Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, Overlord, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
The Sorcerer Hero: Deku
Chapter thirty-five: Total War, part one
It was the tail end of February, about one month before the pro heroes were expecting Dabi's forces to begin their conquest of Japan. To prep for that, every hero academy student in the hero course was being trained in fighting villains. Most didn't mind, although a few more perceptive students had caught onto how they were being trained to fight at the expense of other things heroes ought to be trained in, such as rescue work and the like.
"Aizawa-sensei," Tenya said while Class 1-A was training in one of the large indoor gyms located on U.A. grounds, "Is there a reason for the increased emphasis on combat training?"
"Yeah, it's like we're being prepped to fight in a war," Kaminari remarked.
Aizawa let out a troubled sigh. "...There's reason to suspect that Dabi and his forces are going to be launching a third attack, comparable to the two where he used his giant bodyguards," Aizawa began, "But we have the advantage of knowing that the third attack is coming."
The students of Class 1-A all looked freaked out that there was going to be a third massive attack coming, launched by the villain Dabi and his forces. The fact that they had advance warning was of little comfort, as none of them felt that Dabi could be stopped anyway.
And why would anyone think that Dabi could be stopped? He has his League of Villains. He has his Nomus. He had his elect mix of various undead looking quirk forged monsters, topped by the crown jewel of the allotment, Honyopenyoko the Vampire, who not even All Might when he still had power was able to best in one on one battle, only score a tie with and Honyopenyoko was well enough to flee after the fight.
Dabi has various allies that are all comparable to said vampire in terms of overall power, including the oni samurai guy and the lady in black armor. Dabi has his six giant bodyguards, each one being described by his right hand man Spinner as being World Bosses from a JMMORPG. And who knows what all else Dabi had at his beck and call? From where things were standing to the students who were in Class 1-A, the heroes plain and simple just can't win.
However, some of their confidence was restored upon seeing Ainz bust down a target with a fireball. Ainz had made the Black Paladins look like nothing. He drove off Honyopenyoko, the oni samurai, and the lady in black armor, making all of them flee in defeat. He had even gotten pointers from a number of Top Ten heroes, including Endeavor, on how to combat the six giant bodyguards of Dabi. If there was one person who could best anything that Dabi could do, it'd be Ainz.
...Unfortunately for them, none of them had any idea what or who Ainz really was, or what he was really thinking about.
That night, all hero course students went to sleep aside from Ainz, who set up the usual methods of security for his dorm room before using Portal to Nazarick to check on his interests in the first New World. He threw up an illusion to appear as his skeletal self wearing his usual black hooded robe. When he finished with that, he was met up by Albedo and Demiurge.
The Sorcerer King took note of how both looked eager and excited. "What has the two of you so eager?" Ainz asked.
"Lord Ainz," Demiurge began, "We found a way to restore you to your true body!"
Ainz instantly lit up at the news. If restored to his true body, then he wouldn't have to live a double life as he worked to take over Japan. He could focus on his conquest full time. ...But at the same time, Ainz realized that he wouldn't be able to enjoy the environment of friendship that he enjoyed over at U.A. anymore. Going to classes with friends, living in the same dorm building as them, doing all of that training with them...
...It was the closest Ainz got to feeling like he was with his old guild mates from his YGGDRASIL days once more.
There was actually a part of Ainz that secretly wanted to delay the conquest of Japan to at least after Izuku's class graduated and all of them were licenced pro heroes, just so he could continue to enjoy feeling like he was with friends again for as long as possible. But he realized that it would be selfish of him to make his followers wait that long, and they already had a designated time table that said when they were going to strike.
The Sorcerer King decided to, regretfully mind you, resign himself to continuing with the plans to take over Japan. "...Very well," Ainz said, "What's the method?"
Albedo gave her lord and the love of her life a smile. "The cloned homunculus body that you had set up a while ago," Albedo said, "It's currently inert, but the corresponding ritual to transfer your being into it will allow you to regain your former skeletal self for real." Ainz suddenly remembered what it was that Albedo was talking about; the cloned homunculus body was a method of resurrection available within YGGDRASILL that lets a player who is killed resurrect without suffering level loss.
It involved making an item called 'Essence of (Player Name)', then putting that item in a large urn item called a 'Cloned Homunculus Body Pod' which when the player in question dies will be destroyed and the player in question comes out of the destroyed pod, none the worse for wear. They'll even have all of their items, both equipped and in inventory, on hand when they resurrect.
But the method is rather unorthodox, not to mention fairly pricy and risky; it essentially required a save haven to set up the Body Pod, so a guild was the go to choice. Otherwise enemy players, or players just wanting to be dicks, could easily destroy the Body Pod. It's only benefit aside from a one time resurrection free of level loss was that the first time a player used it successfully, they get an in-game achievement for it that netted them a special title they could use.
Ainz recalled setting one up because he hoped to get the title that came from the first time use, but that never happened. He also wondered why the method didn't kick in when he was killed and had instead was reborn in Izuku's world. Still, there was no point in questioning things now. "Alright then, let's see how this will work," Ainz remarked.
...
Ainz's Body Pod was brought in and set next to a metal slab table Ainz himself laid on. Ainz had dispelled the illusion he had up, allowing him to appear again as Izuku Midoriya. Talismans were placed on both the Body Pod and on Ainz. "Luckily, you can also use this method to regain your true self if you're stuck in an alternate form," Albedo said as she and Demiurge began the process of the true return of Ainz Ooal Gown.
"It would be nice to be back to my real self," Ainz said. Once the preparations were complete, Albedo activated the process of transferring Ainz's self from Izuku's body and into the cloned homunculus body of Ainz that was in the Body Pod. Once more, Ainz felt his self being pulled through a tunnel, as if he were going to appear somewhere else. He felt all strength drain from him one second, but then fill back up in the next second.
Suddenly, his vision returned to him, but everything was dark. Cracks of light appeared in front of him, and the darkness shattered away. Ainz Ooal Gown had truly returned, in all of his skeletal glory, with all of his equipment and inventory the same as it was before. He even had everything that was in his inventory that he gained since he had reborn in Izuku's world and in Izuku's body, and he still had the Expanded Vessel trait that gave him a higher spell limit, plus all of his quirk related spells.
Demiurge cheered and Albedo cried tears of joy, for the leader of the forty-one Supreme Beings of Nazarick was truly returned. "It is good to see you back in your true and proper form, Lord Ainz," Demiurge said, "Oh, what should we do with that?"
Ainz looked to where Demiurge pointed, saw that Izuku's body was still laying on the metal slab table. Ainz walked up to where Izuku laid, gave his body a longing look of consideration. "...I owe a lot to Izuku Midoriya," Ainz said, "More than you can guess. More than I can repay him for. At the very least, I want to see if I can let him live the life he deserves."
Ainz cast Detect Quirk on Izuku's body to get an idea of how powerful exactly Izuku was. To Ainz's surprise, Izuku registered as level eighty; if resurrected he'd suffer a level loss of five levels, putting him at level seventy-five. He had zero quirks and a quirk capacity of... fifteen?! Izuku has the max possible quirk capacity, and without any Quirk Capacity Potions being used?! Had Ainz using Izuku as a body for so long helped him to grow strong, even in death?
...This also had presented Ainz with an opportunity to truly make the people of Japan feel that they have no chance against him.
"Izuku Midoriya will be resurrected," Ainz said, "Magic will be used to give him false memories to keep him from falling behind his peers at school. I'll also select a number of Quirk Jewels to give to him before letting him go."
"But my lord," Albedo said, "He isn't someone you have direct control over."
"But he is someone I can very easily defeat in battle if need be," Ainz countered, "And he'll be weaker due to the level loss that comes with resurrection. Besides, the quirks I will gather to give him won't be of any threat to me." Turning to look at where Izuku's body laid on the metal slab, Ainz said, "He'll do for me what Momon did in helping to convince people to not bother fighting me."
Albedo relaxed a bit. "Ah, so that is what you had planned, Lord Ainz."
"I'll check the Quirk Jewels I have, come up with a list to give to Izuku," Ainz said, "No-one is to disturb his body in the meantime. Izuku, even though I no longer need to inhabit his body, is still very valuable to me." As Ainz walked off to his office, he said, "I am never one to waste value, you know."
...
After Ainz was done making some necessary copies of Quirk Jewels, he resurrected Izuku but cast a sleep spell to make him stay asleep. While Izuku slept, Ainz used magic to manipulate Izuku's memories so that he wouldn't suddenly wake up at U.A. and freak out. Ainz made Izuku think that all of his publicly known feats were truly his own. Ainz also covered all other necessary gaps just to be on the safe side.
Once Izuku's memories were set up, Ainz proceeded to bestow quirks upon him. Ainz decided to do what he felt All Might should have done and give Izuku One For All and the quirks that came with it aside from Permeation. That's still Blackwhip, Float, Danger Sense, Smokescreen, Fa Jin, and lastly Gearshift. Ainz also gave Izuku copies of Super Regeneration, Hellflame, a lightning quirk, a quirk called Bone Lance that let the user conjure and fire pointed bone projectiles, Laser, Bloodcurdle, Senbonzakura, and (just to keep Bakugo on his toes) Explosion.
Ainz also gave Izuku memories that told him how to use all of those quirks, as well as how to use some of them to cast versions of Ainz's spells he was seen casting publicly, so that no-one would be any the wiser. Izuku had no ability to cast magic, Ainz took that with him, but Izuku still had to be able to do what he had been seen doing, at least to an extent. He also wouldn't be aware exactly that he had copies of quirks from various persons.
Ainz took one last look at the now alive again but currently asleep Izuku. Ainz wasn't sure how, but Izuku had built up a lot of muscle while Ainz had been using his body. A heroic physique would be a necessary thing to have when Izuku does hero work in the Japan that Ainz is going to be ruling over after his forces take over running the show.
Ainz then took Izuku to his dorm room back at U.A., laid him in his bed, and stepped back out, undoing all of the security measures he had set up for the room in the process. Ainz also had to do the same for other places he was going to give up, now that he no longer needed Izuku's body. But the Sorcerer King would still be grateful to Izuku Midoriya.
The green haired boy gave Ainz a chance to prevent this Japan from becoming like the one that Ainz had lived in before being transported to the first New World.
The next morning at U.A., Izuku woke up, feeling a bit out of sorts. He felt as if everything since his attempted suicide when All Might told him he couldn't be a hero without a quirk had been one long dream. But here he was, a student at the top heroics academy in Japan, and in the hero course no less. If this was still a dream, then Izuku wasn't sure if he wanted to wake up from it.
Izuku walked over to the island counter in the kitchen area of his class's dorm building, saw that Aizawa was sitting at the counter, nursing a mug of coffee. "An early riser again, huh Midoriya?" Aizawa greeted.
Izuku blinked a bit, shook his head slightly. "Sorry, Aizawa-sensei. I'm feeling a bit out of sorts this morning," Izuku replied, "Like everything for me for the longest time has been a dream."
"Yeah, Hizashi has had moments like that as well," Aizawa remarked, "Well, try to wake up some more. You'll need it to-"
*THOOM*
Aizawa was cut off when an explosion went off a ways away, and then suddenly an alarm system went off, filling the Class 1-A dorm building with loud noise that woke everyone up. "Midoriya, you stay here with your classmates," Aizawa said as he sat his mug of coffee down, "I'm going to go see what's going on! Also, make sure no-one touches my coffee!"
Izuku, still feeling a bit out of sorts, complied with his teacher. Hopefully his peers would be able to help him get back up to snuff.
...
All of Class 1-A stood in the common area of their dorm building, all of them still not dressed for the day yet as they had literally just woken up. Aizawa came back in, got his mug of coffee from where he left it earlier, power drank the rest of it, put the mug down on the island counter again, then gave his students his undivided attention.
"Okay kids, here's the deal," Aizawa began, "The whole of U.A. grounds is surrounded by a horde of the undead looking quirk forged monsters made by the League of Villains."
"Oh shit Sho, you for real?!" Hizashi exclaimed, making everyone turn to see that Hizashi was standing there, wearing only a black t-shirt, a pair of black sweatpants held up by their drawstrings, and his signature shades. Hizashi didn't even have his hair up.
"Hizashi?!" Aizawa said, "What are you doing here?"
"I got locked out of my own on campus room, so I crashed for the night on the sofa in the living room area of your little listeners," Hizashi said, "I was woken up when Yaoyorozu sat down on my head without even realizing I was there."
"I said that I was sorry, Yamada-sensei!" Yaoyorozu said, a look of embarrassment on her plump face.
Sighing in an exasperated tone, Aizawa said, "Well at least this saves me the trouble of having to track you down to help me. So as a refresher, yes a bunch of the undead looking quirk forged monsters used by the League of Villains has the whole of U.A. grounds surrounded. The wall that's around all of U.A. will keep out even the Black Paladins, but until enough of them is cleared away, no-one on U.A. grounds can leave."
"So let's kick some undead asses already!" Bakugo said, "We're more than strong enough to send them back to their graves! And if any of those Black Paladins show up, Deku can smoke them for us like he's done before!" Izuku nodded once, remembering that he has killed the Black Paladins before and in notable numbers. But he wasn't sure how effective he'd be while feeling out of sorts. Maybe the heat of battle will get his head on straight.
Letting out a sigh, Aizawa said, "It's not so simple, Bakugo. It's not just U.A. surrounded by a horde of the League of Villains's undead looking quirk forged monsters. As we speak, the rest of what all Dabi has at his beck and call has begun their march towards running roughshod all over Japan."
"But we still have an estimated month left before the villains were ready to attack!" Jiro pointed out.
"Either they got ready quicker than we had anticipated," Aizawa said, "Or the time we got was a lie to catch us off guard. Either way, Dabi and his forces have once again caught us off guard."
"Well shit," Hizashi said, "This stinks worse than being woken up in the morning by ass in your face."
"I said I was sorry, Yamada-sensei!" Yaoyorozu exclaimed, looking even more embarrassed.
The heroes were caught totally off guard.
Aside from the fact that the wall around U.A. was totally surrounded by the undead looking quirk forged monsters made by the League of Villains, major forces under Dabi's authority were attacking various places all over the country. The foot soldiers of the Paranormal Liberation Front were in full force as they fought to liberate society from the quirk regulation laws that suppress them.
And that wasn't all. There were also portions of undead looking quirk forged monsters helping to take over things for Dabi's authority. Dabi had also unleashed his six giant bodyguards, each at a different location in the country; word has it that Usagi the Rabbit-Earred Giantess was seen making her way to support Felgrand the Dragon of Destruction, who was currently in the middle of attacking Endeavor's hero agency building.
The pro heroes had to rally quickly and fight back. They were able to vanquish some of the undead looking quirk forged monsters, as well as defeat and capture some of the Paranormal Liberation Front foot soldiers as those guys are still human. The heroes were even able to push back and repel forces attempting to take the still weakened area of Fukuoka, with Hawks pushing himself to the extreme to defend his stomping grounds.
But the force that was trying to take Fukuoka were just a mix of the foot soldiers of the Paranormal Liberation Front and some of the lesser undead looking quirk forged monsters, led by Trumpet. A lot of the monsters were destroyed, and most of the humans including Trumpet were all captured. That win was the first win that the heroes scored in the surprise attack that Dabi and his forces launched on this late February day.
But that was just one win in the face of lots of losses. There was fighting all over Japan, and the heroes were clearly on the losing end of the conflict. Only highly fortified hero academies were safe havens as their defenses haven't been breached yet. Oddly enough, only the undead looking quirk forged monsters were sent to besiege those schools, and they seemed to be there more or less to keep the schools surrounded.
Did Dabi and his forces not want the hero students of Japan to take part in the fighting?
...
"So we first launched various measures to weaken the overall ability of the pro heroes to fight back," Dabi began as he and Spinner stood with Ainz, who was wearing a real version of the hooded version of the hooded royal orange robe, and he also wore the iron gauntlets and the Mask of Jealousy. "Then after that," Dabi went on, "While the heroes are still reeling, we launched our main massive effort to beat down on and take the country as a whole."
"Hmm," Ainz replied with an affirmative nod and hum, "We shouldn't permit them any breathing room, shouldn't permit them any time to recover. Strike while the iron is hot and all that good jazz."
"I heard that our forces had actually failed to take Fukuoka thus far," Spinner said, "Are you sure it's a good idea to let the heroes have a victory like that?"
"It's all part of the plan," Ainz said, drawing surprised looked out of Dabi and Spinner, "We'll make the heroes wish that they had let us take Fukuoka on our first try, because our second try will dash any and all hope that they might have."
Dabi was about to speak up, but stopped short when a number of pro heroes landed in front of him, Spinner, and Ainz. It was Endeavor, the Flame Hero and number one ranked pro hero in Japan. He came in with the other male Top Ten heroes that were still alive, plus U.A. teachers Aizawa, Hizashi, Nemuri, Sekijiro, and Ryo. A total of thirteen pro heroes.
"Oh?" Ainz said, not the least bit worried over so many heroes confronting him, Dabi, and Spinner even though his followers were surprised. "You certainly seem to know how to bring a party along to help you, Endeavor," Ainz went on.
"Who in blazes are you?!" Endeavor demanded, pointing an accusing finger at Ainz.
Ainz permitted himself a chuckle. "Oh, just the man behind the man is all," Ainz went on, "You heroes didn't really think that my subordinate Dabi was the real ultimate big boss to worry about, did you?"
The heroes all went wide-eyed with shocked surprise. "...So... so you're the one behind everything," Tensei said, his helmet hiding his shocked expression.
"Well that just saves us time then!" Nemuri declared, "We can defeat you, capture you, and force the attacks all over Japan to stop! Any last words before the others here and I beat you down and take you in for what all you've done?"
"Just two," Ainz replied as he held his right hand up at around shoulder level with the palm facing upwards, with the hand aimed at Nemuri. The ghostly image of a beating heart appeared in the palm of Ainz's upheld hand before he said, "Grasp Heart!" and clenched his fingers around the ghostly image, crushing it and making ghostly streams of blood flow from the ghostly heart that he had been holding up.
Nemuri then suddenly coughed up a stream of blood before falling lifelessly to her knees and falling over onto the ground. "Nemuri!" Hizashi cried out as he and the other heroes panicked over seeing Nemuri suddenly drop dead.
"Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" Ainz laughed, "Do you heroes really think you stand a chance? Do you heroes really think that you can win against what all I have to bring to the table? I'll offer the heroes of Japan this one time offer. Submit without resistance. Surrender the nation to me. Do so, and you and all who follow your example will be spared."
"Like hell we would ever submit, you monster!" Aizawa yelled, he and Hizashi enraged by the killing of their colleague. They had already lost Oboro, and now Nemuri. The other pro heroes with them all cried out in agreement, making it clear they were going to fight back.
Seeing that the heroes were not going to be persuaded, Ainz said, "Hey Dabi."
"Yeah, boss?" Dabi replied.
"Yes or no, do you want Endeavor to be able to fight back against you when you kill him?" Ainz asked, catching Endeavor's attention.
Smirking a bit, Dabi said, "Actually, no. It'd highlight the despair I wanna make him feel if he's helpless."
"Like hell I will ever be helpless!" Endeavor barked, "We have you outnumbered here, villains! There's only three of you and twelve-" Endeavor stopped short when not only did all of the other pro heroes who were with him suddenly dropped dead, but his Hellflame quirk stopped working. The Flame Hero looked beyond shocked at what had just happened.
"I'm sorry, Endeavor," Ainz said, having used Time Stop to freeze time, cast Delay Magic: True Death on all of the other still living pro heroes, then used Harvest Quirk on Endeavor to render him as quirkless before walking back to where he stood before dropping the Time Stop. "What was that you were saying?" Ainz went on as he stepped back while gesturing to Spinner for him to do the same.
Dabi and Spinner were both surprised by what had just happened, but they settled down and chalked it up to Ainz being OP as all get out. Dabi with a look of sadistic glee on his face rushed in and blasted Endeavor with a stream of blue flames, making him cry out in pain as he struggled in vain to make his no longer there quirk work.
Dabi did a sweeping kick that tripped Endeavor up before blasting him in the chest with another stream of blue flames. Endeavor laid flat on his back as Dabi walked up and stomped his right foot down onto Endeavor's chest, eliciting a cry of pain. "Well wowee, Endeavor!" Dabi said, "Look at you now! Weak and helpless! Just like how you made your family feel in your mad quest to surpass All Might in the rankings!"
"Shut up, you monster!" Endeavor barked, "You know nothing about my family!"
"Oh?" Dabi said as he took out a bottle of water, "I do know a lot about your family. More than you can guess." Dabi then poured the water from the bottle down over his head, washed out the black hair dye and turning his hair white. Endeavor's eyes widened out of shock as he saw Dabi without the black hair dye.
"I know about our family all too well, dad," Dabi said as he threw the now empty water bottle away and took aim with his now free hand to aim right at Endeavor's face.
The Flame Hero was beyond shocked, his face etched with despair as he beheld the true identity of the blue flame villain who was about to kill him. "...No... no way..." Endeavor said, his tone barely loud enough for Dabi, Spinner, and Ainz to hear, "...Toya..."
A blast of blue flames seared Endeavor's head, making him cry out in pain. The flames didn't stop until Endeavor stopped screaming, stopped moving. After Dabi ended his assault, all that was left of Endeavor was a corpse with a charred, partly carbonized head with an etch of a despairing look on its face. Dabi removed his foot, took a few steps back.
"Hey Dabi, what did Endeavor mean when he called you Toya?" Spinner asked.
Letting out a breath, Dabi said, "I'm actually Endeavor's first born child, Toya Todoroki. My death had been erroneously reported, I actually survived what should have killed me by events that I don't have the luxury of time to get into right now. But Endeavor... dear old dad... was the root cause of what all I had become, a byproduct of his mad obsession with becoming the number one ranked pro hero in the country by besting All Might in the rankings."
Gesturing to Dabi, Ainz went on, "And now, by your own hand, you've made Endeavor pay for what all his madness had put you and your siblings through." Ainz was still a bit surprised to learn that Dabi is Endeavor's son Toya because, by process of deduction, Dabi was willing to kill Shoto Todoroki who is his own little brother, just to make their dad feel pain.
Even the sibling rivalry between the one pair of siblings who were members of Ainz's old guild back in his YGGDRASIL days never got that bad.
END, CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Author's notes;
This chapter begins Ainz's efforts to take Japan, with the goal of making sure it doesn't become like the Japan that he had originally come from. Ainz is also able to use an esoteric method of resurrection to leave Izuku's body and regain his true skeletal body, but decides to resurrect Izuku and gift him a bunch of quirks. Ainz still feels nothing but gratitude towards Izuku for what all he had done to help him when he appeared in his world.
After that, Ainz leads the Paranormal Liberation Front to war to take Japan, launching their offensive a month ahead of when the heroes were expecting it. Ainz also sprinkles in some of his various other forces to help supplement the Paranormal Liberation Front and make them a force that the heroes of Japan won't have much chance against. Hey, if Ainz can do so to the kingdom that Gazef defended, then he can do likewise to Japan.
The various hero academies are surrounded by loads of undead pop monsters from Nazarick to keep the hero students from butting in, but even if pro heroes were able to field the hero students, it would be a moot point given that Ainz is able to go all in now. Even top ranking pro heroes backed by the best teachers from U.A. don't stand a chance, and Dabi makes a surprise reveal right before he claims the life of Japan's number one hero at the time.
Things aren't going to end here, as there's still more to unravel as things here continue. Later.