OH YEAH. THE CHAPTER A TON OF YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!

Izuku vs Ibara. One on one. The fight in the festival. The showdown in the stadium. No ifs, ands, or buts here. Just a flat out slugfest of the ages.

Let's GET IT ON!


Katsuki pushed open the door to the locker room and paused.

She was praying. She was always praying.

The moment Katsuki stepped within he felt as though he had entered some reverent temple. The air was somehow quieter in here, despite the obvious sound of the thousands of people moving throughout the stadium.

The moment the door clicked closed, it was as if the entire world existed only of that room, at that exact moment.

Ibara sat at the wooden table, her head bowed, her hands clasped and her mouth whispering a constant stream of words meant only for herself and her God.

He was still uncomfortable with this. Despite all the time they had spent together, Katsuki had yet to truly get used to Ibara's constant and almost fanatical devotion to her faith. A faith that Katsuki, privately, though was completely stupid and unnecessary.

He had told her that once, and only once, and his neck still stunk a little from where the thorns had bit into his skin.

He moved with a surprising quietness through the locker room to take the space across from the girl. He didn't believe in her faith, but that didn't mean he was going to completely disrespect her praying. Some people needed that crutch in their lives. Ibara certainly did.

It was everything to her, and that was no exaggeration. She had told him as such in one of their few talks that had almost boarded on the personal.

"-May I no longer fear any evil, since the Lord is with me, who lives and reigns within me, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen." As she finished her prayer, her eyes fluttered open and locked onto Katsuki with a mixture of surprise and… sorrow.

A sorrow that was there for only the barest second, then gone and immediately replaced with a mask that Katsuki knew all too well. "Katsuki. Did your fight go well?"

"Yeah, it was easy," The blonde replied, leaning an arm over the back of his chair as he turned, folding one leg over the other. He narrowed his ruby gaze at her and, with a covering growl, asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." The young woman replied in her usual soft yet authoritative tone. The tone of a quiet commander, of a warrior holding back their strength. And yet when she spoke again, there was… a crack. A crack in the armor she presented to the world. "I was just… expecting someone else."

Katsuki raised a slow eyebrow at this as he reached forward and grabbed a bottle of water from the table. He took a quick gulp before practically slamming it back down. "Who?"

"My brother," Ibara answered softly. Her eyes, the green of old emeralds, looked down for just a moment. "He was supposed to be here."

Her brother. Katsuki had heard her speak of this mysterious brother before, though she had never given him a name. Only that he was her brother in the church, and that she had always aspired to be just as strong as he was in both faith and ability.

Katsuki had to wonder just what kind of man he was if Ibara thought her faith was lacking in comparison to his. Not to mention someone who could actually be stronger than her.

It had been a harsh lesson to learn, his first actual heroics class with Class 1-B. He had thought he would have entered it as the strongest person there, after all, if it wasn't for Izuku's demonic monster Katsuki knew he would easily be the strongest person in Class 1-A.

And then he had seen Ibara in action.

She had taken on three members of her own class with ease. And even when it had come to CQC she had dismantled everyone who came at her. And she did it all without blinking, without any signs of remorse or hesitation. So much so that Vlad, their homeroom teacher, had openly asked her who had been teaching her to fight.

She had answered, "My brother," wearing one of the few smiles Katsuki had ever seen her have.

Katsuki hated admitting to himself that anyone on earth, other than perhaps All Might, had any chance of beating him, but seeing Ibara in action, and even fighting against her… it had taught him a harsh, sharp lesson.

He wasn't at the top of the class food chain. She was.

So, when she had come to him while he was privately training, he had at first thought she had come to mock him. A few others in the class had tried to reach out to him, but he had rejected them. He didn't need their pity or sly questions about what had happened at the USJ.

He was going to train and train to become stronger than anyone, strong enough to destroy that monster that pretended to be human. And he would do it alone.

And that was where she had found him. Smashing punching bags into the ground to stop the memories filtering into his mind.

It was there she had made him an offer. An offer to explain what he had seen, and more importantly, lessons in how to stop them. To stop the demon that existed within the school, to stop the demons that existed in the world at large.

It had been a lot to swallow, and he wasn't sure he still completely believed everything, but it had formed a partnership that led him to where he was now.

Sitting across from a religious fanatic, not quite friends, more than acquaintances, but most certainly the enemy of his enemy.

"If your brother isn't here, he's an asshole," Katsuki snapped, breaking the moment of silence.

The words clearly hit Ibara hard, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. Slowly, however, her gaze turned and looked down, "He… he cares for me. He does."

"So why isn't he here?"

"I don't know."

"Call him."

"I tried, and I left texts. He won't answer." Ibara sighed and moved a hand to her head, shaking it for a moment.

Now, this surprised Katsuki. Ibara was like a robot. A robot programmed to fight battles, praise God and to get good grades. She didn't often show emotion, and it was possibly the second reason why she seemed to have no friends in class.

And yet this, this simple sigh and look of exasperation. It was something. Some evidence that beneath the robot was a girl. A girl with a family and feelings, with her own thoughts and emotions.

"My brother is strong in faith but- but he and the Ecclesiarch are often at odds. I worry he has fallen out with him again," She shook her head and looked back to the blond. There was a pause from the girl before she slowly braved, "Katsuki, I know we're not friends, not really, but…" She paused for a moment, looking to him, "I- I would like to ask something of you."

Katsuki narrowed his gaze at her, "What?"

Again, she seemed to pause, as if questioning her actions, before slowly she began. "Before we go into battle, we're expected to give an Oath of Moment. My brother was supposed to hear my oath but- well…" She trailed away.

"You want me to hear an oath?" Katsuki frowned in a mixture of disbelief and confusion, "Why? You know I don't believe in all that bible sh- stuff." Katsuki caught himself. He did not feel like being strangled by vines again. That and they were supposed to be working together against a common enemy. He supposed the bare minimum of effort could be given to not upset her.

"You only need to speak a few words. I can show you them on my phone. All you really need to do is hear my oath," Ibara pressed with a strange sort of desperation in her eyes, "Please? It's important to me. It's important to my faith, to my order. I- I don't want to face the demon without my oath being witnessed."

The demon. It was the only way she would really describe Izuku, and it was something he was still not quite used to hearing. And yet, he knew in his heart it was the truth. Izuku was not Izuku, or at least, he was not the boy he used to know. What controlled Izuku was a beast made of fire and shadow and Hell itself.

Izuku was not human, and perhaps he never had been.

"… fine. But make it quick, you're up in a few minutes."

A smile flashed across Ibara's lips and a light entered her eyes that caused something within Katsuki to twinge, like a string suddenly being pulled in his heart. He quickly kicked the feeling out and flooded it with cold irritation.

Stupid puberty.

Together they stood up and Ibara got out her phone, taking a few seconds to type some words down in a note before handing it to Katsuki. "Just read what's on here, I'm sure you can handle it." There was a second's pause and her tone became softer, "You have the soul of a Knight, Katsuki. If only you would-"

"You told me you wouldn't preach to me," Katsuki snapped at he took the phone, "If you do that, I'll walk out the fucking room."

Ibara only smiled. Again, her eyes sparkled, and again Katsuki felt that irritating string being pulled.

Then the smile fell, and the air shifted. It became heavy and almost cold. The robot took over the young woman, and Katsuki knew that the girl was taking a backseat to this emotionless fighting machine within her.

Slowly, she knelt onto one knee and bowed her head, her vines falling about her face and curling along the floor.

Katsuki couldn't help but swallow his feelings down. He wanted to shout and yell how stupid this all was, how dumb it was to be making oaths that no one cared about. But he had seen too much to dismiss it all, and besides, Ibara seemed to know this world. She knew the rites and sacraments required for victory.

Even if he didn't believe, he would go along with it. If ritual and superstition were what it took, then so be it. Izuku, or rather, Nemesis, had to be stopped.

His eyes looked to the phone, and he began to read. "Ibara Shiozaki, you stand on the eve of battle against the Great Enemy. Speak your oath and be heard."

"My soul is cleansed, my heart is pure, my oath shall be sworn as thus."

Katsuki had to hide a shiver at the tone of her voice. He had heard it before, this cold, calculated, almost brutal tone that stole over her when she prepared to fight, and again he couldn't help but wonder just what he was getting into, and just what had been done to her.

"I swear I will fight without remorse. I will fight without pity. I will fight without fear. I will defeat the enemy in the name of God Almighty, King, and Savior. In the name of my order, in the name of justice and light. I will give all for victory and give all for the destruction of our foe."

"Do you swear this, here and now, in this Oath of Moment?"

Her voice was as cold as a steel blade, and in that moment, Katsuki swore he could feel a charge in the air, like lightning waiting to break. Her eyes looked up, and within them he saw only the unfeeling, unrelenting brutality of a warrior-knight, trained and raised in fire and battle.

And it scared him.

"I swear."


"THIS IS GOING TO BE A MATCH TO REMEMBER, FOLKS!" Present Mic boomed across the stadium, the energy in his voice reaching almost manic levels, "THE CURRENT FAVOURITE TO WIN, VERSES, THE PLUCKY UNDERDOG!"

Izuku winced a little as he stood in the awning, waiting to be called to the field. It wasn't exactly a confidence boost to be called an underdog.

"We're so excited," Nemesis growled through his blood like a pacing wolf, "We get to destroy the Evangelist. Finally, after all this time, a worthy foe."

A worthy foe? Well, that was an interesting assessment. More like 'absolutely terrifying' foe in Izuku's book, but hey, that was him.

"Just… please, stick to the plan, okay?" Izuku whispered to his quirk, glancing out over the sea of faces while trying not to seem too obvious.

"As long as we follow it," Nemesis seemed to strangely agree within his brain, "We shall have victory. But we must fight with all our might, we cannot allow fear or mercy to pull on our punches."

Izuku wasn't sure what to make of that, but he took it as a sign that at least to start with, his monster would co-operate.

The plan was clear in his mind, even if it was a shaky one and required a precision that he had rarely shown in training. Fumikage had warned him that Ibara's faith would act as a defense against his fire, making it less effective overall, but that did not make her immune. Hitoshi had added that, at least physically, he was stronger than her, so a blunt-force approach could be what was needed. Tenya had told Izuku that Ibara's strength was clearly long-range, so he needed to close the gap quickly.

All these things and more were discussed, weighed, and calculated into Izuku's attack.

Now all he needed was just a little luck.

A green light suddenly blinked above him, and he knew that was his cue. Taking a huge breath of air to steady his shaking nerves, he began walking onto the field, trying to block out the sound of thousands of screaming people and focus entirely on the task at hand.

Which… didn't make him any less nervous, to be honest.

"COMING ONTO THE FIELD, CLASS ONE-A'S OWN PET DEM- OW!" Present Mic yelped, and the microphone hissed in tinny response as he did so, causing practically the entire stadium to wince. Izuku certainly did, though he was glad that the man hadn't finished his sentence. He didn't need to be called a demon in front of the entire world.

"OH, RIGHT! SORRY AIZAWA! SORRY KID!" Izuku was walking up the steps to the arena now, and his heart clenched in his chest as he saw the familiar head of green hair doing the same, "ALL WELCOME CLASS ONE-A'S OWN DETERMINED, SCRAPPY FIGHTER, IZUKU MIDORIYA!"

There was a rousing cheer for him that he couldn't help but smile at. It seemed despite his overall creepy, spooky and outright demonic appearance, he had at least some fans in the audience.

"AND OF COURSE, GIVE IT UP FOR THE GIFT FROM GOD HERSELF! THE UNSTOPPABLE HOLY WARRIOR IBARA SHIOZAKI!"

To Izuku's disappointment, and to Nemesis's rage, Ibara's cheer was much, much louder. He could see the girl across from him now, though there was enough space between them that he couldn't feel the static charge of lightning-like faith over his skin.

Ibara didn't seem to acknowledge the cheers. Her eyes, joyless and focused, were entirely on him. And the longer she kept her focus the more nervous and uneasy he became. She seemed almost unblinking, like she was some kind of machine waiting until the match started so she could tear him to pieces.

"Look at her," Nemesis grinned with bloody teeth within his brain, "She believes herself blessed by God. We shall show her what the blessing of shadow and fire can do."

Burning flame began flowing along his scars and through his blood, flame that was Hell-born and terrible… and at this moment, the only thing he had to stop himself from being murdered on live television.

"Combatants, are you ready?" Midnight called from her position on the sidelines of the arena. Izuku looked over and, thankfully, noticed Cementoss was also seated just at her side. They were his essential lifelines if Ibara really did try to kill him, which he was still half-convinced she was trying to do, despite the absurdity of it all.

"We will do all we can to destroy our foe," The beast inside his mind grumbled out as if reading his thoughts, "If others try and stop us, then they too shall know our wrath."

Ibara bent her knees in readiness and moved one foot forward just slightly, and she raised her fists up to her face, taking the fighting stance of a martial artist. Izuku recognized the style as one of the ones recommended by Aizawa-sensei, muay thai. At the same time, her hair flared out around her becoming almost like a flowing cape of forest green vines.

"I'm ready," Ibara called out, her voice a shock emotionless cold.

Izuku did not copy her movements, though he did adjust his stance, moving his hands to his chest and keeping them open. He preferred the stances and techniques of karate, after all, swift, powerful strikes suited his quirk. He could feel lava moving through his scars and the air began heating up around him. For a moment he grit his teeth as his fingernails grew longer, sharper, almost talon-like, with blotches of unlight spotting across his arms.

Even Nemesis seemed to go silent as the beast of Hell itself focused within him. There was nothing in the world left other than themselves and the holy warrior who stood before them.

"I'm ready," Izuku called out, and to those who watched carefully, his teeth already seemed sharper within his mouth.

Midnight raised her whip into the air, and it seemed as though the world itself slowed down its eternal spin. The cheering of the crowd faded away into a background fuzz. Izuku could feel his lungs inflate with every breath he took. He could feel his tail curl and still. He could feel his heart beat, beat, beating within his chest. He could feel the fire flowing, corrupt and terrible through his scars.

And he felt a smile snake itself onto his lips. He felt his body tense and eager for combat. He felt a dark lusting for blood and war boil within his heart. He felt his pride rise within his chest, eager to show the world that he was no coward, no fearful china doll but a warrior, a warrior to be feared and respected.

Despite himself, he felt as though he was born for this.

Just as long as he, and Nemesis both, followed the plan.

"GO!"

BOOM.

The words had barely left Midnight's lips before the arena suddenly erupted into a flash of bright blue flame. Smoke quickly followed, and from it, darting not forwards but backward, was Izuku.

He was panting and his brain was swimming and every sense he had was suddenly on fire. Already he could tell, by the sounds of rushing vines, that he had not hit Ibara. But that was fine, he hadn't intended too.

Suddenly from the smoke, a wave of vines shot forwards, and with them came the static hissing of faith rushing along his skin like a thousand biting ants.

Izuku pushed it aside as Nemesis burned along his scars, moving in motion with his own actions as both boy and monster responded the same way to the same threat. Move. Keep moving. Do NOT get caught.

As the smoke cleared Izuku saw Ibara once again.

And quietly, to himself, his suspicions were confirmed.

She hadn't moved during his initial attack, though already her vines were stretching out around her, almost all of them rushing to try and attack Izuku himself. As he ran, he took a short breath before moving to stage two of his plan.

He turned sharply, and with the help of Nemesis rushing into his legs, he began darting towards her.

The vines rushed down at him like a mass of hunting, green-skinned snakes descending from the head of a mythical medusa.

And that was just what Izuku was counting on.

Because despite everything about Izuku, there was one skill he knew he could rely on. One skill that was not born of Hell, that belonged to him and him alone. One that he had learned through watching from the sidelines all his life when his focus had been a struggle to maintain.

When he had no friends and all he could do was spend hours looking at the TV, quietly and dully absorbing all the information he saw there.

He had been watching Ibara from the beginning.

And he had figured out her weakness.

Just as the vines came to hit him, he turned his entire body in a sudden ballet twist and, as he held his breath, time again slowed to a crawl. He felt cuts open up along his arm as the vines scraped him. He felt the buzz of lightning-like faith move through his skin and teeth. He felt the rush of wind that came from such a strong and powerful strike tear past him, for a moment, exposing the stumps of blackened horns on his head.

And he felt the fire burn through his legs, pumping energy and strength and power into his feet.

And just as he landed, just as his foot hit the ground once again, he pressed down and leaped.

Like a bullet wreathed in blue flame, he fired towards Ibara, moving past the wall of vines she had shot towards him and ignoring the buzz in his head that roared louder and louder with wailing sirens of danger, danger, danger! that screamed through his nerves.

Ignoring everything but his target. The girl who had called herself the Wrath of God.

Corrupt blue fire flowed suddenly from his clawed, demonic palm as, moving with agonizing slowness despite the mere milliseconds that passed before him. He blinked and he had already crossed the distance, coming into touching range of the girl.

Her faith was like a hornet's nest within his own skull and across his skin but through gritted, sharpened teeth he pushed it aside.

He was close enough to grab her now, should he wish, but that wasn't his objective.

Because he'd noticed one very slight, but very large weakness in her quirk. She couldn't move and use it at the same time. Every use had been from a standing, or close to standing position. If he could knock her off balance and keep her off balance, he'd have a chance to win.

And all it'd take was one good shot.

His hand stretched forwards.

Something roared with the tone of a thousand battle cries.

Eyes as dark as a haunted forest met the blazing green of Izuku's own.

There was no fear.

And then, there was only fire.

The boom threw Izuku backward and suddenly the world was spinning and roaring and dust and smoke and coppery spit and fire in his blood.

Only by the grace of a God Izuku was sure hated him did he managed to land on his feet, and even then, it was only by slamming his claws into the concrete did he managed to stop himself.

Eyes that seemed dimmed with a falling shadow, spiked with the glowing, fire-lit green of his irises looked up.

"A DIRECT HIT ON IBARA! BOY, THAT'S GOTTA STING!" It was like Present Mic was shouting into his ear, but Izuku ignored it. He'd done it. He'd hit her right in her side just as he planned, and now, surely she-

The smoke cleared.

And Ibara stood.

It was obvious she had been hit hard, there was no mistaking that. But what Izuku had assumed was that he would be hitting her side, dealing a nasty, maybe even cruel shock of burn damage that she wouldn't be able to recover from. More importantly, he hoped it would knock her down, and force her to move, allowing him the opportunity to press his advantage.

Instead, she stood with one arm raised to her front, and upon it a long kite shield made of the thick vine wrapped over vine that even now was still being formed, replacing the burning pieces of her hair that littered the floor around her.

Izuku's eyes widened in shock. Her reaction time had to be- she couldn't have- this was-

"THE HOLY WARRIOR STANDS!" Present's Mic's confirmation of the incredible scene boomed through the roaring cheer of the stadium crowd, "THIS GIRL IS SOMETHING ELSE, FOLKS!"

It took Izuku a second to realize that he had at least staggered her back, and her vine-hair had been forced to recall back to protect her. She must have kept at least some of it in reserve as if she had expected this move from him.

"DAMN IT!" Nemesis howled through his brain as he picked himself back up, his plan suddenly flying out the window as his mind raced for a new one, "DAMN IT! WE WERE SO CLOSE!"

"We can still win," Izuku hissed openly to himself, "We can-"

"We?" Ibara replied as she lowered her shield arm, though she did not dissipate the shield itself.

Izuku tensed but did not reply.

"I see you're not as blood-maddened as I thought. From what Katsuki told me, I took you as a demon of Belial. I see now you are more cunning than that, perhaps you belong to Lilithia's court of snow and ice or Satani's cruel hedonistic realm." For a moment, her eyes narrowed, "Strange, you didn't burn at the touch of my vines," Then she shrugged, "It doesn't matter, your protection won't last forever," She continued as she held out her other arm. Izuku had some small note of pleasure to see some of her uniform had become frayed and burned, at least he had done some damage.

And yet his heart dropped when her hair moved again. Wrapping along her arm, curling into her fist and flowing onwards, she formed a flail. A flail ending in vines that wrapped themselves into a ball, covered in a hundred needle-sharp spines.

"HEY, WAIT, THAT'S A WEAPON! CAN SHE DO THAT?" Present Mic's voice boomed around the stadium.

Coldly, Aizawa answered, "She didn't bring a weapon to the arena, it's simply a smart use of her own quirk. It's completely within the rules."

This caused Ibara to almost, almost smile. Izuku could see the tiny twitch of her fair lips.

"W-What are you planning to do?" Izuku asked as he readied himself again, sure that his question was lost over the braying of the crowd. "Are- are you going to kill me?"

"Kill you?" Ibara frowned, "No, why would I do that? Here? In front of thousands?" Izuku almost breathed out a sigh of relief, until she added, "I'm going to expose you."

"Wh-what?!"

"You are a monster," She pointed the flail towards him, "And everyone will see it. In this place, as your true self, the heroes will do the work for me and the world will be free of another demon of hell."

"No- wait, you don't have to do this!" Izuku panicked out, even as Nemesis growled through his scars.

"Yes, I do," She replied simply, honestly, coldly, "Because you are the enemy and I am a soldier of God. There can be no other way. I will make you repent, Nemesis, in the name of God Almighty."

Before Izuku could even respond she took a short breath and charged.

The flail swung at a speed that could have been only aided by her control over her quirk, and by chance alone did Izuku dodge. He moved to one side, more on instinct than anything else as she swung again, and again the mace-end of her weapon missed him by mere inches.

Rage and hot, Hell-born fire tore through him once again and before he realized he was doing it he was snarling and raising a burning palm up to strike her.

Fire, burning and unnaturally blue burst from him, though it struck only her shield and before Izuku knew it she had already moved through the smoke to strike him with her elbow, smashing his jaw and sending him backwards.

He recovered and with a bloody mouth of sharpened teeth he roared, his arms coated with unlight, his scars burning with a furnace blue as the light in his eyes continued to fade and deep within him and the monster known as Nemesis gained foothold after foothold within his heart.

And yet within himself, he warred to hold it back. He could feel its blood rage, its battle lust infecting him, pushing him further and further. Give in, let go, tear her to pieces. He wanted to, a terrible, awful part of him wanted to. And yet the human part of him remained, holding on to his promises of control, of hope and his own demands that he do better, that he be better.

Even if Ibara was determined to make him betray those promises.

Again, he went on the attack. No strategy now, no clever plan, only the urge to attack, attack, attack. She was moving, which meant no more long-range attacks. This would be a battle of blood and furious close combat.

Good thing he excelled at it.

But against Ibara, he was already finding he had met his counter.

Izuku was burning. Every limb was on fire and his brain was a mess of hyper-focused sensations and emotions crashing and raging within him.

He was going too far, he knew he was going too far, he needed to stop and stop now and-

"We. Will not. Lose. Again." Nemesis ordered within him in a tone that was almost too loud into his ear. The thick, flooding rivers of oil-thick power were coursing through his every scar, setting them aflame with the fire of Hell itself.

But Izuku was still Izuku, and he couldn't figure out why.

All he knew was that he wanted to win. All he knew was that Nemesis wanted to win.

And so, somehow, together, they were fighting back.

Their movements were a blur of burning flame and shadow-black. He could feel his blood boiling under his skin as he struck at her again and again, sometimes with the burning flame of his Hell-born power, sometimes with nothing but claw and fury, tearing at her shield and trying to rip it from her arm.

No matter what, she kept repairing it, holding her ground until it was back up once again.

He attacked her flail, burning it to stinking ash.

Again, she repaired it within an instant, and again she swung it for his face, his body, an expert with the weapon that no girl her age should even know how to wield.

He quickly found that she could curl the vines back, turning it from a long-range flail into a short-range mace, and that she was an expert with both. Every strike that hit him caused purified lightning to shoot across his body, and even being this close to her sent stabbing pins and needles across his skin.

Izuku's mouth was bleeding, as were his many cuts. She had smashed him twice with the weapon, once in the side, another to his shoulder, and even landed in a few kicks to his stomach. He barely felt the pain that he knew had to be there. Some sane part of his brain told him he had broken a rib, but the darker, more terrible part of his mind demanded he continue.

Ibara wasn't exactly coming away clean. He had managed to land several blows on her already. Her mouth was bleeding from a punch that he was sure would have broken her jaw, the clothes on her right side had burned and now exposed the fire-redded skin of her stomach. He had slashed bloody rakes into her left arm, though again, she had simply ignored the pain and pushed through with a cold, unrelenting fury.

And there was something else. Her scalp was starting to bleed. She was using her quirk to repair her shield and flail, and yet he knew it was starting to cost her.

Just as it was starting to cost him.

Yet despite the talons of his horrific inner demon digging into his heart, he refused to cave in, to allow it to take control. He would not lose again. He was sick of losing. He was sick of being the villain, being the monster that people pointed to and screamed.

He was sick of it all. Of the staring faces, the quiet accusations, of being born of Hell.

And somehow, he and Nemesis found a unity through this. He could feel the hate of his demon, he could feel its drive to hurt and burn and fight, but somehow it was born not of bloodlust but a need, a burning, all-consuming desire to win just this once.

"WHY?" He found himself screaming at Ibara as again he swung for her, flame and fire trailing from his fists, "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?"

She did not answer.

"WHY DO YOU HATE ME?" He screamed at her again as he smashed her shield and forced her backward, "I'M NOT A MONSTER! WE'RE NOT EVIL! WE JUST WANT TO BE A HERO! WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT?"

She attempted a counter swing, but he dodged, and in a moment born only from the unnatural speed his limbs now possessed, he spotted an opening and struck.

A fist made of unlight and flame smashed into her stomach, causing her to gasp and spit to fly from her mouth, and just for a second Izuku thought he had done it. He had finally-

Her knee hit him square in his chest, and a second later her elbow barely missed his face as he reeled backwards.

She hadn't even taken the time to register the pain. She had simply launched back into the war.

It was almost as if she was possessed by something herself. Perhaps it was her faith, perhaps it was her hate. Izuku wasn't sure, just as he was no longer sure of anything.

"I hate you because you should be hated," Her words struck him as hard as her blows as she again rained hell upon him, and only through dodging back did he avoid her strikes, "I hate you because of everything you've done to me! You and all your kind!"

Something within her was snapping as she continued her assault, driving him back and back. Something was finally entering her eyes, something that her exhaustion, her wounds, and the blood that flowed from her could no longer hold back.

"You are a demon, all you do is make others suffer!" She screamed as the flail again barely missed taking Izuku's nose off his face, "I was just a child! AND YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

The flail shortened suddenly, becoming a mace and swinging down at Izuku. He held his arm up and with a sickening crunch he felt his bones shatter upon impact, instantly paired with the lightning-strike of her indomitable faith.

And yet he felt no pain, only a sudden surge of white-hot flame and black oil thick power wash through him, heating the air around him and causing fire to flow from the corners of his mouth as he screamed his anger into the air with the voices of the million damned, even as his arm fell away, exposing his body.

Ibara showed not a single hint of terror. If anything, her eyes were alive with a holy retribution that came only from the most deep-rooted zealotry.

"NO PITY, NO REMORSE, NO FEAR."

She swung again, smashing his other arm aside, though not breaking it, forcing the opening wider.

"I AM IBARA SHIOZAKI, NEOPHYTE OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR!"

The mace was gone from her hand, and the shield vanished from her arm as she reached forwards, falling towards him. Her voice was like a thunderbolt through his brain and heart and soul.

"AND IN HIS NAME," One hand landed and wrapped around Izuku's neck, the other landed squarely on his forehead, gripping his skull. "I WILL BANISH YOU BACK TO HELL!"

In that second, as the world stopped spinning, his body was filled was holy lightning.


The girl sat alone on the hospital bed barely older than an infant, her body wrapped in bandages as she listened to the nurses through the open door.

"Such a tragedy, poor thing, her family thought they were giving a hitchhiker a ride, but it turns out he wanted to rob them."

"Oh my-"

"I know, did horrible things to the father, and the mother-"

"Both dead?"

"On arrival."

"How did the girl…?"

"No idea. She keeps talking about how the hitchhiker wasn't a person, like he was some kind of monster. Tried to take her body, but she prayed to God and was saved."

"God? She's a Christian?"

"Her family were. Some God if he would let that happen to her."


The girl was older now, by a year or so. She wasn't quite sure anymore, the drugs they had her on made it hard to focus. Made it hard to do anything other than sit and stare through misty eyes at the world around her.

"She's doing much better," Her guardian, Miss Aki announced. She was a cold woman, tall and thin, and looked something like a scarecrow given life. She dressed like one too. "On this new medication, I mean. She's been sleeping at night and barely talks about seeing monsters anymore. She still doesn't interact with the other children, but that's fine. As long as she's quiet that's all that matters."

"Hm," Doctor Puranam smiled and gave a cut nod, "We'll be keeping a close eye on her progress, but if she's stable than that's a positive sign." He sighed softly as he looked to the girl. Her green eyes turned back to him without a hint of deeper thought or emotion. Only the dull, closed-mouthed focus of the mentally drained. He looked back to Miss Aki and said, "I hope she recovers in time, I really do, though all too often these days schizophrenia can become a permanent disability."

Miss Aki shrugged, "That'll be for her new parents to deal with. If she ever gets any."

The doctor frowned at this before turning back to the girl and, with a small smile, told her, "You're not alone in this world, little Ibara. There are others out there just like you, and they're recovering too. You're doing great. Keep strong."

Ibara didn't smile back. She didn't do anything. She only stared through blank eyes.


"Her? Really?" Miss Aki snorted at the man, "You want her?"

"Yes, really," The old man frowned back at the disdainful woman, "She's one of us. She deserves to be around those who believe as she believes."

"She's too young to even understand what she's saying," Miss Aki snorted, "And I will not hand her over to your weird little cult."

"We are not a cult, Miss Aki. We are Christians."

"In this day and age, you're a cult."

The older man sighed before looking over to the girl, who sat, practically brain dead on the couch before them. "Why don't we let her decide, hum?" He moved over to her slowly, hobbling on his walking stick before kneeling down before her.

Ibara slowly focused on him. He had kind blue eyes, dark hair and a wrinkly, tanned face that spoke of a lifetime outdoors. He also had one large scar moving across his face that seemed somehow burned, even though it had long since healed. His clothes were strange and dark, though around his neck was a pendant of a cross, but not like the one Ibara had around her own neck.

The last thing she had of her family.

"Ibara Shiozaki?" He asked softly, the words filtering through her brain like droplets of water from a leaky faucet, "My name is Ecclesiarch Kibishi Raion, and I would like to offer you a chance at a new life."

The girl blinked slowly, and her eyes pulled away. Curling around Miss Aki's legs was a cat. A cat cloaked in black shadow, with five eyes and a flickering serpent's tongue. It hissed with a tone that was both feline and serpentine. Fear tried to move through her face, but before she could even do so, Kibishi turned.

And he saw it too.

It noticed him, and then quickly backed away before fleeing from the room.

Somehow, even through the drugs that filled her brain with cotton, she knew this meant something. She knew this was… important.

This man, this man was important.

He turned back to her, his kind eyes shining, and in a low voice, he whispered to her, "I can show you how to send them away, Ibara. Through our faith," He took her hand softly as her eyes moved back to his, "Through holy God, we can fight back together. Deus vult, my child."

For the first time in years, the girl smiled.


She hit the ground hard, blood spilling from her nose and her hair falling around her.

"Get up," The voice of her brother was commanding and stern, "Get up, little sister, or I'll pick you up by your hair."

Ibara began climbing to her feet once again, but suddenly the wind was taken out of her by a sharp kick to the stomach which sent her sprawling across the training room floor. Again, blood and bile sprayed from her mouth as the girl, now barely a teenager, fought to right herself.

"You're weak," her brother taunted as he stormed towards her, his footfalls heavy, "How will you purge the demons and heretics if you can't even stand to fight me?"

She coughed and her eyes focused on the hardwood ground. Suddenly something clattered before her. A wooden sword. "Take it and fight me properly this time."

"I- I can't beat you, brother," She spat the words out, her mouth tasting of sweet coppery blood, "I can't-"

"And he said unto them, why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?"

Ibara growled suddenly and grabbed the sword, scrambling to her feet to face her brother, who stood with his back to her, his wooden sword in his hand. He wore loose exercise pants and a black tank-top, his hair was jet black and cut short against his head.

"I am faithful. I am a Knight-"

"Not yet, you're not," Her brother corrected as he raised his sword and turned to her, a grim smile on his thin face, his brown eyes dull and dark, half his features hidden by the white bandage across his missing nose and around his sharp cheekbones, "Not until you can beat me."


She knelt before the altar, her head bowed. The silence of the hall in the Holy Church of The True Cross was heavy on her shoulders, and despite the many eyes watching her, she felt as though this was a private moment. This was just for her, her reward for a lifetime of struggle and pain and faith. The smell of candle smoke flickered through the air, as well as holy oils and incense. The only light came from the overhead lanterns, causing shadows to dance across the dim room.

She was dressed in her flowing white robes, emblazoned with the red cross of her order, ceremonial yet simple. The robes of a humble servant of the Lord.

Ibara had received her U.A. acceptance letter that morning. She had tossed it aside the moment they told her she was in. That had been easy, and something she had barely wanted to do in the first place. It was only because she had to go to a high school, one that would eventually give her the hero license she needed to operate freely, that she had applied at all.

This moment, this was far more important. This was one of the most important moments of her entire life.

Before her, leaning heavily on his walking stick, dressed in his great white robes of office with a mighty red cross emblazoned on his chest, was her Ecclesiarch. On one side stood Prioress Shizuka, as quiet and humble as always, her features plain and her dark eyes, the color of newly surfaced coal, sparkled with pride for her favorite pupil.

On his other side, stood her brother. Tall and strong and dressed his own robes and armor of Knighthood.

"Ibara," The old man's voice cracked and shook from his age. His illnesses were eating at him even now, and all knew each day was a struggle for him. But he had pulled together enough of his strength to perform this ceremony. After all, who else could? "We have summoned you here to bestow upon you the rank of Neophyte of our order, and formally embrace you as one of our own. If you wish to refuse this honor, leave now."

She did not move.

After a moment, Ecclesiarch Raion stepped forwards, and despite his withered hand shaking with age, he drew out his sword. It was old yet perfectly kept. The blade was razor-sharp and long, almost as long as Ibara was tall and upon the blade was etched 'Psalm: 144:1'. "It is a terrible shame that one so young must be called to this eternal war, but we live in strange times when demons walk freely amongst the unknowing, and faith is tested at all sides."

Ibara tensed at his words, and for a moment the expectations she knew that came with her new position fell to her shoulders. She felt the eyes of her brother, already a Knight, land on her.

She refused to show weakness and kept her eyes focused down.

With a shocking amount of control, and with a hand that could only have been steadied by an iron will of effort, the old man lowered the blade to slowly touch each of Ibara's shoulders. "I dub thee Ibara Shiozaki, Neophyte of the Holy Order of the Knights Templar." He lifted the blade up, and as he did so, Ibara raised her head.

Slowly he placed the blade back into its sheath, and for a moment, tried to raise his hand, as was expected. However, his strength failed, and overcome with his palsy, he grunted. It was terrible to see such a once mighty warrior brought low by the failures of age.

He turned the Knight at his side, and simply asked, "Brother Chizome, will you do the honors?"

He stepped aside, with some aid from Prioress Shizuka, as Ibara's brother took his place. For a moment, their eyes met. Stained glass green and muddied brown.

Then, the back of his fist smashed across her face, whipping her head to one side and filling her mouth with hot, coppery blood. But Ibara did not fall, despite the rush of pain and the sudden urge to strike back.

Though her jaw pulsed in agony, she turned slowly back to face her brother, panting with blood pinkened teeth.

"As a true member of our order," His voice was low and heavy with all the weight he knew the moment demanded, "Let that be the last blow you receive unanswered."

Her eyes burned with the strength of the faith she possessed, just as her brother's burned with his.

"It shall be so."


Her hand wrapped around his neck as her eyes burned with hatred. Her faith poured off her and into Izuku, filling his body and brain and heart with sharp, stabbing, burning lightning that refused to give way to the blasphemous fire that flowed through his blood.

And yet not every part of him was set alight. Not every part of him was cursed.

The human parts of him, the parts that refused to give in to the darkness and hate and fire and Hell that burned within him, reached up, took control of his one still usable hand and curled it into a fist.

Somehow, though his teeth clenched tight within his mouth, and fire burned within his throat, he growled out, "We are not a demon!"

And Izuku swung at Ibara's face with all the strength he could muster.

It connected with a crunch that told of something breaking and, suddenly she was off him.

From somewhere far away, but one that was quickly rushing back to him at full speed, Present Mic was screaming, "IBARA SHIOZAKI! You have been warned! Strangling your opponent is against the rules! Both of you separate!"

The crowd, however, seemed to be loving it, and their roar of excitement at the vicious battle filled the entire stadium.

Izuku scrambled back away from the woman, desperate to breathe, to get some space away from the skin numbing, lightning-static power of her faith, away from her hands that were far too strong and her power which was far too well trained.

He was gulping down breaths into burning lungs, even as blood dripped from his chin and wounds and Nemesis was screaming through his blood to get back over there and tear her heart out of her chest.

He gritted his teeth and pulled it back. All he could do was pull it back. All he could do was curl there for a moment, doing everything he could to stop the darkness from downing him. Nemesis wanted blood, it wanted her blood, promising it wouldn't kill anyone else just her and only her and she needed to die and die right now.

"No, no, no, no, no," Izuku spoke through teeth that were clenched so tight they might shatter in his mouth. He was gripping his useless arm as fire burned around him, causing the air to shimmer and crack, almost as if the universe itself was preparing to tear him from reality.

The unlight was coating his entire chest now and could be seen creeping up around his neck like a living oil spill. Spines had pierced through the back of his shirt and along his arms, and as he finally opened his eyes, they revealed themselves to be black.

Only black.

Only the black of the void, of oblivion, broken only by the burning pagan green of his irises.

He turned, looking over to Ibara, expecting her to be coming down on him with all the holy wrath her faith demanded of her.

But she was just… sitting. Sitting and staring at her burned hands, ignoring the other bloody wounds across her body, and even the clear shattering of her broken nose.

Her eyes were wide, her expression one of utter and complete shock as if she had just been told some impossible truth that she was still wrapping her mind around.

Slowly she looked up and met Izuku's gaze.

And all the shock turned to nothing but outright hatred. Just as she had said before, there was no remorse, no pity, no fear.

Just hatred for the enemy she had been raised to destroy.

Midnight was shouting something to Cementoss about pausing the fight, that they were both too injured to continue.

Ibara wasn't listening. She was on her feet in a second, just as he was on his, his taloned feet having long since broken through his trainers.

Ibara staggered slightly, her wounds finally catching up to her, her nose a bloody mess, her body covered in burns and cuts and bruises and her scalp bleeding across her forehead, forcing her to wipe the blood from her eyes.

Izuku couldn't defend himself. One more shot and he would lose control. He had taken too much, and it was everything he had to stand even now. Yet fire was burning already in his palms, and Nemesis was moving him into a fighting position.

"We- we can't-"

"We shall. No more losses, no more weakness, this time we shall win," Nemesis did not speak into his mind, it spoke with his mouth.

With mounting horror, Izuku realized that he was no longer in control of his actions. The beast was moving with his body now and grinning with a bloody row of shark-like teeth. His chin lowered and his eyes blazed with a furious, Hell-born hate that was focused and devoted entirely to this girl, this so-called Templar who had come to kill him.

No, he would kill her. He thirsted for her death like a drowning man would thirst for one last breath.

And Izuku couldn't stop it. He couldn't stop the demon raising his one good arm up once more as Ibara summoned her flail and shield to her arms. Stupid woman, they were at distance, she could have attacked with her ranged vines.

Though perhaps her pride demanded otherwise. Just as his pride demanded he make his final stand here and now, and that he end her life for daring to strike-

NO! No, he couldn't be this far gone! His jaw tightened suddenly, his eyes closed, and he turned his head as he groaned out some unintelligible noise of inner struggle.

This second of hesitation cost him the initiative.

Ibara charged again, against all that should be possible, against the shouting of Midnight and the orders of Cementoss that went unheard and unheeded above the sudden roaring of the baying, practically bloodthirsty crowd.

Time slowed once again.

Izuku, Nemesis, both turned their head and saw Ibara descending on them, the flail swinging and her mouth, her bleeding mouth open in a roar of wrathful battle-fury. There was no hesitation in her gaze, no fear at the monster that stood before her on blackened limbs of unlight and flowing corrupt flame.

Nemesis screamed back at her with the voice of the million-damned, and their good hand raised forth, fire already spewing across its palm. From within his own soul Izuku pulled his quirk back with everything he had as fear gripped his heart that whatever was left of him wouldn't be enough. That he'd gone too far. That his worst nightmare was about to once again come true.

One last shot, and it'd be all over.

He wanted her to die.

He couldn't let her die.

Boom.


Later on, during many a post-match analysis over pints of beer, many would utter how that match was so different from the others. How something seemed… older, perhaps. More personal, maybe. Certainly, it was far more intense than the others. Many jokingly, or half-jokingly, compared it to old myths and tales of ancient samurai fighting oni, or knights fighting dragons.

Those who were there swore to their unbelieving friends how, in that last second as Ibara had just avoided the wall that had been raised only to meet an explosion of blue flame, they could see a strange light around the head of the bloodied young woman, bright and shining. And others claimed that they saw something around the head of the young man, something dark and terrible, like the halo carved from a black hole.

Videos proved useless as they had all amazingly failed as the boy had screamed, meaning that only those on the ground could make an actual verdict.

The smoke and fire had cleared. A smoking body lay on the ground, with the other only upright because it had hit the concrete wall behind them.

Midnight had called it, with a strained, shaking voice.

Victory went to Ibara Shiozaki.


SO THERE YAH HAVE IT!

A ton went down in this chapter, things that, as I said, had been planned from the very beginning. Ibara's backstory was the big reveal here, for obvious reasons. Her being the 'other child' was hinted at (kinda) waaaay back in chapter 2. Her being a Templar came a little bit later, as did Stain being her brother, but once I got the idea I just had to go with it. I mean, it's waaaay too delicious not too, right?

I admit a bit of hypocrisy at the end there, with Izuku losing in the second round despite my usual railings against people following the canon. My defense is that it works for the story I'm trying to tell that Izuku lost here and at this very moment. It'll become a little clearer next chapter.

Speaking of next chapter, it's a bit of a wind-down from this one, because obvious reasons, and it even has Hitoshi meeting Endeavor! Ain't that gonna be super fun! Not to mention I'm not entirely done on the surprises just yet. I may have followed the canon slightly with this one, but things will not play out the same for other people.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this bloody showdown, thank you for reading and I'll see y'all next update!