Hey guys, it's me, the Phoenix, back with another update of Event Horizon!

Boy, did you guys fight each other over the harem issue. I'll be honest with you guys; the harem won't interfere with the plot. I gurantee it. In fact, the harem actually has connections to the plot. As someone who is writing a DxD fic, please know that I'm well aware lf the right times and settings to develop relationships without straying to far from the plot. Any pure fluff moments that aren't relevant to the story will be shunted into the Omakes.

Apart from that, many of you didn't have much to talk about in the Reviews. One thing though; Izuku isn't a student of U.A. There are still some people confused about that, so I'm just clearing it up. Izuku will be Nezu's apprentice, and All Might's Successor, but not a student. He isonly going to be a teacher. Once again, just clarifying.

As for Ereshkigal and Ishtar, I definitely have plans for them, since I fell in love after watching the F/GO anime.

One thing though? Should they manifest as Rin or should they seek out new hosts in the MHA universe? I have suitable ideas for both.

Anyways, that's all I've got to talk about, so let's get on with the story!

Oh, and I hope you like the new costume design.

Chapter 5 - Deku

Once again, against his better judgement, Izuku stood outside the entrance to the old shrine, having left a note for his mother saying he was on a stroll.

As much as he hated lying to his mom, he also knew that he couldn't go telling everyone about the existence of magic and his mission. He was reassured by the fact that there was no possible way a Villain could take advantage of this situation, considering humans with Quirks had no magical potential, and even Quirkless people like him had barely enough to make ends meet. In fact, without drawing magic from the Mana Plane thanks to Emerald, Izuku would probably be unable to perform any kind of magic.

This made it so that even if magic was exposed, nothing would really come of it. However, that didn't mean he was going to go around preaching about the existence of Magecraft. Even if nothing came of it, it would still draw attention, and that was something he didn't want at the moment. The fewer people who knew about his mission, the better.

"Is this the place?" asked Izuku, looking around to make sure no one was in any position to sneak up on them. While there was honestly nothing he could do if there was someone watching the area with some kind of surveillance Quirk, he might as well take the basic precautions to make sure no one saw him transforming into a Magical Boy and flying off to another dimension.

Speaking of which, Emerald said that his new costume was complete, and that it was way less embarrassing than the last one, which Izuku refused to even think about.

[Yep. This is the place. Caster's signature is coming from this general area. I'll be honest with you, this isn't going to be an easy fight.]

"Is there anything that makes Caster more dangerous than Saber?" asked Izuku, his brow furrowed in thought. "Because I thought you said Saber was the strongest Class and Caster was the weakest."

The Kaleidostick sighed, floating a foot away from his face.

[I said the Caster Class is considered the weakest Class, and that the Saber Class is considered the strongest Class. In the setting of a normal Holy Grail War, Sabers are considered the most valuable Class because not only are they usually comprised of Servants who have Superior Parameters and powerful Noble Phantasms, but they also are renowned for their high Magic Resistance, which immediately caused the Caster Class to fall to the bottom of the Tier List since they pretty much depend on magic for everything. However, in reality, while Saber may be the strongest Class, Casters are the most dangerous Class. If you give a Caster time to prepare, you've already lost unless you have a Servant with high Magic Resistance on your side. Casters are people throughout history who not only have phenomenal magical abilities, but also those who have the intelligence to back it up and use it to its maximum potential.]

"That makes sense." agreed the green-haired teen thoughtfully. "Basically, since Casters are way more versatile due to their magic, all they need to do is hunker down and get a home field advantage, and then anyone who engages them is basically at their mercy unless they have enough raw power or Magical Resistance to break through their defenses."

Emerald splayed his wings in pride, obviously pleased with his conclusion.

[Astute as always, Master Izuku. This in fact, is the Caster Class' most recognized Skill; Territory Creation. Basically, the ability to turn a designated area into their Workshop, which is kind of like a cross between a secret base and a research lab that Magi throughout the ages use. Most instances of Territory Creation involve the use of Bounded Fields, which are basically magical wards that have unique effects, like warning the Caster that someone is in their vicinity if it is triggered. But to be honest, knowing the track record of Casters throughout the history of the Grail Wars, they can probably also poison you to death or cover you in flesh-eating worms.]

Izuku gulped at that, his face paling.

[Anyways, we're getting off track. The reason I was able to rack down Caster specifically is because he or she has already been setting up a base using Territory Creation, probably in the Mirror World version of this old shrine. Normally, I wouldn't be able to sense that, but thanks to the Card being an escapee from the Deck of Heroes, I can sense when the Heroic Spirit is using its abilities nearby, even if it's in the Mirror World, thanks to the fact that you are its registered owner. I'll tell you more about that later; it can wait for now. Anyways, this means that to capture the Caster, we essentially have to waltz into his or her base, which is most likely rigged with rudimentary traps, because Caster or not, there's no way the Servant could have accumulated enough magical energy to set up the more complicated Bounded Fields. And since the Saber we do have has sh*t Magical Resistance, not to mention the fact that you can't use the Class Cards to their full power, either through Summoning or Installing them, we have to resort to slightly riskier methods. Thankfully, we have Shielder and Ruler, both of whom have Noble Phantasms that are imbued with their ability to resist magic. Which means it's time I taught you how to Include Class Cards.]

"Include?" asked Iuzku.

[Yep. This is the most basic way to use a Class Card. Just take a Class Card, slap it on me, and use the Include command. Try it with Shielder or Ruler's Cards once we enter the enemy Workshop. With your body's condition, you can't maintain the Include state for long, so save it for the actual fight.]

"Okay." said Izuku, taking out the Shielder Card and holding it tightly in his left hand. He was slightly nervous, since his first encounter with a Heroic Spirit had almost led to him dying, and this one was apparently stronger and had its own dungeon.

To his surprise, the Card glowed in response to his emotions.

'Fret not Master, for we are with you. No harm shall befall you on our watch.', spoke a pleasant male voice in his mind. 'I am Galahad, The Knight of Purity, of the Shielder Class, and I swear this on my honor, my liege.'

"T-thank you." stuttered Izuku, overwhelmed at being reassured by such a legendary figure. Because who didn't know the legendary knight said to be chosen by God to search for the Holy Grail? Even if Quirks and modern Heroes dominated the stage, there were still many who remembered the old tales.

And he himself was one of those people.

[Ready, Partner?]

Izuku took a deep breath, his fingers closing around the Class Card.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Honestly, this was the first time Izuku found himself afraid of the old shrine.

Even if it had been abandoned for at least a decade, the family that used to run the shrine hired people to clean it every month, meaning it was always pristine and immaculate, still retaining its welcoming aura despite being unoccupied for a long time.

But now?

It looked like a haunted house.

And that was putting it mildly.

Waves of dark miasma rolled off the gate like smoke, the entire structure enveloped in a translucent inky blackness that put Izuku on edge. The shrine felt... polluted, for lack of a better word. Was this the result of whatever Caster had done?

If so, the Heroic Spirit in question must have been one terrifying individual, to turn such a holy shrine to the old goddess Amaterasu into a derelict old ruin like this.

[You like the new costume?]

Emerald's voice snapped Izuku out of his horrified reverie, causing him to look at himself and realize that he wasn't wearing the same obnoxious outfit from before.

Izuku was now dressed in a skin-tight wetsuit that was a dark green color, with thickened black patches over the elbows, knees, and the soles of his feet. Over his feet he wore dark metal greaves that fitted over his feet perfectly, with red metal soles. The wetsuit also had ridges like armor plating over the upper part of his shins.

Over that Izuku wore a form-fitting, double-breasted three-tone black and gray hooded leather tunic jacket with green interior lining and two-layers of flares that hung the entire bottom of his jacket around his thigh. His rounded collar up to the shoulders of his jacket was dark green, seamlessly extending into a hood, with a two-tone gray and green color scheme like the rest of his jacket, which also included a zipper for his left breast pocket, and two more at the sleeves, which also possessed forest green cuffs. The sleeves were adorned with rerebraces and vambraces of black metal to protect his arms.

Completing the outfit were plain black gloves that were green around the fingertips and exposed his wrists, along with twin viridian crisscrossing belts crisscrossing belts that had a bright green, black-bordered leather kama fastened to it with a number of snaps. The Deck of Heroes was fastened on the left side of his belts, and Emerald himself hung in wand form from the right side from their own snaps. The prominent belt buckle and the back of his jacket both bore the four-pointed star that Emerald had, which he assumed was sort of like his symbol, not unlike the crescent Moon on the Rabbit Hero Miruko's Hero Costume.

He didn't even notice it until Emerald pointed out that he was wearing his new outfit, but he also wore a mask, which covered only the upper part of his face and was whitish-tan with green, Japanese style, horn-like symbols decorating the front and two slits on each side presumably to allow for vision, although Izuku could see through it just fine, as if it wasn't even there.

All in all, the outfit was awesome. Izuku actually stood for a few moments, gaping at his own reflection in the pond outside the shrine and wondering if the imposing, bada*s-looking figure staring back at him was really the same dorky nerd that had been present moments before.

"This is... amazing!" said Izuku, reflexively testing his oufit's comfort level and maneuverability and finding it more than satisfactory. "I love it!"

And he did. Even if it wasn't the horrible amalgamation of All Might that his hypothetical costume sketches all included, it was simply amazing, hitting all the right aesthetics and themes that Izuku couldn't even have thought of before.

How did Emerald design an outfit this good in such a short amount of time when his last outfit was so embarrassing?

The answer, unknown to him, was probably because Emerald had designed that outfit specifically to cater to the opposite sex, especially older women. He wasn't bad at fashion, actually being quite good at it compared to his sisters, but he was also a pervert just like Ruby but with the subtlety of Sapphire.

This outfit was designed to appeal to all target demographics, maintaining a strict balance between all the different types of appeals to make it a favorite among many different audiences and give Izuku a confidence boost, instead of killing him out of embarrassment like the last outfit.

[I'm glad you like it! I spent a lot of time on the internet finding the perfect articles and designs to bring out the best aspects of you. I know that you might not have liked dark colors, but the look I was going for was 'bada*s Ninja-Mage', so I took a few liberties, not that it didn't pay off, because this is hands down the best Costume in the world. I guarantee it. I also used traditional Japanese styling for the mask just to reflect the culture of your home. All in all, I think this is my best work, but to be honest it's also due to your own appearance and physique that you're pulling it off to its maximum potential. The clothes make the man, as they say, but the opposite also applies sometimes.]

The Kaleidostick unlatched itself from his belts to float around him, radiating smugness while checking him out from all angles to re-affirm his claim.

[Now is the right time to say it! Introducing the brand new Kaleid Liner: Prisma Izu-]

"Deku."

[What do you-]

"That's what I want to call myself.", said Izuku, looking away from Emerald. "I think... that's the name I want to use, both as a Kaleid Liner and as a Hero. It's a name that was used to denote me as weak and powerless, so I want to excel and become a great person with that same name!"

That had been on his mind for a while, especially since Nezu said he would train Izuku personally into a Pro Hero. He had come up with various Hero Names in his youth, most of them variations or offshoots of All Might in some way or another, but after getting the Deck of Heroes and realizing just how big the world out there really was, Izuku had decided that he needed to choose a name to reflect his own identity, not someone else's. He still admired All Might, as he always did, but he also wanted to be seen as his own person now, as he had his own path to walk down that was drastically different from anyone else's.

And to be honest, nothing defined him better than the name 'Deku'. A spin on his name that could mean both 'useless', as it had been intended to mean, or also 'one who never gives up', both of which had applied to him at one point or another. He had graduated from the time it had meant useless. Now, he had a burning desire to make that name great, just like All Might had made his. When the Symbol of Peace had first chosen that name, many had laughed, finding it both incredibly corny and needlessly narcissistic. But now? All Might was a name that inspired awe and hope in the hearts of the people and inspired fear in the hearts of Villains.

He wanted to achieve that same feat.

Emerald stared for a few moments before bursting into laughter, causing Izuku to turn away with a blush on his cheeks, clearly embarrassed.

"S-sorry, i-is that too-" he bang, only to get cut-off by the still chuckling Kaleidostick.

[No, you're misunderstanding me; I'm not laughing at you because I think you're being silly. This is laughter born from both pride and admiration. Seriously, Master, even without trying you keep impressing me. Using a name meant to belittle you and break your spirit as your Hero name, a name you intend to bring to greatness and infamy? If you can do that, I don't think there's anything you can't do. Not only is that an amazing goal, but it's also a slap to the face of every bigoted idiot who thought you were useless just because you weren't born with a Quirk. I approve. I definitely approve.]

Izuku's blush deepened further at the praise, shuffling nervously.

[Ahem, so let's try this again. Now introducing, the brand new Kaleid Liner: Prisma Deku!]

Emerald let out a small burst of green light that exploded into sparkles above his head.

[Now this feels right. Why don't we go knock on Caster's door. I think you have a plan?]

"Yeah." said Izuku, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders for his first ever true mission as Prisma Deku. This was who he was now, under the cover of darkness, at the moment, anyway. This was his persona as a Hero. Even if it wasn't under the circumstances he had expected, he was still doing what he'd only dreamed of doing since he was a child; saving people in a cool costume, even if he was saving them indirectly in the current situation.

This was the beginning of his tale. Saber was more like a tutorial, with him basically flailing around having no idea what to do and eventually defeating her due to sheer luck. If they had fought in an area with less trash around, he might not have survived that fight.

Now, he was truly beginning his journey, as both Izuku Midoriya and the Hero, Deku.

In the end, the plan was simple.

[Kaleido-Flare!]

An emerald beam of magical energy blasted a hole into the main foyer of the shrine, and Izuku winced at the damage, begging for mercy from the goddess whom it belonged to for his trangression.

Izuku knew that the corrupted Heroic Spirits were no doubt little more than mindless savages, according to what Emerald had told him. However, what made him wary was that, just like Saber, the instincts of these Servants were still as sharp as ever. They may have been mindless, but it wasn't a drunk kind of mindlessness, but rather the kind of mindlessness that got other people killed.

Izuku didn't think that he was capable of outsmarting a Caster Servant, even at their mental weakest. He may have been exceptionally smart, but these people were geniuses who figured out how to bend reality to their whims. He knew that any plan he came up with would no doubt be seen through almost immediately.

Which is why his master plan was to go in without one.

Instead, he abandoned all subtlety and blasted in through the main entrance.

To his surprise, though, his attack had actually hit the Heroic Spirit head on, sending him or her crashing to the wall, despite the fact that he hadn't even aimed the shot, intending to use it as a means of both making an entrance and distracting his enemy with a feint attack.

True to Emerald's words, the Bounded Fields placed over the shrine did little to actually hinder him due to Emerald's protections, but it also gave away his position to the Heroic Spirit, meaning that the element of surprise was lost. At least he wasn't covered in flesh eating worms, because that would have been a pain to explain to his mom.

Oh well. Izuku had expected that much from the get go itself.

[Move!]

Izuku reacted immediately, strafing left as the area behind him was obliterated by a glut of flame.

As the smoke cleared, Izuku realized that the Caster Class Servant was clearly a she. She had long, flowing pink hair tied up behind her with a ribbon, possessing glowing, sickly yellow eyes that gleamed in the low light. She wore blue robes and had a pair of fox ears and a fox tail that were a bleached orangish color. Although she had the veins of corruption all over her, not unlike Saber, Izuku could tell that she was normally a peerless beauty.

Seriously, if it weren't for Galahad, Izuku would have thought that all Heroic Spirits were pretty girls of various ages and ethnicities.

Anyways, thinking on that topic could come later, because right now he was in imminent danger of getting murdered.

Izuku had almost immediately realized which Heroic Spirit the woman was almost immediately, and then suddenly everything began to make a scary amount of sense. The old shrine, back when it had been active, was a popular spot for newlyweds to visit, and it was believed that the blessings of Amaterasu that could be obtained there would guarantee a long, happy married life to all who sought it.

Which meant Caster, who he was almost certain was Tamamo no Mae, had been drawn to the shrine no doubt due to a compulsion born from her past, one which made Izuku worry. She had killed a lot of people during her lifetime and even after it when she became the Killing Stone, which was a cause for concern, but not nearly as concerning as the fact that she was also believed to have been a fragment of the goddess Amaterasu.

Which meant, he was essentially fighting a Pseudo-Divine Spirit.

The situation was just as bad as last time, even if he had been more prepared for what was to come this time around.

Caster flung what looked like a paper tag at him, but Izuku wasn't dumb enough to believe that the projectile was harmless in any way. He channeled his meager magical energy, boosted by Emerald's limited capability to draw from the Mana Plane, and used it to enhance his physical parameters, causing his body to glow a faint green before he jumped out of the way of the incoming object, leaving visible indents in the floor.

The paper tag, no, the talisman glowed before exploding into a blast of cryogenic energy that froze the area he had been standing on moments prior, the jagged spikes of ice that were cropping up removing any doubt in Izuku's mind that Caster was too weak to cause him harm.

Izuku jumped and kicked off of the wall, sending him sailing through the air towards the Heroic Spirit, leaving a faint green trail behind him. In mid-air, he raised Emerald in an overhand swing, and slammed him onto the floor, real easing a shockwave of viridian energy that knocked back Caster and everything else in its radius, cracking the floor.

[Ow!]

"Sorry! Emerald-san, can you turn into a close-range weapon?"

[I told you, your imagination is the only limit to what I can do. That, and the amount of magical energy you have. Whatever you think of, provided that it doesn't consume too much magical energy for you to provide, can be done. But yes, I can turn into a sword. Just imagine a blade coming out of me.]

Izuku did so, and to his surprise, Mana began to condense at Emerald's tip, forming a glowing green blade of magical energy not unlike the ones seen in lightsabers, except the blade was more clearly defined instead of cylindrical.

[Sword Configuration Engaged!]

Izuku dashed forward, attempting to slash at Caster, but she nimbly moved out of the way, throwing a talisman as she did so. It his Izuku head on, before exploding into flames, causing him to wince as he felt the heat sear his skin.

To his surprise, though, he was actually unharmed, which meant that Emerald's barrier had been able to block the talisman's power almost completely, not counting the heat energy that was released. He actually saw it for a moment, flickering green like a second skin above his own, before fading back into transparency.

[Sorry, but this is magic from the Age of Gods. Even if it's weakened, it's still pretty potent, and this Caster seems to possess some kind of Divinity, making it even stronger than it would be normally. The barrier should hold, but I'd recommend not taking too many more hits.]

"Not a problem!"

Izuku ran forward again, and when Caster retaliated by throwing another one of her talismans, he cut through it, causing it to split into two halves that exploded into bursts of flame behind him, the explosion boosting his velocity, to the point where he had crossed the distance between himself and Caster in the span of a second, not giving her enough time to launch another one of her talismans.

However, his horizontal slash was blocked by an ornate mirror bordered in gold, which Izuku recognized, causing him to pale as he realized his thesis had been correct. After all, there weren't that many special mirrors in Japanese mythology.

No doubt this was associated with Caster's Noble Phantasm, which Izuku still wasn't sure she could use.

His combat stance against her was to get in close, since Casters were notoriously weak at close range and weren't very strong in terms of physical parameters. It was kind of stereotypical, but Izuku would take any concession he could get at this point.

Although, the floating mirror might make that a tad difficult.

[Wand Configuration Engaged! Eruption Point!]

Izuku jabbed the mirror with Emerald, releasing a pulse of compressed kinetic energy that caused a small blast of green light as it hit the mirror, sending it flying and embedding it in one of the walls.

Izuku staggered, stunned by the sudden dip in his magical reserves, shakily stumbling out of the way of another talisman as Caster took the opportunity to put more distance between them.

Thankfully, he felt Emerald restoring his Mana, so the feeling of fatigue faded pretty quickly, and he regained his composure, giving chase to the Heroic Spirit.

The situation with with his Mana reserves was inconvenient, but thankfully wasn't to the point where he could only fire off a single spell before fainting. The thing is, he had a low magic capacity, but the rate at which he regenerated Mana was fairly high thanks to Emerald. Of course, Emerald himself had a maximum limit to the amount of Mana he could draw from the Mana Plane before he overheated, in a manner of speaking, which was about enough to power a Noble Phantasm, in Emerald's own words.

The problem was that Izuku couldn't hold enough Mana in his body at one point in time to even use a Noble Phantasm because of his low quality nearly nonexistent Circuits. Theoretically, although he could use enough Mana to fire off a Noble Phantasm, he couldn't contain the required amount in his body to pull it off. It was similar to being unable to use a high ranking spell in a videogame simply because your maximum MP was below the required amount needed to use the spell.

That was why he was confined to low-level, cheap spells such as the small energy blasts he could fire off with Emerald as well as the physical enhancement, which he found out was called Reinforcement, or at least the prototype of the magical art. However, he could maintain these smaller spells for a decent amount of time due to Emerald constantly regenerating his Mana and making sure he had enough to keep him going.

In fact, the green, circuit-like patterns created across his skin by the activation of his Circuits was visible through his costume, which seemed to be something Emerald had done intentionally for aesthetic effect.

The Kaleidostick tended to be really serious when it came to stuff like showmanship and fashion. It was the reason why he kept calling out his attack names, too.

But still, the power that Emerald gave him was amazing. Limited by imagination. As long as he had the Mana, he could essentially do anything using the Kaleidostick, which made it extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. Not for the first time, Izuku was glad that people with Quirks did not have Magic Circuits, meaning that Emerald would be little more than a toy wand in their hands.

Izuku jumped over a talisman, narrowly avoiding the spikes of ice that now sailed harmlessly beneath him, before pointing and firing off another Kaleido-Flare, which was blocked by Caster's mirror, although it flew back and slammed into her.

Already, the Heroic Spirit was beginning to get sluggish. Surprisingly enough, though even weakened she had way more Mana than him, if it came down to a battle of attrition, then Izuku would be the one who came out victorious. Although she could use much more powerful magic than him since she had a larger capacity, he was the only one out of the two of them who could sustainably regenerate power in the middle of combat thanks to Emerald.

But even if Caster was beginning to slow down, both in physical and magical speed, Izuku wasn't about to drop his guard. When cornered, people tended to go beyond (Plus Ultra!) their limits and overpower their adversaries, and in this case, she might even fire off her Noble Phantasm, of which he had no sure-fire way of determining if he would survive. Hell, he didn't even know what it did, meaning he couldn't come up with a suitable counter to it.

That was the weakness of all analytical abilities, he supposed. They were useless without anything to analyze in the first place.

He managed to catch up to her, but before he could launch a suitable attack, he was forced to go on the defensive as she let off a flurry of punches and kicks, displaying a surprising amount of martial prowess. To his horror though, the blows were all aimed at an area no man wanted damage to occur to, so Izuku jumped back, narrowly avoiding the mirror which had tried to bash him from the side when he was distracted.

Just as he had expected, Cadter was a tricky opponent.

Izuku ducked under her punch, before twisting to avoid a kick to the face and spinning around to catch her with his signature haymaker, cracking her ribs and eliciting a cry of pain.

[Damn, what is it with you and those rib-cracking haymakers of yours?!]

Unfortunately, he hadn't been prepared for her to recover almost instantaneously and and use her mirror like a baseball bat, striking him in the chin and sending him flying. A flare of green showed that his Kaleidostick-enhanced defenses had been able to mostly tank the hit, but dear lord did it hurt.

Kaachan's explosions gave him a foot pain tolerance, giving him the ability to keep fighting even if his arms were broken without even uttering a sound, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel the pain.

Wiping the trickle of blood from his chin, already feeling the beginnings of a bruise, but thankful that his jaw hadn't been broken from the force of the swing, Izuku dashed forward, grabbing onto the mirror and flipping himself over it, his foot glowing green with his prototype version of Reinforcement as he landed an axe kick straight onto Caster's skull in an incredible show of dexterity, the force of the blow actually creating a visible shock wave and causing the ground (and her skull) to crack beneath her feet as she cried in pain from the devastating blow.

[Oh dear God!]

Caster yelled, causing a blast of purple energy to explode off of her, sending him flying through the air as the green barrier around his skin cracked like glass and shattered, barely taking the brunt of the damage but ultimately not being able to fully negate the blow.

[Shields Down! Buy me a couple seconds to get it back up!]

Unfortunately, Caster seemed to have had enough, and magical power began to visibly coalesce over her form as multiple talismans began to float around her.

[Crap! That's definitely the same Caster from before! She's not using a Noble Phantasm, but that attack will leave more than a mark if it hits!]

Izuku made a small noise of acknowledgement, halting his flight as a floating magical circle formed behind him, catching him and stretching as if it were a trampoline before flinging him back the way he came, straight towards Caster.

The Servant in question saw him rocketing back towards her, and aimed the slowly forming ball of malevolent purple energy at his approaching form.

Just as he had planned.

Izuku quickly placed Emerald between his teeth as twin magical circles appeared beneath his palms, releasing a blast of green energy that propelled him forward, just like how he had seen Kaachan do it countless times in his training.

Izuku smashed down onto the ground literally inches away from Caster, whose eyes had widened in shock from the sudden proximity, before he spat the Kaleidostick back into his hand.

Using every once of Mana present in his body, Izuku cast the spell that would earn him victory that day.

[Concave Kaleido-Shield!]

Caster's purple ball of death, which was still pointed towards the air, was suddenly enveloped partially by a green dome of magical energy supported from the back by a familiar magical circle bearing a four-pointed star.

Caster unintentionally released her attack at the same time, sealing her fate.

The ball hit the oddly shaped shield barely an inch away from it and promptly blew up. The force of the magical blast, however, travelled along the rims of the concave, dome-like structure and was ultimately transmitted back to its own caster, pun intended.

Izuku crossed his arms and channeled whatever Mana he had regained into his protections as his Kaleido-Shield failed to completely reflect the spell and exploded, the blast hitting both of them, although Caster herself took the brunt of her own attack thanks to Izuku's spell.

Izuku skidded back from the force of the blow, emerald light clouding his vision as his defenses strained to hold out against the attack, shattering towards the end and causing his sleeves to get shredded from the force of the blow, though his vambraces and rerebraces managed to take a good deal of the damage for him.

Izuku fell into a sitting position, panting, as the smoke began to clear, revealing Caster, who was knocked onto the ground, forming a new crater, her form flickering weakly with golden energy as her Spirit Origin began to destabilize from the damage she had taken.

Emerald took the moment to weakly let out a cry of victory, the Kaleidostick also burnt and bruised, with a few bandaged placed comically over his ring.

[Hah! Return to sender, moron!]

Izuku let out a few coughs as the adrenaline rush began to fade, revealing that yes, he was pretty freaking tired, and yes, he was banged up, though not nearly as bad as last time, considering he only had a few burns and bruised this time around.

Even if he hadn't been able to practice, Izuku's improvement was still highly commendable, something that Emerald took note of and stored in his diary.

[Hey, what was that, anyway?]

"It's... something I thought of when I saw Caster's mirror; a concave shield, curved in order to redirect and reflect the force and magic of Caster's spell right back at her instead of a straight one that would have dissipated the energy evenly around it. I wasn't sure if it would work, but thankfully the shield was strong enough to endure the spell long enough for it to mostly be turned against Caster herself.

[Amazing. I honestly didn't think I'd see the day where bastardized Physics would save the day against a Heroic Spirit.]

Izuku let out a weak laugh, getting back to his feet as his costume began to glow with motes of emerald light as it regenerated the damage that had been done to it.

"Funny. Neither did I. Now let's seal Caster and go home. I'm pretty tired."

[Yeah, me too. We may not have taken as much punishment as last time, but the amount of Mana we used today was almost exponentially higher. We'll talk more in the safety of your All Might shrine.]

"You mean my room?" asked Izuku in confusion and embarrassment.

[I stand by my earlier statement.]

Ignoring the chortling Kaleidostick, Izuku walked across the room to the downed form of Caster.

He raised Emerald to release another attack in order to defeat her, but then halted at her expression.

Caster looked... afraid, although her sickly yellow eyes seemed like they weren't quite looking at him, but at something else he couldn't see. Resignation and despair warred for control in those pale orbs, along with a deep yearning for something he didn't know of.

Her frame was wracked with shudders, and she seemed to be desperately trying to curl in on herself.

It was at this moment that Izuku remembered the full details of the legend of Tamamo no Mae, specifically her final moments before she became the Killing Stone, causing a lump to form in his throat as he released his grip on Emerald.

She had been hunted, accused of murder simply because of her vulpine features, and had been forced to flee, accosted by the same people who claimed to love her, simply because she wasn't human. It was the type of discrimination that had been present since the dawn of mankind, an irrational hatred of all those who were different, not unlike how he had suffered for being Quirkless.

She had fled to the plains of Nasu, where she became infamous for the murder of thousands of people, though it was not any fault of her own, as she had tried to reason with the soldiers who were sent to kill her. Her second encounter with the force had her covered in arrows, blood streaming from her wounds, as she tearfully begged them to let her leave, trying desperately to convince the hate-filled men of her innocence.

She died screaming, struck by an enchanted arrow, and perished alone and afraid, brutalized by the blind hatred that mankind seemed to unconditionally possess.

Izuku hadn't noticed with Saber, considering he had set her on fire, meaning it kind of hard to pay attention to her face, but it looked as if Caster, no, Tamamo, was reliving her final moments as her Spirit Origin began to crumble.

Even if she had been an adversary, it tore at his heart to see that expression on her face.

A sudden chill flowed through his veins.

Her expression was not unlike the one he had made that fateful day when he was 4. When his dreams had crumbled around him as his world was spun on its axis. He had been alone then, silently wallowing in despair until he took his life back into his own hands and carved out his own path.

She had been alone too. With no one being there for her, to offer her comfort in her final moments. He had been blessed with the opportunity to pick up the pieces and continue his life anew. She hadn't.

Looking at her, Izuku knew that he couldn't just leave her alone like this.

After all, he wanted to be a Hero like All Might, didn't he?

As his mask dematerialized, he took her hand in his own, causing her to stare at him in shock, as if she was looking at him for the first time.

Izuku did the only thing he could.

He smiled.

Her breath hitched.

"It's okay. I'm here now."

Tamamo's body shuddered as a single tear slid down her cheek.

Almost immediately afterwards, she dissolved into motes of golden light, revealing a Class Card with the image of an old hooded man with a staff on it, the word 'Caster' being printed beneath it.

Izuku raised his hand, and as emerald chains erupted around the Card, Sealing it and driving out the corruption, he was thankful that he was able to grant her some semblance of comfort in her final moments.

[That was a nice thing you did for her, Master, but you do realize that she isn't dead, right? You can summon her later.]

"Maybe, but it just felt like the right thing to do."

[No arguments there! Now let's go home.]

"Yeah. Let's."

[Wait a minute.]

"What?"

[Why didn't you Include any of the Cards?]

Izuku suddenly stiffened.

The meaty smack of a palm hitting a face rung out across the destroyed shrine.

Izuku let out a sigh of relief as he fell onto his bed, thankful to get some rest.

His whole body ached, both from the strain of combat and from using and channeling so much magical energy.

But he was getting stronger. He had a cool new costume and a Hero Name. He was doing what he could to help people, even if they didn't know it. He was training to become a legit Pro Hero under Principal Nezu and was going to be a teacher at U.A. very soon.

For the first time in his life, Izuku could whole-heartedly say that the pain was all worth it. The road wasn't unclear anymore, and neither was his place in the world.

Although that did lead to something he did want to ask Emerald about.

He turned to the Kaleidostick, who was using a hand-towel as a bath robe, soaking in the warm water of a birdbath Izuku had set up for him. It was honestly kind of funny to see the Mystic Code like that.

"Hey Emerald-san, how exactly does the Deck of Heroes work?"

It was something that had been bothering him, as he had been basically winging it this whole time.

[I can't really say; I only have basic information on it. It's creation and purpose are unknown to me. What I do know is that is that it essentially turns its contracted Master, you in this case, into a Master for multiple Heroic Spirits, and itself acts as a sort of stasis module to make sure they don't suck you dry, which is why they're able to return to Card Form instead of being active all the time and draining you of Mana. It also has a Master Life Support System, which prevents registered Servants from trying to harm you, sort of as a compensatory measure for not having Command Seals. Many Masters have been killed by Servants incompatible with them, after all. It also can't be stolen or even touched by someone other than you, as most people will end up ignoring it completely as if it wasn't even there. The Deck will return to your side whenever you call for it. The Deck can also recall all of its Class Cards. This Deck lost its Cards because the seal was broken when it contracted to you, causing the Class Cards to escape into the Mirror Dimension. I'm not sure how that came to be, though, because as far as I know that shouldn't be possible. Only my creator can say for sure, however, since he was the one who created the Deck. And we won't be able to meet him anytime soon. He has a habit of meddling with alternate worlds, which is why I believed that it was a prank he was playing, but something just doesn't seem right about that...]

Izuku wanted to ask about that, but listening to Emerald's tone, decided that the subject of his creator could wait for another time. His questions had been answered, although a few more had cropped up, but he was satisfied for now.

Now, it was onto another line of business, which he had to settle before his mom came home.

He took the Shielder, Caster and Saber Cards into his hands.

"Summon: Saber!"

The Class Card exploded into motes of golden light as a magical circle erupted before him, revealing the same Saber he had fought, though her skin was healthy and unblemished and her eyes didn't look as sickly as before.

"The Captain of the Shinsengumi's First Unit, Okita Souji is here! Nice to meet you, Master!"

As opposed to the cold, emotionless mask of the corrupted Okita he had fought, the normal one looked quite cheerful and happy.

"H-hello." he said, cursing himself for the umpteenth time for his stutter. Why couldn't he talk to pretty girls normally, damn it?! "S-sorry about s-setting y-you on fire, Okita-san."

'Wow, way to go, genius. Nice way to start a conversation.'

"Haah? Oh, it's of no concern, Master. In fact, I thank you for curing me of that dreadful condition. Being corrupted like that was the most horrible feeling ever, as if I was in my body but my actions controlled by something else. Now I feel great and heal- *blurgh*"

Okita suddenly coughed up a large glob of blood, causing Izuku to scream in fright, before fading back into her Card Form, mentally cursing for embarrassing herself in front of her new Master. She hoped here was someone out there who felt her pain.

All Might suddenly tensed up as he was fighting a villain, a hundred kilometers away.

Suddenly' he arched his head, confusing the hell out of the giant octopus-man.

"What are you-"

"Detroit... SNEEZE!"

The octopus-man was sent flying as a small tornado suddenly formed out of thin air, spinning him around and flinging him.

Meanwhile, All Might clenched his fist in sympathy. Somewhere out there, there was a kindred spirit waiting for him.

Oh well. That matter could wait. First, he should see what the Principal wanted.

[Wow, I can't believe she destabilized her Spirit Origin with that cough. That's kind of sad.]

"I hope she's okay." said Izuku, biting his lip.

[You should probably hold off on summoning her until you can provide enough Mana to make sure she doesn't kill herself by coughing.]

Izuku nodded, taking the Caster Card next.

"Summon: Caster!" he said kind of nervously.

He hoped she wasn't in the same state as she was when he had defeated her.

To his relief, when Tamamo appeared, she appeared healthy, with a smile on her face, the veins of corruption having long since vanished, just like Okita.

However, when she laid eyes on him, Tamamo froze.

"U-um T-Tamamo-san? Are you-"

Izuku was cut off as Tamamo promptly latched on to him, forcing him against the wall, and smashed her lips onto his.

For years afterwards, Emerald who had been observing with interest, the picture of this moment, where Izuku had pretty much crashed, blushing neon red, his eyes comically widened, while Tamamo pressed her bountiful chest against his own muscular body, her tail and arms wrapped around him as she captured him in a searing kiss, would be one that he would remember fondly as the moment he knew that his plans probably had a better chance of coming to fruition than he realized.

Oh snap, fluffiest waifu is here! It's time for Tamamo to shine!

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, as I enjoyed writing it, especially the fight, although it was kind of short in my opinion. I know I may have taken a few liberties with the Kaleidostick mechanics, but they do mention in the anime that it's only limited by imagination, so I just moved forward.

Izuku's new costume is pretty dope in my opinion. If you don't know what a kama is, it's one of those skirt things that the Clone Trooper Commandos in Star Wars wear to protect their thighs. I wanted to give Izuku a wizard motif, as his own Servant Class is originally Caster. I just... modernized it, and added a ninja aesthetic as well.

As for Tamamo, the reason why she's so forward is because she rememebrs what happened when she was corrupted, just like Okita, and thus remembers what Izuku did for her. For someone like Tamamo, who would normally call anyone who summoned her as her spouse, this was too much for her to contain without displaying some overt form of affection.

Poor Izuku though. May his soul rest in peace, because his mind is probably broken and his heart won't be resting anytime soon.

We'll see more of the other Servants in the next chapter as they come up with plans to fix the magic problems, and swear fealty to the all mighty (get it) Izuku.

Of course, thanks for the support, and feel free to Review or PM me with any doubts or suggestions you may have. Constructive criticism is welcome, but flames are not. You can hand those to Endeavor.

That's all for today, so stay tuned, folks!

Spatialphoenix, burning to ashes.