promise to have something very interesting!
