I do not own BNHA or D&D


(4.5 months until the UA entrance exam)

Somewhere in Japan

Martialist had grown quite used to the bindings of Tartarus, though waiting to leave had gotten quite tedious. He wished the brothers and sisters of his faith could break him out sooner rather than later. Finding the whole ordeal to be quite boring he decided to sleep, expecting a visitor to extract him in late evening.

He awoke to find himself no longer in the brightly lit padded cell he had come to know and instead inside of a dark, ice cold room strapped to a steel table. His arms and legs bound so tight he couldn't even struggle to free himself, he was also quick to notice the gag placed in his mouth preventing him from making any noise, never mind call out for someone.

"Ah good, you're awake." An elderly male voice spoke, the light hanging above didn't illuminate much of his face but it did certainly light up the thick round glasses and a metal cart of what could be described as medical tools but looked closer to weapons of torture. "Then we can begin this new experiment." The elderly man moved closer to reveal a lab coat stained with blood and other unknown substances.

Also stepping into the light was a man he did not recognise but wore the same cloak and symbol of his clergy, with his hood down Martialist saw the long white hair draping elegantly around his shoulders and his eyes of grey with white pupils. Though this man was in the same chilled room, his breaths did not fog like his or the doctor's. "Doctor, I am hoping this demonstration won't be taking very long. I do have other businesses the Undying King would have me tend to."

"You can't rush when making a masterpiece, and with all these new tools to work with why waste a single second of experimentation. Leave that body there, I'll be using it in just a moment." The Doctor said, grabbing a thick syringe and moving to the side of him, he tried to struggle but all attempts were in vain, as was any attempt to scream.

The long haired man stood judgingly, dumping a body unceremoniously onto the floor, "You have failed twice my brother in Death. You were the closest any of us had gotten and you squandered your chance to kill that pest, and for what? To deny your birth right, your Quirk, the gift the Undying King had given on to you before you even knew of his existence. You bring shame to us, but don't fret Brother, your body will be reconstituted. You will be allowed to please our dark lord once more."

That was the last thing Martialist heard before everything turned dark and would never grow bright again.


Japan - Musutafu- UA High School

On a Saturday evening, well after any student had gone home, Nezu sat in the conference room of his prestigious school, requesting several members of staff in the different departments be present. He sipped from his cup as they filtered in, a sleeping Shota being quite literally dragged in by Nemuri and Hizashi. The other faculty members entering shortly after one another, once the staff had taken their seats he began the meeting.

"Thank you all for coming, I'm sure you are all curious about why I have called you here. As I am sure you are all aware there has been a slowly growing threat all over Japan of the Villain group known as the Undying King's Faithful. In response to this I have chosen to hire two new members of staff to fortify UA against an attack from any members of this group." Nezu explained.

"You think the UA barrier isn't good enough to stop a couple creeps in hoods?" Higari questioned, a rightful question from the one who built the security system.

"I do. I have come to understand that they posses a method of medium range teleportation that can completely negate the barrier's use, as well s many of our other defences. Our defence droids would also likely be rendered obsolete by the large number of their forces they can unleash at any given moment."

"A warping Quirk? That is certainly quite the troublesome thing to deal with." Nemuri commented.

"So, who're these new faculty members? If you're thinkin' it'll make the school safer than we can, I reckon it must be someone pretty darn good." Snipe asked.

"Well, I believe some of you will be quite familiar with one of them." Nezu said, turning to the door leading inside. "You may come in now." He called out.

The door opening to reveal an older gentleman with long fantastic golden hair, brilliant blue eyes and immaculate grey suit with a tie that depicted a glorious sunset. The elderly Wizard friend of Warlock, with a walking stick in hand and a kind-hearted smile of his lips. He entered alone, giving a formal bow to the other faculty, "Good evening, My name is Veratain Hai Sylvar. I am pleased to meet you all."

"Wait, wait, now. Where's the other one?" Hizashi asked.

Sylvar rolled his eyes, "He likes to make an entrance."

Suddenly in the centre of the room was a light popping sound and a man quite literally popped into existence in the air. The trench coat wearing man defied gravity as he slowly floated down to his feet next to the older taller man, he spun and bowed dramatically to the Heroes. "Good evening to you all. I, am Warlock. Master of Mystery and unrelenting thorn in the Undying King's side. Pleased to assist in the fortification of UA High."

Nezu smiled behind the cup he drank from, the Boots of Levitation had certainly proven quite useful in making an entrance. He took notice of the reactions from Snipe, Hizashi and Nemuri, ones more of excitement than surprise. The dramatic and confident persona of Warlock was possibly what interested the latter two. It would seem Snipe had been doing his independent research and knew of Warlock's Vigilantism, likely excited to not be the only ex-Vigilante at the school now.

"Alright, what's your plans to fortify the school then? How you plan on stopping any warpers is beyond me?" Higari asked the two more magically inclined individuals.

"Well, we plan on building our own barrier that should stop anything from appearing where it shouldn't, not unlike your own barrier Mr Power Loader but attuned to a certain "wavelength" to disrupt any attempt to teleport inside. We also spoke to Mr Nezu about an optional dormitory system to allow students to stay on the much safer UA premises." Warlock explained.

"Ah, the Height's Alliance plan? I thought that was still on the backburner." Ken brought up. His cement Quirk was a fundamental part in the planned building of the Height's Alliance dormitories but not as much for the next iteration of the dormitories.

"They were Ken, though with several improvements in design made by Mr Sylvar which not only guarantied a significant boost in student safety and comfort I decided to expedite the development of these buildings while handing over the construction privileges to Mr Sylvar." Nezu explained.

"I see, thank you for explaining. I hope to discuss these designs with you when possible Mr Sylvar." Ken said, seemingly happy with the clarification he got.

"Well, I do have other business to discuss. If anyone has any questions for these two before I continue with our meeting please speak now." Nezu said.

Nemuri immediately stood up, "So, is there a Mrs Warlock?" The trench coat wearing man immediately vanished in a cloud of smoke from the room. Nemuri chuckled as Hizashi looked at her with faux disappointment, clearly holding back a snicker. "Aw, what? I was kidding."


After the meeting the several Heroes left the conference room, the only ones left inside were Sylvar and Nezu. Izuku lifted one of the ceiling tiles and slid back into the room, using Mage Hand to put the tile back where it was once he touched the floor.

"Ah, so that's where you were hiding. I had guessed you would have gone further away." Nezu said as Izuku removed the Boots of Levitation, giving them back to the principal.

"Well Misty Step only has a range of about 10 meters." Izuku explained.

'And you had used it to escape embarrassment.' Couatl said, many voices clearly judging him for his immature spell use.

'I think anyone who could teleport would use it to warp out of embarrassing situations.' He thought back.

"Alright, I believe we should discuss our plans for the real fortification of UA." Sylvar said, clapping his hands together with a wisp of flame and turning it into a large scroll of parchment, unrolling it on Nezu's desk and revealing a drawing of a top down view of the UA campus and surrounding area. He gave a few magic words and rubbed a piece of fabric between his hands, pressing it into the parchment and spreading the magic over the image. The drawing glowed a subtle purple and emerged from the paper forming a 3D hologram-like image of all the UA property. Sylvar moved his hands and brought the illusion to the middle of the room.

"My, how impressive." Nezu said with a smile, impressed by the versatility of magic once more.

Sylvar waved his hands and formed a complex ring of multiple circles, runes and symbols beneath the property, "This is a pipe network I devised to run beneath the school and surrounding area. If we run holy water through the pipes and give me enough time, I will be able to create a continuous invisible barrier of Abjuration magic around the school that should block lower level teleportation into the premises."

"Low level teleportation? So if they used a higher form of teleporting then they would break through?" Izuku questioned.

"It's a very big barrier, one that is also charged with enough Illusion magic to remain invisible. Making something so impenetrable would require a lot more than the time we have. Besides it would require a lot more resources to make enough higher level teleport scrolls to make a meaningful attack. Spells like Teleport and Gate would negate this barrier but they are 7th and 9th level spells respectfully, it would be unlikely anyone but the Undying King himself would have those spells available on standby. Not to mention making high level scrolls is incredibly tedious, I doubt he would be able to make enough for an all out attack." Sylvar explained.

The illusion zoomed in on the front gates, showing two new statues alongside the busts of famous Heroes. They were large lion-like Komainu statues. "I was going to go with a more western Gargoyle design but I figured that these guardians would fit in better if they looked like this. Of course I could have hired actual Gargoyles but I have a bad history with fiends and they may have eaten one of the students so Golems would work better overall." Sylvar continued, moving the illusion to several other locations on the map with other new statues that were also Golems.

"I will also need to create a doorway into my extraplanar home on the premises, since it is located in it's own Demi-Plane it would be the optimal place for a sort of "panic room" in case of an evacuation." Sylvar explained, clapping his hands together and making the 3D model vanish in a light puff of purple smoke. "That is all I believe I will be able to do on my own in just a few months. Alongside the plans for the improved dormitories, with enough funding and man power this should get done around the time the next school year begins."

Nezu nodded, seemingly quite impressed with the sales pitch for the new security systems. "Well, aside from the troubling thought of Gargoyles, I believe there is nothing to worry about in these defence systems. I will be making some changes to our current defences as well, some new security cameras, motion sensors, defence droids and the like."

Izuku raised a hand like a student in a classroom, "Just a quick question, Sylvar. Are you sure you can get all of this done in just a couple months. I mean, it just seems like a lot of magic that needs to be used and not only that but the physical cost to make that many gallons of holy water just seems way too high."

Sylvar chuckled, "Young man, you think overmuch. If you believe I thought of these methods without the tools to do it you are sorely mistaken. Besides that, I now have a budget provided by Mr Nezu here, probably enough to buy a small country."

"Well it has put a sizeable dent in my personal funds Mr Sylvar, I do hope you will be spending it wisely." Nezu said with a smile before turning to Izuku, "By the way Mr Warlock, I will have to put a name down for your profile on the school records, one other than Warlock. If you could give me a name, I would be grateful."

"Can it be a fake name?" He asked immediately.

Nezu simply chuckled, "I never said it had to be yours, just a name."

Izuku paused for a moment, he had quickly realised he was still very bad at lying.

"...Jack..." for some reason this was the first fake name that came to his mind.

"Jack?" Nezu asked for clarification.

"...Yes? Jack Midoriya." Izuku said in a rushed panic, almost immediately realising his mistake the very second the words left his lips.

Nezu paused, "Ah I see, "Midori" meaning green, like your hair and eyes in this form. Very clever." he chuckled.

"Yep." Izuku was all he was able to choke out, breathing such a heavy internal sigh of relief it was like he exhaled his soul.

'Your luck continues to know no bounds, Izuku. As does your inability to speak untruth. Frankly, it is found almost comical.'

'It's not funny, I'm dying out here!'

'Twas a figure of speech.'

Sylvar tapped him on the head with his walking stick, knocking him out of his stupor. "Well then, "Midoriya", I'm sure you are quite busy. Run along now, I will be conversing with Nezu for a while on our plans for UA's defences." He intentionally put emphasis on "Midoriya" as if it were an inside joke.

"Right! You got it!" Izuku said leaving the conference room at top speed.


Veratain sat for a moment as Midoriya left the room in a visible panic. "So, I don't suppose this means you'll continue your search for his true identity?" he asked Nezu, the principal sitting with an amused look on his face.

"Ah yes, the true identity of Warlock. It truly is a mystery, is it not? The world may never know." He said jokingly, chuckling to himself before sipping from his tea.

Veratain gave a sly grin, "You already knew didn't you?"

"A few days after his blood was tested for a Quirk I ran through a database of every Quirkless person in Musutafu, knowing this was his preferred territory and likely his home. I quickly classified any file on the Midoriya family immediately after deducing and confirming his identity to protect them." Nezu explained.

"I'm guessing you didn't tell the President about any of this." Veratain said, pouring himself a cup of tea with a conjured Mage Hand.

"Upon learning what little I could about him, I knew that eventually the HPSC's ideals would surely clash with Midoriya's. Truth be told I've already set up a plan to ensure the safety of the Midoriya family." He took another sip of tea, seemingly for dramatic effect. "Besides, I wouldn't want to miss out on all the entertainment." he laughed.


Izuku wandered the halls in UA still in his Warlock appearance, taking in the scenery as the light of the setting sun filtered in through the large glass windows. It felt a little surreal to be standing inside the school he had always dreamed of being in. The large empty halls giving a slightly ominous feeling, like a usually bustling city street being devoid of people or a school yard at night, just a feeling he was somewhere he wasn't supposed to be.

'What a weird feeling.' he thought to himself.

'Kenopsia.' Couatl suddenly said.

'What?'

'The forlorn atmosphere of this place once bustling with life, now abandoned. The word you are searching for is kenopsia'

'Hmm, now that I have a word for it it kinda feels less fantastical.' he thought.

He continued to walk around the halls for a few more moments before looking out of one of the windows at the sunset, he began to think about the other day where the Undead attacked the HPSC office, how there was a much more powerful Cultist who didn't kill him. From magical aura alone he could tell she was much more powerful than him or any other Cultist he had met.

'Hey Couatl, why do you think she didn't kill me. She was an Undead with the Cultists wasn't she?'

'It is unknown to one, though it is known that some Undead possess varying degrees of free will. Liches, Vampires, Ghosts. If it possesses a higher cognitive ability it is believed one might retain the ability to act upon one's own accord. Perhaps they simply did not desire to kill you.'

'What I don't understand is why?' He thought, leaning on a handrail still staring at the sunset. 'If she killed the other cultist then that implies that she has a vendetta against them, unless it was to make sure he didn't talk. But then why burn the cloak if that was the only reason? If she was rebelling against the Lich then why would she keep working for and worshiping him?' Izuku planted his head on the handrail, "Ugh, too many questions."

"I ain't interruptin' anything am I?" He heard a voice say next to him, seeing Snipe: The Ranger Hero, standing next to him also staring at the sun.

"Oh! Uh, no. Nope, just looking at the sunset. Thinking about...stuff." Izuku said.

"Stuff huh? Well, can't say I ain't guilty of doin' the same. Always gets me thinkin' 'bout the past, what I coulda done different." He said, letting out a small sigh from behind his mask. "Well, I'll be leavin' you to your "stuff" now. Just know it's nice not bein' the only ex-Vigilante in the faculty."

"Woah, wait?! You were a Vigilante?!" Izuku blurted out.

"Guess it ain't really common knowledge. Back then I would've called myself a "Wandering Bounty Hunter", lookin' back I was more like a homeless Vigilante. Nezu found me back then, still ain't even sure what he was doin' in America at the time, but he saw somethin' in me. Next thing I know I'm learnin' Japanese, getting a license and teachin' kids." Snipe explained. "Strange how life turns out."

"I always assumed you were from America."

Snipe let out a small laugh, "What? The cowboy getup give it away?" He adjusted said cowboy hat, "I'm from Illinois, but I never found home that great." He looked out to the sunset again before turning to walk away, "Well, that's all I wanted to say. Just remember that bein' a Vigilante is mighty different than bein' a Hero. One learns to appreciate peace a little more than the other." He started to walk away.

"Hey, Snipe." Izuku called out, causing the gun toting Hero to turn his head, "Can I get an autograph?"

He let out a short chuckle, "Sure thing."


Izuku's Dream

That night Izuku decided he was feeling confident, wanting to increase his training difficulty. In the dark void of his dream an area made to look like a forest clearing had been made out of geometric shapes of light, like an early 3D videogame's graphics. Enemies made of red light quickly emerged from the tree line.

Izuku remained defensive, blocking and dodging the attacks and learning what he could before using his staff to smack one with a sword away from him. One that looked like a magic user launched a cone of fire at him like a flamethrower, he snapped his fingers with the Gloves of Sparking and Used Control Flames to launch his own plume of fire back at the magic caster.

He barely dodged as a much taller, more armoured looking enemy jumped out from the flames, swinging with a large two handed sword. The enemy tried to swing again but it's swings were telegraphed heavily from the slow swing of a heavy blade. He jumped over a low swing and smacked the enemy on the top of his helmet, running up his body while bludgeoning anything he could with the staff. He jumped down from the taller enemy down to the magic user, attacking as he landed and knocking them down.

The 3 enemies shattered into red particles as they were defeated, then they all fused into a much more imposing figure. The red light flaking off of it to reveal what looked like a three headed lion, but one head was that of an evil looking goat and another was a dragon-like head with blue scales. The beast also had a dragon's wings and tail, also with blue scales.

"What the hell is that!?" Izuku shouted before the beast roared in a cacophony of the three screaming animal heads. The beast charging him with ferocious lion claws which he barely dodged, he did not dodge the angry headbutt of the goat head though as the horns bludgeoned his body with enough force to crack ribs. Electricity crackled around the dragon head's mouth as it tried to bite him, fortunately being blocked by jabbing it's face with his staff.

Izuku was not expecting this to put it lightly, he had been pitted against monsters before but this beast was much more evil looking than the last giant monster he died to in his dream, a Manticore if he remembered correctly. Why couldn't he just fight another one of those instead of this chimeric abomination that was filled with rage and lightning.

Izuku, though panicking, had a sudden, very stupid idea but in his adrenaline fuelled state he thought it was a great plan. "Hey Ugly. Why don't you shoot that electricity at me. Someone so stupid like you could never get a good hit in melee." He taunted while running away.

The monster roared and chased after him, using it's draconic wings to fly faster than it could run. The smell of ozone filled the air as the lightning crackled around it's dragon mouth.

Izuku smiled, just before it fired a blast of energy he quickly spoke a few Celestial words, smoke beginning to billow off of him before he vanished in the smoke, casting Misty Step and reappearing next to the dragon head and grabbing on to it, desperately trying with all his might to twist it to face the other heads. The dragon head fired it's blast of lightning, like a stream of thunderbolts shooting from it's mouth and searing the goat and lion heads with electricity.

The monster shook him off, clawing at his body on the ground and slicing deeply into his chest. Izuku knew he was still in the dream but it still hurt like hell whenever he was injured in the training simulation in his head. He began to speak words of Celestial again, fire on the tips of his staff and spinning it to make a circle but as it collapsed into a bead of fire he changed the elemental nature of the spell as the air began to grow frigid and icy.

[Transmuted Flaming Sphere - Ice]

The growing sphere of flames warped and changed into one of icy winds, swirling in a perfect sphere, chunks of ice and snow being thrown around inside the frigid ball of frost. He launched it at the beast which screeched inhumanly as ice began to grow on the beast but it quickly flew upwards and away from the ball, before divebombing Izuku with it's claws and fangs bared to kill.

"Bring it on!" Izuku called out to the beast as it came to kill him.


Izuku stood up in the blackness of his dream after dying once again in a simulated fight, watching as the light in his chest flew out and Couatl formed from it majestically unfurling into the brilliant winged snake they were.

"You know, when I said I wanted something more difficult, I was expecting something like, "Oh these ones can only be hurt by magic and these ones are immune to magic." or something. I didn't mean eviscerate me with a three headed murder machine!" Izuku complained.

"You performed well under the unfair circumstances. One could be impressed with your creativity in the face of overwhelming power." Couatl praised, their voices echoing all around with their mouth still remaining still.

"I'd be grateful if I didn't have to learn how it feels like to be eaten by an evil goat." He said sarcastically as he shivered before collapsing on the floor in exhaustion. "Can we take a break, like 10, 15 minutes."

Couatl began to gently circle around Izuku from above, gliding elegantly while moving effortlessly. "Very well. You may rest."

"Woo!" Izuku cheered, raising his arms in the air while still laying on the floor. A comfortable sofa forming underneath him and lifting him up while he still laid down. "So, about the next level. When do you think I'll be ready for that?" He asked.

"It is thought you are nearing the point at which you can achieve Level 4 without any permanent or temporary harm."

"Sweet! And if I level up right now?"

"Permanent or temporary harm."

"Oh, it's not like a percentage chance thing?"

"It is not."

"Hmm, well what new things do I get from it? A new spell? Or do I get another invocation thingy, like Agonising Blast?"

"One new Cantrip and one new spell." Couatl stopped circling and instead chose to float effortlessly next to him, "Though one and others have come to a conclusion that you should be knowledgeable of the abilities you receive before the level increase to prevent confusion. It was also thought you may wish to choose the spells yourself.

"There are choices? I just assumed anyone would get what I got." Izuku said, sitting up on the sofa and beginning to think while watching as Couatl flew further away, beginning to float idly. "I guess I'd like something to cause a distraction, you know so I could get the jump on Villains or so I can slip away unnoticed. Something like that."

"Such a request can be arranged, the Cantrip known as Minor Illusion will provide well for this cause. Do you have any requests for the other spell?"

Izuku thought for a moment before shrugging, "I think it would be best to give me something useful at the time. I keep having to have to level up right before a fight, maybe if I'm against a lot of enemies I could get something with a big area of effect."

"Speaking of which, it may be possible to "upgrade" one of your already known spells once you level up by replacing your knowledge of it with a different spell of similar use yet greater effect. In this scenario, the spell known as Thunderwave may be replaced with a separate spell known as Shatter."

"That sounds pretty good. What makes it better?"

"A dramatic increase in range, no longer limited to being cast directly before you. As well as an increase in damaging area and potential damage output. Though this spell will require a small shard of Mica when cast. Veratain Hai Sylvar is likely to possess a sum of this crystal so you will not need to venture to another shopping mall and get attacked by Cultists."

"I mean, I'm probably going to get attacked by them anyway. I always seem to end up wherever they attack, it's weird."

"Indeed."

Izuku got up from the sofa, it vanishing back into the void when he stopped touching it, "Alright, let's get back to training!"


Japan - HPSC Underground Testing Facility

Yokumiru stood alongside the President as they descended deeper down into the facility via an elevator. He himself having been losing sleep from filling out all the paperwork around the deaths of some of the Presidents elite guards and the loss of important data and continuing to cover up attacks from the UKF.

"Mera, give me some good news." The President ordered after remaining silent on the ride down.

"Well, the "Zombies" that were detained from the attack on the Mie Prefecture have yet to show any reaction to any substances you ordered to have tested. They show a great resistance to any firearms we use, several offensive quirks seem useless against them. The only things we have that managed to deal any lasting damage was the dagger that Warlock had provided in return for a Hero licence and the high amounts of physical damage from your elite guard's Quirks."

"That's acceptable, I wish to test the latest weapon design." The President said, her stern look not changing.

"Of course, Madam President." The doors opened and Yokumiru led the President through the facility, any personnel giving a respectful bow to her as she passed. They eventually reached a large reinforced steel door guarded by two guards in full protective gear and assault rifles, they each turned a key to open the door revealing a long room similar to that of a shooting range, several facility workers standing to the sides of the door.

At the far end of the room was one of those shambling corpses, moaning and struggling but affixed to the wall with steel restraints behind strip of black and yellow stripes to warn how close was too close. In the front of the room was a single pedestal, a semi-automatic pistol similar in design to the standard issue police handguns. The magazine of the gun had been loaded with silver bullets.

The President walked up, loaded the pistol and immediately fired a bullet into the torso of the walking corpse. No immediate reaction. She shot another bullet into the skull, though the damage was obvious there was so reaction from the monster as it continued to struggle to free itself. The President then fired the remaining bullets into the Zombie, the creature was still for a moment but then continued to struggle though much slower. She ejected the magazine and placed the gun back on the pedestal.

"This experiment was a failure. I hope you all understand that the longer it takes to build mass produced weapons capable of killing these monsters, the more innocent people die. Let that incentivize your work ethic." She commanded, the facility workers looking already overworked simply bowed in forgiveness. The President then walked away, Yokumiru following close behind.

"Mera, have the workers been able to determine anything about the dagger?" She asked, while walking through the pristine white halls of the facility.

"We haven't been able to remove any samples from the blade or handle, we had two workers of Christian and Buddhist faith respectively hold the dagger and both felt an overwhelming sense of dread upon contact. We tested the dagger on a death row prisoner as you requested, it drained the entire body of blood. The next person to touch the blade directly stated that he felt an extreme feeling of euphoria. We had to detain him after he tried to stab another worker. Right now it's the only weapon we have to kill these monsters." Yokumiru explained.

"I see. Mera, take me to the dagger, I wish to personally inspect it." The President ordered.

Yokumiru was hesitant but could not object, "Yes, Madam President." He led her through more of the facility until they reached another door, guarded by another pair of armed guards, opening the doors revealed a large white room with a pedestal in the middle, the dagger held by a stand under a glass box.

"Mera, leave the room and deactivate the cameras observing this room. Then lock the doors. Do not open them without checking the cameras first." Yokumiru was unsure of the President's intentions but was in no position to argue.

He left the President in the room, deactivating the cameras via a console by the door and locking the mechanical steel doors shut.


The President calmly walked over to the dagger, gently removing the glass box and examining the dagger. She removed a flask from her suit pocket, dousing her hands in holy water received by a Catholic priest. She reached for the knife, taking hold of the handle and looking at the engravings on the wicked blade that resembled veins.

She immediately stabbed the knife into the her shadow, an immediate reaction occurred as the darkness that made up her shadow flailed and spasmed.

"You've been following me for a while. Reveal yourself now and I won't have to take drastic measures." She called out. Her shadow began to expand and rise from the ground in the form of smoke that didn't float into the air but stayed low to the ground as if more dense than air. Then a black substance started seeping from the smoke, coating the once white room in impenetrable darkness.

Darkness continued to form from the smoke, covering the entire room in a film of absolute blackness, yet the President could still see herself in this darkness. From where her shadow once was a figure slowly emerged, warped, soot coated horns poked out of smoke first followed by the skull they were attached to. An almost skeletal head that seemed to resemble the skull of an elk fused with that of a human, the skull was missing a lower jaw. The remainder of the creature was wreathed in smoke and dull flames that billowed off it's body but the skull was visible and had some flesh remaining. Though this flesh looked as if it have received 4th degree burns that were never treated.

"How interesting. Humans cannot see me when I harbour within a shadow yet this one did." The creature spoke in a unnervingly almost normal voice that was too human to be it's own, speaking without any lower jaw or tongue. The blood sucking dagger remained in the creature's chest until a three fingered hand ending in bone-like claws also covered in soot and burnt flesh emerged from the ever burning smoke of the creature and pried it free. "Are all such Humans prone to violence, tis a strange place."

"I didn't notice at first but you have been following me ever since I left the house of the "Wizard". If you wanted to kill me you would have done so already, you were watching. Tell me who you are and why you are watching me and I may consider letting you live." The President ordered, feeling no fear toward this creature.

"Ahh, the Golden One's abode. Tis a nexus of magic, many creatures end up there, very few intentionally. This Human was my method of leaving and I thank this one for that. Though it was not coincidence that lead me to this one, we both have something the other wants do we not? Does it not wish for a way to destroy those who still live beyond death?"

"Tell me who you are." she calmly demanded.

"To say who I am? Tis foolish, give me a name as it pleases this one."

"What would I have that you don't?" She asked.

"This one's position of power is unique. I have not seen it in realms prior, I wish to see more of this world and its people. It's greed. It's corruption. It's lust and gluttony for power. I wish to watch from this one's eyes, who watches over the goods and evils of this region. In exchange I can lend knowledge, power, whatever it is that pleases this one."

"If I were to refuse your offer. What then?" She spoke, continuing to not show any sign of weakness as the burning smoke danced around her like a predator toying with it's prey.

"This one cannot call for help. It chose to lock itself within here with me. Tis an unfortunate outcome, to decline an offer as plentiful as mine."

"This room will not be opened until I wish it to, you cannot leave this room if you kill me. It is also air tight and has sprinklers loaded with holy water that can be activated from outside. Right now you are at my mercy, I can and will decline anything I don't find acceptable."

Though it was impossible to tell, it seemed the charred jawless skull of the monster smiled. "I think I am liking this one." From the smoke emerged a piece of paper that seemed immune to the low fires that licked at it and a quill that scribbled unintelligible script. "I am the scribe of this contract, yet it requires a signature. Pray tell what this one wishes to refer to me as for our business?"

"If we are to form a contract I wish to alter any conditions. I will not be giving up anything of high importance for something as trivial as information." The President lied, she would sacrifice much if it came down to it, if it was necessary to rid the world of the Undying King's evil.

"This one need not worry, negotiations can be worked upon. Now give me the name we shall do business under."

The President looked at the creature, the dark gunpowder-like smoke that billowed around it and the dull fires that seemed to be blocked by impenetrable darkness. "For the means of our contact, I shall refer to you as Kayaku"

"Kayaku. Ka-Ya-Ku. Kaa. Yaa. Kuu. Yes, I like this name. Very well and what would the name of this one be."

"Are you not the one who chooses?"

"My name holds power where this one's does not. Speak thy name and we shall begin the negotiation of our contract."

The President took a deep breath, staring into the empty eye sockets of the charred skull of this devilish creature. "My name is Sayaka. Sayaka Fuhai."

"Sayaka. Sa-Ya-Ka. Let us discuss our business together, Sayaka. Our partnership."


Yokumiru waited patiently by the door for an hour until a knocking could be heard from inside, he used the console to view the cameras as was requested before opening the door to reveal the President. She had blood leaking down the left side of her face that had already stained most of her suit. "Madam President! Is everything alright? What happened!"

"Mera, who is developing the weapons for use against the Undead monsters?" The President asked, completely ignoring his question and unburdened by the blood.

"A-ah, the team I chose is made up of several facility staff who specialise in designing military arms and a few with Quirks useful for manufacturing unconventional arms." Yokumiru explained.

The President pulled a sealed envelope with an unknown wax seal out of her suit pocket and handed it to him, "Give that to your team and have them build it by tomorrow."

"Y-yes Madam President." Yokumiru said, a feeling of dread creeping over him as he held the letter.


The next day Yokumiru had lead the President down into the facility again and into the same weapon testing room once again. Attached to the far end of the wall were now 6 Zombies, all in steel restraints and behind the warning line as they normally were.

The pedestal now held a new firearm, a large handgun somewhat similar in design to the M1911, one that seemed much too unwieldy to use. According to the report of the weapon Yokumiru received, the gun was 33.5cm in length and weighed 4kg. The gun was designed to shoot explosive .454 Casull rounds, the blessed steel bullets bearing a core made from a melted silver Christian cross from a popular Japanese cathedral. Due to the design of the weapon it could only hold 6 bullets in the magazine. The lead design engineer stated that the weapon would need to be wielded by someone with great physical strength or at least a strength Quirk to actually use it and not get damaged from the recoil.

The President calmly picked up the weapon in a single hand, much to the shock of everyone in the test chamber, she loaded the gun and aimed at the Zombies. She released a shot into the torso of the far left Zombie, it completely eviscerating the torso and leaving the body to burn away in blue flames. The President systematically shot at each Zombie, destroying it completely until all that remained at the end of the room were the burning ashes that were once Zombies.

"I'm impressed. Continue using this bullet design and build a gun usable by the average Japanese police officer. I would like this weapon for self defence, I will require more ammunition. Expect a dramatic increase in funding." The President spoke, before staring at the burning ashes left behind by the Zombies. She placed the weapon back on the pedestal and began to walk away, Yokumiru following behind once again.

"Mera, get me a phone call with the Prime Minister. I have business to discuss with him." The President ordered as they entered the elevator to leave the facility.

"Of course, Madam President." Yokumiru responded, trying to ignore the feeling of being watched he couldn't shake for some reason.


Japan - Kirishima Residence

On a Sunday evening Izuku stood at the front door to Kirishima's house. He took a deep breath before knocking, he got two knocks before the door suddenly swung open to reveal both Kirishima and Ashido excited to see him.

"Midobro!" Kirishima shouted with a toothy grin of pointy teeth, his once completely black hair now accented with a rouge streak of red in the front, matching his already red eyes.

"Midori!" Ashido called out, she looked the same as usual but was wearing an incredibly bright coloured shirt with the word "ACID" written on it in giant psychedelic coloured letters.

"Hey guys! Woah!" He said as they both pulled him inside, "I brought snacks, drinks and my favourite All Might Movie." He said, trying to take off his shoes with both hands full with shopping bags. Ashido took one from him but only to start rummaging through it.

"I'm surprised you only have one favourite. There's, like, a bajillion All Might movies. Aha!" She said before pulling the movie case free. "All Might and the Space Villains. Oh I watched this one a bunch as a kid." She then posed like All Might in one of the climactic scenes of the movie. "You won't be able to defeat me foul Villains, even with your space weapons! I stand for Peace, and Justice, and everyone on Earth!" She quoted, doing an All Might impression before snickering to herself.

"MANKIND HAS NOTHING TO FEAR! BECAUSE I AM HERE!" Izuku quoted, doing his own, very accurate impression of All Might as they walked through the house.

"Wha!? That's so cool! How did you do that!?" Ashido asked, shocked at how uncannily good the impression was.

Izuku chuckled, "A lot of practice."

Kirishima had already taken the other bag and moved to the kitchen, "I'll get all the snacks ready! Don't let Mina eat all the popcorn again!"

"You can't stop me Kiri!" She shouted back, grabbing a handful of popcorn from a large bowl.

Izuku laughed at his friend's antics, "What movie did you bring, Ashido?" he asked.

Ashido got a devilish grin as she ran over to her pile of belongings in the living room. "My dad is a crazy old movie buff so I got the best horror movie I could find in his collection." She pulled out a thick movie case and an entire old video player. The movie case had what looked like an astronaut on the cover with the tagline and title. The writing was in English but he knew enough of the language to read the box. "The ultimate in alien terror." the title of the movie was simply "The Thing".

Izuku opened the unfamiliar box to reveal a black rectangle in the box. "What is this?" he asked, unfamiliar with the technology.

"It's a VHS tape. It's SUPER old, like before the 2000s old. My dad likes to collect them, buying them from all over. This movie isn't the Japanese dub but it does have subtitles."

"Wow, well if it's that old then the effects must be pretty bad right? Like funny and not scary...Right?" Izuku asked nervously.

Ashido gave a sinister smile in response, chuckling to herself from behind the movie case.

Kirishima walked in, holding bowls of snacks in each hand, "Mina don't scare him. Why did you even bring a horror movie anyway?"

"It's almost Halloween, the best time to watch scary movies!" Ashido replied in excitement.

"It's still September." Kirishima deadpanned in response.

"It's close enough." Ashido pouted.

Izuku chuckled at their back and forth, going to help Kirishima with the snacks, Ashido eating them the second he turned his back.

That night Izuku watched the movies with his friends, laughing at the comedy Kirishima picked out. Cheering at his own All Might movie and making fun of the cheesy dialogue. And being terrified of the movie Ashido picked out, thinking how practical effects from the late 1900s could still be so scary after so much time. Ashido clearly had the most fun during that movie, watching her friends scared reactions more than the movie itself.

'Couatl,' Izuku thought to the celestial snake, who had remained silent throughout the sleepover as per Izuku's request, 'Can I not do any training tonight?'

'I shall allow it.'

'Thank you'

'Sleep well, Izuku.'

For the first time in a long time, Izuku slept a normal sleep, dreaming a normal dream. On a futon in a room with his friends who cared for him. Izuku's dream than night was not one of Horror movie monsters or vicious training but of another fun day out with his friends. A pleasant calm day without Villains, and without Cultists, surrounded by his caring friends.


Thank you so much for reading! Leave a review if you like! Feel free to make anything based on this work if you want, as long as you let me know about it so I can enjoy it with you!

This chapter is less action packed than the last ones, it's mostly to set up the next chapters and to explain what characters are doing in the meantime when everything isn't exploding. It is nice to see the characters when they aren't just having to fight for their lives all the time. I also like adding to characters who have very little to them already, like the President and Snipe.

The President's made a drastic devilish decision but what has she given and what has she gotten? It seems that not every pest in Sylvar's magic mansion of mysteries gets caught in traps. Or is this misty miscreant not telling his full side of the story? After all, it is best not to trust a devil with a silver tongue. Oh wait he has no tongue, never mind guess we can trust him then.

Speaking of devils, Kayaku is mostly inspired by the Seared Devil from 4th edition D&D but with a few twists and turns from myself. I also recently binge read all of Chainsaw Man so I got really inspired to make a contract system something that sort of combines features from both that and D&D. If this story ever got a TV Tropes page I'm sure his general existence would settle nicely in the Nightmare Fuel category, probably next to that one prison guard watching his life get drained away by a Wight a couple chapters back. I just realised how messed up a few scenes in this story are, good thing they are so fun to write.

Anyway, this chapter was going to end at the last scene with the President but I thought it was too short so I added that little end scene with Izuku and friends. I thought it was cute and it's nice to have a fun event between friends without any attack from monsters and Villains for once.