Yaoyorozu stumbled backwards, her grip on the sword yanking it from the ground with superhuman strength. Almost immediately, the blade turned bright white, like it was glowing with heat. Yaoyorozu tried to drop it instinctively, but found her hand locked onto it. Then, the sword lost its shape, "melting" into a blob of energy that traced its way up Yaoyorozu's arm, burying into her skin painlessly and finding its home inside of her.

"Ahhh, it's been so long since I've experienced a physical body." Correnic's voice echoed in Yaoyorozu's head. "Would it be possible for you to go get something expensive and tasty to eat? Us Rulers are quite jealous of your human taste buds."

Yaoyorozu was stunned into silence, both verbally and mentally, by this goddess's sudden cravings.

"Miss? Are you-" Igris cut himself off, drawing his sword as Yaoyorozu turned around, "My Liege, I detect the presence of a Higher Being inside of her."

Shruikan and Saphira gave a low growl as they whipped their heads towards her, darkness and water essence leaking from their mouths as they prepared to strike.

That sentence was enough to make Izuku completely forget about anything related to Legia and turn his entire focus to Yaoyorozu, "M-Momo?"

"I'm still me!" She blurted out.

"Then… it's a Ruler?" Izuku asked hopefully.

"Create a radio, or anything that has audio output," Correnic commanded.

Somewhat reluctantly, Yaoyorozu obliged, creating a small speaker in the palm of her hand. Like every time she created something, sparkles of light erupted around the skin that pushed out the item, however, this time, in addition to the glittering bits of rainbow colored light, straight white lines traced their way down her arm. They attached themselves to the speaker, turning its black surface white as it grew larger and took in the energy.

"I would rather speak to the Idiot Monarch himself, but his proxy will have to do," Correnic's voice boomed from the speaker, echoing around the cavern.

"Idi-" Izuku squinted, "Nevermind, who are you?"

Correnic made her introductions, "My host willingly accepted my power, so stop looking at that speaker with such… offense."

"Is she right?" Izuku asked Yaoyorozu.

She nodded, smiling now that she could feel the immense magical power behind her, "I'm fine."

Izuku let out a heavy sigh of relief, "Thank god." He walked over and wrapped his arms around her, trying not to show just how panicked he had become in that short time.

"I'm fine," She repeated as they finally separated. Conjuring up a sword and showing Izuku Correnic's power at work, "In fact, I think I'm better than fine."


The second Yaoyorozu, Izuku, and his army stepped out of the Gate, it slammed shut behind them, sending the surrounding destroyed area into an eerie silence. It was so quiet that Yaoyorozu would've sworn she could hear a pin drop from half a mile away and she hadn't even gotten a boost to any of her physical abilities. Izuku probably could've heard it from half a city away.

But Izuku wasn't hearing pins drop, instead, he was hearing a weak heartbeat. "Do you… hear that?"

"My hosts don't get the same physical boost as Ashborn's hosts genius," Correnic said from the speaker, annoying Izuku.

"Just… shush for a second." Izuku reached out with every bit of focus and concentration he had left. "There!" He suddenly shouted, pointing to a collapsed building, rushing over with his insane speed. "I didn't feel it before because there was too much Mana around us… but now I'm sure!" He looked over the collapsed structure. They could burrow through it, but it would take a lot of time and effort. There was a much simpler solution and it was even part of the promise he had made to Legia

"Arise!"

[Stone Titan Elite-Knight Grade has evolved into Stone Goliath Elite-Knight Grade.]

"So I guess not everyone gets a Grade-Up from their evolution."

The Goliath went to kneel, but Izuku stopped him. He was just as humanoid as before, but his armor was thicker and more jagged. "Please, I need you to lift this building up! Clear as much of it as you can without causing more to collapse!"

The new Shadow nodded and got to work, bending his legs as he crouched down, getting a firm grip of the structural base of the building. With seemingly little to no effort, he began lifting, slowly, but surely pulling the building up and away from the ground. Bits and pieces of rubble still fell away, crashing back down on the area, but it was minimal compared to how much he was clearing away at once.

As soon as it was right side up, the Goliath sent it crashing down in the opposite direction of where it had been laying. It wasn't structurally sound enough to stand on its own and he didn't want it collapsing back down on the area it was just in.

Izuku leapt over a majority of the rubble, coming back down to earth near the center of the destruction. There was a single, massive, slab of concrete covering what Izuku was sensing. Grabbing it with Dominator's Touch, he lifted it straight up and away, revealing the bloodied and bruised form of Baek Yo-Hoon.

"Jeez," Izuku muttered as he looked over his immense injuries. Dozens of broken bones, bruised organs, intense blood loss. He wasn't sure how he was even still alive. Buried for over a day and in such a condition.

"Here, allow us," Correnic said, commanding Yaoyorozu to create an auto injector as she climbed over to where Izuku was.

Yaoyorozu obliged, watching in awe as the device was filled with a glowing liquid.

"Inject it anywhere. A human of his power will be just fine." Yaoyorozu stabbed the delivery system into his bicep, beginning the recovery process.

Instantly, color returned to his face and his bones popped back into place. His organs were returned to their original state and the massive gashes along his body closed up. Even his fractured skull was perfectly restored.

Izuku could hear as his heart picked up speed and strength, beating soundly once more. He would live just fine, but it would be some time before he woke up.

Lifting him up and out of the rubble with Dominator's Touch, Izuku called over Karkinos, resting the unconscious Hero on her back. "Take him to a hospital and watch over him in his Shadow."

"It shall be done, my Liege."

"What is your next move, Shadow Monarch?" Correnic asked as he and Yaoyorozu leapt onto Saphira.

Izuku gave a bittersweet smile, "Well, I've got a promise to keep with a Giant and his 28 remaining children, but for today, I think we deserve a bit of rest."


When things finally got quiet, the din of the wind the only thing in Yaoyorozu's ears, Correnic helped fill that silent void.

"Why did you lie to me about the reason for becoming a Ruler host?"

"Stop digging around in my head," Yaoyorozu responded, trying to make herself sound as mentally annoyed as possible.

"I'm not digging around anymore. I was digging around when I was in your subconscious, but now I've got front row seats to your mind. I don't have to dig… I already know everything."

Yaoyorozu sighed, the wind covering it so Izuku wouldn't hear, "I wasn't lying. I just didn't give my whole reasoning."

"An omission of the truth is still a lie."

"I don't just bare my soul to anyone I meet! Especially not a primordial god that's using Earth like their battlefield and her humans like weapons!"

Correnic scoffed, "I don't think you bare your soul to anyone, with the exception of him I suppose."

"Why are you asking all these questions? Aren't you in my head? Don't you know everything about me now?"

"Hmm, perhaps. But I'm also interested in you addressing these problems. A more relaxed mind makes for a more efficient warrior."

Yaoyorozu felt like laughing, "So you're going to be my therapist?"

"You didn't take my power for him… well, part of the reason was him, but you took the offer because you were afraid that without it, you would become a hypocrite, or worse, useless." Apparently, Correnic was going to become her therapist. "You became a Hero because you wanted to escape your parent's influences and desires to turn you into a tool. Somehow, you convinced yourself that becoming a Hero was the only path for you, which, I gotta say, for someone so smart, was quite the stupid conviction. You have a body that could make you a killing as a model, a brain that surpasses the combined IQ of America… though I suppose that's not a challenge."

A/N: I'm American! I get to make that joke!

"And your Quirk could get you whatever else you wanted. But you didn't want to be more than eye-candy, you weren't confident enough in your intelligence, and you thought that using your Quirk for anything other than Heroics made you a hypocrite. If you refused to use it for your parents' company, then you shouldn't be able to use it for anything that benefited you. Heroics balanced that out, you got to use it for the greater good, and it made a living for yourself. Regardless of the convoluted reasoning, you ended up in Heroics, but started feeling useless as an A-Rank among people who could destroy entire cities or more."

"Are you sure you're in my head?" Yaoyorozu suddenly asked.

"Quite sure."

"I don't think so. I just think you're over-analyzing a pretty simple story. I wanted freedom from my parents and yeah, I could've chosen anything other than Heroics and still not used my Quirk, but I wanted to be a Hero. I wanted to help people… I just didn't have the constitution for it." She glanced over to Izuku, nearly becoming lost in the emerald green in his eyes. "He helped me overcome that… I wanna save people, just like he wants to. I took your offer because I want to be able to fight Monarchs, and save as many people as possible, to prove that I didn't just leave my parents to be rebellious. But… I also want to be able to save him, because he cares for me, and I care for him. It's not as complicated as you'd like to make it out to be."

"Maybe not… but it is a little cliched."

Yaoyorozu rolled her eyes, "Do you have a mute button?"


Izuku could've used his Shadow Exchange to take him and Yaoyorozu back to Japan, back to their home to rest and then return to Korea when they were ready to pull the Shadows from each and every Titan, but South Korea had other plans.

"Hero Ashborn," An old, yet extremely sturdy man bowed to Izuku, "I am Go Gun-Hee. It is an honor to finally meet you face to face." Upon hearing that the Gate was closed, the Agency Association President of Korea managed to get a hold of Izuku's cell number and call him, begging him to allow Korea to accommodate him for at least some time. His Japanese was perfectly fluent.

"The honor's all mine," Izuku responded, bowing alongside Yaoyorozu, "I never thought I'd get to meet The Sky Above Skies in person."

Gun-Hee gave a hearty chuckle and a warm smile, "I haven't heard that nickname in years. Unfortunately, I am no longer the man that you refer to, this old body of mine is holding back my potential."

"And yet, you still serve your country as the head of a rather needy organization." Izuku straightened up, "You've got plenty to be proud of."

Gun-Hee caught a glimpse of emerald light in Izuku's bright green eyes and a feeling of pure nostalgia overtook him, "Still, it is somewhat disappointing. If my heart were not so frail, I would've challenged you to a sparring match right here and now, it has been so long since I've tested myself against someone like All Might."

"All Might?" Izuku tilted his head, "You two fought?"

"Well over a decade ago. It was one of the most exhilarating moments in my life and one of the last times I ever used my Awakened abilities."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Ah… I should be the one apologizing, I'm delaying your rest," He gestured behind him, to a man with slicked back dirty blonde hair, and a perfectly postured face. It was like he was controlling every muscle to appear as professional as possible. "Please follow Woo Jin-Chul here. For the remainder of your stay here in Korea, he will accompany you and help with translations where necessary."

Both Izuku and Yaoyorozu thanked the man as they followed his assistant into the nearby hotel. Here in Jeonju, which was spared from the Titans' rampage there were plenty of five star hotels to pick from and the Association made sure to pick out the very best for Izuku and Yaoyorozu.

"You'll… have to forgive the lobby, Sir. We set up barriers so that you could at least reach the elevator without being swamped, but it will be a little loud."

"Huh?" Izuku blurted as he walked through the hotel's front doors, being greeted with cheers so loud that he was almost knocked off his feet.

The lobby, which could also be appropriately called stadium-sized, was filled to the brim with people, citizens of Korea yelling his name, asking for autographs, screaming their thanks, and, as always, declarations of love were mixed into the ruckus.

Jin-Chul smiled at Izuku's somewhat stunned face, "Still not used to the fame, huh?"

"I… uh… yeah I guess not."

Shouting over the yells of the crowds, Jin-Chul informed Izuku that originally, these people were just going to bunch up on the streets and wait to welcome him, but both the hotel and the Association felt it would be better if everyone was organized inside.

Izuku smiled jovially and called up Igris, Ifrit, Hyo, Tusk, and Pektra. He would've called up more of the squad leaders, but the building wasn't quite big enough for Dragons that could surpass some buildings.

The roars only got more intense as people laid their eyes on the Shadows. Thanks to the reporters of each battle in each city, many of Izuku's Shadows had begun building up their very own fan club. To the surprise of no one, Igris held the biggest, Pektra right behind him. The calm, cool, and collected Knight had grasped the hearts of many and Pektra's kind personality when rescuing people earned him nearly as many fans.

"I figured you guys should be able to share in the spotlight too!"

"My Liege!" They all cried out, taking the opportunity to kneel to him.

This, in turn, had a rather unexpected effect. Upon seeing the Shadows give their respects, a few in the crowd got it in their heads to kneel alongside them. Those few were followed by hundreds and then thousands. The overly loud shouts of admiration turned into silent respect. Even Jin-Chul felt like joining, but knowing his position, respectfully refrained.

Correnic interrupted the gentle silence, "Who knew that the Shadow Monarch could earn the respect of the living too."


Izuku Midoriya:

Level: 156

Strength: 405

Vitality: 302

Agility: 333

Intelligence: 441

Sense: 301

[Mana: 50362/50362]

[HP: 72051/72051]

[Shadows able to be extracted: 3000]

[Shadows able to be saved: 1515/2569]

Skills:

[Bloodlust Lv. 2]

[Quicksilver Lv. Max]

[Infinite Strength Lv. Max]

[Stealth Lv. 3]

[Dominator's Touch Lv. 3]

[Longevity Lv. Max]

[Shadow Extraction Lv. 2]

[Shadow Save Lv. 2]

[Domain of the Monarch Lv. 2]

[Shadow Exchange Lv. 2]

Armor:

Dragon God Armor

[Set Bonus 1: Skill: Dragon Wings.]

[Set Bonus 2: Skill: Draconic Fusion.]

Shadows: Total count: 1514

68 Lava Golems - Knight

49 Angel Archers - Knight

40 Obsidian Beetles - Knight

34 Greater Fire Spirits - Knight

33 Yetis - Knight

381 Shadow Infantry - Knight

15 Ice Golems - Knight

282 Shadow Nomu - Elite-Knight

63 Shadow High Orcs - Elite-Knight

25 Shadow Bears - Elite-Knight

21 Lava Titans - Elite-Knight

10 Amphitians - Elite-Knight

6 Ice Foxes - Elite-Knight

Stain - Elite-Knight

Stone Goliath - Elite-Knight

154 Shadow Wyverns - Captain

149 Dragon Knights - Captain

30 Angel Mages - Captain

30 Draconian Cannons - Captain

20 Earth Hydras - Captain

20 Quetzalcoatl - Captain

20 Angel Knights - Captain

20 Fire Serpents - Captain

6 Magicians - Captain

6 Heroes - Captain

3 Shadow High Orc Bodyguards - Captain

Smokey - Captain

Slice - Captain

Twice - Captain

Chimera - Captain

Tank - Captain

Esil - Captain

Hyo - Commander

Tusk - Commander

Karkinos - Commander

Igris - Commander

Ifrit - Commander

Pektra - Commander

Beru - General

Glaedr - General

Thorn - General

Firnen - General

Saphira - General

Uramoth - General

Shruikan - General


Thank you for reading! I know that last chapter, some had trouble with Yaoyorozu's character, so this chapter, and the following chapters, will be me doing my best to actually expand on her and give her more than just, "Because Izuku." Hope you enjoyed!