Chapter 17: The Tomb of Gigantomachia
"This doesn't make any sense!" Rin shouted. "He was with us the whole time!"
"Then you better start to make sense of it!" Momo growled. "I split you all up into groups of three to make sure that this wouldn't happen! And you still somehow managed to lose someone!"
The sun had set a long time ago, but Momo was still as wired as ever. Sato was missing, and everyone had been searching around the area for the last twenty minutes.
"I made it so simple," she groaned. "Three people to stick together… and yet…"
Both Awase and Rin felt like shit for fucking up something so simple. That was usually Kaiabra's and Tsuburaba's faults! Still though, they kept looking around where Sato was last seen.
Uraraka whispered, "Hey, if it makes you guys feel better, we didn't follow protocol either…"
"No, it doesn't make us feel any better," Awase hissed. "In fact, it makes us feel worse."
"Wait, what do you mean that you also didn't follow protocol?" Melissa asked.
The two of them jumped at the angel's sudden appearance, but Uraraka calmed herself. "Our magical tutors were at different locations in the Argos Fields, so the three of us had to go our separate ways for a couple of hours. Oh, but please don't tell Yaoyorozu –"
"Too late, I heard all of it," Momo deadpanned.
Watching Uraraka jump up into the air when she realized Momo was behind her was somewhat amusing, but there was still work to be done. "Melissa, why is that relevant?"
"Look, Sato doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would get lost in the crowd because he was doing some window-shopping," Melissa explained. "If that was the case, then half of your squad would have gotten lost from each other already, especially those that went to the Argos Fields."
"Which implies that he didn't wander off…" the raven-haired woman realized. Turning back around, she asked, "Rin, Awase, did either of you see anything weird during your trip?"
"You mean, like, aside from the usual magic shit? Uh, yeah," Rin answered. "We found a corpse in an alleyway. The guy was super mutilated! And he had this purple shit seeping out of him!"
Momo didn't like the way Melissa's face morphed into concern. Again.
Rikido Sato groaned. He felt like he had an immense hangover.
Opening his eyes, he looked around to see that he was in a chair, and in front of him… he had no idea where he was. It looked like he was underground, but there were… giant ribs all around him? There was even a massive spine lining up with the chair he was sitting in. And hanging on one of the left ribs was a… giant heart? Which was oozing some purple stuff.
He may have not been a medical expert like Kodai, but he had a sneaking suspicion that if he turned around, he would be looking at the base of a giant skull. In fact, it seemed like someone probably must have made their place within the insides of some dead giant.
At least the lighting from the orange-red tiki torches all following the spine allowed him to see that he was surrounded by five hooded figures, all of them wearing purple robes. Shit…
"""""Gigantomachia… Gigantomachia… Gigantomachia… GIGANTOMACHIA!"""""
Yeah, no, it was time for him to get the fuck out of here.
Sato immediately got up from the stone throne they had him in, and was ready to –
"Habuko, restrain him," a female voice said.
One of the hooded cultists' eyes immediately flashed a bright yellow, and before he knew it, Sato couldn't move. He fell back down to the chair, limp. Looking back at them, he now saw that their eyes were now radiating some sort of pink energy from underneath her hood.
"Romero, I thought you managed to knock him unconscious."
"I did, Kashiko!" the male cultist growled. "It's not my fault he's built like an ox!"
"Both of you, stop it now," another female voice said, pulling down her hood, and revealing a monocle-wearing woman with blue eyes and periwinkle hair. "Apologies, but I suppose introductions are in order. I am Saiko Intelli, the leader of the Cult of Gigantomachia."
Yeah, no, Sato did not like one bit of what the crazy lady said.
"You see, long ago, the first Calamitous Beast was in service of the previous Demon King. When he was slain by the Hero of old, the scholars Yuuei and Shiketsu hid his body away to suppress its power, but even death could not contain his power," Intelli said. "His ichor leaked out, and the source was finally located by us. And now, provided that you are the right vessel, shall surpass your humanity, and lay waste to the city above, as the Demon Lord reborn!"
What the fuck…? Sato thought to himself. These guys are insane!
"But we need to prepare before we can offer you the ichor," Intelli said. "Habuko, Kashiko, make sure he stays here. Dadan, Romero, get the chalice. This time… it will work!"
Rikido Sato had a sneaking suspicion that this was how he was gonna die.
"A cult?" Momo repeated. "You think Sato was kidnapped by a cult?"
"It would make sense," Melissa said. "The three of them were in an area where a cult was operating. There's a good chance that a cult abducted him for a sacrificial ritual."
"Yeah, there goes any chance of me sleeping tonight," Monoma whispered to Kendo.
"Okay, let's assume that you're right," Momo said. "How do we find them?"
"I have two spells on me, one can detect evil and the other can detect magic," Melissa explained. "If he really was abducted by a cult, then due to their nature, they would have massive amounts of both. I use my magic, we find their hideout, and save Sato."
"Okay, I guess we're doing this," Momo said. "Monoma, Uraraka, Bakugou, Aoyama, Komori, Kodia, Kirishima, you're with me and Melissa. Everyone else, go find and inform the local authorities of what's going on. The Auctoritates, the mayor, whoever, just find them."
"If you guys can't find any of them, contact Sirius at the local magic guild or Anan Kurose-sama at the Argos Fields," Uraraka said, handing them a piece of paper. "Here are the addresses."
"Okay, we can split our group and tell everyone what's going on," Kendo said.
Nodding, Momo grabbed her assault rifle. "All right, let's go save our fucking cook."
Eijiro had that sinking feeling again. The one where he was being watched.
A part of him wanted to rule it out as paranoia, but after what had happened to Sato, he couldn't. And to make matters worse, it was nighttime. Which meant that if there actually was something in the shadows, it was much easier for it to sneak up on him.
"Psst, Shield," he whispered. "How much farther?"
"We're almost there," she whispered back. "It's inside the Argos Fields."
Unlike most of the ladies on his team, Eijiro didn't enter this place with his group, and the weirdness of it was starting to get to him. Abandoned buildings, massive floating crystals, all sorts of stuff just lying around due to the magical training of some wizards.
"Shield?" Yaoyorozu whispered.
"We're here, it's inside this hole," the blond angel whispered.
Even with the limited light, Eijiro could make out a few things. Such as the fact this hole was man-made, with shovels, and a ladder. Whoever was down there made sure that no one found out about this place and that, by some miracle, if they did, they wouldn't bury it again.
"All right, everyone, climb down, but do it quietly. Who knows how many there are."
Climbing down the ladder wasn't that much of a problem. The real problem was that their flashlights could potentially give them away. Still, though, they made their way down, and reached an underground tunnel, one full of… giant bones? What?
"Look." Melissa pointed to a lit torch. "Someone was here recently."
"Everyone, turn off your flashlights," Yaoyorozu whispered. "We have light down here."
They followed her orders, as they silently moved through the tunnel. They were soldiers, they were trained to move like shadows, even while carrying heavy weaponry.
But not even trained soldiers were ready for what they saw next.
Bakubro best summed it up with his choice of words: "What. The. Fuck."
From where they were standing, Eijiro could see… a giant skeleton. He and the others were all on some sort of balcony level, and they had a good view. The entire place was some sort of… oversized coffin. The walls, the ceiling, the tunnels, torches, sure, it all made it seem like people would walk through here, but… the twenty-five meter long skeleton said otherwise.
"What the fuck did we just stumble upon?" Monoma whispered, in horror.
"Oh, no…" Melissa whispered in horror. "It's the tomb of Gigantomachia."
Everyone looked at Melissa in a mix of existential horror and morbid curiosity. Eventually, Yaoyorozu was the one who bit the bullet. "I'm sorry, who exactly is Gigantomachia?"
"Gigantomachia was one of the old Demon Lords, powerful beings in service to the Demon King. He was killed centuries ago by Nana Shimura, but… I never thought that one of the Magical Capitals would be built upon his remains," Melissa whispered.
"How bad are we talking here?" Kodai asked.
"It's said that when he was smaller, he was the old Demon King's personal bodyguard. But when he became bigger… he became the ultimate weapon. A giant capable of walking through entire cities without even noticing that they were there. A monster capable of going toe-to-toe with even a group of Ultimate-stage magicians. A living calamity, one so powerful, that he created a new title for unique and powerful monsters known as… the Calamitous Beasts."
"And… What exactly does being a Calamitous Beast entail?" Aoyama asked.
"Calamitous Beasts are one-of-a-kind animals, monsters that are feared throughout the world for their unstoppable rampages that rarely leave survivors. If the Ultimates are the top of the magical world, and the Demon Lords are the Demon King's most inner circle, then the Calamitous Beasts are the animal kingdom's equivalent to such powerful beings."
Oh, wonderful, more existential horror, Eijiro thought to himself.
"Hey, everyone, look!" Uraraka whispered, pointing down towards a throne with…
"Holy shiitake, it's Sato!" Komori whisper-yelled. "We gotta help him!"
"Shh, listen!" Yaoyorozu whispered, pointing at the group of cultists.
Eijiro looked down at the cultists. Two of them were girls with grayish hair and some sort of glasses, one of them was a dude with gray hair, one was a bulky guy with brown hair, and one… was a bipedal snake-woman with orange hair. Huh. At least they were diverse.
"""""Gigantomachia… Gigantomachia… Gigantomachia… GIGANTOMACHIA!"""""
Eijiro watched as the lead cultist used some sort of blue force field magic to cause a punch og purple goop from the giant heart to float towards the chalice next to Sato's throne.
"Now, become the most powerful of us all," the monocle-wearing cultists said, pushing the chalice up towards Sato with her magic. "And usher in a new age of terror."
Sato, meanwhile, was trying to turn his face away from the chalice and keep his mouth shut, but it was only a matter of time until he was forced to drink that purple ichor.
"That's this, I'm stopping this," Aoyama said, standing up, extending his hand, and –
BREEAM-POW!
…shot a ray of bright blue-and-white light directly towards the cultist's head.
BREEAM-POW!
Sato watched in surprise as that Saiko lady's head got blasted off by some sort of giant blue laser beam, before looking up towards the balcony to see… "GUYS!"
"HEY, SATO!" Kirishima called out. "WE'RE HERE TO SAVE YOU!"
"HAVE YOU PEOPLE NEVER HEARD OF THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE?!"
"Oh, sorry, Bakubro!"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT, SHITTY HAIR!"
"INTRUDERS!" the other gray-haired cultist, Kashiko, shouted. "SEIZE THEM!"
The cultists began firing off spells at his friends, as Sato watched as his squadmates jumped down from the balcony and started… firing off their own spells?! No way!
Interestingly enough, even Lieutenant Yaoyorozu seemed a bit shocked.
Regardless, his teammates kept fighting, using both magic and guns to fight off the cultists. The bad guys might have had more experience, but his squad outnumbered them.
He could breathe easy, knowing that his friends were here to save him –
"Oh, no, you don't!" Kashiko growled, as she grabbed the chalice, and forcefully opened up Sato's mouth. "You are going to drink this, even if it's the last thing you ever do!"
As Sato was drowned with ichor, the last thing he noticed was that it tasted sweet.
"What the…? You all know magic now?!" Momo shouted.
"Yeah, our tutors for the day produced some excellent results, really worth our money!" Monoma answered, as he fired off a laser beam identical to Aoyama's. "Pretty sweet, right?"
"I think I'm just going to stick to guns…" Momo answered honestly.
"ARDUUS MISTER FUNGUS!" Komori shouted, as she summoned… a giant, light-brown mushroom man, with limbs and a face. "Pleurotus eryngii, if anyone's curious."
"THAT'S SO MANLY!" Kirishima shouted. "I got one! I CAST… FIST!"
WHAM!
"Kirishima, you just punched someone," Kodai said.
"I know! Check this out! MAGIC PUNCH!"
WHAM!
"You just kicked the cultist while they were down."
Kirishima smiled. "That's what made it so magical!"
Momo wanted to groan, but at least there was a bright side. Kodai and Bakugou were sticking to guns, while Melissa was dealing with the snake woman who paralyzed Aoyama with her glare, while Uraraka was using her magic to lift rocks into the air and launch them at the cultists.
In short, they were tearing through these enemies.
Making sure to shoot one more cultist with her assault rifle, she made her way towards where Sato was being held hostage… only to see him being forced to drink from the chalice.
"SATO, NO!" Komori screamed.
"Shit, we're too late," Bakugou cursed.
The empty chalice fell from the cultist's hand, clattering to the floor, and, for a single second, everyone was silent. They had no idea what was going to happen.
RRRRR…
Then suddenly, Sato's stomach began to rumble, and he buckled down in pain. "Hngh…"
"Sato?" Momo called out to him, as his body began to morph…
"Dabudabujuiba…" Sato's body began toi morph around, like something was trying to crawl around under his skin, and he began speaking gibberish, before suddenly growing in size. His clothes burst off of his body, as orange fur took place. "JUBJUBJAW!"
"Mon Dieu… what happened to him?" Aoyama whispered in horror.
"What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck…" Uraraka kept repeating.
In front of them wasn't Sato, but a monster. Standing at eight meters tall, with four arms and massive claws, four eyes with yellow sclera and pitch-black pupils, and a split-open mouth with razor-sharp teeth. The only thing that still remebled Sato was the hair and bodybuild.
But other than that, they were staring at an orange-furred kaiju.
"YES!" the gray-haired cultist cheered, on her knees. "Oh, glorious Gigantomachia! Destroy the fragility of daily life within the magic world! Your faithful servants are here to –"
FWOOM!
Whatever Sato was now, it was clear that he wasn't interested in what the crazy lady had to say, as he summoned a black-and-red stream of fire, with added blue-and-black lighting, and lodged it at her. Nothing happened for a few seconds, until the cultist started burning red.
"Hot… HOT… TOO HOT, IT BURNS! HELP! SOMEONE, HELP! AAAAAA –"
POOF!
Her screams only stopped when she became nothing more than a puff of smoke.
"HOLY SHIT!" Kirishima screamed. "HE FUCKING EVAPORATED HER!"
Momo stared in horror at the thing in front of her. That thing wasn't Sato, not anymore. Gritting her teeth, she shouted "OPEN FIRE!" and proceeded to shoot at the monster.
If there really was a God, she'd ask for forgiveness once this was all over.
Eijiro didn't want to do this, but he still ended up pulling the trigger.
It hurt him knowing that he was shooting Sato. He didn't know the guy personally, but he seemed pretty chill. But now… no, he couldn't think like that. The last time he hesitated when ordered to kill, it ended up haunting him for a good long while. Not again.
Still, it hurt him to have to fill him with bullet holes.
BRAKA-BRAKA-BRAKA-BRAKA!
"GO!" Komori ordered her summoned mushroom monster to attack the monstrous Sato, with the fungus creature jumping towards the big guy's face. Unfortunately…
"SKREEEEE!"
…it was at that moment the orange kaiju decided to scream, which engulfed the mushroom into a kaleidoscope of blue light, breaking the summoned creature down into nothingness.
"Okaaay… well, that happened," Monoma deadpanned. "The fire from his palms evaporates people, while his screams basically erases you from existence. Good to know."
"All of you! Lay down suppressive fire while we all retreat!" Yaoyorozu yelled.
That was a good call, in Eijiro's opinion. Even if Kodai now had the ability to resurrect the dead, the redhead figured that there was a good chance she needed the person's body to do that. And since all of Sato's attacks so far left no corpses behind, that would probably mean perma-death.
It was time for them all to get the fuck out of here.
Unfortunately, it was also at that moment that Eijiro's body stopped moving.
"None of you are leaving here!" the snake-like cultist shouted, as she held Eijiro hostage, while her brown-haired buddy shot some sort of magic stream towards the giant Sato. Said Sato, unfortunately, simply redirected the attack back towards the guy, splattering his brains.
Yeah, no, that was gonna traumatize Eijiro. "Ewww…"
"Is now really the time for this?!" Bakugou shouted towards the snake lady. "We're all trying not to die down here! Is trying to trap us all with this monster really worth getting killed?!"
"YOU SHALL ALL BECOME SACRIFICES TO THE GREAT GIGANTOMACHIA –"
WHACK!
Before she could even finish her sentence, the snake cultist was knocked out by something. Eijiro looked back to see that she was knocked out by the butt of a spear, belonging to…
"It's all right. You are safe now. I am here."
…a masked woman, with curved yellow horns, pink skin, dark eyes, and a tail.
"It's you," Eijiro whispered. He recognized that being.
The creature he spared back in Musutafu. The one that rescued him and Bakugou from the warrior bunnies. And judging by her voice, the one that warned him about the medusa.
"You all need to leave here, now," the masked woman said.
"And why should we listen to you?! Who the hell are you, anyway?!" Uraraka asked.
"That's not important right now. What matters is that you all escape!"
Everyone didn't know what to think. On the one hand, the newcomer saved their squadmate, but on the other hand, both Eijiro and Bakubro knew that this lady was a wildcard.
"ROOOAAARRR!"
Eijiro's blood froze when he heard that roar. They forgot about Sato! While everyone was busy with the hostage situation, they turned their backs on the kaiju! Now that his injuries were healed, he was going back on the offensive, swinging his giant hand down –
"ACIDUM SAGITTA!"
Before anyone could react, the masked woman lifted her pink hand and cast a spell, sending a bolt of green acid firing towards Sato's hand, causing the monster to recoil in pain.
"ROOOAAARRR!"
"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" she shouted. "GET OUT OF HERE!"
"You heard the lady!" Yaomomo shouted. "Hurry! While Sato is still in pain!"
The rest of the team agreed, and quickly made their way to the exit, as the giant orange monster was still recovering. Well, all of them, except for… "Bakubro?"
The spiky blond didn't turn back, but he did speak. "If that giant fucker breaches the surface, this entire city will be dealing with a Godzilla knock-off. I gotta make sure he dies here."
"Bakugou, what sort of magic could you even do to kill him?!" Yaoyorozu shouted.
"Something that's probably gonna get me killed in close quarters," he said. "Dead Eyes!"
"My name is Kodai!" the black-haired girl shouted.
"Whatever. If you recover my body, make sure to resurrect me. Got it?"
With all that said and done, Bakugou began to chant ominously, as several bright yet ominous-looking colors began conjuring up in his hands. Melissa, meanwhile, nearly had her eyes pop out of her skull with realization. "We need to get out of here. NOW!"
"Mea ultima exitium magicae…" Bakugou kept chanting, as the wind and colors around him became more intense. Even the mutated Sato paused at what he was doing.
"RUN!" the masked woman shouted. "HE'S CASTING –"
"EXPLOOOOOSIO!"
The last thing Eijiro Kirishima saw was Death, destroyer of worlds.
The first thing Momo saw when she opened her eyes was Kodai's face.
"Give me a status report."
"Everyone is alive," the black-haired medic answered. "Melissa and I drained all our magic making sure you all remained that way, along with reviving anyone who keeled over."
Momo got up, groaning. "Ugh… what happened?"
"Apparently, Bakugou's magic is creating apocalypse-level explosions," Kodai answered. "He fired one off point-blank at Sato's gut, causing him to expel all that ichor he drank. Thankfully, Sato's burnt corpse remained intact, so resurrecting him was possible."
That… was actually really good to hear. "And Bakugou?"
"He barely survived. Third-degree burns all over his body, but he'll be back to normal in a day," Kodai said. "Sato will need a week. Resurrecting someone really strains their body."
"And the others?"
"Kirishima's eardrums burst, but Shield was able to patch him up," the medic answered. "Interestingly enough, our masked savior was giving him a lap pillow. But… she's gone now."
Momo gave Kodai a funny look. "Gone?"
"She left. Uraraka was contacting the others over the radio, and Rin said Bakugou's explosion was big enough that everyone in the city saw it, and he mentioned that the Auctoritates were on their way. Our mysterious masked lady sneaked away when no one was looking afterwards."
The gears in Momo's head were spinning at that mention. Was the masked woman a criminal? If so, why did she help us? What's more, why did she care about Kirishima so much?
Momo shook her head. Questions for later. "What about the others?"
"Monoma was the only one who remained conscious after the explosion, aside from myself and Melissa. He went around copying everyone else's magic while they were still knocked out."
"Wait, that's how he was able to copy Aoyama's lasers?" Momo asked. "By copying them?"
"Mm-hm. Apparently, the reason he was asking to touch some of us earlier was because he needs physical contact to copy spells, not because he suddenly became a perv."
Momo secretly prayed that Monoma wasn't another Ultimate in disguise.
In the end, the City of Yuuei-Shiketsu had a small celebration afterwards.
The local head honcho of the city was a guy by the name of Enma Kannagi, who looked like a cross between a stereotypical wizard and a hobo, while also wearing a blindfold, implying he was also a member of the Auctoritates. Still, he apparently climbed the ladder high enough to be running the city, while also recognizing Momo and her squad as public heroes.
When asked by Kannagi if they wished for any reward, Momo explained their current situation: The Collibus Hills was under the JSDF's control, and she wanted locals of this world to inhabit the soon-to-be town. Kannagi agreed to those terms, and sent a few high-ranking mages and shopkeepers towards the base, including Uraraka's personal tutor.
And with that, it was time for them to head to their newest location.
"So, where to next?" Momo asked.
"We're going north," Melissa answered. "To the city of Portus."
Awase nodded, and the LAVs left the gates of the magic city.
Shihai Kurorio couldn't believe what he just saw.
The fallen angel herself got into the beastless carriage, and left the city.
The dark elf has sent a bunch of shadow demons everywhere, both him and Kurogiri. Sure, the smokey-looking dude may have been a shadow demon himself, but he was also a Demon Lord, he had seniority between both the lesser demons, and to a degree, Shihai himself.
But that last one was mostly due to their age difference.
Still, the white-haired dark elf couldn't believe his luck. If he played his cards right, he could maybe be seen in a more favorable light by the Demon King over Kurogiri, at the very least. The shadow demons under his command informed him of what was going on at Yuuei-Shiketsu. He really didn't expect to find anything, but lo and behold, he hit the jackpot.
Melissa Shield herself, accompanied by the otherworlders.
She may have disguised herself as a human, but Shihai knew her face, she couldn't hide. He was overjoyed over finding her, and pulled out a communication crystal.
"Kurogiri, it's me. How fast can you create a portal?"
"Give me your coordinates," the shadow demon replied. "What happened?"
Shihai smiled. "I found her, Kurogiri. Melissa Shield… I found her."
"Is that so…?" Kurogiri said. "Very well. Tell me everything she was doing and who she was with… I shall inform the King. In the meantime, follow her. We can't lose her again."
"With pleasure," the dark elf said, as he himself headed out. It was hunting time.
Author's Note: Was it obvious that I saw Oppenheimer while writing this?
For those of you who may not know, these last two chapters were inspired by Wizard City from Adventure Time, both the location, and the Distant Lands episode. If you want a visual description for Demon Sato, just look up an image of Peppermentepi (second version), and place Sato's features over Peppermint Butler's. In terms of other lore-building, Calamitous Beasts are basically any unique boss-level monster in any fantasy story, such as the White Whale from Re:Zero, or Astel, Naturalborn of the Void from Elden Ring; basically monsters that don't have an actual population, since they kinda aren't supposed to exist in nature… kinda like kaijus, actually. Also, Monoma is basically Rhya from Black Clover, so that's bound to be a problem in the future. Anyways, let's move on from the existential dread, to the comments!
Hansledane: Yeah, I've liked the idea of magical cities for a long time, and I was glad to have incorporated it here. Anyways, Setsuna is more of a governess than a general in terms of "Demon Lord," but that's just some semantics that will be explained later. I'm not really planning to do much with Kaibara and Tsuburaba's potion, but maybe I could add something funny. Trust me, between Anan and Kodai, there are gonna be a lot more Ultimates coming out of the woodwork soon. I'll also be trying my best to incorporate more of the Demon King storyline into the main plot, so wish me luck!
Psychro (Guest): Glad you love the story, but I ain't changing "parooze."
valkrus: Yeah, the wording here is a bit weird, so I'm just gonna ignore it for now.
threeque: Of course you got mentioned, you commented! I'm glad you've enjoyed everything so far, from the scenes with Melissa and Izuku, Aizawa's suffering, Yotsubashi jinxing things, Monoma's antics, the sidequests, and even laughing at the Wonder Idiots and their shenanigans, along with Bakugou basically being Oppenheimer now. Thanks for the support, and I hope to see you commenting in all future chapters!
And now, for the last bit of shilling…
If you want more content, visit my Discord, the link is /3PFYSt8Dqz. You can chat with others, post memes, fanfic recommendations and prompts, role play, fan art, and we even have a writer's corner now! I'll also drop by with announcements and chat with you all every now and then! Also, if you want to add me as a friend, my username is Ernalore#8663! Just please make sure to follow the rules!
Thanks for reading, and once again, see you next time!
- Ernalore