Legend of steel

by Mikatsuki Augus

Dying sucks, there is no other way to describe it. Being reborn in a messed up world where most beings can kill you with a sneeze is even worse, perhaps. Well, at least I can build those Gundams now...

12. All for One

This time the shock wave of our attacks demolished the entire block. Buildings, asphalt and earth were ripped from the ground and scattered to the four winds, falling like pebbles during a volcanic eruption, increasing collateral damage in the surrounding area.

I move one arm widely using the B statistic in force of the Astrea F2 and disperse the large cloud of dust that was obstructing the space around us. Not so much for me given the many sensors I have available to monitor the field, but for Mirko and Ryukyu, as more company has arrived besides All for One.

"Sensei..."

"You've failed again, Tomura" states the obvious the Japanese boogeyman to the terrified student, figuratively and literally, as he approaches the league members who are now spitting black water and gasping a little for air "However, you should by no means be discouraged, you can make it up to me. That's why I brought your comrades here," she reassures him, approaching him and extending her hand "Get up as many times as you want, that's what I'm here for. Everything exists only for you."

"Heh, so you're really going to opt for that scenario in the end?" I comment, preparing to fight in earnest, alerting myself with the Proto buster sword.

All for One does not react to my provocation.

"Who knows? Maybe I will, maybe I won't have to," gloats the man in black, who turns to face me with open arms "After all, the show has just started."

I narrow my gaze toward him, who was surely hiding something. All Might should have been here by now, why is he so late? Connecting with the Jegans I see that there are several nuomu, from low to high level, but one with wings of fire caught my attention. It took down Gran Torino who was promptly saved from fatal fall by Edgeshot, while my legal guardian charged too fast to be followed by a lower machine like the Jegan, who could still see the results, however. Noumu's torso was obliterated, but the remaining body parts caught fire and reconnected, again forming one body.

How would Porgas D. Ace, or...

"-a Phoenix?" I mutter to myself.

"Ahah, my compliments. You really don't miss a thing," he comments extremely amused "So you've seen what the world hides in the moonlight too, huh? Then again, I doubt those two young hereditary ones haven't tried at least once to recruit you, especially considering how desperate Gremory is."

"I'm puzzled, I thought you were more interested in quirks than bloodlines," I admit, not particularly surprised that he knew about the supernatural.

He has been alive for more than a century; it is virtually impossible that he has not come across someone at least once who wanted to recruit him, or who he wanted to recruit but then discovered was not human. The real question is, who does he have contact with? Considering that he is on par with All Might in terms of power, I highly doubt anyone lower than the top leadership of any faction.

Taking into account that he used a Phoenix as his base presumably, and that I heard from Ajuka that the second son-in-law of the family has mysteriously disappeared for some time now, what are the chances that he is the guinea pig he got his hands on? That point, together with the fact that I am her target, makes me highly doubt that it is the work of someone in the government of the new maou, otherwise Ajuka or Serafall would have warned me of this possibility. Regardless of how many people I've pissed off, the most influential devils are too proud and most would never use a main family member of a pillar, or related to them considering how influential they are; therefore, I would rule out even the Great King faction for now, with all their fixation on blood purity.

The most likely part of the remaining devils faction that I am aware of is the Old Satan faction, or more specifically, a single individual who would find the god complex in identifying himself as the lord of demons and the whole pile of problems that is All for one extremely amusing.

The old Satan faction sees as inferior beings any race that is not devils affiliated with them, or at any rate not descendants of the original pillars, but Rizevim Livan Lucifer really doesn't give a shit about their ideologies (or devils as a whole). He is bored and wants to play with whatever he finds entertaining. A megalomaniac who held Japan in check and had begun to take root in the rest of the world as well, in a long and intricate scheme only to fail thanks to what he considers a buffoon when he was at his peak? He would find it an amusing comedy and extend help only to see how he would start plotting again and how his plans would blow up in his face next time, or how he would succeed, depending on what would entertain him most.

My speculations have little relevance now, but they still have a plausible basis and are best investigated once I am done here.

"I am not interested in them in fact. That was just a gift for an old collaborator of mine," he replies, adjusting his tie.

"I still don't understand how such a person can call himself a 'doctor' after violating every possible or known oath or law concerning medicine," I sourly admit. I mean, I'm no saint, but come on! He has fallen to the levels of the Nazis during World War II by now, maybe even lower! "Did he use my regeneration cadle for that noumu too?"

"Yes, although it needed quite a bit of work, after all, the base was very different from what we usually use," she admits placidly as she stretches out an arm, which begins to swell under the elegant black dress.

He fired the air cannon again, but I swung my weapon with a GN Burst, causing another very violent explosion. This blast was stronger than the previous ones by a margin of...35%, but not enough to unbalance me or push me back. I think it is around grade C. He manages to deflect my blows simply because of good aim. In a power contest he doesn't even come close to beating me with that, though could it be that he's holding back so as not to bring Shigaraki into the fight? Better to exploit him while I can I guess.

"Aerial propulsion, musculoskeletal spiralization, four quirks of explosive force, three of physical enhancement, four of amplification...good combination, but not enough for that weapon," murmurs the mind behind the alloy, contemplating his hand and the result.

The thrusters hum and with a snap I reset the distance between me and him, swing the sword downward, but All for one, showing off his experience (surely aided by numerous quirks of which I am unaware) uses his arm to stop me. Several blades, spikes and plates of organic metal sprout from his forearm, sprinkled with red veins that as soon as they make contact with the Proto Buster sword squeak loudly, sending sparks flying everywhere.

The ground beneath our feet cracks, sinking from the force of the Astrea F2 as the blade slowly begins to sink.

All for One, however, still has a free hand.

His arm swells as he charges and sensing what would be the most likely target, I send more particles into the power lines to reinforce the arms and break the stalemate catching him off guard, unbalancing the secular man when I yank the sword to the right, breaking his balance along with all that mass of stuff attached to his arm. Using the momentum I had generated, I turn on myself for a circular cut aiming at his charged arm, sinking the blade into his left forearm.

The sudden opening forcefully knocked out the compressed air in his limb, causing a small explosion with a considerable spray of blood that soaked my armor, allowing me to stand in the line of air between him and his subordinates. He rolled several dozen meters and crashed into a building that he had partially demolished with his attacks, which ends up collapsing on top of him.

"Sensei!"

The rear camera showed me how Shigaraki tried to run toward his teacher, who was partially buried in the rubble. Giran tried to stop him, but it was of little use since he could not catch him when he sprinted forward.

"Oi, oi, where do you think you're running to?!"

Mirko, taking advantage of the opening launched himself quickly toward the villans, striking Magne, who was about to use his quirk, and Giran, who was instead trying to escape after Plan A failed with two swift kicks, before pouncing just as quickly on Tomura, hitting him in the back.

Showing an instinctive reaction to danger and reflexes of one who has evidently been trained to fight, or who has at any rate seen fights to the death more than a few times than normal street fights, he managed to protect his head with his arms and touch that Mirko's armored shoes, which rusted and turned to dust with the second of contact there was between his fingers and the metal. "Tch!"

Before the disruption spreads any further, Mirko throws her shoe away to prevent it from reaching her foot, remaining barefoot but fortunately unharmed. Unlike his target, who has a forearm bent almost 90 degrees, evidently broken, and considering the amount of blood her head is leaking, he must have beaten her pretty hard to the ground.

Some...jagged (?) tentacles fly at great speed toward the albino Amazon before it could touch the ground, but I cut them to pieces with a swing of my sword.

"Don't charge so wildly, you idiot," I admonish her, not looking away from where All for One shakes off the debris.

"AH?! I don't want to hear that from you brat! To begin with, why are you fighting with the league boss in the first place?!" he growls at me in rebuke.

"Because the last time I saw, you couldn't even intercept a greeting," I snort, making some veins contract on his forehead, "Rather, don't let your guard down. He's holding back now because his pupil is too close; therefore, he can't fight seriously without risking killing him, but it's all going too smoothly. I don't like it."

"Do you think I have any tricks up my sleeve?" asks Mirko more seriously, despite his still pissed-off expression.

"I don't think so, I know so" I correct her "He hasn't called the behemoth or any other Noumu for the time being. He's probably waiting for something."

"Yare yare, did you find out about Machia too? You continue to amaze me, boy. It's really a pity I didn't find you sooner to put your unfettered skills to good use. I'm sure you would have matured into something spectacular working for me," chuckles All for One, as his already clotted wound closes, very, very slowly "I shudder to think what we could have done together, really."

"It would have changed absolutely nothing" I 'reassure' him, without blinking "Our worldviews are too different, it would never have worked anyway."

"You say, and why is that?" he asks, as if we were not of the middle of a fight to the death, with morbid interest "You are practically turning the most influential organ of government in this country upside down like a sock, causing panic and riots just about everywhere. What exactly is your goal? How is it different from what I have in mind if the results are the same?"

"You know, I don't understand the point of all this talk," I admit annoyed, ignoring how his protégé agonized on the ground, "Are you stalling in the hope that the GN particles will get desperate enough not to affect your quirks too much or something? Because I'm sorry to warn you that it won't happen for at least two or three days given the amount in the air right now."

"That was part of the reason, but I don't really have this urgent need," he admits with quiet amusement, "Usually when I deal with One for All and its allies they are all so barbaric and angry. You can hardly have an intellectual conversation with them."

"Won't it be because you killed or had their friends and relatives murdered?" I ask rhetorically, knowing perfectly well the answer.

"Well, that may have played a role in their attitude toward me, yes" he gloats, much to the discomfort and confusion of those present "However, this time it is a little different. There's something about you that reminds me so much of me that I can't curb my desire to discuss it. Is this what a father should feel for his son, an uncle for his nephew, or a master for his pupil? It's a rather curious feeling actually. So, will you indulge my curiosity for the time being?"

His indulgent tone, full of so much macabre curiosity made the skin crawl for those present, including me, as if we were observing something terribly wrong without being able to look away. Mirko, despite all her bravado, is wary, ready to react to what to anyone else is a blatant entrapment, despite the fact that she was in a cold sweat.

He was so focused on me that he completely missed Tomura's bewildered, almost betrayed look as he struggled desperately to stay awake.

Honestly, I don't particularly care, yet that feeling that something was wrong just wouldn't go away. Should I ignore it and kill it as quickly as possible? Or should I go along with it and wait for All Might to get rid of Noumu and come to support me?

"Development. That's the only thing I care about," I reply, hoping I'm making the right choice. "Everything I've done and will do is to advance humanity to the next step. Not this stagnant, degraded state that it currently is. Technology, as much as I like to tinker with it, is a means to an end, and it serves to eliminate or replace all the cogs that prevent proper functioning in this system called 'society,' which has been stuck until now. That's why we could never have coexisted, even if I had not met All MIght years ago at that convention."

All for One crosses its arms and makes a contemplative sound, curious about the motivation that gets me out of bed in the morning.

"And how is it that you think my existence interferes in the development you seek?" the megalomaniac asks extremely curious "Thanks to you, numerous clinics and courses have been opened for people of all ages apt to enable them to master their quirks, whether well-intended or not, and harness their potential, or at least teach people to live with them and control them. One of my main goals is to explore all the untapped potential of quirks, making use of whatever I see fit. How are we different?"

"There is a difference between being patient and waiting for the right opportunity, and simply wasting time," I reply without batting an eyelid. "You have been alive since the dawn of the quirks, so you have seen World War III and the dark century, with all the consequences that came with it; however, instead of putting society in order to achieve your goal, you have fueled chaos in your quest for power far beyond what is necessary in case you wanted to test the value of the quirks militarily. I don't even care what kind of terrorist you were at that time or whether you actually succeeded in conquering the world honestly if your reign brought prosperity for future generations. With your skills you could have easily overturned the governments of the world one by one and subjugated them to your control within a few years by taking advantage of the general disorder of that time, but the power went to your head and you were lost in a glass of water. You started playing around with your goals instead of eliminating them as quickly and expediently as possible, simply because you could instead of being efficient; you wasted time making hundreds of useless branches of your goal instead of useful backups in case things went awry to have more fun; you always look for new things to stall even though you could complete your life's ambition because in all likelihood you didn't even think about what to do next, if becoming the 'king of demons' was indeed your ambition and not an opposition to Shigaraki Yoichi's vision. Our collaboration would not last more than a few months at most before your presence became superfluous, because you lost long ago began to take your abilities for granted instead of making full use of them."

The silence in the area was almost deafening. It seemed that even the air did not dare to move because of how high the tension was.

I could feel several pairs of eyes staring at me. There was no small amount of bewilderment on the side of my allies who actually managed to resist the pressure emanating from the villan, but still no one said anything.

In contrast, All for One assumes a reflective pose, with his mask-covered 'chin' supported by his fingers, as if observing a phenomenon more unique than rare with immense curiosity.

"Mnnn, I see, you are really a cold and utilitarian type, huh? A quality I like in a way, though it gets boring kept all the time for long periods," he says, coming to his own conclusions "A pity, really. There's really no way to change your mind apparently. But, once again, I am impressed. You even found out about my little brother, huh?"

"No. After your previous battle with All Might I had my doubts that you were still alive, but I decided not to investigate to avoid problems later on, like this one we're experiencing now, since neither side was ready for a second confrontation," I reply impassively, ignoring the part about Yoichi "Honestly, I would have let you live at least two more years just to make sure I finished some of my ongoing projects, but you had to force my hand."

"Oh? Did you have plans for me too?" another spark of morbid curiosity emerges again from her falsely cheerful tone.

"Other nations were eager to carpet bomb Japan just to make sure you were actually dead when the HPSC failed to confirm your status to the U.N." I reply indifferently to his newfound curiosity "They probably would have done so if they had known about your moment of weakness; therefore, I masked any news regarding your confrontation to the media and planted doubts. Others were ready to invade when the issue was still a priority, but the doubt that you were alive and the possible retaliation in case it was true was a good deterrent to avoid a war. Unfortunately, you exhausted your use last night."

"Ku...kuaHAAHAHAHAAHAH" All for one laughs heartily hearing this "Come on, was it you that time too?"

The clash between two powers such as All Might and All for One at the height of their respective powers simply could not be disguised. Their clash had completely destroyed Tokyo, also affecting Shibuya, Shinjuku, Itabashi, Adachi and Funadashi. Amid earthquakes and shockwaves caused by the clash of their blows, even the coasts of Kawasaki, Yokohama, Kamakura, Chiba and its prefecture were not spared, being hit by tsunamis generated because of those walking disasters.

A disaster of that magnitude was virtually impossible to hide, and while most sane people would get as far away from such a place as possible, some particularly reckless (or fucking stupid) people did not. Those who survived actually tried to put everything they saw that day online before being permanently silenced by the HPSC or All for One staffers.

Because the HPSC was so incompetent that they were unable to cover it up, arriving as usual when the damage was already done or making things worse with their incompetence, before they started murdering surviving witnesses I hacked any information site, newspaper or private individual that had covered even marginally articles from that day to erase any evidence of the clash of those two and its outcome, even from government agencies. In order to distract the public from I circulated stories about alleged attacks by a hacker who had stolen information regarding to a natural disaster in the making, which having not received the ransom demanded, had not been disclosed in time and that tragedy happened.

There had been much speculation about it, but no evidence for conspiracy theories however crazy or incredibly close to the truth they were. No one had even come close, and because of the amount of damage and death reported that night, even All Might's absence of a few weeks had faded into the background as the biggest manhunt of the last decade on the Asian continent was underway.

That and the government had managed to enact national mourning, along with a whole host of other things that diverted attention away from the absent symbol of peace because of injuries, managing with no small effort to cover it up, at least to the general public.

The clash between the two world powers that are the symbol of peace and the self-proclaimed demon lord had been discussed internally by the higher-ups behind closed doors, but given its uncertain outcomes and the fact that rumors had also reached other nations because of leaks in their own ranks (as well as the work of a few spies), a secret conference had been induced by the world security council. Most of them were in favor in invading Japan to secure the death of the world's oldest and most wanted criminal.

The only reason a war was avoided was because All Might had connections with all the most powerful and influential heroes of this era as well as some politicians and heads of state whom he had helped, retired and otherwise, as he had traveled the world over the past 30 years to eliminate All for one's influence everywhere before returning to Japan, gaining the connections and allegiance of most of them, to the point where individuals like Star and Stripe would take sides against their own nation to prevent an unprecedented genocide, with the sole purpose of finishing off a target that may or may not have already been dead, making the whole thing a pointless waste of resources and lives just because it was the right thing to do.

In that case, doubt about the status of All for One was used against opponents as leverage to get the all-out attack against Japan approved, but also as a shield to prevent it by keeping the situation stalled.

It was both a threat and a deterrent.

That's how dangerous the man in front of me is.

In the end, they opted to wait and see for a while given All Might's description of events as the only source of information, with the 'crisis' averted without further casualties.

But then happened the retreat into the woods and an all too obvious proof of its survival.

That is why he must die tonight, live worldwide.

"Hard to stay on the sidelines with a situation like that going on, don't you think?" I reply impassively, remembering the mess that was avoided by the skin of my teeth.

"Haha, indeed, if someone hadn't put that news out there I would have had to come up with something myself," agrees the masked man, "You really saved me a lot of trouble and substantial resources, really."

"Now that we have finished the pleasantries, can we go back to killing each other?" was not really a question.

"Now that we're done with all the distracting topics? Sure, we can continue, though I still find it a waste," her voice, which before was full of macabre, almost childlike curiosity, now returns to its condescending state as serrated black tentacles with red streaks stretch from her fingers.

I deployed of Bit-stave again and fired at them destroying most of them long before they approached their targets, although they were as fast as bullets.

"Don't let him touch Kurogiri or Magne with those tentacles! He probably has a way to activate their quirks by force!" I warn them as I charge All for One.

I wasn't going to let them take away an advantage from us like the 'hostages' we had with us now, at least as long as they were useful to us while they were holding him.

Once again, I charge Japan's bogeyman, who by taking advantage of several quirks of physical enhancement and amplification at his disposal, manages to hold his own against the brute force of Astrea F2, blocking my sword with his hands.

The application of two superhuman forces at this level has opened a new crater beneath our feet.

---

Yagi Toshinori was livid.

No, perhaps even worse. He did not even know if there was a word in the vocabulary to accurately describe his current state of mind. All he knew was that the culmination of all the negative emotions and thoughts running through his head were literally driving him crazy for the first time in a long time.

He dispersed the hottest flames he had ever felt, by far hotter than those in Endeavor, by the sheer force of wind pressure alone, nearly wiping out the entire district in which they were operating.

He clenched both teeth and fists, before zeroing in on the distance between him and Noumu faster than anyone was able to follow and hitting him with full force.

The cloudy skies over Japan opened up as clouds disappeared from over the nation in which it lives, causing winds that seemed to be a prelude to a tornado as few had been seen in the last century around the world.

Fortunately, even in the throes of his anger, All Might actually showed considerably more self-control and reasoning than most of the world thought he was capable of. As soon as his allies retrieved his old teacher, he immediately moved the fight into the air to avoid excessive collateral damage or the involvement of anyone in a clash of titans they could not handle on the ground.

He understood from the first blow he received the actual strength of his enemy. He was at the very least a supreme-class devil at the upper end of the spectrum. Of those present at the raid, the only ones who could handle this kind of enemy in a direct confrontation were himself, Ryukyu and his godson. Perhaps Mirko, Jeanist and the other heroes could hold him back with proper preparation, but with a surprise attack? Absolutely out of the question.

So he struck. Hard.

Noumu's body was erased as if it had never existed. But not his presence. In fact, it completely regenerated immediately after in a single blink of an eye.

Being the kind of person he is, even in a rage, All Might could do nothing but feel compassion for that poor victim who had fallen into the clutches of one of the worst monsters unfortunately born since the dawn of quirk.

Unfortunately for the devil on whom experiments had been conducted that hardly anyone deserved, that particular evening was not one in which the symbol of peace could show mercy. The boy under his care was in danger; he could hear the clash between him and his nemesis even from several miles away; therefore, he could not waste time feeling sorry for a stranger, no matter how bad he said it.

Gran Torino often said that what was good about her was only her body, and while she had no intention of even mentally challenging that statement now, it was partly true.

He had mastered Touki to a level that only the first Son Wukong and perhaps the Kyuubi of Kyoto could rival, as well as having mastered even the main and spiritual side of Senjutsu with Ki manipulation despite not being a Yokai, something so difficult as to be almost impossible for anyone.

All Might sheathes himself in Touki and generates an air displacement with his feet to shoot himself at Noumu. Ignoring the flames that fail to hurt him, he hits him again with full force. On contact a large stream of Ki bursts through the abomination's body, which this time actually emits a shrill sound full of pain as its body deflagrates again, its remains scattered to the wind.

His regeneration is fast, extremely fast, but he could clearly sense how much the Noumu had actually suffered that blow. His demonic power, which he perceived to be tainted to the point of being almost unrecognizable when compared to most supernatural creatures he was aware of, fluctuates, like a flame undergoing a violent blizzard.

A clear sign that its life force is unstable and was just waiting to go out if pushed hard enough while being forcibly kept on.

An unfortunate confirmation that whatever hope there was of being able to reverse the process and save that ailing soul they missed long ago.

Honestly, to Toshinori's senses it was like a cry for help from someone asking for an end to his suffering. His anger was still there, as was the persistent vengeful whisper that he wanted blood for what the noumu had done to Gran Torino, but Nana would be disappointed in him if he gave in to his darker emotions in that way.

As a hero, it was the only thing he could do was to put him out of his misery and hope that in his next life he does not have the misfortune of being used by people like All for One a second time.

"TEXAS SMAAASH!"

Invoking the name of one of his simple but distinctive moves, All Might strikes back, causing a very violent shockwave that, had it been used on the ground (and with the costume prepared by his godson to reduce the stress on his body after his injury, helping him use more power without waste) would have uprooted anything for at least three or four kilometers, maiming Yokohama.

The Noumu-Phoenix tries to defend himself with flames, to no avail, and makes a last desperate attempt with his arms, which are, however, easily disintegrated by the immense force of the peace symbol, as if they were made of papier-mâché, smashing through his rib cage as well. He is thrown off, but easily regains his balance.

"P-Did you really think...you could kill me..." he speaks, in disjointed sentences, as his shredded limbs grow back and snap back into place "with...with a s-similar thing?"

The modified devil threw a fireball at him, which grew to the size of a castle, but All Might did not flinch. Despite the fact that the temperature of those flames was over 5,000 degrees celsius, Jack's plasma weapons exceeded them by several times with ease.

Unfortunately, All Might made an error in judgment, however: hearing the way the noumu spoke, he did not believe that he was capable of impressive tactical skills, and while he is right in a sense, he still took too much heat from an enemy he knows virtually nothing about other than the fact that the base on which he was created is a Phoenix.

So while he dispersed the not-too-compact flames without any trouble, he was not prepared to stop the deformed and elongated limb that struck him soon after. The noumu then threw it toward the ground, causing it to crash into various buildings, while with other flames much more powerful than the previous ones it tried in vain to get past the layer of Touki covering it, with the only result of sending burning rubble flying everywhere.

He breaks free, snatches up the giant hand and lands on a rooftop and watches stoically as an orb of fire large enough to easily engulf a skyscraper hovers over the noumu's left hand illuminating the night, which he does not hesitate a second to cast as he regenerates the other limb, showing off his incredible control over both the flames and his immense demonic power, despite the fact that his mind is so badly impaired that he can barely form meaningful sentences to communicate aloud.

"Were the other attacks a distraction to get away from me and form that lash?" asks All Might rhetorically, knowing he would get no answer, as he summons all the power he could channel into an arm through One for All and touki "They prepared you well."

Especially since he is now stuck on the ground, forced to protect his all, as he can sense enough demonic power in that sphere to at the very least engulf the entire Tokyo and environs if detonated despite its 'small' size. The glowing orb would generate such a high explosion and heat that it could be compared to an actual nuclear weapon.

The only reason the buildings and all the people on the ground are not burning is because of the high height at which he had thrown it at the beginning of the clash and because to hold such a temperature the fireball had to be very compact.

"B-BURN!"

The huge orb is thrown downward and All Might, despite the immense heat, does not hesitate to throw itself at it, long before the small supernova had a chance to move more than a few inches.

"NEBRASKA SMASH!"

As he throws a punch, All Might rotates his arm to create a tornado strong enough to pierce the flaming orb and prevent it from scattering, raining fire everywhere.

Not expecting such a counterattack, the modified Phoenix is run over and torn apart by wind pressure, again, as the heat enclosed in the failed attack is pushed and scattered upward.

"Too...bad"

All Might shifted his gaze to his left as he saw the severed head of the Noumu that was regenerating his body. Several rather thin and compact spears of fire were already inches from his face. Too close to be avoided because of the surprise effect and the absurd speed of those attacks, All Might decided to parry, reflexively covering himself with his costume-covered arms. The spears of fire do not pass through the upgraded costume, but to his surprise, the gushes of flames that grazed him had passed through his Touki and managed to leave a burn on his left cheek despite the fact that he was using Ofa at full strength.

'If I had worn the golden edge instead of Advanced egde II..."

The disturbing thought went through and out of All MIght's mind as quickly as it came, making a mental note to thank his godson for yet another costume in vibranium nanites that definitely saved him from certain death, or at any rate from some pretty horrific mutilation, again.

For a moment, as he struck the Nooumu with full force again, a corner of his mind thought back to an old discussion with his former aide, wondering if that was the predestined moment that Nighteye had prophesied to him and if it had just been foiled.

---

At the Emiya home, despite the ruckus that was going on outside, a stony silence reigned. Not because despite the late hour anyone was asleep, but because they were watching TV with mixed emotions as some crazy reporters were live-streaming what was happening in Kamino.

Or rather, what was left of it.

The three magical girls had been jolted awake by a very violent whirlwind that seemed to want to rip everything away. a short time later, a demonic power so wrong and twisted had made them restless enough that they could not go back to sleep, especially since even from Musutafu the astronomical-sized fireball could be seen hovering over Tokyo, only to be dispersed with a shockwave that rocked heaven and earth, again.

At that point they decided to go to the main hall of the house to see what the heck was going on, since Irisviel and Sella had gone, still in their pajamas, to reinforce the demarcated fields around the house to prevent damage while a sleepy Liz stood guard. Virtually any social media or TV channel was broadcasting the horrific spectacle that was the Kamino raid.

"This looks like a scene out of a nightmare! From one moment to the next everything has been mostly wiped out! Right now All Might and Hagane are confronting the alleged perpetrators of such devastation!" cries the reporter decidedly horrified and with a voice trembling with fear "I can't believe it! The villans look like only two, but they practically leveled the district in a matter of minutes and put the symbol of peace and his aide in obvious trouble! Not to mention all the creatures that are popping up everywhere..."

"Jack..." murmurs Miyu, definitely upset by what she is seeing.

The cameras were having a hard time following his movements, but it was clear that he was doing everything he could to kill the alleged villan leader, who apparently managed to respond blow for blow in spite of everything. Even if he had no idea who he was, he only had to look at him to realize how dangerous he was, as with Berseker or Saber months earlier. The eerie feeling was much the same.

"All Might also seems to have a bit of a problem," Kuro notes with a frown.

The mulatto girl is not particularly close to the symbol of peace as Miyu and Jack are, but she knows perfectly well how stupidly resistant her touki was. Virtually none of their attacks usually scratch it, even worse if she has the costume on.

The fact that that Noumu resisted his blows and even managed to wound him was hard for virtually anyone to believe, even with the evidence in front of his eyes. His flame-covered opponent was trying to make things even more annoyingly complicated by trying to push the fight to the ground, where All Might also had to watch out for buildings and colleagues. Or at least, what was left of them.

Instead, the rest of Kamino had quickly turned into a slowly expanding war zone for the rest of Yokohama. Unidentified deformed creatures emerged from the ground as undead and tried to attack police, sidekicks, and civilians as the evacuation area was being expanded further due to clashes that were quickly becoming more violent and destructive.

"Ughh...I think I'll have nightmares when I go back to sleep..." mutters Illya disgustedly, her face almost green.

At least there, despite how splatter the images shown were, things were slightly better. The jegans are just mass-produced units, created with technologies seemingly centuries ahead of current times; thus, taking down the Noumu with cutting-edge weapons and well-thought-out tactics from Veda is quite simple, and their corpses were quickly piling up at their feet long before they could reach civilians.

At least until an earthquake starts shaking the earth, but which is not caused by any of the parties involved in TV.

"I-I'm dreaming v-right?" stutters the reporter in a trembling voice. The camera from above pans in the general direction of Saitama Prefecture, seeing in the night great clouds of dust rise from the ground, while a figure nothing short of enormous, enough to uproot a mountain and throw it away approaches in the direction of Kamino, crushing anything in its path "Please tell me I'm dreaming...was there still such a villan waiting?!"

It screamed hysterically as it saw that that...thing, was advancing in their direction, heedless of what it was stepping on. Although they were far away, they could still see signs of the clashes on the horizon, thanks in part to a camera zoom, as the beast swept everything in its path, no matter if it was trees, buildings or people.

It was in that tense moment that Ruby finally exploded.

[UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-I'M SORRY JACK-SAN, I DIDN'T INTEND TO MAKE MURPHY PISSED OFF LIKE THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!]

The horrified scream of the pink wand made the three girls and Sapphire gasp, who had not expected that sudden exit.

"-What the hell Ruby?!" blurts out Illya, holding a hand to his chest in an attempt to calm his throbbing heart, which was pounding uncontrollably in fright and seemed about to explode.

[Exactly what kind of connection is there between you and the current situation?] asks Sapphire with a sigh, knowing full well that she would regret asking.

[Murphy!] responds dryly, pulling up with her 'nose.'

[Murphy's law is a superstition. Not even the grand master has been able to prove its veracity since he has the kaleidoscope] his younger sister impassively points out to him.

[M-ma...but...]

"Superstition or not, considering what happened after Ruby opened her mouth..." points out Kuro, quite annoyed that her premonition was right, and what Miyu had reported to the Einzbern family when Jack finally responded to all their attempts to contact him.

[uWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-]

"Damn it Kuro..." sighed Miyu, hearing the annoyingly shrill cry of the wand.

---

I wince as I shake the debris off me, feeling my torso ache for a few seconds from the numerous bruises from the last attack, quickly repaired by my natural regenerating factor and Avalon. I looked away for a second when I felt tremors and Veda detected a threat coming from the Saitama district. It didn't take long before I found out that Gigantomachia was to blame, thanks to cameras and media.

"Luna Fall!"

Mirko's touki-powered kick smashes the ground, but despite its speed and strength, All for One stops it almost effortlessly and fires an air blast at Mirko in the chest, which is flung several hundred meters away, crashing into a partially downed building.

Without giving All for one time to get Shigaraki out of here while he is unconscious, I fly toward him, who parries my sword again even though he recoils from the Astrea's force.

"Your tenacity annoyingly reminds me of All Might, you know!" he growls extremely annoyed.

"After working on it for so long, something from him I had to get!" I break the stalemate and as he tries to shoot me at close range, I kick his hand away, causing him to waste the shot, then using the momentum of the previous movement, I turn on myself and try to cut him in half, hitting him in the exposed right flank.

All for one, he uses several quirks including flakes, studs, metal plates, hardening and more to protect himself, but due to the large amount of GN particles coating the blade in a compact veil rather than a GN burst, I cut everything without any problems. The villan then decides to change his approach and instead of trying to stop the blade, he uses an agglomeration of quirk to enlarge his shabby left arm and grab my right forearm, momentarily stopping my momentum.

"You really got his most annoying part!" he replies, trying to shoot me in the face.

"I have assimilated what was needed for my purposes!" I inform him as I release the grip with my left hand and grasp his forearm, deflecting the air cannon back upward after enhancing the limb with GN particles.

We stall for a few moments as we try to gain the upper hand. Sending more GN particles to his right leg I hit him in the solar plexus as I push back, freeing myself from his grip. I switch my weapon from sword mode to rifle mode and fire at him, but he jumps away with Air walker and perhaps more quirk to increase his movement/flight speed. I continue firing at him, keeping him away from the terrified villans while making sure to stay between them and All for one, to prevent him from firing too powerful shots that could cause problems.

"Pretty cowardly tactic for a hero, don't you think! Since when do you take hostages?!" he shouts, as he dodges my barrage of plasma shots.

"It sucks to be on the other side, doesn't it?" I ask rhetorically, "But it matters little. I'm not a hero, I've never seen myself as one, and I have no interest in divelting as one. I'm just here to kill you. Nothing more, nothing less!"

"As I imagined, you and I are very much alike! We could have done great things together!" he shouts back, for some reason even more...proud? Ecstatic? What the fuck is his problem?

"All units, this is Tsukauchi speaking!" from communications the alarmed, almost panicked voice "We don't know for sure if it's related to the raid or not, but a few minutes ago an unidentified giant villan was spotted running in the direction of Kamino, overwhelming anything in its path! It seems that there have already been several thousand casualties; so be careful and those who can should go to the aid of the other pros who are trying to intercept it! Repeat-!"

"Ryukyu!" I call to her when I hear her growl, "Take everyone else and go!"

"Hah?! I can't leave you here alone with-!"

"Don't argue and do it! You can't do anything anyway because the police officers are in your way and you have to protect them, don't you?!" I ask knowing perfectly well the answer as I didn't stop firing at the villan, who meanwhile tried to trick me into trying to reach Kurogiri and Tomura "Get Mirko too! That one is one of All for One's closest followers, he won't fall unless you go hard!"

I could feel her dubious look from here, but fortunately the dragon lady did what I said anyway, since we had no more time to waste with the number of victims that would only increase. She grew a little larger, allowing the various agents to climb onto her hands more comfortably, before spreading her wings and flying toward Mirko.

"Don't die! We'll be back as soon as we finish down there!"

I did not respond, but seeing that I could only graze him with firearms, I decided to go back to the white weapon and switching to sword mode I charged the villan in mid-air, hitting him with enough force, thanks in part to GN Burst to flatten a city block.

All for one does not flinch. After using a combination of I don't know how many quirks he manages to get away with creating a reinforced organic agglomeration of things to act as a shield, which is destroyed with little effort anyway, but it saved him from certain death, leaving him with a lot of wounds all over the right side of his body between burns and lacerations of varying degrees, as well as having blown off the right side of the 'mask' that helped him breathe.

He still tried to hit me with yet another blast from his air cannon, but since I simply could not avoid him because the bastard aimed the helicopter behind me, I simply use another GN Burst to cancel his counterattack and hit him before he crashed to the ground a second time.

I stare at him impassively from above as he lies on the ground gasping for breath.

"From the reports, you always start battles with wide-ranging attacks to weaken your opponents and steal their quirks, but it doesn't work on me," I speak indifferently as I land and prepare to finish him off, charging my blade with GN particles in advance to cut through whatever he throws at me.

However, I don't trust it, it was annoying but too easy. All my data came from the previous two fights that All Might and Gran Torino had with All for One, but did he seriously not take into account that we would not take countermeasures in case he survived the last battle, especially with Toshinori injured? He can't be that stupid, especially knowing about me, if he studied me as he implied. There is always the possibility that with his god complex he would find me only a minor disturbance, even with my inventions, but he should have worried at least a little after yesterday.

No matter how you look at it, there is something wrong, especially with the interference earlier in the structural analysis. He's definitely saving an ace of some kind, perhaps to use against All Might if I hadn't found it.

"In fact, maybe I'm taking you a little too lightly," admits the extremely amused old criminal "I was having so much fun at the idea of someone so similar to me being juxtaposed with a buffoon like All Might, despite our past struggles, that I'm not giving your toys the proper weight. It's quite inconsiderate of me, but can you blame me? The idea that it is his so dear pupil who is ruining him and his dream makes me laugh so hard I can hardly concentrate!"

"Psychological warfare, huh? There was that on your file too," I say, distractedly recalling Gran Torino's warnings about him.

He wanted to get under my skin to agitate me by throwing in my face what I had done, or rather, what I had not done to restore All Might to its peak form. If he used my regeneration cadle, surely he must have realized that I could have done much more than a virtually indestructible costume that mechanizes some of One for All's functions to lengthen its time limit.

Unfortunately for him, ever since I planned this I was ready to face the consequences of my actions. Mocking my determination or goals will not elicit much of a reaction from me, since everyone has been doing it since I was reborn.

With most of the mask I could see his mocking smile.

His left arm swells and explodes, causing a very violent shock wave that actually sweeps away anything within a hundred meters, including me.

At least until I turn on the thrusters of my armor and immediately stop the momentum by completely ignoring inertia, before crashing into some TV's helicopter, which almost got swept away by debris that I had to destroy with a GN burst.

I wasted no time in immediately launching myself toward All for One, even amid the huge cloud of dust that had yet to descend.

Unfortunately, he had already extended his hands on Kurogairi by opening a portal large enough with the forced activation of its quirk to engulf Tomura and his allies.

I decide to ignore it for the moment and point at All for One's neck, but he continues to smile in amusement.

Then we are swept away by a shock wave.

---

The modified Phoenix emits a choking sound as he is hit again by senjutsu and thrown into the air like a rag doll. All Might throws himself at him first as he spreads his flaming wings, but is hit with a heavy punch to the chest before he can recover, causing him to buckle in two. A knee to the face/exposed brain and another punch follow.

The noumu crashes into a half-destroyed building in the desolate landscape that was once part of Kamino. The low-to-high level noumu that had all been taken out by the Jegan at this point as the buildings evacuated, but the damage had already been done.

All Might pounces again on Noumu, who was struggling to get up, and hits him full in the face. Now cornered and with his stamina nearly exhausted, in a desperate attempt to resist the symbol of peace he tries to bite his arm off, but his teeth break on contact with the vibranium nanites and Toshinori's brute force thinks the rest of his head. The building collapses in on itself under the weight of his brute force.

All Might stares impassively at the bioengineered soldier who can barely regenerate.

Deciding to end his suffering, he infuses all the power he has at his disposal between ofa and touki and lowers his fist.

"United States of Smash" the deathly calm pronunciation would have made anyone's blood run cold, along with the devastation it caused.

With a force comparable to that of an atomic bomb hitting the earth, everything around disappears. The earth cracks open because of the immense force of All Might, the roar of the shockwave of its fist crashing into Noumu is heard for miles far and wide across Japan, which is shaken violently by what was considered the strongest human alive, buildings are blown away by the pressure of the wind.

The whole of Kamino, uninhabited for a while when they decided to expand the evacuation area, sinks because of the force of All Might.

The earth opens up for miles, sunk by a brute force like few, as Yokohama is shaken violently and a cloud of dust nearly a hundred meters high rises skyward, as if to hide the carnage the symbol of peace has wrought with its attack.

The only thing All Might focuses on, however, are the remains of Noumu kindled like embers in an attempt to regenerate.

The heat and pops stop after a minute, when he can no longer inflame his mutilated body.

It is only at that point that he touches the earpiece inside his ear, connecting with his old friend.

"Tsukauchi-kun, what is the situation?" asks hero No. 1 wearily.

"A-All Might! What the hell is going on there?!" asks the panicked detective coordinating the police and heroes in the field.

"This Noumu was extremely powerful. I had no choice but to use all my strength to eliminate him with one blow and prevent him from regenerating," sighs All Might "Rather, what is the situation? I heard about another villan coming?"

"I-you, yes! All available heroes after evacuating civilians, even outside this operation that are in your vicinity are helping! You must go right away too!"

"No."

"What the hell do you mean 'no'?!" cries Tsukauchi in shock, dumbfounded by his old friend's dry answer, "The battle on the other side has been going on for miles, and the only reason the villan has slowed down is because Ryukyu, Mirko, and Jeanist have joined forces to hold him back! We don't even know if they can stop it completely! We need you that way!"

"Can anyone know what all those heroes are for if they can't do anything in a time of crisis!" finally Toshinori blurts out angrily, making his friend on the other side wince.

"A-All Might?"

"Kurogane-shonen is fighting All for One alone and needs reinforcements! How can hundreds of heroes not be able to handle a minimum on their own without having to hope that I'll show up every time to clean up the mess they're supposed to take care of! What did they sign up for if they can't handle a single crisis without my intervention?!"

"..."

---

I shrug off the rubble, annoyed by the interruption. Honestly, couldn't that idiot have some self-control! I know perfectly well that when in general he is not the smartest person around, especially when he loses his temper, but really! This is a new level of stupidity even for him!

"-they have to take care of it! What did they sign up for if they can't handle a single crisis without my intervention!"

"..."

"Hurry up and go, you idiot," I huff, interrupting their conversation.

"Shonen?! Where are you, I'll come right away to-!"

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'!"

"Idiot, you have your task to complete and I have mine. Hurry up and get rid of the other one, he's much stronger than the Noumu you just eliminated," I reply impassively, "Even if we switched places and I went to the Saitama district, beyond Ryukyu and a few others no one would listen to me. There would be a lot of unnecessary casualties because of a handful of incompetent idiots who think they know everything just because they have a piece of paper. That side serves you, not me, you should know."

"..."

"I understand you're worried about the guy, All Might, I am too, but he's right," Tsukauchi sighs, desperately trying to reason with his old friend "As much as I hate to admit it, we don't have enough firepower on the other side to stop the giant villan, and with the ignorance of the average citizens sending Hagane to the other side won't do any good since people don't listen to him most of the time."

Amazing how a stigma can destroy everything at the wrong time because of the stupidity of a bunch of sheep, isn't it? How many people have died in the course of this conversation because of most people's discrimination against the quirkless, and how many more will die as we try to convince All Might to intervene and not come to help me? In a way where people were less stupid, I could have flown faster than All Might to the scene to stop Gigantomachia and organize the other 'heroes' in the field, but in this? Despite all my track record, especially in this industry there is distrust and skepticism about me even after all the events that have happened, so no one except those who know me personally would give me the benefit of the doubt.

Ergo, many people would get killed for bullshit (or their pride?), making my job unnecessarily more difficult.

"Shonen, I...can't..."

I almost feel guilty about the way All Might's voice cracked under the weight of doubt, losing its confidence.

"This is the best thing to do. Finish your work on the other side while I take care of All for One," I repeat, in a firm voice, "Worst case scenario, I'll leave him strong enough for you to take the last shot. As long as you don't take too long."

"...Ahhh, I can never win a conversation with you, can I?" he asked in a voice dripping with exasperation.

"When you start being less reckless and use your head more, maybe," I snort amused by his reluctant surrender.

"You and I are going to have a very long talk when this is all over about your recklessness," he snorts scornfully, "Tsukauchi-kun, show me the way!"

"Y-yes! Thank you Hagane! I'll send All Might back to you as soon as I can, you hang in there!"

I hear communication cut off and then rubble moving, only to explode blowing dust and debris to the four winds. All for One, covered from head to toe with wounds and dirt emerges from the cloud of dust, floating in the air evidently tested by the recent experience.

"That crazy *Koff*koff* bastard...haaah...haah" he gasps, probably struggling to breathe without the life support of his mask.

Not that I can blame him, that shockwave had taken my breath away even inside the Astrea for how strong it was. I lazily observe the crater carved into the ground. Forty meters deep and wider than the Kamino district itself, it looked as if it had been veteran of the impact of a meteorite rather than a fist. Everything else was smeared on the walls of the crater or at the edges of it. Because of the tremendous force of All Might's blow, the waterspouts had also hit all the surrounding districts, doing damage and casualties not presently calculable for all the rest of Yokohama.

An unpleasant comparison with post-atomic Hiroshima and Nagasaki comes to mind, since it has been scientifically proven that All Might can generate more kinetic energy with a punch than those two explosions.

I imagine what he might feel without outside support beyond the quirks balancing his old wounds.

I shook off the restlessness to get back on my feet, ready to continue the confrontation.

"Well, at this point I'd say let's fake it," I say, posing with a high guard.

"Yes, now that all the hassles are out of the way just play along," agrees the Black Man of Japan, in a hard, unyielding voice, as he pulls out a decidedly sturdy syringe with a purple liquid inside that he injects into his neck through the three needles, without hesitation "Honestly, I didn't think I would have to go this far against anyone other than All Might, but for the umpteenth time, you've proven me wrong, kudos."

I immediately used structural analysis to figure out what the fuck that syringe was, and my brain almost needed a reboot when I saw an unknown composition, which thanks to the container I quickly discovered was a concoction distilled from Lilith's blood.

An unnamed drug in the experimental stage that the old Satan faction was working on. The idea had come from a group of stray wizards in Nirlem who wanted more power for them instead of relying on contracts with devils; therefore, they began experimenting with it because when Ecluid mentioned it to Rivezim he found the idea a potential source of entertainment, if only to see what kind of panic would be caused by the appearance of something related to the devils' progenitor so suddenly. Or how badly power-hungry wizards would die before they got fed up.

Eventually, the project was abandoned in favor of the Ophis snakes.

Honestly, to me it sounds like a strange premature form of the Chaos Break and Chaos Drive, with the difference being that this variant should, at least in theory, grant unique abilities such as pillar clan traits to users rather than enhancing sacred gear or upgrading existing sacred gear, as a balance breaker would.

At least, that was the initial idea.

In the formula that was injected there was something different, more...I don't even know how to describe it. I couldn't finish analyzing it with structural analysis. The combination of things in that concoction was extremely complex, unfamiliar, and with elements I had never seen or knew existed. Combined with the few seconds I had to scan it and the lack of recent history of the object, I could not understand its purpose or get a clear idea of how it worked.

A purple miasma enveloped All for One, before a surge of demonic power pulsed like the beating of a heart, generating a small shockwave that was actually more than powerful enough to whisk me and whatever was around us away.

I balanced in the air again, stunned by being thrown off like that before I could react, which was alarming in itself, as I stare at a second smaller crater overlapping the one left by All Might just now.

Walking through the air All for One emerges from the mist...changed.

Now, surprisingly, he has a face again. White hair and eyes...yellow? Skin more ashen than before but not sick despite everything. From her torn clothes, I can see reddish-black veins running through her body and pulsing from time to time.

Most alarming are the twelve bat wings on his back, almost covered by that same miasma.

"You injected yourself with Lilith's blood to turn into a devil? But this-"

"-should he deprive me of the quirks?" he interrupts me, with an extremely amused smile since I couldn't even now analyze him with structural analysis to see what had changed in him, which he seems to be aware of "You would be right...if I hadn't done numerous tests with this formula until I completed it."

"..." I stare at him in disgust, knowing full well what kind of results it brings, especially at first, to test mutagens of this kind on people just to experiment and correct errors as they appear. Then again... "Did you use it on that devil to fit the quirks?"

He claps his hands, mocking.

"You don't miss anything. Well, as you well know quirks despite having appeared for two centuries now, have not yet fully integrated into human DNA, still being perceived by the body as a mutated autoimmune disease that then becomes what it is. When my...benefactor, if I can call him that, brought over that Phoenix this concoction and many other things for his work, my good doctor was ecstatic! Basically, Lilith tens of thousands of years did something similar with the devils, infecting the children they had from Lucifer with a disease that caused mutations created the traits of the various pillars while they were still embryos. Of course, it took a lot of time and massive resources, but hey, no sacrifice no gain, right?" he explains, as a normal teacher would while explaining a scenario to a very young child, completely ignoring how nauseating, even to me, what he was describing was "So hence the question: what if these two substances were to meet? After countless experiments over the past few years, we have found an answer: they will continue to collide! The evolutionary process of the two will accelerate to overtake the other and prevail, to the point where only the best parts of both will remain and function in perfect synchrony to continue to exist! Of course several centuries, indeed even a few millennia of evolution skipped in a short period of time have a very low percentage of functioning without testing and assurance, but somehow we did it anyway thanks to the contribution of your cradle"

"..." I stare at him, too confused to even try to figure out how to feel right now about what is the greatest violation on living things I have ever heard.

How many people were killed because of this under everyone's nose? Was it my fault for advancing the technology so rapidly in this timeline, without first killing All for one to make sure he didn't abuse it? Could such a loss of life have been avoided if I had not interfered with the world too much?

Perhaps years ago I should have thrown all kinds of weapons at Tokyo myself to prevent it from coming to the monstrosity before me.

By now it is useless to brood over the past; I have time for it.

I need to right that wrong right here, right now.

"Well. As enlightening as our conversations have been, I'd say we need to get a move on now," All for One speaks again with a calm expression "I have things to do, places to see, plots to complete...I'm going to be very busy; so, I'll start by removing one of the biggest obstacles-"

He took a step, walking with Air walk-

"-!?"

"-meaning you."

Out of pure and genuine survival instincts honed with Scathach, I reflexively scanned myself, managing to see out of the corner of my eye the shoulder strap of the Astrea F2 detached and an organic blade extended from All for One's arm rippling the air in a strange way, which also scarred the frame below.

"Tch" my weapon is engulfed by GN particles and I swing it with a GN Burst straight at All for One's torso.

He holds out his hand against me and fires his air cannon again.

The explosion flings us both away, pushing us apart. This time it matched my firepower.

"You have really good reflexes, no doubt about it. Definitely the result of strenuous training, not just from the machines," he observes curiously, as if nothing was wrong "Then again, considering the performance of the armor you're wearing, if you didn't have the actual skills to use it, it wouldn't do much good anyway."

"...anti-metal properties?" I rationally analyze the exchange that just took place, ignoring his remark.

"Mn?"

"Adamantium is the hardest metal in existence after orichalc, to the point that once cooled it cannot be reshaped, not even with quirks, magecraft or other supernatural abilities," I say, rather annoyed that in fact All for One had not taken me as lightly as I originally thought "That combination of quirks gave off vibrations that caused the atomic and molecular bonds in the adamantium to weaken, causing it to liquefy. That's how you deformed it, but you had to wait until Shigaraki Tomura was out of range, otherwise you would have at least melted even the iron in his blood."

That was the way I intended to destroy adamantium in case it fell into enemy hands. A precaution I had developed in the worst-case scenario of my technology being stolen, since it is the one and only universal weakness that no metal can resist. Not even orichalc is an exception.

"Mn? No, actually I was using this combination even before, after all your other armor withstood even the kamikaze attack of the Noumu I had tailored for All Might, it seemed the least I could do" replied All for One, showing his genuine confusion now that he actually had a facial expression, perhaps because he is no longer used to paying attention having not had one for the past few years "The only difference is that now it is exponentially stronger than before"

"..."

Did the complete adaptation of the Plus Alpha element in DNA really create such a large increase in power? Then again, I didn't remember the details about Shigaraki Tomura's mutation, so it could also have been that, or it was simply a bunch of unknown factors that caused it.

Or does demonic power also have something to do with it? Astrea F2's sensors can sense it after working with it for a while in the Underworld and indicated that its reserves of demonic power, superior by some margin to Serafall, were being consumed even if at an extremely slow, practically negligible rate. Is he further amplifying the power of his quirks, unconsciously or consciously? If so, by how much? Will blocking this ability weaken the vibrations that All for One gives off enough to prevent him from damaging the adamantium again, or does his demonic power have nothing to do with that and is he using it for something else in the meantime?

Regardless, I am basically facing a reincarnated devil, if it can be called that, of Maou class who can hit me with the only thing my armor is weak to. And basically he is already perhaps stronger than Serafall.

Simply fantastic.

This could be a problem.

"Veda, send me that, I really think I will need it."

I did not receive a verbal response from the AI as the confrontation resumed, but the order had been received and my support had been sent immediately.

---

"MASTER!"

A voice as deep as thunder ripping through the night resounded in the burning city. Gigantomachia had departed from the forest where he had been left long ago by All for One, waiting for his call, which had finally come, traversing almost in a straight line everything in his path, deviating slightly only because of all the pro heroes trying to stop the devastation he was leaving behind. In doing so she had already completely razed Ogano, Chichibu, Ome, and Hachioji, finding herself halfway to Sagamihara on her way to what used to be the Kamino district of Yokohama, now torn apart by fighting.

Tens of thousands of civilians along with as many hundreds of pro heroes had already died under the modified giant's reprisals when they prevented him from advancing, heedless of the damage he caused in his path.

"AS IF YOU PERMITTED TO GET THERE!" roars Ryukyu furiously, biting his shoulder.

The skin that seemed impervious to the attacks of all those who had tried before finally breaks, spilling a fair amount of blood as its fangs tear at his muscles and he struggles to sink.

Ryuko Tatsuma's quirk 'Dragon' is not a quirk at all. She is a Vouvrie, a very rare breed of exclusively female dragons that is more powerful than most types of dragons, boasting extreme physical and magical endurance as well as above 'average' strength among her peers. This is especially true in her case because she is the daughter of Chaos Karma Dragon Tiamat and Hyodou Issei, Ddraig's host from the previous generation; thus, she inherited greater strength in addition to the unique flames the red dragon had in life, at some point acquired from her host.

Unfortunately, because of her potential the dragon's aura was so abundant and chaotic in her that she struggled to control it even now, making it impossible for him to use fire, which in this situation would have been very useful because it would have incinerated everything indiscriminately around her.

Her mother was not exactly the maternal type, especially at first, complicit in the fact that certain species of dragons are wont to give their cubs extreme treatments to make them strong and disciplined, but because of her unique heritage he considered her a more unique than rare 'treasure' and decided to rely on an expert to raise her and teach her to control her more impetuous instincts, namely former dragon king Tannin, who is rather well known for training cubs in their early years in place of their parents when they are particularly problematic.

Tannin had trained Issei when she was introduced to him by Azazel long before her birth, magically delayed by some circumstances around Tiamat herself, and he was more than happy to do the same with her by helping her control her temper. Unlike now that she is a humble and kind person who praises where it is deserved and expects no gratitude in return, until the beginning of her teenage years she was actually extremely proud, stubborn, easily angered and excessively belligerent. She lost her temper easily and could not control her temper or her flames at all, burning herself rather badly whenever she tried to use them or lost control of her power in a fit of rage. This caused her to grow isolated from the rest of the settlement she grew up in for a long time, for the safety of everyone and herself, even though she initially believed that others were simply not worthy to be in her presence because they were too weak.

Feeling no attachment to dragons other than Tannin and her mother, once she arrived in the human world after finally prevailing on her attitude, she decided to stay there because she liked the place, finding it much more challenging and fun than the rocks as far as the eye could see that was the mountain where she was raised.

He did not solve the problem of flames, but with the chaotic aura of the dragon no longer raging unchecked, he could live and integrate himself into society, as well as having mastered various abilities from his mentor, such as the ability to shape-shift or empower himself with the dragon equivalent of Touki. Wrapping herself in her aura, she became stronger, more durable and more resilient than she already was, making All Might the only human in the world capable of surpassing her in sheer brute strength.

In the Underworld, the only one at the dragon valley capable of standing up to him was Tannin himself, one of the strongest supreme-class devils, and if he had pushed his current abilities to the limit, it could have reached the physical strength of the Maou class.

Yet despite his immense strength, he was struggling to keep Gigantomachia at bay.

In addition to being insanely strong and physically tough, the giant kept getting stronger and more durable as the seconds passed, making it externally difficult to hold him down and prevent him from advancing further.

"MASTER! I'M SELLING FROM YOU!" shouts the mobile calamity.

Without warning Gigantomachia grabs Ryukyu's tail and pulls it away.

"Wha-?"

Before she could say or do anything, she was thrown off with extreme violence, causing her to smash through dozens of buildings before she pointed her claws at the ground to stop, nearly three hundred meters away.

"Gnats don't end" grunts the most loyal follower of All for One "The fastest way to get to it is to sweep them away."

As soon as the sentence is finished, his body, already 25 meters tall, grows larger. His muscles grow larger, making him 35 meters tall; his fingers become more acuminate, transforming into mole claws; on his back the spikes become much more jagged and sharp; the lower part of his jaw shifts to his forehead as if they were goggles, exposing the lower sharp fangs that are more prominent than his other teeth.

He swings one arm and his claws cleave the air, tearing up asphalt, earth, buildings and people alike, killing or destroying whatever in front of him was not strong enough to resist him.

"YOU-!" roars Ryukyu furiously, seeing the destruction she had caused in front of her, as she charges again in an attempt to tear him apart with fangs and claws.

Gigantomachia was about to strike again, but davi rained down from above behind the behemoth, striking a few times, though they had no effect. Half a dozen E-carbon towers fell from the sky, thanks to the transport vehicles previously prepared in case Gigantomachia really appeared, positioning themselves around him in the shape of a hexagon. With masterful mastery gained from extreme training and a considerable amount of experience, Best Jeanist ties the giant's limbs with the meter-thick custom cables that came out of the towers, then maneuvers them to form a tangled web to hold him back and prevent even his smallest movement.

"Sorry for the delay Ryukyu! The situation in the skies was quite turbulent and made transportation difficult!" says Jeanist, breaking a cold sweat.

Halfway there, the two heroes had parted ways, and Jeanist had joined the transport vehicles for extra equipment to use against Gigantomachia, taking advantage of the trip to familiarize himself with the new E-carbon fiber created by Jack for the occasion.

The presence of the titan was unnerving, and the monster clashes that were taking place in Yokohama did not really help his mood. The destruction caused by the villan league that night was comparable, and the ever-increasing death toll uncomfortably reminded him of Bloody Valentine, when a blade of light cut Japan in half.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Machia's howl generates a very strong gust of wind, which almost throws Jeanist off balance on the cables.

"What-?! Does he really still have that much strength?!" grunts the fiber-themed hero, trying to pull as hard as he can on the E-carbon cables, which to his dismay were beginning to stretch and fray from the behemoth's absurd brute force.

Trying to hold him down, Jeanist also summons a dozen spare cables in the towers, but these were of little use since even though they added more resistance Machia's strength grows by leaps and bounds to the breaking point.

If it had been a normal nomu, Near or High End, they would never have been able to free themselves from those ligaments.

But the most loyal follower of All for One is simply on a plane of his own.

"GRAAAAAAH!"

Gigantomachia tries to hit Jeanist with his arm once he has ripped most of the cables holding him back.

"Don't you dare!" cries Ryukyu again furiously, clawing at the giant's arm before he could do so, then forcibly pushing him to the ground.

Jeanist took the opportunity to manipulate the container cables of his standard equipment that arrived with the towers, although they were significantly thinner, given at that point they were better than nothing.

They only helped Ryukyu's work for a few moments, as in just thirty seconds they tore apart and the Vouvrie was being pushed back again.

"Luna Arc!"

Having also arrived in the fray after being thrown off, much to her irritation, by the absurd force of the monster they were trying to stop, covered by Touki Mirko strikes Gigantomachia in the temple, who, however, does not feel the blow at all.

A super-sharp red wire strikes the behemoth's armored skin, bouncing painfully.

"Ack?! How hard is that!?" gasps Edge shot, feeling his body as if it were made of lead from the failed attack.

"GRUAAAAAAAAH!"

"Gaaaaaaah-?!"

"Bastaaaaaaaaaaaaaard-!"

"Mnnnnrrr-"

Eventually, the behemoth breaks free, causing a shift of air that wipes out everyone except Ryukyu, who was still trying to bite off his right arm.

Machia uses his claws and stabs her in the side.

"Kurr!"

Vouivre's eyes widen, even spitting out blood when she feels it rising up her throat, but despite her pained snarl at the wound when she feels the several lacerations in her stomach, she does not let go and tries to hold him still, even if she is forced to use an arm herself to prevent Machia from moving the claws stuck in her abdomen in an attempt to widen the wound or strike it elsewhere.

Needless to say, because of the disparity in strength, he was not functioning very well and could barely hold it in place, but at least he was resilient enough not to give in to pain or otherwise overly aggravate his injuries despite the situation.

Suddenly, he stops, much to the confusion of the dragon woman.

Confusion is quickly replaced by fear when something creates a ripple in the air far away from them.

Ryukyu feels it clearly. The demonic power of someone suddenly appearing like a light in the dark, invading her senses and making her nauseous about how wrong it was.

And that says a lot, considering that she had met several famous devils, such as Ajuka who has a contract with her mother or Sizerchs who had tried to recruit her for her little sister. The two strongest devils alive, despite all the demonic power at their disposal, do not even come close to having such a chilling presence.

Theirs is much more imposing and heavy, but not wrong, as if somehow it were pure evil.

"Master...Ahhh...AAAAAAAAAAAAAGHRRRRRRRRRR-!"

Ryukyu had no idea what had suddenly gotten into Gigantomachia. He had gone from fidgeting so much that he could barely hold it back to being so still that for a second he thought he had had a heart attack.

And the next moment was falling.

'Is that my blood?

Thought was almost distracted. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, suddenly hyper-aware as he was falling, as a moment of extreme lucidity before his senses began to fog. He shifted his gaze slightly lower on his body seeing the gash on his side. From his current position, he could see his enemy with his arm raised and deformed.

Its claws, previously traceable to those of a mole, have now become misshapen and serrated, as if they have worn away but are still perfect for tearing. His face distorted a bit by elongating slightly to look almost like a snout, while his teeth became more and more like fangs. Her physique had swelled and enlarged further, growing to 44 meters tall, practically more than twice as tall as she was in her dragon form, with reddish-black veins pulsing all over her body.

He was screaming in spasms, judging by the dust he raised as he writhed on the ground.

'He hurled me away when he moved...? And the claws...'

She quickly realized that she was losing consciousness when she could no longer form coherent thoughts. She was unconscious even before her body crashed into a shopping mall, crushing any possible survivors who might have been there, in case they had not been involved in the crash nearly half a kilometer away from where Gigantomachia had begun to rampage again, this time not as her master's faithful dog she was trying to reach, but as a crazed beast incapable of even the slightest reasoning.

---

Omake

Celestial Being: new construction: day 0

Uraraka Haruto had better days ahead. He lived a good life in his 44 years, born into a loving and principled family, inheriting the business that the Uraraka family had for several generations from his father and was fortunate enough to marry a wonderful wife, a marriage from which their beloved daughter Ochako was born. She grew up well and healthy, cheerful and surrounded by friends, although they had long had financial problems, which were getting worse as the years went by. By now they have just over a hundred employees, counting office staff, half of whom are laid off, and they were forced to move from Tokyo to Mie Prefecture because the competition in the big city was too much for his business, especially since new regulations came into effect a few years ago that allowed the use of certain quirks during work, putting their company further at a disadvantage.

Unfortunately, he found himself faced with a decision that weighed on his heart like few things he could remember. He had to decide between reducing his staff for the third that year and...selling his business.

He received an offer he simply could not pass up, especially since over the years it had become increasingly difficult to make ends meet, not to mention that because of all the turmoil with the peace symbol protégé and the constant waves that shook the nation, the market became unstable for anyone in any sector, which only added to the already numerous difficulties.

He is quite empathetic and easily gets attached to people; therefore, he tries to give a helping hand to his employees, even giving second chances to people who have difficulty integrating into society or have records that would hardly allow them to find a decent job, for a multitude of different reasons, which is why despite the staff cuts no one holds a grudge against him when they receive the news of the non-renewal of their contract. Trying to save money, many of his employees requested a pay cut and reduced/limited overtime, within their means, hoping that this would allow the business to get through that dark period.

Unfortunately, it didn't work for long.

Buigawara Jin, one of his department heads who had come to work for them several years earlier after Kurogane Jack helped him regain control of his quirk and his life, finally decided to ask the boy for help again when the intention to sell had been communicated to the employees.

No one really hoped for a response, but surprisingly Sumeragi Lee Noriega, the head office manager of Celestial Being made a rather generous offer to buy her business and hire all her employees, since they will need staff to build many facilities in the near future.

Reluctantly, he decided to accept because Jin had largely earned his trust over the years, considering that in many cases he had used his quirk on them despite his fear in cloning himself with his past experiences, which helped them get by and take various assignments that without them they could not have accepted and completed in time, due to lack of staff and resources, saving him more debt and his colleagues more layoffs.

They had received the funds for the move to Musutafu the day after the acquisition, along with their first assignment: to build the Celestial Being headquarters at the designated location.