[Cartenon Temple Location will be revealed in {00:00:00}]

"Ah man, this thing's shut tight!"

"Ya think it's part of some kinda puzzle?"

"We walked a mile to get to this random door, you'd think that would be enough to pull it open."

The Raid group stood in front of a blue and gold door that stretched upwards at the end of a long cavernous hallway.

"Maybe we should get one of the bigger Agencies involved."

"Heh, like who? Ryukyu's been missing and her Agencies ranking has been decreasing. Endeavor would just take anything in here for himself."

"Then what about Thanatos?" Another voice piped up.

But the Raid leader shook his head, "I'd rather not get anyone but ourselves involved. This is a pretty ornate door for a C-Rank Dungeon, there's gotta be something good behind it!"

"You'd be smart to listen to your team," Someone said from the back of the pack, "You couldn't be more wrong about what's inside there."

The ten Raid Members spun around to face the eleventh voice, finding another three figures standing beside him.

"If you wanna go in, I won't stop you. But just know… you won't be coming back out alive."

The Raid leader balked, as the others looked in awe at the four newcomers, "That's him isn't it?!"

"Speak of the devil!"

"How'd he know we were here."

The leader scowled, "Hey! Izuku Midoriya, just because you're an S-Rank doesn't mean you can suddenly waltz in and do whatever you want!"

Izuku just sighed and pushed past the group, pulling out the Cartenon Temple Key, looking at the all too familiar door with something akin to nostalgia. As he brought the key close, a hole in the door appeared, allowing Izuku to insert the black metal and turn it. A tumbling could be heard from inside the door's mechanism as it unlocked.

Momo glared at the interior of the room as she began recalling the negative memories that took place here. Miruko and Nejire, on the other hand, gazed inside with curiosity and nervous excitement.

"This is-"

Izuku turned around as the sound of people crumpling to the floor filled the tunnel's spaces. Everyone, even Yaoyorozu, had fallen unconscious. But before he could do anything, a huge force of pressure dragged him inside the Cartenon Temple, the doors slamming shut behind him.

[The Holder of the Key has entered.]

Izuku pulled himself back to his feet, surprised that none of the stone statues, which were standing exactly as they had been back when he first came here, had attacked him.

He was almost grateful for the fact that he had been pulled in and trapped inside alone. Before leaving for the Temple, Miruko and Nejire made a big fuss about coming along. Eventually, Izuku conceded because he believed that at the very least, they could handle some of the smaller Statues while he and Yaoyorozu dealt with the God Statue. But any worries of defending them while he fought disappeared now that they were locked outside.

Of course, now that he was inside, he realized how naive he had been. The God Statue, with its horrifying smile and imposing size, was not the Boss of this game, it was merely a puppet. The lines of Mana traced through the air, their strings connecting to each of the Statues, even the God Statue. All of them lead back to one point, the back wall of the room, where the six winged Angel of Death held a stone slab, engraved with the Commandments of this Temple.

"I honestly should've expected something like this," He said, standing in front of the Angel, "The smallest ones are always the biggest threat." But the Angel did not respond. Izuku's lips arched up into a smile, "Alright, fine by me." He clenched his fist and blurred forwards. With the Dragon God Gauntlets on, he should've been able to break through just about anything and yet, his fist stopped short, caught on the stone tablet that the angel held up to defend himself. It was dented, but not broken.

The Angel shoved, pushing Izuku back as he rose to his full height and tossed the tablet aside. Despite its apparent durability, it shattered upon hitting the ground, destroying those rules that Izuku had once followed to stay alive. The significance was not lost on him. The stone Angel cast aside the tablet inscribed with the rules not because it was now dented and no longer of use, but because it had no use in the first place. Those rules, the Commandments, they meant nothing, it was just this… thing, toying with them. Back then, if the Angel had deemed it so, he could've killed them all without a thought, even though they were still following the rules.

Izuku's heart pounded with such intensity that it was possible to hear it echo in the chamber, "Are you… Ashborn?"

Then, a smile, just like the smile of the God Statue, stretched across the Angel's face. It was disgusting, vile even, and once upon a time it might've sent a chill through Izuku's bones, but now, it just sent red-hot annoyance through his veins. Here he was, trying to learn why he was chosen and what Ashborn intended to do with him, and all he got, was that damn smile.

"What makes you think I am the Shadow Sovereign?"

Izuku scowled, "One of the ones you knocked out was a Ruler host. Only a Monarch would have the kind of power to oppose another Higher Being."

Boisterous laughter filled the room as the Angel threw back his head, revealing his cracked face that was split down the middle. One half was entirely frozen in stone, the other half was glowing a light blue and its eye was a bright red surrounded by a completely black sclera.

"On average, Rulers are weaker than the Monarchs."

Izuku's eyes widened, "So then, you're just a normal Chaos World inhabitant?"

The Angel shook his head, "I am the Architect! I have a few tricks up my sleeve that not even the Monarchs can pull off. Separating a Ruler's influence from a host is not all that difficult and putting normal humans to sleep is even easier."

Izuku took some solace in the fact that this was apparently a skill reserved to this being, but was still somewhat unsatisfied by this confrontation. He was hoping that the Spiritual Form, or some other manifestation of Ashborn could be found in this room and get the answers directly from him. "You created the System then?"

"No."

[No.]

"I am the System."

[I am the System.]

"And this."

[And this.]

"Is your final test."

[Is your final test.]

The Architect clapped his hands together and simultaneously, every single one of the Statues, except the God Statue, stepped off their pedestals.

"Survive this test and you shall be granted the knowledge you seek."

"Hmph, fine. Come Forth."

[Error: This room restricts the use of all Job Specific Skills.]

[Leveling Up and the Daily Rewards have been restricted. The Store and Inventory have been closed as well.]

[You cannot exit this chamber until the final trial is completed.]

Izuku scowled, now he couldn't even call upon his weapons of light and dark. "Oh well. My armor will do just fine."

The simplest action would be to take out the Architect first in order to halt the movement of these stone puppets. But if the Architect was killed, then would Izuku have the chance to get any answers? He didn't want to take that chance.

[Skill: Quicksilver has activated.]

The Statues somehow matched his pace, moving too fast for something of their size, much like how the Titans moved. Four converged on him at once, swinging their spear, axe, and swords at a pace that was far faster than anything they had shown before. Back then, they moved as blurs, and that was them holding back greatly, now, they were moving multitudes faster.

Despite the overwhelming odds and the so-far disappointing encounter with the Architect, Izuku found himself smirking. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he focused his Sense Stat and acquired the position of every molecule in the chamber.

Taking one step to the right, the spear drifted right under Izuku's left arm, allowing him to wrap his gauntleted hand around the shaft and dig it into the floor, forcing the Statue into an impromptu pole jump. At the same time, his right hand shot out, aiming for the space directly between the other three Statues.

[Skills: Infinite Strength and Gauntlet Barrage have activated.]

Ten punches blurred the air, creating shockwaves of pressure that completely decimated the closest Statue and removed half the body of the other two. Activating Dominator's Touch, Izuku latched onto the Statue that was flung by his own spear and whipped his arm downwards, forcing the Statue to belly flop onto a few of his brothers.

He had killed four and injured several more within the span of a single second, but it was like trying to empty a lake with a gallon jug. If he wanted to end this quickly, he'd have to pick up the pace.

[Gauntlet Skill: Dragon Fire has activated.]

The claws of Izuku's gauntlets grew white-hot as he held out his arms to either side. Then, he went to work.

He slapped away attack after attack with ease, delivering his own devastating slashes and punches against the horde of Statues that ballooned to numbers far greater than the number of pedestals there had been. Like his first trial to get his Job, the Architect was artificially creating more enemies for Izuku to deal with. But that information barely registered in Izuku's mind. Right now, he was focused on one thing and one thing alone.

The Architect gave a single shudder as he watched the fight from afar. A human should not have been capable of such movement or power, it was completely unfeasible for a Lower Being like this to be such a force of nature. Now the Architect's smile was back in full force, "Yes… he is truly the one." But one could not celebrate too early and this challenge was far from over.

The ground shook as the God Statue rose from his seat. It was enough to alter Izuku's aim by a few inches, missing the nearest Statue and allowing his warhammer to crash full force into the side of Izuku's head.

He stumbled to the side, his vision blurred by the strength carried through the attack. Without his Sense Stat, he might've fallen victim to the same scimitar that was moments from ending his life the first time in this chamber. Instead, he caught the blade in his hand, tearing it from the Statue's hand and dragging the Statue's neck to his other hand, crushing it like styrofoam.

Izuku's Sense told him to throw the scimitar behind him and at a forty-five degree angle, so he did just that, eyes filled with recognition as the God Statue's own eyes were overcome with a burning orange light. Izuku didn't need to be told what that meant, but this time, he couldn't simply kneel before the God to save himself. It's range was too wide and he was right in it's center. The scimitar was incinerated moments before it reached the Statue's pupils.

Scooping up a dozen of the Statues with Dominator's Touch, he threw them in front of himself in a makeshift shield. They were melted to slag within seconds of being struck with the God Statue's attack, but those few seconds allowed Izuku to dart to the side and out of range.

[Skill: Dominator's Touch has evolved into its final form, Ruler's Authority.]

Izuku instantly felt the new power of this ultimate Skill coursing through his hands. With the image in his mind that his one fist was dozens, he picked up hordes of the Statues. Unlike his wide range grab to block the God Statue's beam, this was precise and even though his mind was split between holding over sixty Statues with one hand and batting aside weapons with the other, the Skill didn't falter in the slightest.

Heaving his arm forward, he threw the Statues, swarming the God Statue and covering him in their bodies, staggering even his massive frame. With that brief break in the fight, Izuku took the chance to raise his fists.

[Skill: Infinite Strength has activated.]

Bringing both gauntlets down on the grey, rocky ground before him, he created a shockwave that spread outwards, turning the nearest Statues into dust as it disintegrated their frames.

By the time the God Statue had recovered and shook off the lesser Statues covering it, Izuku was already on his way to him.

"I've been wanting to do this for a long time!" Izuku latched onto the Statue's massive head with Ruler's Authority, using it's pull to speed up his already asinine speed.

[Skill: Infinite Strength has activated.]

With a cathartic roar, Izuku drove his fist, soaring with immense magical energy, into the Statue's right cheek, completely blowing off its head and sending its body rocking to the side, slamming into the chamber walls roughly.

Dropping back down to the ground, Izuku felt more Statues at every side, but by now, he understood how to use Ruler's Authority and every Statue in the vicinity, aside from the Architect himself, was forced to the ground, crushed under the immense weight of the Skill.

"Hehehaha!" The Architect laughed, clapping his stony hands together, "Stratagem and tactics are always satisfying to see used in battle, but I cannot deny the immense pleasure that can be taken from sheer destruction. Well done." His tone was maniacal and insane, but it also felt genuine to Izuku.

"Well?" Izuku asked, hands still clenched into fists that were erupting with steam. He had punched so hard that his hands were hotter than the surrounding air, "Are you gonna answer my questions then?"

"Oho… not so fast," The Architect's six angel wings blurred, distorting their form until they became six additional arms. Each of his eight hands began glowing with the signature blue glow of Dominator's Touch, pulling over the dropped weapons of the Statues, "The test is not over yet. After all, I'm still standing."

Izuku's eyes narrowed, sharpening his senses as he crouched, preparing to launch himself forwards, "Then let's fix that."

"Good!" The Architect cried, "Worry not for my life, the answer you shall receive has already been decided, my physical state will not change that! Now! Come!"

Izuku obliged the Architect's wish and used Quicksilver, blurring forwards. All eight of the Angel's arms flailed for Izuku's body, it would take an immense amount of precision and speed to dodge them all. That is, if Izuku hadn't ignored the threat altogether. Holding his arms out to either side, using his forearms as shields for the incoming weapons, he got right up in the Architect's face.

"Why would he perform a move like this?! He's too close to pun-"

The Architect's thought process was rattled as Izuku slammed his head into the Angel's, cracking his stone forehead. Taking advantage of the brief moment created, Izuku tore the two broadswords out of the Architect's front arms. He had to leap back at the last second though in order to avoid a mace swing.

Despite the injury and loss of two of his weapons, the Architect was still smiling wide. "I was going to give you an emergency quest in order to force you to fight me all out, but it looks like such a thought was unnecessary from the beginning."

Izuku offered no retort and only bounced on the balls of his feet, raising his fists to his face like a boxer would. The Angel was the one to rush him this time.

Clashing, the two forces put their all into the exchange, but only one side was at a disadvantage. Slowly, weapon by weapon, Izuku began systematically disarming the Architect, his movements becoming faster and more fluid with each passing moment.

Izuku was not currently Leveling-Up and yet, he could feel himself growing stronger, faster, he could feel every movement, predict every attack. He purposely allowed one of the Architect's punches to glance off his shoulder in order to firmly grasp the limb and tear it off.

"I'd never think that a human being could give me such a exciting fight!" The Angel thought to himself as he tumbled backwards, using his momentum, plus his telekinetic abilities to throw a precise punch at Izuku's temple. It just narrowly grazed him, opening up a gash in his forehead, but doing nothing more. He had allowed Izuku to get close once more and this time, he was within the perfect range to strike.

Izuku's claws flashed, tearing through six of the seven remaining arms which fell heavily to the floor. The Architect tried to throw one last desperate punch, but Izuku caught the fist and bashed his foot into the Angel Statue's stomach, knocking him back and down to the ground.

Before he could get up, or take the chance to use his remaining arm, Izuku was on top of him, pinning down the one arm and aiming his claws at the Architect's throat.

"Well… it looks like I lost. What a shame… I didn't even get to use all my fun Statue tricks."

Izuku was breathing heavily. This was the hardest he had fought in ages. Even the fight with the Seraph and Beru hadn't been this hard. It only reminded him of his Job Change Quest. There were no Shadows backing him up, it was only him, using his own power to take control. Hell, even Quaresha had been an easier battle thanks to his Shadows backing him up.

"I… have a… question!" Izuku practically shouted in the Angel's face.

"Ask whatever you wish. I shall answer it to the utmost of my ability."

The Architect no longer felt like a cliched Villain maniacally laughing, but rather another servant doing his duty.

"If I am meant to be the host of Ashborn… then… what is my fate?" The question echoed in the air, its implications clear.

"It is not my decision to make," The Architect answered, "But the answer to that question lies inside of yourself. The power of the Shadow Sovereign makes any Higher Being quake in fear. It can be a tool for life or destruction and… it is up to the owner of that power to decide. So I ask you again, look inside yourself."

[Recalling the stored data in the System's memory.]

[Would you like to observe that memory?]

[Y/N]

"Look inside myself? Is that what this memory is? Or is it another attempt to trick me?"

Sensing Izuku's apprehension, the Architect nodded solemnly, no trace of fear in its eyes even though claws were digging into its neck, "It is your decision to make."

Izuku took a deep breath, steadying his heart as he spoke a single word, "Yes."