Death

by tmb1112

Death is a Quirk that can only kill. A perfect Quirk for a villain, but what if the boy who manifested that power just wanted to be a hero? Enrolling in U.A. might not be enough when all your Quirk can do is kill people. Follow Zach Sazaki from his first day in Class A on a story that spans years, as he learns to be a hero, finds out more about his Quirk, and too much to summarize!

215. Chapter 215

Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia

Chapter 215:

Ares was dead. Eziano and all his assassins too. Every one of their enemies was defeated, so why? Why, Midoriya asked himself, did lightning fly out of the sky up above and the loudest crack of thunder he had ever heard rupture his eardrums with its blast. He flinched at the sound of that cannon in the clouds, but his eyes did not move to look up when what he was staring at was so…

Haven't lost too much blood. The cut on my arm is still bleeding but only because it just reopened, and the cut on my face scabbed up- Midoriya's thoughts jolted at the realization that he was doing a status report on himself and checking to see how ready he was to fight. He had lost his shirt and wore nothing from his torn pant legs down just about at his knees. His upper right arm was looking brown from the blood and dirt smeared around it that had mostly dried, though some new red was getting over that dried stuff now. And he had a slash on the left side of his face diagonally up from his cheek to the outside of his eye and into his hairline.

Izuku Midoriya lowered his gaze down. He stared at a form on the ground that was frozen with its body leaning up and its hands gripped into the cracked floor at its sides. That body was completely gray, and a gust of wind flew harder into the body and cracked it all over. The arms broke and its upper body fell, and when that body hit the ground too hard only a few inches below where it was leaning up, it could no longer keep its form.

Zach glanced down but lifted his head as the wind blew the gray ash away. "Time caught up to him." Zach looked back down and saw nothing where Ares just lay. The body that had collapsed into nothingness was gone, leaving a black scorch mark below him at the bottom of the split earth they had dropped down to. Even though the bedrock was much harder this far down, there were still cracks all over it. That surface looked pretty solid in comparison to the rest of the mountain range in view of him though. His eyes rose and he looked to his right and his left. The red-tinted world had cracks all over it. Bu-dump-Bu-dump-Bu-dump. What is that? My heart's, in my chest. It's pretty fast. It's this swell. It doesn't know how to handle it. Have to leave it there though. And my brain. All vital organs. Oh yeah. That's right, brain. Hypothalamus.

Midoriya gulped. He stared ahead and watched as the dark figure who had smiled at him before looking back down at Ares' body was now gazing around the mountains as if admiring his work. They were in the middle of a crater. Neither of them were wearing much besides for the pants that remained between their waists and knees, though even those pant legs were tattered above the knees and had strands of material waving off them. Zach stopped looking around and just tilted his head back though, letting out a breath of air that seeped high into the sky. The black breath twisted and started snaking around before flying straight up all the way into the clouds above.

"Hahaha…"

"Zach," Midoriya started. The figure ahead of him stood still and kept looking up for another second. Then his head started to lower. He lowered it down and stared towards Deku with his eyes glowing bright red. His entire body was shrouded in Death, a thin veil but one apparently thick enough that his bones were not visible through it. The way Zach was moving though… Midoriya glanced at a leg he thought was supposed to be broken yet Zach did not struggle to stand on now. Killing rejuvenates him. Those broken bones. The injuries he sustained in that fight, Midoriya locked his eyes with Zach's red ones. His lips flattened out, and he started walking towards the dark figure-

Zach's lips curled down. The black veil over his face showed the movement. Midoriya froze after his second step, as Zach's body turned fully to face him and bent its legs at that same moment. His knees started to bend and he glared into Deku's eyes. "RRrrrrr…" A low guttural growl came from the dark figure ahead of Midoriya. He stared with his eyes growing wider as the darkness around Zach started swirling and bulging on different parts of his body. Zach hunched forward and his arms that got thicker in that last bulge dropped to the floor like front legs on a four-legged beast. Dark spikes came all out of Zach's widening back and the top of his head, making him look furry but with spiky fur all down his body.

"Zach- Zach stop!" Midoriya rushed a few more steps closer to Zach and held his hands up defensively at his friend who stopped growling and just glared darker at him. "Are you-" Midoriya stopped asking if Zach was alright when the growls stopped, when Zach just rose his head with a darker look on that black face that no longer appeared as animalistic. "Zach, do you understand where you are-"

"I do," Zach glared harder at Midoriya. He stood back up on his thick hind legs and shrank back down a little, though he continued to stay covered in a strong aura that looked threatening and evil. "You were coming for me, so I got ready to stop you. Or is that not your goal right now?" Zach's voice came out as a dark hiss, malice laced through it and his eyes flaring brighter red as he glared down his old classmate. Midoriya's head leaned back, and Zach stomped a foot closer to him, "The assassins are all dead. You came here to stop it, and you failed. You failed at stopping me from killing too. All you seem to do lately is fail."

Midoriya flinched and a hurt look flashed over his face for a moment. He leaned back at the sneer Zach made at him, then he straightened back up and stared down the darker figure ahead of him. Zach cocked his head to the side at Midoriya's look, and he stepped closer to him with his body growing larger and pulsing with darkness again. Keep it outside. Death swirled around Zach and his smirking mug, shrouding him in a spinning cloud that moved quickly but left a gap between him and Midoriya every second or two so as to allow his friend to see his face. Zach smirked violently with his eyes narrowing and his head leaning forward, "But I already told you. I won't be coming easily. You can't let me go, can you? Then come on."

Zach beckoned him forth and his fists balled at his sides, shaking as he stared down his old friend whose face got more serious but was not getting any angrier like Zach's was getting. There's only one way this can end now, Zach's heart pounded, and he ground his teeth while shrouding his hands in most of the Death that swirled on the inside of the small funnel surrounding him. In the moments where the gap appeared in his swirling aura, his fists could be seen getting covered in more raging flames of darkness. He smiled madly and leaned forward, I have to go all out. It's the only way. I'll force you! "Get ready Midoriya," Zach snarled. His eyes filled with rage, flaring red and his body tensing up as he leaned forward more. "I'm going to-"

"What are you doing?" Midoriya asked. He said it suddenly, interrupting Zach in a tone that made Zach freeze and lean backwards. The tone was nowhere close to as intense and on-the-verge as Zach's voice had just been, showing Midoriya was in no way ready to defend himself or attack or anything of the sort. Midoriya's question made Zach stop, his voice freezing and the Death around him stopping its spinning movements around his body.

Zach shrank back down to practically the same height as the other teen staring at him. All of the Death around him vanished, and Zach's eyes were back to normal too. He stared at Deku with his own expression having lost all its intensity as well. He could not even convince himself of it anymore, after Midoriya's question yanked him out of the illusion that this was happening. He doesn't believe me, Zach stared Deku down more monotonously than before. He spoke in a deadpan voice, "My bones healed, mostly." Zach rose his right hand with little effort and he rubbed it over parts of his head that had opened up, only to feel nothing there. On his forehead there was not even a scar where his skin had opened up from an earlier headbutt. Some of his hair was still missing where he had been cut on the side of his skull, but the wounds were gone. "My external injuries sealed up nicely as well."

The boy examining himself continued to his old classmate, "I just fought the hardest fight of my life, and I won. I killed Ares. I didn't have to." He said that curtly and then narrowed his eyes again in a darker way at Deku who grit his teeth at what Zach was saying to him, "I killed him though, because I wanted to. And now I'm feeling better. Ares killed all the assassins too, so I get to avoid the world ever finding out the truth. No one will ever believe you. Not when I deny it all." Zach stared down the curlier-haired boy who grit his teeth harder and balled his fists at that statement that had his stomach tying in knots inside him.

Izuku shook his head though. His eyes were angry for a moment but they got softer and just more frustrated than anything. He watched as Zach continued in less an evil voice than he had been using before and more just a flat tone, "You understand now, don't you? I am the most powerful. In the entire world." Zach said it as a matter of fact and less that he was boasting. He just spoke the words and then glared at Deku in a harsher way, "And you can't hold a candle to me. You couldn't even take part in that fight. You couldn't save those villains you so desperately spent your time protecting. And you know you can't stop me so you're giving up before you even try?"

Zach's taunt felt dry. He heard it coming out of his own mouth and it sounded empty to him. He trailed off after it and just became quiet as Midoriya stared at him in a way showing he was not being drawn into Zach's pace. A few things were getting reactions out of him, but Midoriya's expression remained stern and just focused… Though Zach saw something else barely hidden in his eyes that frustrated him to no end. Zach bit down then snapped, "I can feel a new kind of strength within me." The corners of his lips pulled up at his cheeks and he shook his head while Midoriya stared him down, "Something new, and exciting…" Zach grit his teeth again and he glared down at the floor while his mouth was still twisted up in a smile. "I'm not- lying," Zach admitted, looking back up at Midoriya with his smiling mouth shaking, but his eyes scared as he denied the look on Midoriya's face that was telling him all it needed to.

Midoriya's eyes widened this time though, as Zach's tone actually sounded like he was telling the truth about not lying. Deku started shaking his head. "Zach," Midoriya started in a low voice. "You shouldn't have killed him-"

"No prison could have held him," Zach snarled back.

"He was defeated. On his back and," Midoriya paused as Zach's eyes shook and glared at him so hatefully.

"No prison could have held him," Zach repeated in a deeper snarl. "He killed, billions. And you still… what? What is justice for him? Fuck! It doesn't even matter!" Zach yelled it before his classmate could answer. Zach leaned forward and yelled, "You couldn't have held him, just like you can't hold me! No prison can!" Zach roared it and glared furiously at the curly-haired boy who pulled his head back with his eyes growing huge as Zach yelled that his way. Zach's eyes filled with rage at the pity he saw get less masked in Midoriya's gaze, and he snapped loudly, "I won't let you arrest me! I've told you that, and if I'm down in prison on my own accord and Kaminari or Shigaraki appears, I'm going to leave and go fight them! No prison can hold- No! I won't even go to jail! I WON'T! No one can force me to. No one can push their judgement on me…"

"I am the one who judges."

Zach's head bowed forward as he paused after saying that. His eyes rose slowly to state into Deku's huge eyes. "Don't you get it, Midoriya?" Zach asked, his voice low and oozing ominous feeling that filled Deku and made him gulp. "I've killed before and I will kill again. I promise you that. I make good on my promises," Zach added with an even darker look at the teen who stood up straighter and started narrowing his eyes back towards him. "So if you let me go, after I've told you this, then those deaths are on you. And right now, I have no idea how many more people I'm going to kill." Zach tilted his head back, "Kaminari? Shigaraki? They're dead for sure. All For One will die the second I see him."

"And if you try to stop me, I'll go somewhere that people accept me and all I do," Zach added. He added it and rose his voice, "Where I don't have to spend my days on the streets. Where I can live and relax and only revive those who care about me enough not to prosecute me, not to judge me." Everything I told Mina. As if it'll come true! "The God of Death, he called me! How long do you think it will be before others can see what Ares saw?"

Why would he tell me all of this? Midoriya's eyes shook as he stared down his friend who was making his heart clench so hard. Why say anything at all? You never do, when you actually want to do things. Midoriya's eyes got even softer as Zach screamed at him, "Countries sending people after me will have to fight the ones who offer to protect me and give me quarter! With as much power as I already had, I thought it was possible. Now?! It's an inevitability!" I saw what he turned into. The founder of democracy. A benevolent ruler with friends and family he loved and cared about, and every single one of them died. He turned into a monster. The worst monster in the entire world!

"That power boost I just got from Ares," Zach continued. He flinched and the right corner of his smirk lowered a little, but he kept it partially up with a mad look on his face. "Oh my God, Midoriya." Zach's eyes lifted up in his sockets and he took in a sharp breath. "Oh my- it's so fucking…" He breathed in hard up his nose, and he tried to accept that feeling he had been suppressing with all of his might. And that look showed on his face for a brief moment before he flushed it out with a flood of regret and horror and absolute disgust at himself. Zach kept all those feelings from showing on his face though, just dropping the euphoric look for a moment to let out his sharp breath in a much longer orgasmic relief. "It's better than drugs. Or worse, I guess," Zach corrected with a tilt of his head to his right shoulder he shrugged up at the same time.

"And my power?" Zach added, continuing and stepping another foot closer to Midoriya. "Oh man, Midoriya. If you thought I was strong before, wait until I recover everything I spent in this fight. All I have right now, is just from that surge! And I still feel more powerful than… than ever before. Killing him! The boost is like killing fifty- a hundred even! I've never felt such power come into me all at once before. I feel fucking AMAZING!" Zach stopped yelling and he lowered his head that he just tilted back to shout that. He stared at Midoriya and lowered his smile down, almost flattening his lips out. "But this is still the weakest I'll ever be from this moment on. I will only recover all that Death over the coming days, and I doubt I'll ever have to use it all again."

Zach, stop telling me all this. Stop saying things, that you think will get me-

"Look around you, Midoriya," Zach growled with his lips flattening out at the sight of his friend's reluctant expression. Midoriya's eyes pulled off of Zach and glanced around the shattered mountain range they were in. "You think you could really push me this far? I beat him, and I wasn't even as powerful as I will be now after this fight. In a few days I'll have recovered it all. I'm sure it'll take me at least that long this time." Zach added that with a lower voice and a partial smirk once more, but his eyes just got darker as he stared down the other teen who turned back towards him. "This is your only chance," Zach warned. "You know that. You won't be able to stop me after this-"

"Zach," Midoriya started. His voice was hoarse and his hands shaking at his sides, but they gripped into fists that continued shaking as he stared down the darker teen growling so menacingly at him. "You don't want me to-"

"Your only chance!" Zach yelled louder, cutting off Deku with his bellow. He leaned forward and snarled, "You still have most of your strength, and I still don't know if you can do it. If you can beat me. And if it's questionable now, then you have NO chance after this." Zach paused for a second and then rose his eyebrows up, asking softer, "Do you really think I won't slip again? I don't even consider it slipping. He was a genocidal maniac! A brutal, SAVAGE man who believed himself a GOD! And the world is better off without him," Zach snapped that at the end, to Midoriya's fists clenching harder and his eyes glaring at the smug smirk that covered Zach's face during that shout.

"It wasn't a mistake," Zach said in a low voice while grinning straight at his friend. "I killed him, because I decided that that was justice. My justice. And I always act, based on my own justice. I promise you I will do it again."

"Don't say that," Midoriya hissed, his voice rasping and his fists clenching harder as he stared down his old classmate. Pity filled Midoriya's eyes, as conflicted thoughts pushed for dominance in his head. He's doing it all to make you have to fight him! To…

"There's only one way this ends, Midoriya," Zach snarled, his voice cracking this time and his head tilting back as he looked down his nose towards the ninth holder of One For All. "No prison can hold me. If I wake up in restraints I will slip right out of them. It's as easy as forming a key made of Death to open up a jail cell," Zach added with a smirk towards his friend whose eyes shook more thinking of a video he saw on a plane back from Italy a year ago. "Tartaros couldn't hold me. I left my cell like it was a simple thing to do, then went back inside because that was what I decided to do. And I won't decide to go down there this time, so I WON'T go down there. I'll stay up here and kill villains. And even if you defeat me here, I'll escape my restraints and you will NEVER find me!"

"You know the kind of resources I have?!" Zach shouted. "The allies? The dirt I have on heads of state and company leaders and officials of all kind in every corner of this world?!" Zach shouted that with his arms raising at his sides and a huge smirk covering his face. "If I come to decide, that I will use it all for my goals, then I will break every single law and no one will be able to stop me! Like Ares, but active in the world! The power of that God but with more followers, more strength… More everything!" Zach's voice bellowed across the gap to Deku and Zach's smirk twisted higher up his cheeks, his face looking like he was thinking about all the possibilities he possessed with this kind of power.

Midoriya's right foot leaned farther forward. The ground under his foot started to crack out towards other cracks to his sides. His teeth were grinding and his eyes full of conflicted emotions got watery even as his fists clenched hardest in resolve. Zach leaned his head forward with darkness surrounding him in response to Midoriya's actions, and he yelled out towards his friend, "You know there's only one choice to make! Now let's fucking go!"

Midoriya Izuku froze. His teeth biting down hard parted and breath slipped between them. His eyes staring towards Zach grew wider as he saw a look even in his glowing red eyes. "Someone else is about to die because of you! Is that what you want… Eri?!" Midoriya's foot stopped pushing down as hard, and his body eased backwards as he stared straight towards his old friend covered in darkness that raged around him in preparation for this fight. A fight that Midoriya did not want to have and that Zach was forcing on him with every word shouted from his mouth. Why? Midoriya thought it again, his mind clearing as he saw Zach's dark face twisting hard as it attempted to maintain the look Zach had been giving back to him. Zach couldn't hide it though. Not under the darkness or his angry expression wanting a fight… He's, he's so scared.

"…It's easier to be hurt yourself than to have others be hurt for you, huh?" Midoriya could hear Chisaki Kai's voice echoing in his head. He could see the look on that little girl's face that tried to hide her own fear behind a willingness to go get hurt by Overhaul more, as long as it could help the others getting hurt by her in that moment. And Midoriya's heart clenched up in agony, as he realized that Zach's anger was barely hiding it any better. It's not about the present for Zach, or who he's hurting right now… The future, everything that will happen, he thinks about it constantly and knows- He knows right now what will come and he- he wants me to…

Zach started shaking his head at the crushed, saddened look covering Midoriya's face as he leaned backwards. As tears came into the corners of Deku's eyes, Zach's lips trembled behind his dark veil and he hissed while leaning his head forward farther, "There's no other way."

"You can't, seriously think I'll," Midoriya gulped as he started replying to the boy who clearly did think he would. "I'm not, going to kill you, Zach."

Zach's teeth clenched and all of his muscles tensed up. His whole body shook as he stared down one of the strongest people he knew. I can't handle it. It's too much. I feel so FUCKING good. Zach's red eyes shook and his breathing sped up, his heart rate skyrocketing as Midoriya spoke his inner desire out loud despite him hiding that from even himself while he had set this up. His teeth bared harder and he seethed through them, "You, have to-"

It's the same. Midoriya heard Zach's tone, and despite him looking nothing like that little girl's scared face that day, it was the same. He's afraid of everyone getting hurt more because of him, and he'd rather die than risk that. He'd… rather me be the one to kill him. "You seriously think I'd…" Midoriya started. "You're my… friend, Zach."

"You have to," Zach whispered back towards him. "You don't understand. I'm not lying. None of that was-" Zach started and cut himself off as Midoriya grit his own teeth at the sound of what Zach was saying here. "I have no idea, what I'll come to believe is right. What I will think the right thing to do is next. But when I decide, on whatever it is, I'm going to do it. And no one will be able to stop me." Zach's voice was scared but certain. He was warning Midoriya and making a promise as well as a threat in the same moment. "Even now I can't… I can't just let you-" Zach's hands shook at his sides. I can. I will. But you need to think I'll defend myself so that you use it all. Even if you do it on accident. That's still fine! As long as it's you.

You've changed so much, Midoriya stared at the scarred-up body of his friend whose darkness was swirling, pulling back into him and flattening but then flaring out when Zach would get a glimpse of a more intense expression seeming to form on Deku's face. Zach searched his gaze as the two of them locked eyes. Midoriya knew Zach was telling the truth based on what he knew Zach wanted yet what his friend was telling him at the same time. The you now is so different from who you were a long time ago, but I don't think, you'd ever become what you're imagining… And if I'm wrong?

"Please," Zach whispered. The darkness shifted off of his face and he stared at Midoriya with his eyes shaking and soft. He stared down his old classmate with his face cleared while the rest of him was engulfed in a fiery black aura that raged violently and even pulled Izuku's way like it was trying to get at him. Zach's teeth clenched and he tilted his head up while pleading, "You know, it's the only way. The only thing you can do to stop this now. Before it's too late."

Zach isn't Eri. I know that, Midoriya looked at his friend who he had compared to that little girl. He questioned his own internal comparison's motives, and countered himself, I know, Zach has seen worse, done worse, lived full lives on the amount of experience he has. All of that has led him here, to the point where he- he wants to die now… Midoriya's face scrunched up and he stared ahead with his expression distraught but his clenched fists steadying at his sides. Zach's at the end of his ropes. Years ago he already felt like he couldn't make up for it, and he lived under such a huge weight. Now? After… after all he's done, I don't think it got easier for him. He's just able to live with it all because he thinks he doesn't deserve not to. He believes the pain of having to live with it is what he deserves, even as he constantly saves people to even out the bad- or just because he's a good person. It's just about safety now…

But even though he just killed that man, it wasn't something he did lightly, or that he wanted to do. He'll feel sick to his stomach because it feels good to kill, Midoriya pursed his lips and shook his head Zach's way.

Zach's darkness flickered, then it all pulled Midoriya's way and he leaned forward himself. Zach roared out at the top of his lungs, "YOU HAVE TO! FIGHT ME!" Darkness flooded towards Midoriya and broke off onto his left and right sides. The force of the wind flying by still created a gust of wind that slammed into Midoriya, but the curly-haired boy stood firm as that darkness flew by his sides. Midoriya leaned forward himself and the parting wind started parting even farther back, then it all faded as Zach leaned backwards, seeing Midoriya not reacting or counterattacking…

Midoriya stared at Zach's face that pulled back with more frustration than he could bear to see twisting up Zach's expression. He feels that pleasure right now, Midoriya thought with his sad eyes looking into Zach's angry and afraid ones glaring back his way. His Quirk makes him feel good, and it is making him feel good at this very moment. It disgusts him so much that he wants to die. Midoriya shook his head at Zach, and he started off in a soft voice, "I can't. I won't fight you," Midoriya paused and he thought back on the things Zach had just promised him, the threats he had made. It made his face tighten up for a second, but he just glared more frustratedly back at Zach for putting him in this position, "We both know that you aren't going to do those things-"

"You're wrong," Zach said back, his darkness fading away again as Zach stumbled quickly forward to shorten the gap between them. Zach came out of the stumble and moved quickly to just six feet in front of his friend where he stopped. "You can't let me get back to full strength now. We both see that I'm the stronger of us, and I have always relied on the fact that I have you to stop me if I go off the rails." Zach admitted it and shook his head while looking even more afraid into Midoriya's green eyes. "Do it," Zach said softly. He made his legs more sturdy on the ground and balled his fists again, yelling again, "DO IT!"

"I can't go back," Zach continued. "I don't belong back there. Not with Class A. Not with those people who I don't even know anymore. They don't know me, and-"

"And we don't care about you?!" Midoriya yelled back, making Zach stare at him just in more pain at the question that Midoriya shouted like it was what Zach thought. Zach started squinting his eyes, not responding quick enough which made Midoriya pull his head away and ask after a second, "Do you really think that?" Deku's heart ripped in half as Zach did not deny it, and his own eyes got watery as he was close to tears himself.

"Zach," Midoriya started in a whisper. "You think, that you care about all of us way more than we care about you back." Zach turned away and Midoriya yelled at the side of his friend's face, "I'm sorry!" Zach's face flinched and his eyes widened, darting back to his left and the boy there whose watery eyes were visible to him. "I'm sorry, that we made you feel like that's true… I'm sorry it took until what Ashido told us tonight to make so many of us realize, just how bad we've been to you."

"You haven't-"

"We've been horrible friends for so long!" Midoriya yelled in Zach's face, denying Zach's denial before he could get started with it. Midoriya shook his head and then added in, "We still care about you though. We do," he whispered that again as a depressed-looking Zach bowed his head and just looked off to his side as what Midoriya was saying that would make it hard for him to accept what he knew needed to be done here. Midoriya asked as Zach looked away like he wasn't listening or wasn't accepting any of this, "How many of us know that you're Death now?"

Zach's teeth clenched and his closed his eyes tightly. "How many of our class know for a fact that you are the most wanted man in the world?" Midoriya asked him, and Zach's breath got stuck in his throat as he tried to ignore what Midoriya was saying to no avail. "And how many of us have tried to arrest you? Tried to lock you up, or told other heroes who want to do that, what you told us?" Zach slowly turned his head and looked back at Midoriya, the one he suspected was most guilty of doing these things other than maybe Todoroki. He looked at Midoriya's face in a hurt way and searched to see if Izuku was lying about the words coming out of his mouth.

If he told Lemillion, it'd be over already. He didn't… Did he tell All Might? Did Todoroki tell, Endeavor? No- he couldn't have… They know. They'll come for me, and I won't let them and- and… Zach's lips pursed and he shook his head once though had to pull back harder at the expression showing Midoriya was not changing his mind or giving up here. How many? 7, to 9… ten maybe, not for sure though. 7 certainly. Uraraka and Sato would put it together why I had to lie. Others, would only make assumptions. They have and they're right, or they think they're wrong because I convinced them otherwise and so they'll be that much more betrayed when the others reveal it. It can't be long. With me there all the time, they'll talk to each other. They aren't good liars. Anyone questioning half the class for more than a few minutes about me will figure it out based on their reactions and responses. Iida gave it away that he already knew to Uraraka and Sato. He told Todoroki outright. He's not the kind of person to know how to lie, and it's only because no one suspects that he defeated Stain that he managed to keep that a secret. If anyone had started questioning him about the actual fight… what am I thinking about?

Zach closed his eyes and he rose his head slowly to open them back up and stare right forward to meet Deku's gaze. None of this matters if I can convince you. Please, you know it's the only way. Zach winced as Midoriya stared him down without a shred of the possibility of him doing what Zach wanted him to. His look got more hurt as he thought about how Midoriya tried to just convince him that Class A had not turned on him, yet he just spent the last few seconds thinking about all the ways they were going to turn on him anyway, be it intentionally or just from their failure to keep secrets. Zach lowered his eyes, Why would I go back there? So much I can do around the world, why return to U.A.?

An unsure look spread on Zach's face and he grit his teeth, shaking his head once while glaring hard at the ground, I have to- No. I can't! And yet Midoriya won't just let me… what does he want to do with me? It doesn't matter. I can do what I want regardless of his intentions or wants. And going back there, it isn't important… I told myself that! That reconciling with Class A was not important anymore. I decided that it wasn't a top priority… and yet I also told myself I could be selfish. And if there is one thing in the world I want, which I've known since I "decided" that they didn't matter because Sato made me realize it- it's just to be with them.

That's what I want. To save them and protect them… because they're precious to me. Zach's eyes clenched shut and his fists balled furiously at his sides. And they'll turn on me. Arrest me and betray me and HATE me, and I'll turn on them. I'll leave them worse than the last time. I'll just, disappoint them. And then I'll turn into a monster like him. Zach's head snapped up and he opened his mouth while glaring at Midoriya-

"Even after what you just did, I understand!" Midoriya yelled, cutting off his classmate before Zach could get out a word. "I'm not going to turn you in now, just because of… because of this!" Zach's eyes shook and he closed his mouth but only partially, leaving it open as he took heavy breaths while staring forward at Midoriya's frustrated facial expressions. "I understand, I- I really understand why! I hate what you did, but you've been back for months and that's the first person you killed, right?!" Midoriya shouted it and searched Zach's eyes for him to deny that, to give him a reason if there was any to counter what he was already thinking. Midoriya continued while shaking his head, "That monster…"

Midoriya hated the words coming out of his mouth. It's unjustifiable. Saying it like that makes him think- "That doesn't make it okay," Midoriya seethed, squinting his eyes and glaring at Zach for a moment. He tilted his head back and to the side though with a pained look showing more prominently than the frustration. And he yelled as that pain appeared on his face, "I don't want you to kill anyone! More than anything," Midoriya gasped and shook his head more while staring sadly into Zach's huge eyes. "I just don't want you to keep killing!"

"I see what it does to you," Midoriya continued softer. The two of them heard the words Zach had been shouting echoing in their heads, and it made Midoriya's teeth grind for a moment while Zach looked in a shakier way forward at his friend whose perspective he considered to hear all that. Midoriya whispered quieter at Zach when he saw the understanding in Zach's eyes as to what he was saying, "We all know that you've killed. We all also know, just how kind a person you have always been!" He rose his voice back louder while a couple tears fell from either eye. He shouted, "And it kills me to think of what you're feeling right now if you think your own death is the only answer. That you deserve to die so badly that you would ask me, the one person in the world who I know you know would never kill, to kill his own friend!"

Midoriya shouted that in Zach's face with pain and frustration all over it, and his voice got through how utterly ridiculous it sounded to Midoriya that Zach would want that of him. Midoriya continued, "So the fact that you can ask that of me now, that you feel like such a monster that you could think that I would… That I would actually see you as the worst villain beyond all the others I would refuse to kill- That I would think that of you?!" Midoriya shouted that and silence fell over them for a few seconds as the two of them just panted while staring forward across a small gap at each other's faces.

Another tear slid down Midoriya's face and he broke the silence, "It makes my heart feel like it's tearing into pieces."

"Midoriya-"

"I'm not going to kill my own friend!" Midoriya yelled at Zach whose face was desperate. The start of what he was saying got through the pleading tone that angered Midoriya to no end, that Zach was so desperate as to ask this of him. "My friend who was being hunted by these people! People who attacked him, destroyed his home, killed the people around him- they were practically torturing him! They ripped apart the person that my friend was trying to be when he returned through all their attacks on him that wore him down and broke his spirit," more tears fell from Midoriya's eyes as he sped up faster and faster saying all these things. "And I watched as he struggled to keep it together while being shot and blown up- And I didn't do a thing! I didn't help, and yet you didn't kill them. Any of the assassins. Not one."

"You stopped me," Zach countered in as dark a voice as Midoriya had ever heard. Zach's eyes were down looking below Midoriya's chin, and he said in a deep and low voice, "You stopped me the night my apartment exploded. You stopped me today. That doesn't mean I didn't want to kill them-"

"You never want to kill anyone," Midoriya responded. Zach froze, flinching, and his eyes shifted back up to look into Midoriya's.

Do you really feel that way? Zach thought as he stared forward with a flat and dark expression. You really think that of me-

"You want me to kill you, because for some reason you still believe in me," Midoriya continued while Zach was meeting his gaze. His words caused Zach to lose the dark look and to stare more confusedly at him, then his eyes grew wider still as Midoriya continued, "And if I'm the one who does it then you'll feel it was right, and that you had to die." Midoriya's face scrunched up as even saying this sounded weird to him and worse at the fact that Zach was actually reacting as if surprised he knew that. Midoriya paused at the sight of that look, but he continued after a moment, "You think that there is no other way to protect the world, from you! But you're wrong!"

Zach stared at Midoriya with huge eyes as Midoriya stepped closer so they were arms' reach from each other. "There is another way to protect it. And that's to be your friend. Be someone, who you need, and who needs you in return." Midoriya's green eyebrows curled up and he stared ahead into his friend's eyes, and he told him, "You know I'm right, Zach. It's when you are alone that you fall into this kind of pit, this kind of despair, and I know that you had no one you could look to while at Shiketsu… And I didn't leave U.A. enough to stay with you and make you feel like you were not alone."

"I am alone-"

Ignoring him Midoriya snapped, "We'll never let you be alone again." He cut off Zach and stared at him firmly, denying with the look in his eyes that Zach could separate himself here anymore. "You push people away to protect them," Midoriya continued, his voice explaining it like he knew that he was right and Zach had to start seeing that himself too. "If you're that worried though," Midoriya went on. "That you're going to hurt people, then you have to stop pushing us away like this! Zach! What's most dangerous for the world right now is you going out on your own! You said it, and I know it's true! But the world needs you, I… Zach, there are many enemies left for us to fight together, but if you go out on your own then you will become the very danger that you think you could become."

Zach's breathing sped up and he started panting heavier, his shoulders slouching and a massive weight of exhaustion and fatigue spreading through his body. The immediate surge from killing Ares was simmering down inside him, returning him to his exhausted state from before that made his chest start heaving. And Midoriya told him while he let this exhaustion crash over him, "I know that I won't let you become that as long as you're with me. Your friend." Midoriya's eyebrows narrowed in and he stated without doubt, "Class A won't let you turn into the evil you think you'll become. Our teachers, and Principal Nezu who is trying so hard right now to forgive you and help you become a hero, stretching rules or just plain ignoring them in order to protect you and get you back where you belong!"

Zach winced and his face scrunched up, his eyes darting down to the floor as he thought about how much the principal had to be conflicted with those decisions. Mr. Principal… Deku, Zach rose his eyes and looked back at his friend. Midoriya, he corrected to himself, as this was his friend he was looking at and not just the hero, Deku. Midoriya snapped at him as Zach looked back into his face, "And where you belong is with us! Where you've always belonged. I swear Zach, I'm going to drag you back there whether you like it or not. And you might not like it. It'll be hard, I know. Really hard." Zach closed his eyes, and he clenched them tighter as Midoriya told him, "I'll be watching you closely, to make sure you don't do those things you promised me you would not a few minutes ago. And everyone else will question your motives. They'll think that you planned on getting back to U.A. the whole time, and they'll accuse you of so many things I know you aren't doing but… but that they'll doubt and question every step of the way."

"But you can do it." Zach opened his eyes back up and looked at the boy who just made that baseless claim in such a confident tone. "You have to do it. For us, who you already left behind once. All of us, and for yourself, and for the whole world. Come back," Midoriya stared him down and reached his left hand out in front of him. Zach stared at that hand and heard Midoriya's voice in his head slightly higher pitched than it was now. All of their classmates were around them in his room and in his doorway, and he heard Midoriya speaking as a younger version held out his hand in front of him. "Let's do it together. Let's become heroes, as a class, once again!"

"Be a hero, like we all want you to be." Midoriya held that hand out and his look was the desperate one this time, searching Zach's eyes for an answer.

"I… I'll kill again-"

"I won't let you-"

"I'm going to kill Kaminari," Zach stated. He said it without hesitation and with a determined voice more than just a statement of what he knew he would do when the time came. It sounded more like a goal than anything. He said it about Kaminari, not Shigaraki or All For One who he threatened to kill earlier. He stared into Midoriya's eyes and repeated, "I am going to kill him-"

"I know," Midoriya said, his voice hoarse as he admitted it.

Zach blinked a couple times, confused by that response. "I heard you, the night he betrayed us." Midoriya admitted it and shook his head. "Myself, Todoroki, Sero, and Sato heard a lot of it too. But Kaminari, we all heard that. Why, you think you need to kill him."

"I do need to," Zach countered that 'think you' that Midoriya said. He glared into Midoriya's eyes and then eased up his own expression and looked anxiously back at Midoriya's hand once more. How can you extend your hand to me and ask me to be a hero? When I just said I'm going to kill someone else?! That's not, that's not heroic. Why- Zach rose his gaze back to Midoriya's face and his expression shattered. The feelings swelled inside him as he realized it from the desperate look on Midoriya's face that had nothing to do with fear of what Zach might do if he did not take his hand. It's because… even you, can be selfish sometimes. Selfish, for me? That's- that's I- I don't…

Zach's steel left hand had no skin on it. His arm was dented all over, but it managed to raise up better than his right arm that despite having its open wounds closed, hurt a lot to move. That right arm was missing the glove on it now anyway though, having ripped off fully by the end of that final clash. Zach lifted his left hand and hesitated, darting his eyes to Midoriya's hand then to his face and back again. Midoriya lowered his left hand and grabbed Zach's as it stopped there. Zach's eyes bulged and he stared at their clasping hands, "Let's be heroes again." Zach rose his eyes slowly and he stared up with his heart pounding rapidly and painfully in his chest, as Midoriya finished, "Together."

"Together," Zach repeated not a second later. He said it firmly, his whole posture and expression and tone all changing at once. He said the word determinedly and surprised the boy who had to clasp his hand as Zach hadn't raised it all the way on his own. Zach nodded though with the hesitation fading from his face, and he squeezed his damaged left hand into Midoriya's grasp. I hope, Zach thought while trying to keep his expression from showing the doubt that resurfaced even as he tried to push it away. That neither of us come to regret this.

I don't know how to save Kaminari. I don't understand completely how you must feel about that. Midoriya nodded back at Zach in just as determined a way as his friend was looking at him. But I don't want you to kill. It hurts you to do. Even to kill someone like Ares, so for you to kill your best friend? Don't think about that now. You'll cry and he'll know what you're thinking. That he feels he has to be the one who does it- Stop.

The boys released their handshake and dropped their arms down to their sides. Both of them started panting heavier as soon as that was done, then Zach turned his head and looked to the west. "We should start moving." Midoriya stared at him in surprise for a moment before getting back into a more serious expression himself as Zach had suddenly snapped into action. "We have to look around for any surviving assassins. There's a chance a couple escaped, considering some were awake over here and confronting you when the beam hit…"

The two of them shot off from one another without any argument or discussion. Zach used the remaining power from the surge he got from Ares that despite settling inside him was still there for use as he had not used too much yet. He flew around fast and without caring about wasting it, as he was only concerned with keeping enough to make solid wings for a return flight to Japan. He shot around as Midoriya bounced about the air as well, and they searched the destroyed mountains around the epicenter of the fight which had been close to Eziano's lair.

Neither of them found any sign of life, not that Danny "The Devil's" surviving female ninja henchman was going to let them find her and Danny who she had secretly dragged away from the other unconscious assassins to a place to wake him up. He was still unconscious, but they were both hidden thanks to her Quirk which was vital to Danny's assassinations. The Devil's high assassination successes and the inability of enemies to stop him was in large part due to Sly's ability to bring him straight up to the target no matter how many guards were surrounding them. Not even most people with sensory Quirks could locate her, so the two massively powerful teenage boys flying around the Muindo Range had little chance of spotting this woman and her comrade, though she still held her breath when Death flew by overhead. She was afraid she would start breathing too heavily in fear of that dark monster above her, and she went even more blue in the face before risking releasing her breath.

Zach and Midoriya met back up close to where they had landed in the first place. Midoriya was the one to stop looking second, as Zach had suggested they search yet Deku saw his friend finished searching already after only a couple of minutes. "I think heroes will be coming here soon," Midoriya said while landing behind Zach and jogging on his landing up to a stop at Zach's side. "I usually wouldn't be one to run away, but I have no idea what we'd… what is that?"

Zach was holding something in his right hand that he had just picked up after digging it out from partially under a rock. He blew at the top of the book he was holding and then wiped it with his other hand. The book was embroidered with odd stylizations around the edges and on the spine of the brownish-red cover. Zach shifted his eyes to the right corners and gave Midoriya a skeptical look. "Seriously? Put it together yourself."

Zach looked back at the book which felt surprisingly hard in his left hand. He kept his right hand partially crossed in front of his body away from Midoriya who had stupidly jogged up on his right side. Zach turned himself so he was more facing Midoriya directly rather than having his friend on his right. He held the book between them and admitted while looking at the word on the front cover, or at least what he thought was probably the front cover, "Don't recognize the language."

He flipped the book over, "Wonder if they started from this side. It looks old." He lifted his right hand and gave a quick wave at Midoriya who glanced at him confusedly then nodded as he understood the look in Zach's eyes giving him a general warning not to move any closer here to try and grab the book for himself. Zach opened the book from the side that had a word on it, then he turned it over and opened from the other side only to find the last page empty. "Nice."

He lifted it and showed Midoriya the empty page, then went back to what he now believed was the start of the book. Midoriya had been sidetracked when Zach gave him the little wave, but he was putting it together faster in his head now what Zach had apparently assumed from the start. "Is that," Midoriya began. He thought back on something Eziano had said, and something he and Zach had seen on their way to Eziano's throne room.

"Ancient texts, written by men who knew the truth of the world," Zach said while flipping through the early pages with careful movements of his right fingers. He did not dare touch the pages with his left hand, though the papers inside the book seemed to be coated with something that preserved them from the decay of time. "Okay… yeah, the writing is familiar here. The sentence doesn't end though- yet this one, starts in an old form of English. Turns into a Germanic language halfway before the sentence ends, and it's written in some kind of code…" A smile broke out on Zach's face as he looked through pages and pages of absolute nonsense written in so many languages yet described things he suspected were answers to questions he had been asking for a long time now.

Midoriya lifted his eyes up from the book to Zach's face when he heard that excited tone in Zach's voice. He gulped and then asked hesitantly, "You don't, really believe everything, Ares was saying… do you?"

"Of course I do," Zach replied with a chuckle. He closed the book, and he held it carefully up against his chest with his right hand. "And so do you. Denying it is an easy way out, Midoriya. Don't do that." Zach scolded him for even asking that last question, and Midoriya's eyes widened at the response that was not even meant to start an argument about this. It was just ending the argument Zach did not want to bother having when he knew that he was right.

Midoriya gulped again and he stared back down at the ground between his feet. "All those things he said… I only heard a little of it," he admitted. "But, but to think that so many people were hurt by him. By the people who worked for him. And no one ever stopped him, until you-"

"And I still gave him exactly what he wanted," Zach admitted in return. An annoyed look flashed over his face while Midoriya looked at him confusedly and in surprise. "I mean yeah, sure, he would have rather the two of us traveled 'through time' together. Fighting each other and becoming friends or some shit, which never would have happened." Zach declared that firmly, but then he admitted again with a frown on his face, "The death I gave Ares was the best way for him to die. The way Ares was looking to die, that he thought he never could obtain until he found me. Might've even been his real goal here, waiting this long to finally fight me… But I don't know."

Zach frowned deeper and growled, "I hate that I gave him that kind of death… No I don't." He countered what he just said and grimaced even harder, the real reason he was frowning so hard here being the fact that he did not believe what he was saying aloud. He darted a look to Midoriya almost in shame, though that disappeared as he knew Midoriya would not even get it let alone judge him for it. "Ares suffered enough. No he hasn't," Zach muttered that and shook his head. He was a monster responsible for… except- NO! He needed to die. He was evil, and yet, what if-

I don't know. I don't know what to think of him. He was so, so horrible. But he was also, in many ways, just like… He shook his head rapidly. No. Don't think that. Don't think about that. "This book is interesting though," Zach started, changing the conversation both aloud and in his head. "I won't be able to read much of it yet, however. The one writing it knew what they were inscribing but did so in a way to prevent others from being able to easily decipher what they were saying. Code, various languages, it's pretty interesting. We'll decode it together, yeah?" Zach suggested with a curious and hopeful look at his friend. Don't want to be the only one to know. That'd be rough. One other person knowing the real truth will make it much easier.

"Y-Yeah," Midoriya agreed, nodding his head as that sounded good to him as well. Knowing the truth, is important. We can learn from history, and I'm sure there are things in that book… Midoriya shook his head as he found it hard to think too much about what was likely written on those pages. I guess I should have realized it. If Zach could write history the way he saw fit, and All For One was left out as well, then Eziano and so many others throughout time must have had that ability as well. To alter the truth and write history while only a few know, the truth. Reality, and history, they're different things.

Zach chuckled as he thought more about what he was holding. "You know I recognized a few languages in the book, but admittedly I never practiced the written language too much as I didn't need it as much as I needed to speak it." Midoriya looked at Zach with an uneasy look at how carefree he was speaking while talking about the past and future like this. "I needed to be able to read a bit for street signs and records, but this will be a much better reason to learn. I can practice by reading some books I've been meaning to read in their native languages rather than translations, or both so I can properly know what it was meaning to say. Hmm," Like the Rosetta Stone. If there are any copies of things written in the book too, I could maybe make out even lost languages written in there that would be impossible to decipher otherwise. I can bring back entirely lost languages. Cool.

"Alright, Zach." Zach lifted his gaze back to Deku who turned his head and looked to the east. "We should get back to school. We have class tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me," Zach replied. He rolled out his shoulders and cracked his neck to either side. Right arm really hurts. Ribs aren't in peak shape. Wonder how long it'll take for them to heal? This will be the first test to see. Don't let him see that you're still hurt. "Let's go."

The boys rose up into the sky. Zach created black wings he flew up with while Midoriya jumped off the ground instead. Midoriya watched as his friend started flying off ahead of him, looking to chuckle under his breath as if he thought Midoriya was staying behind him to make sure he really flew back to U.A. as he said he would. He's, in a better mood than a few seconds… Or he was already in this mood. Just denying it as hard as he could, until now. Midoriya watched Zach's back as the other eighteen year old flew off at a casual speed slower than they had approached this area. At least it's better… He was talking about learning and getting more powerful and resourceful, knowing more and more… A small smile lifted on Midoriya's face. That shows he's serious about not wanting to die now. He's accepted he has to live and is going to try and live his best life. Please Zach, live in a way that makes you happier. It's the only way this works out…

He's yanking me back into the light as hard as he can. I can't let him fail at that, Zach flapped his wings again and smiled at the positive impact he was making just by returning once more. You succeeded, Deku. You got your friend and made sure he didn't go off on his own to turn into some, some demon. I was about the abandon this path forever. Completely. For the last time. Disappear and never come back again. Zach let out a breath and he flapped again with a relaxed expression on his face. Just, go away. And it would have sucked. I wouldn't have this last month to, to really enjoy being here. Human. With all of you. Before that day comes, Zach's smile dipped back down. A day I'll think about more when it does come. As for now, his smile returned as he ignored the looming and imminent end. I'll finish things here. Get some closure. And without being allowed to leave campus, I'll get a full month of, of the best life I can live right now.

The amount of power Zach has is absurd. Midoriya continued to fly, moving a bit above Zach now as he kicked the air behind him to return to Japan. Even if he didn't have any of those resources, it wouldn't matter. Even if he can't just go back to being Death, he could go and gather new strong followers. He could topple villain organizations with them, blackmail governments, and probably kill a bunch of people. Midoriya's eyes darkened more as he flew up in Zach's blindspot. He'd evade heroes, and no one would ever catch him. He would become a ghost that I imagine through my entire life, I'd know he would always be out there with no one who could possibly stop him or change his mind. I can see it too, Zach. What you see as a possibility. It's not that I don't know it could happen. I'm not an idiot. Every time you make those hard decisions, every time you come up to these choices, that is what you see. The future. It's not the real future, or just not the only one. It's just the one we're imagining, but also the one you believe you're right about and is your backup for the life you live now.

I know it is.

Really, what now? Zach wondered while smiling nearly ear to ear and flying through the air that blew into his face in such a nice way. His black hair waved around behind him as he flew forward, his eyes squinting a bit as it was tough to fly fast like this without a visor or goggles. He created a black pair of goggles and made his eyes glow red behind them, allowing him to speed up a bit without having to care so much about the wind in his eyes. I feel good. Real good about this. I've got some more goals…

Don't think I'll have too much trouble with them now. Now that it's all I've got to do. The weight and looming threat of Eziano was gone. The truth was in his hands. Zach's smirk got cockier and he tapped his fingers on his side, but he made sure to tap to a fun beat and not a repetitive one. The rhythmic tapping matched the humming noises he started with, as he wondered to himself, Did I just stop war? The question was open-ended and he was unsure about the answer, but he did a barrel roll in mid-flight and chuckled again as he caught Midoriya watching him and the other boy's head snapping up as he was not expecting Zach's sudden roll in the air.

Seeing Midoriya watching him like that did not mess with him though. He wondered while looking back out to the east now that they were over water, Don't know if the good mood I'm feeling is deserved, but I know one thing. I can never pretend my life didn't mean anything ever again. He grinned wider and started laughing to himself. The new feeling of power that filled his lungs let him release the most cathartic breath of air ever, and he started laughing again after getting it out. I might have saved the world right there. Billions more. Who knows? I don't. I know that I've got this though. I can take on the world! Nothing can stop me now. The "God of Death," ha! Haha, "Hahaha, haha," Zach laughed aloud too as he repeated that phrase back into his head again. His laughter slowed down and a smirk came out of it, That's silly. Being this powerful doesn't make you God.

I'm just a man. A man ready for the next stage. Kaminari, I know you're preparing for me. You've been preparing for me, for years now. And I you. Don't disappoint me now. That villain name you picked for yourself, you better live up to it. Or you'll be dead in seconds the next time we meet, God of Lightning.

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A/N Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Zach and Midoriya get close to fighting here... but Midoriya de-escalates the situation and has convinced Zach to return with him to U.A. Zach's got a new surge of power but is currently at a lowered strength due to using everything he had in Limiter 0 before the surge, and with killing Ares comes something else as well... We'll see how his return to U.A. goes as well as reactions from the world to various events going on right now, next time! XD Was tough writing this chapter as I've gotten so into the next one already and found it hard to edit and post this rather than just continuing to write 216. Hopefully that means I can get it out before the weekend though, as I'm off on Friday before a long weekend of work this weekend (Decided to go back. The coronavirus is much slower than I thought it'd be). Anyway! Leave a review below telling me what you think, what you think is coming, or any questions you've got for the story!

zangetsuflameo chapter 214 . Jan 29

I just finished a recent reread of this story, as well as just read this last chapter and I am shaken. First off, unlike a few other people, I don't think this fight made Zach weaker from what I understand of Zach's quirk I am certain this made him stronger, like SIGNIFICANTLY stronger. First off, while Zach definitely used up a lot his reserves of death in this fight from the way I understand how his quirk works that does not mean that death is gone forever. We've seen Zach (before he came back to hero society) go all out before and use up his reserves and he still retains his power. For example, the time during the sports festival invasion arc where he kills spinner gains a power boost then uses up all of his death in that fight, and when he fights again in the following up arc Zach notes he still retained the power. Also, regarding him getting stronger well we've already seen that whenever Zach kills something he gets stronger. We've also seen that the power-ups typically have something to do with the relative strength of that organism. Take when Zach killed spinner in the invasion arc, and then when he kills a spider in the aftermath to confirm the insta-kill was still a thing. Obviously, the power he gained from those events was very different. Now considering how powerful are was and Zach killed him, I at the moment have no idea what's going to happen. Zach's power is unrivaled at the moment and to anyone who fights him I wish them good luck I would not want to be them. Also, I just want to thank this author for this epic story, it doesn't get a fraction of the popularity it should have and I just want to thank the author for still putting his best into every single chapter. Arigatou

Oh you right. Zach knows he's about to get way, way stronger too. He did use up his reserves though like you mentioned, but he knows even though it might take a couple days because of how much there is now, it'll come back to him. Really nice call on all that, and we'll see how Zach handles all this power as it returns to him over the next couple days... Thanks for the review, and really nice predictions!

xPricefieldx chapter 214 . Jan 27

Wait did Zack get his powers then?

It's not that Zach "gets his powers," but we have seen that Zach gets stronger with each kill, so he has gotten more powerful. If Zach took the Quirks of everyone he killed... man he'd be unstoppable by now! (Not that he isn't XD) Anyway thanks for reviewing!

Tigracho chapter 214 . Jan 29

Hey,Gillian here. finally decided to go with my account.
I must say that I dont believe you are overreacting, at all(better safe than sorry), considering you go abroad for work.
Anyways, to the story!:
Damn, that was battle of epic proportions. Zach as always, showing why he managed to survive and overcome all the adversities on during his life: Planning ahead of his adversary. Lady luck smiles upon the well prepared.
For the other hand, I really, really adore how you managed to build this fight, as well the character of Ares. Normally one would critize how you would toss an antagonist, give him his backstory, and the kill him in the next chapter he is introduced, but it didnt felt like that. Mostly because of chapter 200: Origin, in which you settled up the build up for us in form of foreshadowing. Everything that Zach said in that eassay was proven true when Ares started to monologue about his life. Hell, monologing about his life is even well justified due to his terrifying, mad-inducing loneliless.
And Ares. God lord Ares. He is the reflection of what Zach could become and at the same of everything he absolutely loathes, which makes him really angry when Ares tries to pull the "You and I are the same" Trope.
Oh, and poor Midoriya is there just being witness of all the crazy spectacle. How is anyone going to believ-
Oh. Yeah. Now what? Zach just killed a person in front of Midoriya. Is he going to arrest him? Or is Zach going to argue that he was way to powerful to live, given he gets powered up everysingle time a war happens? Or Midoriya is going to call him out on this one argument? Hell, is he even sane at this point? What hell are they going to say to the Korean authorities? That they just defeated Ezziano, and that that battle was Ezzianos master with a god complex?
Wharever happens now, Im sure of one thing: Zach Sasaki is now the strongest being of the planet. And thats scary as fuck.

Nice to see you've got an account! (Cool name btw). Glad you liked the battle and hope you enjoyed the aftermath chapter (first one at least). The build up really was more from that other stuff like Zach's Shiketsu report, brief mentions from an assassin before of a "Lord" that they had, but I never really dove into it much so as to separate Ares so much from all the stuff going on in the world, as he really was a whole tier of his own. Midoriya and Zach have that argument this chapter, and although Midoriya comes close to attacking, Zach claims no prison could hold him anymore. He claimed that "too powerful to live" line too that you called, (a bunch of nice predictions this time around you guys!). Annnddd... the two of them fly off before Korean authorities can roll in. As for Zach being the strongest being on the planet, and that being scary as fuck, well Zach definitely agreed with you there! XD Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for the reviews!