Before my final author's note, I'd like to do one last Q&A to mitigate the questions left in the epilogue's wake, things that I felt didn't warrant words there. If you have further questions feel free to join my discord and ask or direct message me at (Shadow Sovereign#3115 make sure to include that space between Shadow and Sovereign). The following will contain SPOILERS for the story, so if you want to avoid something, just ignore this chapter and skip to the author's note on the next chapter. This will also have some of my final thoughts on the story that will not be included in the Author's note.
Is Izuku alive or what?
Izuku is, now and forevermore, a Shadow. After his Spiritual Essence was sucked away into the Gap Between Dimensions to be fed on by Mania, there was just enough time for him to regenerate some of his body, such a miniscule amount, separate from the other Essence so that Mania wouldn't see or feed on it. This tiny amount was allowed to absorb energy through the Absolute Null ability. Eventually Mania caught notice, but because she had become satiated by mortal souls once more, she allowed it to blossom into a new Primordial, the Primordial of the Void. And thus, Izuku became something new, a mixture of Shadow Monarch and Primordial.
Why did everyone get to live?
This is something I touched on in my final thoughts as well below, but to expand upon it… aside from having this sorta ending planned for a while, I became determined to give it a much happier ending. I became determined because the amount of stress this story put on me was not worth making it a bittersweet ending. I personally believe that endings like that, such as Iron Blooded Orphans' ending is truly great writing, when effort is put into it of course and there were several times I considered making it far more despondent, but I suffered a lot of mental strain to finish this story, so by god I'm going to give it a happier ending. Even if it's not good writing, I just don't care anymore.
Did any of the Shadows, like Hawks or Fat Gum get to become real flesh and blood again? Who else didn't live?
No. Any Shadow that existed during Mania's mass resurrection was not granted a true body again as it would both take too much energy and they had been dead for far longer than anyone else, even Tsukauchi. People like Natsuo and Shinso and others like that were not resurrected, as it was not Izuku's will and they would only serve the purpose of causing more harm. Endeavor was brought back simply because Izuku felt that he owed Shoto. Most of the Monarchs' hosts were also not resurrected, as most were through and through Villains. Only Dabi/Touya was lucky enough to get that treatment.
What happens next?
There was a concept for an extra chapter I had that had Izuku return to his bastion on Earth without any memories other than being the Shadow Monarch. His soldiers and family would've had to jog these memories and bring him back to his old self. Though after that, it's up in the air. He's a god, so even with a Shadow body, he likely would've found a way to look human and have kids, living the rest of his life with his family. Though he is immortal, I can see him passing down the Shadow Monarch/Primordial of the Void powers, through a method other than turning his children to Shadows, so that he could finally rest alongside Momo and Nejire and Rumi after they had lived out their greatly extended lives (In case you missed it, being a host to a Ruler greatly extends your lifespan, to about 300 years.) Though Rumi was never a host, Izuku would've had the power to extend her life as well, but he never would've been able to turn them immortal alongside him, which is why he would eventually trade in his life as well.
Why didn't Sung Jin-Woo play a bigger part?
Something that always confused me was the importance people put on Sung in this story when he was introduced. He was always meant to be just a cameo and a plot device for exploring what the Rulers would do to win a war. He and Cha would follow a similar path as the original Solo Leveling story, marrying, having a kid, etc, just without the Shadow Monarch powers.
What happened with Yaoyorozu's parents?
To be perfectly honest, I'd had that plot point planned out for a while, but by the time I got to writing it, I was already on my last legs and shortly after planned to end the story. I never came up with the resolution, so it's really up to you guys to decide. However, if I had to pick, I would say that they never did repent for their cruelty and they died without ever apologizing. It's rather depressing, but it's how I see those characters play out.
Will there be extra chapters or a sequel since you left open the threat of Shigaraki?
God no. I'm done with this story and am moving onto my own original project, called Synthesize, as will be mentioned in the author's note. I've decided not to do extra chapters as I wouldn't be able to put any heart into them and they'd be kinda bad. I left Shigaraki around not to sequel bait, just to show that their world would still continue on as it had, with Villains and conflict, but that the remaining Shadows and ex-Ruler hosts would be there to stop them.
Okay but if you had to write a sequel, what would the plot be?
I've gotten this question a few times as well from some other people, so I figured I'd put it here. If I absolutely had to come up with a sequel idea, it would be regarding the Absolute Being. It would serve partially as a prequel as well as a sequel as the focus shifted between the past war between the Monarchs and Rulers and present. With all the Rulers and Monarchs dead, aside from Ashborn, the Absolute Being would be free to reincarnate with his betrayers dead and his most loyal servant the only one left standing. How Izuku and the others would beat him… I have no idea, it was just a thought I had to satiate the question.
Can I write the extra chapters or sequel for you?
I realize I sound a bit narcissistic writing this, but there have been those who asked about this when the story was finally completed, so I figured this deserved a spot as well. I don't much care to see a sequel, so I'm likely to say no to someone writing a sequel as I'm perfectly happy where the story ended. However, if you truly wish to try it, direct message me on discord under Shadow Sovereign#3115 (Make sure to include that space between Shadow and Sovereign) I'll take a look at what you can do and consider letting you make it. As for extra chapters, I've always seen those sorts of stories as non-canon, so go to town, but out of curiosity, I would like it if you made me aware of these extra chapters, so I could read them for myself.
What about the Primordials? Some of them fought for the Monarchs or didn't even care about keeping peace at all.
Most of the Primordials fighting under the Monarchs were doing so because they were weak enough to be tamed by the Monarchs or they were promised some sort of reward or immunity to the destruction that the Monarchs were aiming for. Very few Primordials would actually seek out and cause trouble for mortals as they are literal gods. They have no reason to destroy or wreck havoc outside of maybe boredom. As for the Original Ten Primordials who are still waking up, well they're just interested in balance and with all the Monarchs and Rulers dead, aside from Izuku, who has no desire to influence the universe, they'll remain mysterious entities, keeping the universe running as it should and making sure their children stay in line.
Why did Serenia, the final Ruler, take so long to show up?
Well, there was a throwaway line during the Razar War Arc where it's stated that Serenia was always the slowest to mobilize/join the fight. But in all seriousness, she never found a host who could handle her power, so she chose to overload Hisashi in order to buy Ashborn and Izuku time. She was originally planned to be Rumi's Ruler, but I decided to keep Rumi completely human.
Final Thoughts:
-I realize that I'm probably going to make people upset with the ending, ie basically everyone lives and there was very little finality, but that was kinda why I chose not to show Izuku fully reformed and returning to the human world. Besides, I've had this ending planned out since before the I-Island Arc, I didn't really care how people were going to react because I was dead set on it.
-I would've liked to expand more on the relationships, mainly between Ryukyu and Dabi, as well as Sakura and Bakugo, and maybe a little more focus on Izuku and the girls.
-I think I let Eri go underutilized, but the thing is that I kinda included her just for the cool factor of Izuku saving her. I didn't really have any plans for her, so sorry if that disappointed you.
-If I were to rewrite this, I would definitely change a good chunk of the beginning of the story, so that I could cast aside the remark that my story is a copy of Solo Leveling. I would've narrowed down the focus and left out several plot points so they didn't need a Q&A to be resolved. And I think I would've created a mathematical formula for the Leveling system just so I could measure stats and strength and so on.
-Finally, while I do regret how much stress this caused me in the end and I will elaborate on that in the Author's Note, I am grateful for what I've learned here and will strive to use it to the best of my ability to write my own novel.