Shoutout: A big thanks to Droid, who has kindly offered his services as the story's beta reader!
He Who Protects
Chapter 16
His formless body drifted along the river's tranquil currents. It twisted and turned, the cool waters kissing what would've been his skin were he still alive. Part of him twitched in something akin to a relaxed smile.
Wondrous, beautiful glass panes twinkled with starlight all about him. A soothing golden glow wrapped around him like the snuggest of blankets. Light as a feather, it warmed his soul and he quivered.
"Your work is not yet done." A powerful voice boomed above him, but it seemed a world away. "You have accomplished our goal. You are no longer limited by your physical, human body. Now, you are a perpetual… A god."
He opened his mouth in protest but no words sprang forth. He'd much rather stay here, abound with warmth and comfort.
A rasping, feminine shriek pierced the void and he flinched.
"She is suffering." A hint of sorrow leaked into the deafening voice. "Your body will reform soon, and more of my power will return with you."
'But not all?' His first fully coherent thought since he'd entered this strange place. 'What power?'
A soft sigh ghosted through his immaterial form. The molecules that composed him gave a pleasant buzz.
"Your soul is not yet ready for all of me," the voice replied. "And there is work I must attend to here."
Sparks hissed beneath him and he recoiled. Fear surged through him. Sweltering heat suffused him and a roaring inferno of white flame carried him away.
'NO!'
Coloured glass shattered beneath a storm of violet and indigo flames. It fell like a shower of sparkling rain.
Cold, mirthless laughter cracked the star-lit sky. A sinister voice hissed through the abyss, ever-changing, sibilant and maddening.
Golden light, refreshing as the first Spring rain, washed over the darkness. It filled him with power. It surged through him and he roared in triumph.
The evil entity shrieked in anger as he slipped away through the aether.
'Izuku,' he thought. A faint outline of a body appeared in the white fire. 'My name is Izuku. And…Mirko… I need to get back!'
His heart pounded against forming ribs; he stood on new, yet familiar, feet. Fire exploded from his body and melted the stone around him into molten slag.
Anger surged through his veins.
Izuku narrowed his eyes, staring down the one who'd destroyed his body. Plague mask agape, Overhaul rasped a gasp of surprise.
Blood leaked over the edge of the dais behind the villain. Mirko's pallid skin nearly blended in with her crimson-stained, white fur.
A growl burst from his lips. Golden light erupted from his skin with such radiance that the shadows in the cavern fled from him with panicked shrieks.
The whispers that had tickled his mind retreated to the aether.
'Forty percent.' Izuku clenched his fists and shifted his gaze to the ceiling. 'It'll be enough for this, at least. The gods are attacking. I trust you to fend them off for now, Brother.'
Thousands of voices echoed in the depths of his mind. Prayers. Pleas for protection. The voices filled him with a vigour he'd never experienced in his mortal lifetime.
Izuku latched onto one faint voice. Bending, he grasped his sword. It flickered to life within his palm, awaiting the coming judgement.
A cacophony of shrieks pierced the air. Overhaul lunged, jet-black talons glimmering and clacking.
An errant twitch from Izuku saw the man slam into the rock. Another saw him come to Mirko's side in an instant.
Foul energies swarmed around the dagger lodged in her gut. Izuku ran his hand over the corrupt weapon.
'It is not meant to kill, only corrupt.' Izuku called upon his power and placed her beneath a stasis field. 'There's time to save her. But I must deal with Chisaki first.'
Mirko disappeared in a flash of white light as a demented shriek pierced the air.
"You were dead!" Overhaul's blackened veins squirmed like serpents and burst beneath his skin, forming mottled black spots. "I killed you myself! Tzeentch foresaw it!"
Izuku shook his head. "You gave yourself to the Lord of Lies. He used you as a distraction to attack my other half. And now? You are dead Chisaki Kai."
An enraged roar burst from his beak. Blood leaked from his eyes in gouts of blackened crimson. Overhaul slammed his hands to the ground and the room exploded in a shower of shrapnel.
Golden light coalesced into a dome around Izuku. The ground quaked, splitting into a shower of grey spikes. Stone and detritus struck the shield. It dissolved in an instant.
The roof of the cavern split open. People in plague masks screamed as they fell. Their yells ceased as they struck the ground in a shower of blood and bone.
Glints of madness shimmered in Overhaul's black, blood-filled eyes as he grabbed the bodies. Each of them exploded in a flurry of crimson globs.
Multi-hued lights streamed around Chisaki and obscured him. An avian shriek pierced the torrent of warp energies. Wind whipped rock through the air.
And Izuku stood amid the torrents, calm resolve filling him with purpose.
"It is done." Dozens of voices interwove with Overhaul's. "My Lord has blessed me with ascension."
The streams of iridescent light exploded out in plumes of dazzling sparks. Steam unfurled from the warp monstrosity it'd birthed.
Overhaul's shadow swallowed Izuku. The villain dwarfed him. Muscle, skin and sinew covered his towering form in a patchwork of flesh that would've driven a normal man insane. Dark miasma flowed from his body.
Pearlescent feathers bearing eyes tore from his skin and wings unfurled from the creature's gargantuan back. Avian orbs assessed Izuku. The black plague mask ripped into a rictus grin.
Tzeentch's deranged twittering pervaded the cavern.
Izuku dropped the shield and stared his opponent down.
A birdlike shriek pierced the air. The room rumbled, beams of light slicing through the cavern. Overhaul's dread wings beat the air. Once. Twice.
He took flight through the hole.
'He wants to use the civilians against me.' Izuku crouched, his eyes tracing Overhaul's path. 'I need to let them see him and the danger he poses, but he can't be allowed free reign for long.'
Fear-filled screams raced down into the chasm. Izuku leapt through the opening with a grunt.
He slammed into the ground as Overhaul's discordant shrieks filled the air. Most of the humans around him fell to their knees, blood trickling from their ears. Horror shone in their thousand yard stares.
Izuku looked up as a shockwave tore through the air.
Ryukyu's dragon-like form tumbled to the Earth, blood following in her wake.
"This is what I warned you of," Izuku whispered. He pushed his power out, enveloping the crowd in his golden aura.
The humans squirmed, groaning at Overhaul's renewed psychic onslaught.
"What are you?" Nighteye grunted and fell to a knee. He only managed to look directly at Izuku for a split second. "What is Chisaki?"
"Chisaki was given power that could spell humanity's doom." Izuku tightened his grip on his sword. "He is a catalyst for corruption and has already taken Mirko. I wanted you to see. You know what this means, Nighteye."
Izuku spared the hero a glance. Blood trickled from the corners of his golden eyes. Thin, dextrous fingers clawed at his sharp cheeks.
"Do it," he rasped. "I'll handle the commission. Chisaki cannot be allowed…"
Nodding once, Izuku launched up. Air screamed in his ears, mixing with the wails of the populace below. Perverse laughter echoed about the area.
Flames crackled as Izuku brought his sword to bear. Overhaul twisted to meet him in a shimmering veil of gilded malevolence. A warbling shriek burst from his beak, banging against Izuku's eardrums like a drum.
Obsidian claws as long as a man tore toward him.
'Too slow.' Izuku twisted, the tips of Chisaki's claws ripping his cloak.
Steel and fire scorched the air as Izuku sliced through the base of one of Overhaul's wings. Blood sizzled and evaporated beneath the heat. A pained screech cut the air as white flames enveloped the falling wing.
Izuku spun and plunged his blade into Overhaul's grasping palm. Black claws twitched down to destroy the sword, but Izuku turned the blade and carved it out.
A desiccated stump was all that remained of Chisaki's right hand. The creature screamed, clutching its ruined arm.
Pulling an arm back, Izuku launched a devastating punch that sent Overhaul back into the hole he'd created. Izuku followed and landed with an explosive plume of dust and stone.
Warp energies pulsed around him and he pushed. Golden flames exploded from him in a dome that encompassed the entirety of the cavern.
Izuku strode toward the squirming monstrosity. Greedy, golden fire licked at its feathers, charring them beyond recognition.
The thing screeched and swiped at the flames. Shadows writhed from his form, attempting to smother the heat. Hate-filled, black eyes glared at Izuku's approaching figure.
Overhaul slammed his remaining hand against his chest and disappeared in a shroud of blood and viscera.
"Instant regeneration." Izuku stared up at the blood-soaked villain. He'd fully reconstituted. "Your quirk's uses are limitless, but it has one weakness."
Kaleidoscopic wings beat the air and Overhaul surged forward. Shadow and light spilled off his corrupted form. Obsidian clacked and glimmered in the low light.
Overhaul's fingers wrapped around Izuku, managing to avoid the sword at his side. Izuku felt the man's quirk activate. Rasping, multi-toned chuckles leaked about the room.
One small cut appeared on his forehead.
"That won't work on me anymore, Chisaki." Izuku coated his body in flame, his dispassionate gaze fixed on Overhaul's withering appendage.
"Why?" The warp-spawn's voices clattered about his head. "How?"
The ruined hand reformed in a shower of gore.
"You ascended too quickly for your quirk to be fully affected." Izuku walked toward the hunched figure and allowed his sword to slip from his fingers. "Whereas I have fully ascended into a being you can't dismantle. A quirk that affects the physical cannot overcome the empyreal."
Overhaul slammed a hand to the ground. Stone clattered and rumbled. Massive spikes shot toward Izuku.
Golden, blinding light shot out from him.
The stone crumbled to dust.
"But I can cut you!" Overhaul's deranged eyes popped from his head. "You can be crushed! You can be killed, just as Horus once did!"
Izuku nodded. "Yes, I can be killed and banished back to the warp, but I will come back after a time. The perks of being a perpetual."
Maddened screeches pierced the air. Overhaul swung a taloned hand at Izuku.
He caught a claw in a firm grasp. Hardened carapace cracked beneath his fingers.
"You created me, Chisaki." Fire coursed down Izuku's arm and enveloped Overhaul's hand. "You were only ever a stepping stone."
Obsidian glinted as Overhaul moved to heal himself with his quirk. Izuku caught his hand and crushed it. White fire consumed it in an instant.
Golden radiance flowed over Izuku as he launched his fists at the newly born daemon. Pained shrieks rent the air as he pummelled the foul creature.
Bone crunched and crimson pooled beneath the deluge until all that remained was a gurgling lump of flesh.
Hate-filled, black eyes burned, though Izuku couldn't know if the hatred was reserved for him or the god who'd abandoned him.
"And now, you'll tell me what I want to know," Izuku murmured, reaching for the repulsive creature's face.
He pierced the villain's mind with warp energies. An arrow fired with extreme accuracy. It pierced the flimsy veil of protection.
Images and voices assaulted his senses. So much had happened in the past months and so much was yet to occur.
A smooth yet gravelly voice, filled with confidence, floated just past the shimmering veil of Overhaul's mind. Izuku tore through it and saw him.
"All for One."
The conversation chilled his blood.
Izuku withdrew, sparing a glance at the quivering ball of foetid flesh at his feet.
"You knew so little." Sparks danced over Izuku's skin. "But you've given me much to consider."
'May Tzeentch be kinder to you than I know he will, Chisaki.
Purifying, orange fire burst out from Izuku in a storm and consumed everything within the cavern in a controlled explosion that erupted out of the hole in the ceiling.
'We'll be facing the worst very soon.'