Slice was forced to her knees as Izuku tightened his grip on her wrist, the bone creaking under the insane pressure. The only comparison would be the pressure felt at the bottom of the ocean.
"Explain everything, now!"
Slice's wrist fractured as he continued increasing his strength.
"Why is a Monarch targeting my friends and family?" From a human's standpoint, kidnapping family members and using them as hostages was a viable strategy to incapacitate or weaken a Hero. But from the Monarch's point of view, killing a few humans that were far weaker than them made no sense.
"S-S-She said you and her used to have h-h-history together!" Slice was desperately fighting off the pain, so when Izuku adjusted his grip, sending a lance of pain through her body, her hair instinctively reacted, stabbing forwards at his gut, but bouncing off the Olympian armor.
"That was a mistake," He snapped her wrist like a twig causing her to fall backwards, roaring in pain. "I think I'd remember meeting a being who wants to destroy all life."
"S-S-She said that… your love w-w-was hers and h-h-hers alone!"
Izuku's eyes narrowed, "Did she call me Ashborn?" Slice nodded vigorously. "Does that mean Ashborn was… dating this Monarch?"
"What's her name?" He demanded.
"M-Monarch of Transfiguration, Yogumunt."
"What's her host's name?"
"I-I don't know!" Izuku sneered and pulled Daybringer from his Inventory, stalking towards her, "I swear! S-She rarely ever showed us her face and-and she never gave us her host's name!" Knowing that she was perhaps moments from death, Slice began shouting out a description of the girl. Maybe sixteen or seventeen, always wore a school girl outfit, blonde hair, yellow eyes and almost fang-like teeth.
"Hmm," Izuku mumbled to himself, "Where'd you see her last?"
"S-She teleports to a warehouse where we meet her!" She gave the address, causing Izuku to nod as he turned away and walked over to where his mother was waiting, hiding herself partially behind a tree.
"Are you okay?" Izuku took her by the shoulders and looked her over, his hands trembling, "She didn't hurt you did she?"
"I… N-No," Inko muttered, relief beginning to fill her heart as she suddenly wrapped her arms around Izuku, "Oh, Izuku! I was so worried!"
He nodded and returned the gesture, "I know, it's okay now."
"T-That Summon of yours sure is determined," She joked, trying to release some of the tension built up inside of her, "He saved me more than a few times!"
Izuku looked over to Hyo, who was watching over Slice with Ifrit, making sure she wasn't going anywhere. He seemed to notice that his Liege's gaze was on him and when turning to face him, the only thing he could see in those emerald eyes was unfathomable gratitude.
"I should make something to thank Hyo…" Izuku thought to himself as he began guiding his mother out of the park and away from the Villain.
As soon as Izuku disappeared out of sight, Slice finally let out the pent up breath she had been holding. If he was walking away, that meant he was going to let the authorities take care of her… right? But then Ifrit's dragon snout appeared right next to her face.
"Our master does not wish to trouble his mother with the sight of your death."
"NO! Please! I promise! I-I'll be bette-!" Her head disappeared in one swift motion, Ifrit cutting through her neck with his talons. Against a Captain Grade, she could hold her own and maybe even win, but before a Commander Grade like Ifrit, she stood no chance.
"Someone like you is too dangerous to be left alive and… well, your debt had to be paid."
Ryukyu stomped down on the Nomu, crushing it into a thick slimy paste as she roared, her tail stabbing forwards into the second creature, piercing a cannon-sized hole in its torso.
Endeavor, and the civilians, who were still standing around them for some reason, looked on with shock as she glowed with a golden aura, continuing to tear apart the already dead Nomu.
"Ryukyu!" Endeavor shouted as her tail slapped absentmindedly against the side of a building, cracking its exterior, "That's enough!"
He was granted his wish and her attention shifted to him, eyes burning with rage. "You!" Endeavor was overcome with the feeling that he was looking once more at a being like Baran. "You're the reason they're dead!"
"Wha-!"
Her dragon paw cut through the air, slamming into his side with enough force to shatter his right forearm and send him flying into the hospital walls. "Damn!" He cursed as he pulled himself out of the brick and ignited his body with bright red flames.
"If you hadn't let your ego be the only thing that guided you… the others might still be alive!"
Ryukyu pounced forwards, her entire body, now the size of a smaller apartment complex ready to crash down on him. Endeavor's left side lit up with energy and pushed him to the side, out of the range of her body slam.
Firing off his own attacks, white-hot blasts of fire, Endeavor was reminded of the dragon from the Frost Dungeon. His fire simply warmed up her scales, leaving no mark. "What is happening to this world?!" He thought to himself as the fire at the bottom of his feet lifted him into the air, narrowly avoiding a swipe of her tail. "There was a time when only one other man in this country could match me!"
He fell back to the ground, stumbling as Ryukyu rushed forwards, shaking the ground enough to trip over himself and fall on his broken arm.
Endeavor roared in pain, completely helpless as Ryukyu's paw once more came to crash down on him. This time, it wouldn't just break a few bones. In fact, it didn't break any bones, because it never reached its mark.
Endeavor finally forced himself up onto his knees as he looked over his shoulder, wondering if he could believe his eyes. Just behind him, holding up Ryukyu's attack with just one hand, was Tsukauchi, his own golden aura surrounding him.
"Grantuld," Tsukauchi called out, his voice calm and almost emotionless, "This rage does not benefit your host any longer! She is safe… You can rele… ugh!" Tsukauchi's second hand came up to resist the fall of Ryukyu's. It appeared that the dragon lady was in no mood to calm down.
"Get… out of here!" Tsukauchi shouted to Endeavor, bits of worry now entering his voice.
Endeavor was apparently a little too shocked by Tsukauchi's appearance, and made no attempt to move, forcing the ex-Association Agent to kick him away, accidentally breaking a rib in the process.
"Brother!" Tsukauchi shouted, his aura growing bigger to match Ryukyu's, "It's me! Pulra! You're safe! You need to-!"
Ryukyu slammed her tail into his side, causing him to tumble head over heels over the pavement of the road as he slammed into a nearby car. He held a hand to his head, but didn't seem that hurt from an attack that would've crushed someone like Endeavor. "Ugh… I forgot how much I disliked the dragon's kind." He stood and nonchalantly shook the dust off of his torn up clothes, "No weak points to exploit. Well, except for that one." He seemed not the least bit bothered by the fact that Ryukyu was soaring through the air, her talons outstretched to pierce his stomach.
Just before she could fully reach him, Tsukauchi snapped his fingers and the space in front of him distorted, forming a Gate that swallowed Ryukyu whole. It closed moments later, plunging the street that had once been alive with screams and terror, into a dead silence. Well silent except for Endeavor, who grunted painfully as he made his way over to the man.
"W-What did you do with her?"
Tsukauchi nodded, "Sorry. Grantuld tends to have some pretty fierce temper tantrums inside his hosts. I just sent him to the arctic to cool down."
"Gran...tuld? His?"
"Ah, I'd forgotten. Razar had yet to take hold." He waved away Endeavor's concerns, "It'll all make sense soon."
"That's not good… enough?" Endeavor trailed off as space distorted once more and Tsukauchi vanished, leaving the fiery man confused as the Shadows that had once rested in Ryukyu's shade recovered after being ejected just before she entered the portal. "What's happening to this world?"
Izuku got his mother squared away with an ambulance just in time to see Karkinos swirling down from the sky, Igris and Esil atop his head. Next to them, were four more people that allowed Izuku to breathe a firm sigh of relief.
Nejire, carrying Eri, Yaoyorozu, and Miruko were all there, not a scratch on them. He had also been looking through the eyes of the Soldiers in Endeavor's and Ryukyu's Shadows and seen some weird things, but Tsukauchi had intervened. If he was really a Ruler as All Might suspected, then it should be alright to trust him with Ryukyu's safety.
The four girls disembarked the dragon, finding that as soon as all of them were on solid ground, Izuku was wrapping his arms around them. Yaoyorozu returned the gesture with no hesitation and Eri followed suit, screaming, "Daddy!" As she did so. Nejire and Miruko meanwhile, were too busy blushing to enjoy the group hug, but even they noticed the slight shaking in Izuku's frame as he pulled them close to himself.
"I'm sorry." He said, pulling away and bowing low, "I'm sorry that I could not protect you all."
"H-Hey," Miruko said, her cheeks red, "We're not helpless you know! It's not your responsibility to be with us every second of the day to make sure we don't get a booboo!"
"No… But I fear that I've taken the threat of the Monarchs too lightly. The protection I gave you all was not nearly enough. Esil was nearly destroyed, my mother nearly killed… That sort of thing… it can't be ignored." Izuku clutched a key in his hand, "And I won't let it happen again."
"No matter how large I have to grow my army to keep them safe… And it starts with this."
[Item: Instance Dungeon Key: Dragon's Domain.]
Item Class: SSS
Item Type: Key
This Key leads to the hellish landscape of some of the most powerful beings in the world. They know no equal. They are… Dragons. This Key can be used at the entrance to Tokyo's Disneyland Amusement Park.
"Alright… before we leave," Izuku said, standing in his living room, "Come Forth."
Beru emerged, "My Liege."
"Since I only have two days to Raid this Gate before I leave for Korea, I won't be gone that long. But… well, we both know what can happen during that time." Izuku looked his strongest servant dead in the eyes. "Protect them all at any costs." While he was gone at the Dragon's Domain, all of the girls were to stay at his apartment, with Beru as their guard dog.
Miruko obviously refused, declaring that she had an Agency to run for them and that she wasn't some damsel to be saved. Izuku couldn't exactly argue with that logic, seeing that she took care of her attackers without much trouble, but he couldn't help wanting them to all stay together for safety.
Yaoyorozu sighed at his orders for Beru. "You know… I'm still not happy about how strongly you feel about this."
Izuku pursed his lips, "I know. I… I don't want you to think that I think you're weak, but…"
"But the Monarchs," Yaoyorozu finished, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning close for a kiss. "We can handle ourselves, but I understand that when you and I go to Korea, it'll be much better for us to know that everyone's safe."
"Yea… wait… "you and I?"" Izuku gave her a funny glance as she looked off to the side abashedly.
"I'm… coming with you to Korea," She declared.
"What?! Uh-uh, there's no-"
She cut him off by placing a finger against his lips, "I'm not as strong as you, there's no denying that. But I'm also your girlfriend and…" She fidgeted for a moment before saying, "Nevermind. Regardless, I want to go where you go. Because I love you and I want to be there for the moments that will cement you in history as one of the world's greatest Heroes. I want to see everyone else recognize and admire the same things I do." She grinned, "Besides, I can't leave you in Korea alone, especially not with a young and beautiful woman like Cha Hae-In."
"Huh?"
As Izuku flew through the air, stood upon the massive, almost platform-like, back of Ifrit, taking care of just a few more matters of business.
Four new Shadows were kneeling before him. The woman who had attacked his mother, the two men who had attacked Esil, Eri, and Nejire, and the man who had attacked his sister
[Chimera Lv 5. Captain Grade.]
[Slice Lv 13. Captain Grade.]
[Twice Lv 1. Captain Grade.]
[Shadow Human Lv 15. Elite-Knight Grade.]
Two of the names, Slice and Chimera, were taken directly from their real names and Twice was an easy one to come up with considering his powerset, but now he was left with the weakest one, the assassin type that Izuku had given the Juggled Blades.
"May I suggest something, my Liege?" Esil asked through telepathic communication as she continued watching over Eri and Yaoyorozu who were busy baking cookies.
"By all means."
"When fighting him, Karkinos crushed him with his body, leaving a huge bloody stain on the pavement and just barely enough for you to Extract his Shadow from."
Izuku smirked, laughing at the ridiculous reason for such a name, "Well, I can't say I hate it."
[Stain Lv 15. Elite-Knight Grade.]
"Maybe I should've given you a more serious name, especially considering you gave me these," Izuku pulled the fragment of Stain's sword out of his Inventory, "But you did attack my family, so you'll have to deal with it."
[Ingredient Item: Shadowsteel Fragments.]
"I guess there's nothing left to do… but craft it."
[1x portion of Seraph's Blessed Ashes.]
[1x portion of Ifrit's Blood.]
[Malleable Obsidian.]
[Lava Heart.]
[World Tree's Fragment.]
[Orb of Avarice.]
[Shadowsteel Fragments.]
[Would you like to craft consumable: Evolution Core?]
"Yes."
[Crafting Evolution Core.]
[The success rate and number of items crafted will be dependent on the crafter's Intelligence Stat.]
[10]
[9]
[8]
[7]
[6]
[5]
[4]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Crafting successful!]
[Crafted Item: Evolution Core x2]
"Two?!" He looked over the two perfectly black orbs, smooth lines filling the empty space. "Tusk will be happy to learn that he doesn't have to keep handing over the orb to me in order to make my Extractions. Don't you think?" He asked, looking over at the Shadow Knight standing at his side.
"Yes, my Liege," Igris said, one hand over his heart, "This has been quite the fortuitous turn of events."
[Igris Lv 1. Commander Grade.]
Phew! Well this one was a bit of doozy for me to get out if you couldn't tell! It's not particularly long, or complex, but I was doing my best to balance quite a few plot points that I've been working to develop, so I really hope this chapter doesn't read too badly! Anyways, next chapter we get to go to the happiest place on earth and slay some dragons! Anyways, thank you everyone for your continued support! Without you, I never would've reached this 50th chapter (I don't count the prologue or the Q&A as chapters) so thanks for this milestone and I'll see you at 51!
