Isidro de la Valle Verde, Commander General of the Demon-Killing Knights of the Holy Cross, hidalgo of blood of the Spanish Empire and famed warrior of great renown entered a small tavern of the port of Valencia, a hood covering his face. It was silly, because in the first place no one would have guessed that the Caballero Verde Esmeralda would visit a location like this, but he preferred to stay safe. There was more than a group that hated the Demon-Killing Knights, bandits and pirates that used their powers illegitimately or nobles that despised their continued support for the King.
He looked around, and finally spotted the table. It wasn't hard to do so, since the three people sitting there were a boy and two girls that must have been in their middle teens, all with Asian complexion. Two of them were probably brother and sister, or close relatives in some other way, judging by their eyes and hair color, while the third was shorter, with grey hair cascading on her shoulders. He sighed. Izzzuku wasn't in sight, but he was probably hiding not too far, so without a second thought, he sat down.
"Are you the three Izzzuku told me about?" He asked bluntly. If he was wrong, he could have just excused himself, though he doubted that. Even if they were different, he could tell that the boy was Izzzuku with another name. Which meant he was also another version of himself.
"You are… Isidro?"
"Yes." He nodded, "I decided to take the meeting to not be hogged further by Izzzuku, so here I am. Now, what do you want?"
The grey-haired girl said something he couldn't understand, and a moment later the male repeated it. "She says you aren't really being that kind for a knight." He said. Judging by the expression on the girl's face when he said that, he was fairly sure she hadn't been quite so calm in expressing her dislike for his tone.
"I'm not here to be friendly. I'm here because I want to make sure three powerful Demon-Touched leave the city before something happens to either them or the commoners of Valencia." He looked at all three of them, and in that moment, for the first time, he really met the male's gaze.
There was a ringing in his hears, and he realized at once what that meant, noticing the same realization on the other's face.
"You have One for All?" The kid asked bluntly.
"Well, that was inconvenient." Isidro replied, sighing. Of course. The same thing had happened with Isaac Midoriya, it made sense that it would with this one too. "Before we dive into that, what's your name?"
"I'm Izuku Midoriya. This is Izumi Midoriya, and this is Huanli Quanteng." He replied, pointing to his left and right to the two girls.
"Good." He said, finally able to connect a name and a face. He noticed the similarity between them. His hair were a clear brown that some people said looked more like green, and they had started to go greener after Uno para Todos made its way in his body, for reasons he had yet to figure out, and so obviously the kid just had green hair, like Isaac's. The girl was the same. They also shared the freckles, a rare trait at least in his part of the world. He wondered how common freckles were in the Lands of the Demon Warriors for a moment, then refocused. "Now, Midoriya, what do you want? I was under the impression that your 'training' is supposed to not require for us to meet."
"It's true. I need your help, however. You see…" He started to explain his situation, and Isidro grimaced as the young man explained. A powerful Demon-Touched was now in league with more, forming a potential threat not just for one world, but for more. And once again, it all went back to Todos para Uno.
He closed his eyes and he could see again that day. Of all the enemies of Spain, none had ever been as dangerous as the wielder of Todos para Uno. Hiding behind the façade of a mercenary commander lurked a monster in human skin, the worst Demon Touched in the history of Europe that, the moment he had been strong enough, had started a full fledged war against Spain.
Of course, it had been up to the Order to take him on, and the first battle had been a unilateral disaster. Conventional tactics against the Demon-Touched had all failed. Trying to make him consume too much of his own power, like they had done facing a fire user years before, had proven ineffective. Massing a cavalry charge had been worth noting when the man had extended his hand and the power of a storm had come crushing down toward their horses. The few that had made it past that managed to pierce his body with lances, only to see him casually remove them from his body, slowly regenerating.
That had been when Isidro knew they were fighting the Devil himself. Their tercio, the best trained in all of Spain, shattered and broken. Arquebus and muskets proved as useless as the lances, so they had no choice left but use the swords and pikes, trying to cut him apart. He was among those pikemen, he knew he had seen death in the eyes as it approached.
But they hadn't stopped. As he picked them off one by one, or, bored launched his assault on them with a massive gust of wind and thunder, he had stood his ground, with many others. And he had realized one thing.
He was toying with them.
If he wanted to, he could have killed them immediately, shattered their armor like parchment. Instead, the man had toyed with them, making a show of the power of the Devil.
Until the other man had appeared. Isidro had never seen someone like that, a towering warrior wielding a two handed sword with one hand and a shield with another. The two men faced in combat, and as they did, Isidro had realized that the man was a Demon-Touched too. He had broken the law by being there, by entering the battlefield without permission from the Commander General, and yet he was fighting for them.
Isidro and the remaining Caballeros rejoiced and charged in, helping him.
It was a tough battle, but in the end, the blonde giant won.
In the years to come, people claimed Isidro was the one that slayed Todos para Uno. In a sense it was true. He was the one that, after the other warrior, bloodied, wounded and battered, managed to drive his sword through the head of the enemy, grabbed the hilt and pulled it, splitting in half the Devil's skull and killing him for good, before chopping off his head for good measure.
He dealt the finishing blows, yes, and to his credit, he did cut off two times Todos para Uno's right hand before, though he regrew it soon enough.
But the real Hero had been the blonde warrior.
So why did he have to kill him?
"Mister Isidro? Sir?" He heard the voice of the younger teen and snapped out of his thoughts. He grasped the edge of the table.
"Pardon me, I was deep in thought." He sighed, "In short, you want to know how you can defeat so many… All for One, you called them, right? Todos para Uno?"
"Yes sir."
"It's hopeless." He bluntly replied, "Doesn't matter how many people you take with you, fighting them all and their followers will end up in your defeat."
Huanli jumped up and said something aloud, while Izuku paled, "B-But we can't just give up…"
"Let me finish. You can't do that, but alone they aren't invincible. No Demon-Touched ever is, it's just a matter of isolating them."
Izuku blinked, "Oh, so you mean that we should try to fight them individually."
"Yes. Try to fight them together, and even if it's out of an opportunistic need they will support each other, not to mention bring together their followers and smash your forces instead. Divide et Impera, said Julius Caesar. It means Divide and Conquer."
"But how do we divide them?"
"That's up to you." Isidro replied, "Personally, during our hunt for Todos para Uno we managed to separate him from his troops because the majority of his followers were normal humans, which meant the normal tactics of war worked on them. Once we managed to reduce his companions enough, we used guns to exterminate his so-called royal guard at range with sustained lines of musket and arquebus fire, while we sent a decoy force of cavalry riders to keep him busy. By the time he realized, he was essentially alone, with his few remaining followers scattering." He grimaced, "We call this strategy the Anvil and Hammer, and is how we usually deal with powerful Demon-Touched. This was the Anvil, and then the Hammer…"
Blonde hair, a large sword in one hand, a cacophony of grunts, shouts, cries of pain. The heat of fire burning his skin as he pulled a sword until the cracking of a skull and the feeling of the body slumping to the ground.
"The Hammer comes and ends the fight." He explained, "Against All for one, less risky tactics, like causing him to fall to exhaustion, are useless, so it becomes a matter of bringing down a powerful enough Hammer once you have trapped him on the Anvil. We almost didn't."
Izuku nodded, and Isidro noticed he was taking notes, before looking up again, "Can I ask for some suggestions?"
The Commander General nodded, though he still felt uneasy divulging the tactics of the Caballeros to a Demon-Touched.
"Yet you are one yourself."
"Not by choice…" He grunted, and noticed Izuku looking up to him. "What is it?"
"I was wondering about… One for All. You know, since Izzzuku said you killed the previous wielder…"
"I did." The Knight replied immediately, "It just came with consequences." He looked down at his hand, at that old scar, and his mind went back to that day.
-x-
He had walked up to the blonde man, worried, his broken halberd held more like an overly large axe. "Who are you?" He had asked.
"Uno para Todos." The man had whispered, "A sworn enemy of that thing."
Isidro had looked at the man, and despite his identity of Demon-Touched, couldn't help but see a hero. Someone out of an old folk tale.
He had extended his hand to help him stand up, when a raucous voice had made them both turn as an old Knight advanced.
He had bent the knee to the Commander General. Grey hair and eyes, the older Commander General had stared at them both, and then given Isidro an order.
To kill the Demon-Touched.
More than a man had balked at that, but none more than Isidro. Yet, the Commander General had not moved an inch. The man had knocked out two of his men to reach the battlefield, he had said, and for a Demon-Touched attacking the Caballeros was a death sentence.
Isidro had gritted his teeth. It was true, but there were enough reasons to make an exception. The real motive behind the Commander General's decision had been obvious from the start. This was to be a victory of the Caballeros. A Demon-Touched had no business interfering.
"Kill him, Isidro." He had said.
"Sir, I…"
"Do it. You are the man that cut down the foe of Spain. I will raise you to the rank of Commander for it, if you finish the job. What is another Demon-Touched, anyway? You killed your fair share since you joined our order."
And he had. Some that didn't deserve it, some that did. But this man? This man was different. His brain had raced to find a solution, and one had appeared. "May I choose the method of execution that befits a foe like this at least?" He had asked.
"Do as you wish." The other had replied, and Isidro had slowly walked to the sword the blonde man had wielded, before going to him. The blonde giant had not moved a single step, simply stood up. And up close, Isidro could tell why: his wounds were so heavy he could barely move. But so where Isidro's. He dropped the sword at his feet.
"In that case, I choose to challenge him to a duel."
"Isidro!" The Commander General had said, but the man had nodded and picked up the weapon.
"No one intervene! This is a duel of honor, in front of God, and I will stop anyone that dares to interfere! If he lives, I ask to let him go!" Isidro had shouted. It was his best shot that wouldn't betray his order or his honor, and it was enough to make most of the Caballeros stay away. After all, most of them, like him, hated the idea of killing this man. Some of them probably knew what he was going to try.
They had clashed. The strength wasn't nearly the same of the blows he had seen All for One receive, but Isidro's arms still stinged. "Kill me and run." He had whispered, before blocking another swing of the large blade, "I will make it convincing, but do it. They are too weak to stop you right now, even in your condition, and most of them will argue that they can't punish the winner of a duel of honor. Many of them are my friends."
"Why would you die?"
"Because I owe you my life." He replied, "You might be a Demon-Touched, but you proved to me the Caballeros might be wrong. Now do it." He opened his guard on purpose, but the giant's swing stopped, mere inches from taking his life.
Isidro had frowned, as the man coughed blood from his mouth. They both had paled, as they looked to a large pool of blood opening on the man's flank. Slowly, Isidro looked behind, seeing a pale musketeer standing next to the Commander General, a smile on the man's face.
He had turned back around, in time to see the man kneel and cough blood. His eyes watered, and he unconsciously let go his weapon and rushed to him, gripping his armor so tightly blood gushed from his right hand.
"Enough of this, Isidro!" The Commander General, this farce lasted long enough."
He gripped again, the blood falling from his hand to the ground and mixing with the blood of the bullet wound. He desperately touched it, but the blood wouldn't stop. "I-I'm sorry…" He had said.
"Don't be." The man had whispered back, "I did… What I had to. But… Uno para Todos has not. Todos para Uno is dead, but his power might not be. Please. Allow me to curse you."
His first instinct was to reel back. Was it all true then? Were Demon-Touched really the spawn of Hell? "Why?"
"To protect the Empire and the world, I will give you a curse."
Isidro had looked around. Most of the Caballeros were not looking at him, but arguing loudly with the Commander General. The few remaining couldn't hear the whispered words of the giant of a man that was quickly dying in his arms. "Do it." He replied.
"May God forgive me for my sins." The man had whispered back, and finally, something happened. He felt something in his wounded hand, a small spark of pain, then the world stopped. "You are next. Now please, finish me. It's so painful…"
He had obliged with tears in his eyes, muttering a final prayer.
And that's how it had happened.
Almost no one questioned him on the dying Demon-Touched's last words. To the few that did, Isidro had simply answered that the man had prayed for forgiveness for his sins.
No one had questioned the death of the Commander General, a few months later. He was old, weakened by age. A bottle of wine had probably been too much for his elderly physique. Granted, no one knew who had offered the Commander that bottle in particular, and it came from Ciudad Real, the capital of La Mancha, the province where Isidro hailed from, but he certainly wasn't the only Caballero or Commander from the region. Not to mention, he had an alibi guaranteed by many other survivors of the Battle of the Devil-Touched.
Not long after that, he had become Commander General himself, hailed by his peers as the hero of that battle, and worked hard to re-establish the Caballeros as a more just order than they had been under his predecessor.
He still cursed himself. Sometimes, he cursed even the blonde warrior whose name he had never learnt, for passing onto him the burden of Uno para Todos. Not that he ever meant those curses.
He had deserved the penance of Uno para Todos treating him like an evil person.
He was. He had sinned many times.
He just was not going to let that stop him from doing what he had to do.
-x-
Izuku stared at the man as he refused to go into further details and then drove the conversation back on the matter of fighting All for Deku, Alien King and most likely Shigaraki too. From what Izuku could tell, Isidro's suggestions were solid. Maybe they had a chance, after all.
A while later, the man stood back up, gave them his regards, and left, just asking them to leave the city if they had no further business in his world.
Once he left, Huanli sighed, "I only got bits and pieces of that. How did it go?"
"Good enough. He is a good man… I think."
"You think?"
"It's a bit hard to answer." Izuku had replied. Isidro's One for All had given Izuku a very unique feeling. It reminded him vaguely of All for Deku's sensation, more than any other. The Quirk inside both of them was in anguish, but where All for Deku's lived desperation, anger and horror, the one inside Isidro gave a feeling of mourning, resentment, and a bit of… hopefulness. He wondered what had really happened to him.
He closed his eyes and sighed. It felt kind of disappointing to not be able to learn more. "Feeling what it's like to traverse the Multiverse?" Izzzuku asked, "Curiosity is a weird side effect, but will always happen."
Deku knew that. He wondered if it was right, then looked at Izumi and Huanli. "Should we go? I think we did everything we had to."
The two nodded and followed him outside, in an alley out of sight.
And then, the three vanished.
-x-
Itsumi didn't remember how they had made it to the castle. She had been speechless and all she knew was that Canary and Itsuka had gently made sure she walked with the rest of them, once Atura suggested they headed straight up there.
She was just too overwhelmed. Kikora had been a friend, and Kai was a good kid. They both didn't deserve what had happened to them.
Finally, she stopped sobbing as they entered the castle. The guards at the entrance didn't stop Atura as she walked through the front gate at full speed. Itsumi could see the signs of the recent battle. From what she could tell, the claw marks on the walls were failed swings from the monster Ojiro had fought, and there were also signs of impacts that, she assumed, came from the ice constructs, or maybe from that Muscular guy.
Finally, Atura rushed to the throne room. This time around it was fairly crowded, with people Itsumi assumed were generals, nobles and other such figures talking with each other or watching the proceedings. On the throne, the Todoroki of this world was sitting. The Prince, and still Regent according to what Atura had explained, seemed puzzled only for a moment, until he noticed the large group of green haired individuals in the room. At that, he just smiled.
"Everyone, I would ask all but Atura, her guests, Lady Yaru, Lord Koash and Lady Urane to leave. And someone go call our guest."
There were arguments, of course. The Knights of the royal guard, above all, argued for the King to allow at least them to stay, but his response that 'The Captain of the Royal Guard betrayed his role and all of us. I will not take that risk once more' forced them to leave.
Itsumi watched them all leave, and looked around at the few remaining people. Lady Yaru, Izo's bethroted and the leader of the Crowns, bowed gently toward her when they crossed sight, and she did the same in return. Lord Koash, the Kai Chisaki of this world and the leader of the Swords, didn't show any particular indication of being willing to do the same, simply standing in place. And finally, Urane walked up to Ojiro, asking polite questions on his recover, before doing the same to Itsumi.
In all this, Todoroki sat on his throne, studying the group, before finally speaking. "It's good to see you again, Ojiro, Itsumi." He said, "I hope your last ten days were more enjoyable than mine were."
"What happened?" Ojiro asked, before clarifying, "Besides the attack, I mean."
"Utter chaos, that is what happened." He sighed, "Izo is doing well on the field, from what I hear, but it's too soon to say if we are winning the war, and to complicate this my father is not yet awake."
Itsumi nodded. That had been why Izo had to leave the castle earlier than any of them, and she really hoped he would be doing well. She didn't need to lose another friend. Meanwhile, the King looked at the other five members of their team.
"Is one of you Isaac Midoriya?" He asked, looking at the forest of green hair standing besides Izumi.
"I'm Izuku Midoriya, your majesty, also known as Canary." The first of the Izuku said.
The second to speak was the Green Scar. "Izuku Midoriya, also known as the Green Scar." He paused, then took a deep breath, "Once Knight of Mewnie, and then Knight of the Rabbit Kingdom." He added.
The Prince raised an eyebrow. "I never heard of either of those Kingdoms."
"Well, they are not from this world." Izuku clarified.
"I expected that. And you two?"
"I'm Izuku Midoriya, also known as Spider-Man." Izuku did an awkward bow that made Itsumi feel a lot of sympathy for him. She had taken a while to figure out how the people of Colfire did the gesture, and Spider-Man's looked more like a Japanese bow than the Colfire's reverence.
Dekiru, the last of the many Izukus, looked up, coughing in his fist, "Ahem, I'm…"
"Izuku Midoriya." The Prince completed, "Known as?"
"D-Dekiru, your majesty."
The Prince brought his hand together, and finally looked at Itsuka. "And you of course, Itsuka. Welcome."
"Your majesty." Itsuka bowed to him.
"You know him?" Itsumi asked.
"I've been here in the past with Isaac, back when the League had just been founded. He had a fascination with this world. Still does actually." Itsuka clarified, "Though, I never expected to come back to find something like this."
"This is all very interesting." Lord Koash replied, "Especially the part where more copies of the Hero start to appear out of nowhere. But I'd like to know if they are here to help."
"Yes." Itsumi replied, before anyone else could. She paused, and turned to the others, "Right?"
"Of course. The League can't allow someone to keep plucking people from random worlds and putting them into slavery." Itsuka pointed out. "As a Founder, that was exactly the kind of issue I wanted to deal with. Wish we knew sooner, I could have asked Mariah to pull from the Initiative…"
"That would take too long." Canary objected, "We'd need weeks to put together a proper team that can work in a world like this with its limited technology and can stay away from home for a while. We lucked out that we had a seven members team ready, after all."
"I know, I'm just saying pulling from the Initiative meant that we could have a team of people that…"
"As interested as I am in this," The Green Scar interjected, putting a hand in both of their shoulders, "I think that we should discuss the current problem. Your Majesty," He turned to the King, "Is there any lead for this? Any way to know where this Lord Arking and the escapees went?"
"Unfortunately, Arkin was smart." A new voice said, one that made Itsumi's eyes grow wide, "He killed the best tracker in the Kingdom, after all."
Itsumi and Ojiro turned at once, eyes wide, seeing Kikora standing in front of the closed door, that opened a moment later as a guard entered the room, saluted, and promptly left again the moment the King dismissed him.
"Kikora!" Itsumi shouted, going for a hug, "They said you were dead…" And then she passed right through her. She blinked, touching only air, and turned around, trying to grab her. Kikora winced.
"I'm sorry Itsumi. I am dead." She pointed at herself, and Itsumi saw she was fully translucent, it had just been hard to see at first, "This is just a hopefully temporary hold-out."
"Y-You became a Ghost?!" Dekiru asked.
"Specifically, my anger against my fate, and my regrets over failing to protect Kai, bound my soul to the location of my death, in this case the castle." She said, scratching the back of her head.
"So you are a Ghost." The Green Scar pointed out. Lady Yaru shook her head in disbelief, like she had just heard someone insult her.
"Yes, it's just not polite to say it." Atura explained a moment later, clearly figuring out why they weren't understanding, "Ghosts are considered dead people that have the misfortune of not being able to pass. Treating them as alive is a great insult in our world."
"Why?!"
"Because I'm slowly losing my mind." Kikora answered, "Day by day, the pull of the underworld and the anchor of my regrets run the risk of damaging my sanity and turn me in a vengeful spirit. If that happens…"
"She will be marked for immediate destruction. I can't have a vengeful spirit roaming the castle attacking random individuals, not even if she was a friend." Prince Shor completed, "Of course, I'd rather take the other option, which is to solve her regret – rescuing Kai and capturing Arkin and his followers – and let her peacefully pass to the afterlife."
"So… Whatever we do, you will die? There is no spell to resurrect you? This is a magic world dammit."
"Even magic can't reverse the pull of death." Unera explained, "We might be able to stop people from crossing the line, but once someone like Kikora is being pulled to the underworld there is no bringing her back to life. And anyway, they burned the body."
"They what?!" Itsumi asked, outraged.
The ghost shivered, "Arkin is not an idiot. So long as the body existed, there was the risk of her magic being enough to drag me back to life. With the body destroyed, it was death. Permanent, definitive and absolute." Kikora looked like she wanted to cry, but she couldn't, and Itsumi started to see why she hated being a ghost. "Now I'm bound here, unable to help and unable to rest."
Itsumi's hand trembled, as she closed them into fist. They had not only killed her friend, but even burnt her corpse?! They had kidnapped Kai, so who knew if he had to watch her die too. He must have been desperate. "We need to go." Itsumi said, "Right now."
"I agree, but where?" The Green Scar pointed at Kikora's Ghost, "She was the best tracker, and she can't leave the castle. I have some tracking skills, but it wasn't my specialty, there are for sure people that are more skilled in it in this world. Do any of you have tracking abilities?" He turned to the others.
Canary thought a moment, then shook his head. "I have a few songs that let me find people, but they only last so long as I'm singing, and I need to have met the target. And no, other versions of them aren't enough."
"Don't have anything." Itsuka replied calmly, "I don't really have many skills outside of combat." Ojiro nodded at that.
Spider-Man pulled out a small spider-shaped pin, "If we could put this on one of them, I could follow it, but like this…"
"Wait!" Unera stopped him, looking in disbelief, "You don't have magic and yet you can do that?"
"Yes? But again, we don't have any of them."
"No, no we have one!" She turned to the Prince, "Your majesty, there might be a way for us to do this! The girl!"
The Prince paused. "It's a dangerous bet." He finally said.
"It's the best bet we have."
"I'm interested." A final voice said as the door opened. A man with feathered wings walked in the room, his pilot jacket so distinct every single one of the people in the room recognized him immediately.
"Hawks?" Canary asked, echoing the thoughts of everyone else.
The winged Hero smiled back. "Hawks of Nion, at your service, here to recover Kai and his One for All. And now, here to help you find him."
-x-
Isaac Green used All for One, his trusted gun, to fix his hat. He usually didn't do that, but the orders were to keep the weapon at hand at all times during the summoning. "Are you sure this is a good idea, my lord?"
"We need more warriors, Gun. We lost the Bell Witch, and Muscular will not recover his power for a while."
"I'm just questioning…"
"And that's the problem. Now don't talk unless something dangerous happens." Arkin answered, and Isaac felt his mouth shut. He grimaced, his knuckles turning white as they closed around All for One's hilt in anger. Fucking bastard.
He looked at the summoning circle, Kai wimpering in the center, and couldn't help but look away from those golden eyes and black hair. He had really, really hoped his 'master' would just let it go, but he hadn't considered his guts. He had assumed the man was a sniveling, low servant, but under it he had at least some boldness. Or maybe he wanted to prove that he could still be useful.
Really, Claw and the Beast had been the real asset, along with that spy of his. The Knight was currently sitting with the others, and Isaac wondered what could have made him betray his country. Ambition? Fear? The man had never answered the question, and rarely spent time with them, instead always talking with Lord Arkin and following him around like he was his personal guard.
His thoughts were interrupted as black sparks of electricity moved all over the kid's body, his Quirk going wild at the forced effect of the magic. He screamed in pain and Isaac saw more than one person looking away, Tenro first among them. 'Not liking it? You caused this.' He thought, but couldn't say a thing.
Isaac the Green Scar could do nothing but watch as Kai screamed and a portal opened nearby, the electricity from his body surrounding it like a ring. Isaac didn't know the exact mechanism, but he knew what was about to happen.
A moment later, a figure walked through. The pointed ears made identified him as an elf, the elegant clothing as a noble or a rich one, and the green hair made Isaac think he was probably another version of himself. He watched the man look around, apparently not impressed by being summoned in a large room with a screaming child tied to a summoning ring. Not exactly promising.
A red mark at the same time had appeared on his hand, and the man looked at it with interest for a moment. Isaac knew that each was designed individually, based on something about their history. His was a rattlesnake, for example, like the first living being he had killed with All for One. At least, that was the reason he had guessed.
The elf's was shaped like a crowned dragon head. He observed it for a long moment, then Lord Arkin stepped forward. "I am your master now." He begun.
The elf raised an eyebrow. "I see. This is a binding spell, is that correct? A peculiar variation of Alakanty's Slave Mark, perhaps native of another world. You must be quite ruthless to make use of such magic." He looked around, "This is quite the interesting experience already. Pardon me, my lord, is this the Kingdom of Colfire?"
Arkin now had grown suspicious, and raised a hand in an implicit order. Both Isaac and the Crawler prepared to move if something went wrong. "It is. How do you know?"
"I have been attempting for a few days now to reach this place. I must say, it proved harder than anticipated, until you opened that portal through Colfire's universal borders. I was not expecting this, however." He showed the back of his hand, "Might I ask why you needed it?"
"I have need of more servants."
"A valid reason as any, I suppose" He looked down at Kai, struggling weakly against the ropes holding him down, and at the magic glyphs that formed the summoning spell. "If I might ask, my lord, this looks rather rough. With a circle like this, you must be able to summon one creature every two weeks or so if you don't intend to kill this child like a common material, which is what I suppose you want since he still lives."
Arkin made to reply in anger, before he paused, "Are you saying you could do better?"
"I do, yes. It might take some trial and error, but I should be able to lower the energy needed for a single transfer. That way, it would be a matter of a day or two before you could summon someone else."
Arkin's eyes seemed to gleam at the thought, and in turn Isaac shivered. One per day? That was bad. Too fast, too much power in the hands of a madman. He tried to speak up but the words couldn't leave his throat yet. "Excellent." Said Arkin instead, "I put you in charge of this then. What is your name?"
"Oh, I'm know by many. The Honored One, or The Green Ruler. However, given my current state, I suppose my name will suffice." He bowed, "Lord Izmird, at your service."
Isaac felt threatened. Even as Arkin gloated at his luck, he didn't miss the sharp loon in Izmird's eyes. He was a predator, not a prey. And Arkin was the one that was falling in his jaws.
He could only hope that, when he was devoured, he wouldn't take everyone else with him.
(xx)
And here we go.
First, a deeper look into Isidro, the Spanish Knight. A man that had a very interesting life, I dare say. Killed both All for One and One for All's wielders, and he really didn't like it.
It's an interesting thing about the fantasy universe, the number of different world that end up coalescing here. I hope this will be a very interesting ride. Especially now that Izmird is here.