Tokyo was silent. It's streets and skies were filled with Heroes and Shadows, but no one dared even breathe. As it was, their beating hearts were enough to echo loudly in their own ears.

The city and even the surrounding cities had been under evacuation ever since the Gate appeared. And today, it was due to break.

Beru, Kamish, six of the Angel Grand-Marshals, and Apophis, the fusion of the six Dragon gods, stood on the front lines. The nine Grand-Marshals accounted for most of Humanities power. Standing in that one spot, they were strong enough to fully let out their Mana and decimate the entirety of Tokyo and its surroundings without even trying. Of course, even if they went all out against the Monarch's forces hiding behind the Gate in front of them, they wouldn't be able to stop the predicted millions hiding inside it. The one-hundred-thousand remaining Shadows would have to deal with that alongside the Human Heroes as Izuku, Yaoyorozu, Ryukyu, and Mirio dealt with whatever Monarchs or Grand-Marshal emerged with their armies.

This time around, Japan was lucky to gather five thousand Heroes to the site of the Gate. After the nearly ten-thousand deaths that came of the South Pole Raid, few were willing to join another giant Raid. Especially after such a short time. In fact, because of the short period between the Heroes of Antarctica returning and this new Gate, the government had pushed off the mass funeral for the Heroes in order to focus fully on this upcoming disaster.

It upset plenty of people, but who could argue with it? After all, if they even survived this next Gate, there'd be even more Japanese bodies to account for.

Izuku sent Eri, Nejire, his parents, and his sister to Razar's Palace, where Masamune was not only reconstructing the palace with his kind, but using the "Stellar Forge" as he called it, to construct some new weapons.

The simple act of sending his family away gave him so much peace of mind. Even if he fell here, Masamune and Arkas could hold that defensive position to hopefully protect them.

Using his Sense Stat, Izuku could feel the emotions of everyone behind him. It was sheer terror. Though they were putting on brave faces, they didn't believe that they'd make it out alive. The Mana bearing down on them was simply too sickening. It was more than even the Ruler Army could put out.

The Seraph Priests were going around the Shadow and Human army, giving out as many buffs as possible.

They had all made their preparations and within no time, a loud CRACK! filled the air.

"IT'S OPENING!" Someone shouted, more as a fearful shriek than a loud announcement.

Izuku raised his hand high into the air. Using Ruler's Authority he was hovering in the air. "MAGES! RANGERS! PREPARE YOUR FIRST VOLLEY!" His command went out to both forces. The Shadows followed immediately, with the Seraph Sorcerers constructing thousands of volleys of light swords. Theirs was the biggest showing.

The humans fumbled for a bit longer, their nerves making them jumpy. But at the end of the day, they were warriors and they had their own attacks ready.

Several more cracks began spider-webbing out from the center of the Gate, "HOLD!"

Yaoyorozu hefted her rifle and Ryukyu took her Dragon form. Beru's claws spread wide, Kamish's mouth flared with heat, the Celestials brandished their Divine Weapons, and Apophis readied all six elemental attacks he had at his disposal.

Then, the Gate shattered open and the full might of its depths poured out. It's dark and icy Mana immediately made Izuku think that this was Iruits Army. Then, the dark shapes began pouring from the Gate's depths and the humans began to panic. One of them even sent a spear of fire rocketing forwards as they accidentally lost control of their spell.

The lead shape, a humanoid, flicked his wrist, sending his sword flying forwards. It segmented into several pieces like a whip and smacked the weak attack out of the air.

"HOLD FI…" Izuku focused his attention on the lead shape, still many hundreds of meters away. He tried to pick out the details of his form, but it was still too far away. However, something about him filled Izuku with a sense of comfort. He was… familiar?

Before Izuku could give any more orders, a shape whipped past the entirety of the army slowly floating towards them and crashed right down at Igris's feet. It was a longsword, made of blood-red steel and fitted with a perfect black hilt.

Izuku could almost see a smile on the knight's hidden face as he wrapped a hand around the sword, choosing to sheathe his current sword, Caladbolg. His voice, just barely a whisper, somehow managed to resound in Izuku's ears.

"Recognize your master." Igris pulled the sword from the stone it was embedded in and lifted it into the air, its blade glowing with an intense red energy.


[Item: Blood-Red Excalibur.]

Item Class: Divine

Item Type: Longsword

Divine Weapon Wielder: Igris

+2500 Attack

Only to be wielded by the most powerful and skilled knight in existence, Blood-Red Excalibur's power knows no end.


"2500?! Is this the power of a true Divine Weapon?! None of the Marshals' weapons even go this high!"

"My Liege," Igris said, "There is no need to worry any longer."

"Is your sword really that strong?" There were now around two-hundred thousand dark shapes flying for them.

Igris gave a small shake of his head, "That is not what I mean. Can you not sense it? He's here."

Izuku tried focusing once more at the swiftly approaching forces. Suddenly, their appearance became obvious to Izuku and he chuckled, "PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS!"

The Shadows, having realized the state of the situation, complied, but the humans were hesitant. This was their only chance to send ranged attacks at the enemy.

But when Izuku spun around, his eyes filled with genuine glee, they followed his orders. Their knees shook with nervous energy as the Villains got closer and closer, until they were well within view. The lead Villain was just in front of Izuku, hovering silently as their eyes exchanged silent words.

Everyone was certain that a fight was about to break out, but then, the unexpected happened. Every single Shadow in the city and the Villains in front of them, knelt to the ground. They knelt to Izuku… because these were not Villains… these were Shadows!

"DEATH IS NOT THE END!" Nearly three-hundred thousand voices cried out, pledging their allegiance to the Shadow Monarch, to Ashborn.

Igris knelt directly next to Izuku, "My Liege," His voice was overcome with emotion, "Death is not the end." It sounded almost like he was crying with happiness.

Then, looking back to the lead Shadow, he spoke, "Grand-Marshal of the Shadow Army, Bellion, reporting for duty, my Liege!" As Izuku expected, these were Ashborn's forces, the inheritance he'd saved up for his successor.

[The presence of the Shadow Army's leader, Bellion has been detected. Shadow Extract and Shadow Save Limits have been removed.]

"Holy shit…"

"Is this real?"

"I knew he was powerful, but to have this many."

"Back there!"

Someone pointed to the back of the army, where three massive Dragons, the same size as Kamish, had their heads bowed. They were likely the same strength as the Undying Flame of Kamish himself.

"It has been several millennia, but we have patiently waited for your return, my Liege," Bellion said, "We are ready and willing… to serve." His bulky form, encapsulated by armor had enough strength alone to obliterate a nation. He was a Grand-Marshal, but he felt like he was a step above every other Shadow in the army. This was the strongest Grand-Marshal of the Ruler armies, Izuku realized, thinking back on how Nakir called Lucifer the second strongest.

On his back, Izuku could see the trace of his torn off wings. He wondered if they'd been destroyed in battle, or forcefully removed, much like how Ashborn had cast aside his wings as a sign of disowning the Rulers.

Izuku wanted to address them, but before he could, he felt the prickly stares of several thousand Heroes. He turned around, a smile on his face, and declared, "THE SHADOWS WILL FIGHT FOR HUMANITY!"

Almost instantly, he could feel a release of so much tension that many of the Heroes fell to their butts or knees, thankful that they didn't have to fight anymore. Thankful that humanity had their own monstrous army, three-hundred-thousand strong.


"The Hero Ashborn, Izuku Midoriya, has now been given the new moniker of the Demon King," The reporter said with a cheeky smile.

"The world is still reeling from the shock of the newly revealed army of Izuku Midoriya."

"The last time we got some wide scale footage in Korea, his forces numbered a little over a thousand. Such growth in any Hero is unthinkable. Many doubt… if he's even human."

"In other news, the world has finally moved on to mourning their dead. In total, nine-thousand, five-hundred, and sixteen Heroes died during the Raid in the South Pole. The number marks the largest tragedy in Hero history since Kamish's appearance nearly ten years ago."

Izuku scratched his head as he sat in his new throne at Razar's bastion. "How'd you manage to get reception down here?" He asked, staring at the magically-created holographic television in front of him.

After making certain that nothing else was coming out of the Gate, people began dispersing and the population of Tokyo was welcomed back. Izuku and his family made a switch using Shadow Exchange, so they were all back home with Yaoyorozu and the other hosts as Izuku traveled to the South Pole.

But he wasn't just here to avoid the interviews or paparazity, though that was a benefit. He was here because Beru, Lucifer, and Azrael all requested one simple thing after learning of Bellion's role. He wasn't just one of the strongest Shadows in existence, he was also the true leader of all Shadows. He shared the title of Grand-Marshal, but he was the only one who could exercise the executive powers that came with said title. As such, those three wanted to test their might against him, they wanted to be the true Grand-Marshal.

Izuku looked over to Bellion, who was kneeling next to the other three, "Is this okay with you?"

"I gladly welcome the challenge, my Liege."

"You're not afraid of losing?"

Confident energy began pouring off Bellion, "No, my Liege. In fact, I would not mind taking them all one at once." He looked up to meet Izuku's eyes, "After all, I am Ashborn's most trusted servant."

A massive grin stretched across Izuku's face, "Then let's see this power."


Thanks for reading! Sorry for cutting it a little short, but I really wanted this chapter to be the way it was. I only really wanted to focus on the new Shadow Army and their leadership problems being set up! I promise to make the next chapter longer!