Dungeon
Izuku and Agent Hail stare at each other as they tighten their grip on their respective weapon. Izuku saw the assassin move his hands to his back and he prepared himself.
Hail then extends his hands and tosses something towards them. Izuku reacts quickly and slices it off with Balmung. To his surprise, it's smoke bombs. Heavy clouds of smoke cover the area in an instant as Izuku and Kirishima cough.
Boom! Clang!
Izuku was momentarily caught off guard by the sudden sound of a gunshot and the sound of a bullet hitting a metal wall. He feels relief when he realizes Kirishima manages to react quickly and activates his quirk. Suddenly, Izuku's vision starts to get shaky, as everything he sees moves like waves.
'Damn, is this [Hazy Snow]!?' Izuku thought before his skin felt something chilling touching him and started to melt. 'Yeah, [Hazy Snow]. It disoriented my vision and acted like normal snow, just like the reports! Then that means-!' Izuku uses his other senses and he immediately senses a smell of blood.
Clang!
Izuku uses his sword to block an incoming attack based on where he smells the blood from. Izuku can't see Hail, but he widens his eyes in shock.
"H-how?!" Hail has done a lot of assassinations in his life and he takes pride in his accomplishment. He has never failed to surprise an opponent before until the first time it ever happens, Gang Orca.
He never knew how much of a huge gap between him and the hero until he saw him meeting Tsukauchi, his previous target and the only target he had ever failed to touch. Gang Orca knows he's here, and he ignores it. Hail never felt so angry and frustrated in his life, how he was easily found and dismissed like he wasn't a threat.
Now, it's the second time someone has tracked him down when he tries to assassinate someone. His ego takes a huge blow.
"How!? How can you find me!?" Hail asked as he pushed his dagger on the blade but it didn't budge, much to his surprise.
"Your skill messes with my vision, but it leaves all of my other senses intact!" Izuku shouts before he swings his sword and knocks Hail back. The assassin manages to get his bearing as Izuku rushes at him and slices him off. To his surprise, the man suddenly turns to snow and collapses.
'Shit!' Izuku thought as some snow made contact with him, now his nose was unable to smell anything. Izuku looks around frantically before he activates [Hellfire - Lvl 1] on his sword. The snow on his body immediately evaporates, much to Izuku's surprise.
[Notice: You have discovered a secret feature of [Hellfire - Lvl 1]. ]
[Skill Passive - Natural Fire Affinity: Your mastery over fire magic has granted you a natural affinity towards fire. This allows you to deal more damage using fire magic while reducing the cost of the mana required to perform the magic. All effects from enemies' ice attribute attacks will not affect you.]
Izuku widens his eyes at the notification as his sense of smell returns. He can smell the blood again. Before he could focus, a gunshot was heard and Izuku pulled out his arm and caught the bullet flying toward his head.
"Tchh, no sell." Izuku heard Lady Nagant's whisper but he decided to focus again on Hail. He uses his sense of smell and smells the metallic scent of blood, and this time it came from ABOVE!
Clang!!!
Hail widens his eyes again as Izuku stares right at him. His eyes glow emerald as Hail's eyes narrow into a glare before his body explodes, snow flying around the area. Izuku turns to see Kirishima and wince when he starts getting confused as he gets shot in the leg.
"Shit!" Izuku ignites [Hellfire] again before swinging [Balmung] around the area, and sublimates every snows available.
"Kiri!" Izuku said as they both were back-to-back. They keep up their guard as they look around.
" Dude, any idea?" Kirishima said with a wince. "Getting hit by sniper bullets in short range isn't fun, like at all!"
"Hail keeps us busy in close range and Lady Nagant covers him through long-range attack. They made the perfect anxiety-inducing combo. If we focus on Lady Nagant, Hail will use that chance to hide his presence and ambush us. If we focus on Hail, Lady Nagant will use that chance to shoot us." Izuku said with a grimace.
"I ask for ideas, not analysis!" Kirishima exclaims before he feels something hit his shoulder but due to his quirk, it doesn't leave a scratch. Izuku notices this and gets an idea.
"Kiri, transform!" Izuku says as Kirishima is confused but complies, turning into his were-liger form. Izuku uses his senses again and finds the assassin.
"Kiri! On your 10 o'clock!" Izuku shouts as Kirishima doesn't see anything but decides to trust his partner and slams his huge fist right at where Izuku is directed.
Boom!
Kirishima widens his eyes when the assassin suddenly emerges in his vision and crashes into the cave's wall, shattering it. The impact causes a crater and a cloud of dust around it.
Izuku takes his chances to ignite [Hellfire] and shoots at where Lady Nagant is supposed to be. Lady Nagant, who's in hiding, barely rolled away from the violent purple flame and she can't help but gulp at the firepower as it simply melts away the rocks it made contact with. The torrents of flame start moving right where she is and she takes the chance to run, jumping off the cliff and rolling away.
Before she could do anything, Kirishima jumped at her and slammed her into the wall, pinning her with his massive claws. He made sure he used his quirk to keep her there, acting like a restraint.
"Gotcha!" Kirishima growls as Lady Nagant struggles to get out of his grip. She has been a hero for years and she can't help but find this situation humiliating. How did a kid manage to easily find her and restrain her like this? "Getting shot in the leg isn't fun, ya know!?"
"Easy there, Kiri. Don't want to let your primal instinct take you over." Izuku said before he grabbed [Balmung] and swung it, knocking incoming daggers flying towards him. "Keep her there, Kiri. I'm dealing with him."
"Sure, Izu-bro. You're the only one who can senses it." Kirishima said as Lady Nagant looks confused.
"He...can sense it?" Lady Nagant asked in confusion.
"Oh, he did. He hasn't told me how to do it since I was too busy dealing with your bullets." Kirishima growls.
"So...who are you kids?" Lady Nagant can't help but ask. "You two are too powerful to be normal kids."
"You can think of us as interns to a secret organization." Kirishima replies cheekily as Lady Nagant deadpans. "I'm gonna be honest here, our orders were to avoid you two, but we ended up finding you two by sheer coincidence."
"...way to land a huge blow on our pride, kid." Lady Nagant mutters as Kirishima seems apologetic. "So, what's your plan? Killing us?"
"...only if it's unavoidable," Kirishima said, surprising Nagant. "You don't want to do this, didn't you?"
"...why would you think so?" Lady Nagant asked.
"We hear your complaints towards your ex-boyfriend." Nagant flushed.
With Izuku
"Just stay dead, brat!!" Hail roars as he swings his dagger at Izuku, who is barely able to block it with his arm. The dagger slices through Izuku's uniform and skin, drawing blood.
"Where's your excitement from earlier? I'm pretty sure you're not this angry earlier?" Izuku asked as Hail growled as he dropped several smoke bombs, covering Izuku's vision.
"I was excited, thinking that I might find a new prey to play with!" Hail's voice can be heard from around the cave. "But, turns out, you're not the excitement I was craving for! You are what was wrong with this world! Boredom!"
Izuku lifted his greatsword to block an incoming double slice but he was surprised when a third one landed and scratched his cheek. Suddenly, smoke starts moving around him as a pair of blurs charges at him. Izuku uses his sword to slice both of them off, but he is surprised when it turns to snow.
He yelps in pain when something slices his back and Izuku swings his sword on the back, but he hits nothing. Another slice lands on Izuku's right shoulder before it follows up on his leg, his arms, and his back. This causes Izuku to drop his sword out of pain as Hail rushes at Izuku from the side, preparing to stab him.
Izuku saw a shadow from his left and he fought through his pain and moved. He leans back to dodge an incoming stab, grabs his arm, and elbows him. He saw the man turn into snow before he screamed in pain as two daggers pierced his back.
"You got amazing skills, kid. But sadly, you're against the professional." Hail said as he twirls his daggers playfully. Izuku grits his teeth as he glares at the man. If he manages to survive this, he needs to up his training. Right now, he needs to distract Hail from doing anything.
With Kirishima and Nagant
"See? Your friend is in trouble." Nagant comments. "You're simply delaying the inevitable."
"...why did you choose to remain on the man's side?" Kirishima asked.
"Sorry, kid. It was an order." Lady Nagant said. "You all are naive, choosing to keep me alive instead of killing me..."
"...Izuku has taken lives before, the Lizard's Tail incident, it's him," Kirishima said, earning a surprised look from Nagant. "He...feels conflicted about it, hence why he has been avoiding killing. If he didn't hold back, he would've killed Hail in the first place."
"How can you be so sure of him? Is it a blind trust?" Lady Nagant asked.
"No, he just keeps leveling up," Kirishima said as Lady Nagant raised her eyebrow.
With Izuku and Hail
"W-why are you doing this?" Izuku asked as Hail shrugged.
"Well, it's easy, kid. It's fun." Izuku's blood ran cold. "I like the thrill of hunting my prey. I like it when I hear them scream in agony and realize how hopeless they are. I like how they choked on their blood as they died slowly and painfully. That's why I took my job, kid. I'm sure you understand."
"N-no, I don't..." Izuku grits his teeth.
"Really? Then, why do I see the eyes of a killer when I see you?" Izuku froze when the man pointed out. He gets nervous as the man grins. "You live the thrill, didn't you? How many people have you killed, kid? How many monsters have you killed? Admit it." Hail leans closer. "Or is it because you kill so much that you don't remember it?"
"I..." Izuku struggles to find the answers as the man grins.
"Well, how about you join me, kid?" The assassin asked. "If you do, you'll be my subordinate and I'll let go of everything you did to mess with me."
[Emergency Mission: Kill the Cold-Hearted Assassin]
[Progress: 0/1]
[Failure: Your Heart Will Stop Beating]
'No...' Izuku thought in dread. The worst possible outcome has happened to him once more. Izuku has avoided killing another human for so long, that it wasn't surprising that the system will give him a killing mission. 'Never again...I rather die now...than letting the system dictate my life choices!'
"...what about your partner?" Izuku mutters as he summons the status window on his left hand.
"Oh well...she has become boring to me. Letting her go won't be a trouble. Besides, the HPSC will just lock her in the prison. She can't be my girlfriend if she keeps stuck in that tiny prison." The man shrugs as Izuku is silent, his finger tapping the ground. "So?"
"...you're wrong...I'm not like you." Izuku said, getting Hail's attention. "Unlike you...I at least care about the ones I love...if she's your girlfriend...you would do anything to comfort her in prison..." Izuku claws his hand on the ground. "And another thing...I don't enjoy it...I'm scared of what I've become...but..."
"...I know at least one thing...I can't let you roam free!" Izuku said before tossing dirt right on the man's face. He covers his face as Izuku uses [Balmung] and [Hellfire] to slice off his arm and cauterize his stumps, causing him to scream. Izuku swings his blade on the man's legs, slicing them off. Hail screams in pain before he falls to the ground.
"U-urgh..." The man grunts in pain.
"...Like I said, I ain't like you. But, I can't let you be free, so I did something as cruel as death. Taking away that you love." Izuku said as the man widened his eyes, understanding what Izuku implying. "After all, there is fate worse than death."
[...]
[Mission Failed.]
[New Mission Added]
[Congratulations, you have completed your mission. You can receive your rewards in your mailbox.]
[You have leveled up (x 5) ]
'So, the system didn't want me dead. It wants my body to grow stronger. But for what?' Izuku thought before putting away his sword.
"Damn you brat! You fucking bastard!!! You can't do this to me!! Let me die, bastard!!! I rather die than live like this!!!!" Hail wails as Izuku merely glances at him coldly.
"...enjoy the rest of your miserable life as a cripple son of a bitch," Izuku said before walking towards Kirishima and Nagant, who seems shocked at what she saw. She then looks relieved before looking at Kirishima.
"Um...did something happen?" Izuku asked in confusion.
"Umm, we talked." Kirishima said with a sheepish grin and a shrug. Izuku blinks owlishly.
"...eh?"
To be continued
