Disclaimer:
My Hero Academia was created by Kohei Horikoshi. Shin Megami Tensei was created by Atlus. This story uses plot elements and characters from them.
The Quirk War
By: RB3
School Days Ch 6: Battle of I-Island
In the Foundation Domain, a troop transport plane wreathed in an aura of golden flames flew to an open field far to the north of the ziggurat. Inside the plane sat a hundred men in ski masks and military camouflage who cradled packs in their arms. They too were wreathed in auras of flaming gold, being supernatural apparitions created by magic. As soon as the plane's load master gave the word, the soldiers stood up and hooked cables to a line overhead. The load master opened the door in preparation for the jump.
A nearby light turned green indicating that the plane was ready. "GO! GO! GO!" cried the load master.
Their hooks slowly gathered by the door as the soldiers jumped out and their parachutes opened to slow their descent to the ground. One by one they landed on the ground and equipped themselves with weapons stored in their packs. They grouped up and marched towards a small town in the west. They noticed that a group of terrorists clad in ski masks were holed up in a clock tower at the centre of town. The terrorists opened fire against the soldiers, which prompted the soldiers to occupy nearby buildings and return fire.
One of the soldiers hurled a grenade into the front door of the clock tower. A powerful explosion ensued, flattening all of the terrorists who were shooting out of the first floor windows. The soldiers stormed the building and started shooting terrorists in the rooms and stairwell as they ascended floor by floor. One of the soldiers reached the roof of the clock tower and planted a white flag with the emblem of the Foundation.
Abel appeared outside the clock tower as the soldier who had planted the flag emerged from the door. Although his uniform and gear had flaming auras of gold, his physical body did not emit this aura. He removed his ski mask and revealed himself as Jin Bubaigawara, once known as the thief and villain Twice. "Good work, Jin! You took that tower quickly and efficiently," said Abel.
"This 'Paratrooper' ability you gave me is quite useful. What kind of power was it again?" asked Jin, unsure of its nature.
"A Standing Persona," replied Abel.
Jin Bubaigawara had traded his Double Quirk for the Standing Persona "Paratrooper" from Abel when he joined the Foundation. This new ability allowed him to manifest spiritual entities associated with a paratrooper unit such as the soldiers, equipment like their parachutes, and the vehicles they used to fly to a site. All of the soldiers were clones of Jin, but since they were just spirits under his control, they were not real. Nevertheless, they were solid and could do all of the things a real soldier could. Jin was essentially an entire paratrooper unit by himself.
Jin smiled. "Oh yeah! Since you gave me this sweet new power, I haven't heard those voices any more. Thank you, Immortal Stranger," said Jin, giving Abel two thumbs up.
Abel nodded and smiled. "You're welcome. While you're here, you may call me Abel," said Abel.
"Oh, that's right! It's like how I used the code name Twice to avoid revealing my real name," said Jin.
"That's right. You'll now go by the code name 'Airborne' on missions. There will be no more robberies, at least not unless the mission specifically calls for that. Am I understood?" asked Abel.
Jin saluted Abel. "Yes sir! I remember you telling me that this 'Domain' can create items and that if I needed anything, I can come here for it. If it can do that, I won't need to do robberies. I'll just hop on by and pick up the stuff I need," said Jin.
"Of course. That's enough training for one night. Go home and get some rest," said Abel.
"Good. I was getting antsy and needed to take a leak," said Jin.
Abel chuckled as the two parted ways with Jin heading to the colosseum. After rushing to the washroom in the locker room, he returned and changed out of his camouflage and into plain clothes. Izuku and Danjuro were there with Izuku in a pair of jeans, putting on a white shirt to cover his exposed torso. "Hey! How did it go with your training?" Izuku asked Jin.
"Oh, it was great! I managed to take the clock tower without losing any of my soldiers. I'm getting good at this!" replied Jin with a wide, triumphant smile on his face.
"Awesome!" remarked Izuku, smiling at hearing of his new ally's success.
"I must say, great work lad!" remarked Danjuro.
Izuku put on his jacket, then gathered his possessions into a gym bag. "I'll see you tomorrow," said Izuku, waving to the two men.
"Bye!" said Danjuro and Jin, waving back before he left the locker room.
On his way out, he bumped into Melissa, who was just coming out of the women's locker room. "Hey Izuku! The I-Expo is coming up soon and my dad and I are going to attend. Didn't you get tickets from making MVP at the Sports Festival? Since classes are out for the summer in Japan, I was thinking of taking you there on a tour," said Melissa.
Izuku was shocked. Melissa was basically asking him out on a date to I-Expo. "Uh, yeah! Sure! I'm glad, just glad, to go!" said Izuku, stammering his words.
"Great! Actually, Uncle Might is going there too, being the number one hero and all. Dad and Uncle Might hardly ever get to see each other ever since Uncle Might moved back to Japan. This is their chance to catch up!" said Melissa. "You can see Uncle Might too, but I guess you see him everyday at UA."
"Not really. He teaches the hero course, but I'm in support. I don't get to see him as much as you'd think," corrected Izuku.
"Oh, right! You both must be busy with school stuff. Well, this is your chance to see him without school getting in the way!" said Melissa with a triumphant smile.
"Great! I'm counting the days," replied Izuku with an eager smile.
At that moment, Abel came upon the duo. "Hey, did you guys say you were going to I-Island?" asked Abel.
"Yeah. I-Expo is going to start soon," replied Izuku.
"Why do you ask?" asked Melissa.
"The Marduk will be repairing a hole in the dimensional barriers at I-Island, you know, cleaning up after Dr. Shield's experiments. We're reaching a critical point, which is the perfect time for someone to show up and mess everything up. I'm going there in disguise just to check around and make sure that nothing funny is happening. You don't need to do anything, but do keep an eye out for demonic activity," replied Abel.
"We will. See you there," said Izuku.
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The clock ticked down the final minutes of UA's first semester. As the minute hand crept past 3pm, students silently cheered their dismissal from class and the successful completion of a school semester. Into the summer break, Izuku and Melissa departed from the apartment which acted as a front of the Foundation on I-Island. A fully autonomous, driverless taxi came to a complete stop and its door swung open to welcome them on a journey to the I-Expo. The car sped down the streets on an unerring path to the South City, the site of the event.
It was the preview, which allowed people who had purchased early access to enjoy the sights and sounds without large crowds getting in their way. The pavilions had been decorated in bright, festive colours which leapt out at the duo. One such building resembled a tree which carried small windowed domes on its branches. It looked much like mushrooms were growing on the branches. The streets were packed with people in hero costumes, travelling from exhibit to exhibit.
A towering, lizard-like pro hero plodded his way down the road. He was clad in a high-collared white jacket with red, fiery patterns which seemed to burn across the collar and edges. "Whoa! That's Godzillo!" said Izuku.
"His sponsors must have flown him out here for the event," said Melissa. "At the Expo, they invite heroes from around the world to show off new gear and sign autographs for the fans."
"So cool!" remarked Izuku.
Melissa led Izuku into a pavilion with a watery blue interior. Dozens of exhibits with strange new devices and doodads lined the sides of hall. In a larger display was an aircraft which resembled a manta ray. The videos showed the vehicle flying through the air, then diving into the water to continue travelling without any loss of speed. Another display contained a white polymer suit with fluttering, wing-like protrusions. This suit looked angelic, yet alien, and was intended as a diving suit which allowed a person to descend a depth of seven thousand metres.
Melissa slid a helmet onto Izuku's head. It had a black plastic face plate which lit up in an icy blue. Holographic images displayed Izuku's surroundings to him, while the screen outside displayed him slack-jawed at how he could see everything around his body. After she removed the helmet, the two continued on and stopped at an exhibit with a tank-like vehicle with a torso-like structure mounted on treads. With such a design, it blended the best aspects of a tank and an upright mecha.
"Almost everything here had been created with patents from my dad," said Melissa.
"You must really respect him," remarked Izuku.
"Of course! Even though he had a poor Quirk for hero work, he had a sharp mind and used it to create things which would help other people with their Quirks. I didn't have a Quirk at all, so I chose to follow in his footsteps," said Melissa. "Then I got my power, but I can't use it, not for 'normal' hero work anyway."
Izuku knew she was referring to her Atma power. It was getting infected with that virus that granted both of them their unique powers and abilities. Even then, they could not risk doing traditional hero work since the contagious nature of Atma put those who lacked Amalan magic at risk. So, they focused their efforts on learning to use these powers against rogue infectees and demons. Thus, they could act as secret guardians of hero society against supernatural threats.
As they were chatting by the tank exhibit, they did not realize that a few familiar faces had overhead them. "You look like you're having fun!" chirped a girl's voice.
"Uraraka!" said Izuku when he turned around to see her.
"Ahem! You look like you're having a good time," remarked Yaoyorozu impishly.
"Midoriya, I heard everything!" said Jiro, who smirked as she bobbed her Earphone Jacks up and down as an indication of how she was able to hear them.
"Jiro's Earphone Jack, the ultimate spy tech!" remarked Izuku, who's jaw was slack out of shock from being overheard. It was pure luck that he and Melissa never directly mentioned anything pertaining to Atma or the demons, otherwise Jiro would have heard it and become suspicious.
"Hi Midoriya! Who's this girl?" asked Uraraka impishly. "I hope you're not two-timing Sekigai or something?"
Izuku held up his hands defensively. "It's not like that! She's just showing me around the Expo since this is my first time here," replied Izuku.
"I'm Melissa Shield. Many of my papa's patents were used to make the things here. My father is David Shield, the famous inventor!" said Melissa.
"Oh, what a small world! It's great to meet you, Melissa!" said Yaoyorozu.
"Say, do you want to join us for lunch? We were about to grab a bite after we saw the exhibits," asked Melissa.
"Sure!" said Yaoyorozu.
The group sat around a table after having ordered their meals. "Hey Midoriya!" said a smiling teenager from the nearby table.
"Oh, Tetsu! I didn't know you'd be here!" said Izuku.
"I won a ticket since I got second at the Sports Festival," said Tetsu. "Kendo is also here, but her ticket doesn't get her into the preview."
"Tetsu, meet Melissa Shield. She's the daughter of David Shield, the famous scientist," introduced Izuku.
"Whoa! You're David Shield's daughter? It's nice to meet you! I'm Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, but you can call me Tetsu for short," Tetsu introduced himself.
"Tetsu goes to the same school as I do. He's in the hero course. I helped him train for the Sports Festival," said Izuku.
"Oh yeah! I owe a lot to Midoriya for that. I doubt I could get that far without his help," said Tetsu, putting his arm around Izuku and patting his back.
"Yeah, I saw some videos of your matches on the Internet. That Bakugo was one tough cookie. He blew up the entire arena just to get you," said Melissa.
As they talked, the subject of internships came up. Uraraka, Tetsu, and Itsuka had done a few patrols with Gunhead, while Kyoka had been involved with a hostage rescue with the hero Death Arms. Yaoyorozu's internship was the strangest, filming a commercial for hair spray with the pro hero and model Uwabami. "Those all sound very exciting!" remarked Melissa.
"Melissa, don't forget about meeting your dad after lunch," said Izuku, pointing at an imaginary watch on his wrist.
Melissa looked at her watch. "Oh, it's almost time! Sorry everyone! It was nice chatting, but we promised my dad that we'd go see him after lunch. We should get going," said Melissa.
"Bye!" said the girls of 1A, waving to Izuku and Melissa before they left.
She and Izuku went to the home of David Shield, where they found him seated at the dining table with a guest, All Might clad in his superhero costume. "Uncle Might! It's been forever!" said Melissa.
"Whoa! Melissa! When did you go and get so big?" asked All Might, who took her into a big hug.
"I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm seventeen now, much bigger than when you last saw me," replied Melissa.
All Might noted how solid and firm Melissa felt during the hug. "I'll say! You're looking much more buff too. Have you been working out?" asked All Might.
"Yep!" replied Melissa triumphantly.
"Hey Melissa, welcome back," said David.
"Hi dad! I just got back from touring the grounds with Izuku," said Melissa.
"Oh, I didn't know you knew young Midoriya," said All Might.
"Yeah. We've known each other for a year now. I invited him to see the Expo while he was on break from school. Don't you teach there, Uncle Might?" asked Melissa.
"That's right. Young Midoriya is an amazing student! He managed to win MVP at the Sports Festival this year. That's an incredible feat for anyone to achieve, especially someone not from the hero course," said All Might.
"I know. I'm sure he's surprised that he even won that award," said Melissa.
"You embarrassing me!" said Izuku, smiling as he put his arm behind his head.
"No, you should be proud of that award, young Midoriya. From what I've heard from Class 1B, you did so much to help them get as far as they did. Your sacrifice secured them the Escort Race and you helped young Hatsume win Super Robot Wars. You also helped train young Tetsu enough to win the silver medal at the Tourney. It's no wonder you were picked as MVP," said All Might.
Izuku smiled. "Thank you. It really means a lot coming from you, All Might," said Izuku.
"Melissa, will you be attending the dinner tonight? I'll be there to make a speech for the Expo," asked All Might.
"Sure, I've got my dress all picked out for the big event. I'm ready," assured Melissa.
"Good," said All Might, who then gave a light cough.
"I want a bit more time to catch up with All Might. Why don't you go back to the Expo and look around some more?" asked David. "Just make sure to be here before six so we can get properly dressed for the dinner."
"Sure! Let's go Izuku," said Melissa.
Once Melissa and Izuku departed to continue their tour of the Expo, All Might underwent a coughing fit before reverting into a shrivelled form. "Thanks for catching that, Dave. That injury has been nagging me all these years. That battle at the USJ took more out of me than I thought," said All Might.
"Yeah, your power has been steadily decreasing ever since then. If this keeps up, it's only a matter of time before your powers vanish completely. Then you'll be forced into retirement," said David. "I hope you're training a successor while you still can. There isn't much time."
"I'm working on that. I have a few candidates lined up, so by the end of summer, I should have selected one and taken him under my wing," assured All Might.
"Please hurry. The world needs a new Symbol of Peace as soon as it can get one," said David.
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Meanwhile, in the Expanse surrounding Hero Society, the Marduk had taken a position near a large rift in the misty crimson realm. Within this rift was the image of I-Island, where the Perpetual Reactor had been developed and used to harvest energy from the Expanse. It was so large that it was easy for demons to fly through, if it were not for the weapons of the golden, cylindrical ship and the friendly demons stationed on it. They destroyed any other demon which dared to approach, but a few still managed to slip through despite their best efforts.
The Marduk channelled a red beam at the rift, which gradually shrank it so that the demons would lose this access point. At the same time, some of the Spade Mercs' demons had gathered near the rift, using magic to divert and focus Magatsuhi there to patch the hole more quickly. "Amane, how are repairs going on the hole?" asked Abel through a telepathic link.
"We're making steady progress. It should be done by tonight if there are no interruptions," replied Amane.
"Good. Keep up the good work. This should reduce the appearance of new demons and the enemy's ability to call in reinforcements," said Abel.
Eventually, night arrived at the Expo and the heroes gathered at a dining hall on the central tower's main floor. Izuku and Melissa had arrived early with David and All Might. Izuku wore a brown suit with black lines running down its length. Melissa had her hair tied back and flowing behind her while wearing a blue top, a white dress, and white dress sandals. Tetsu was the next to arrive, clad in a formal grey suit. Uraraka, Yaoyarozu, and Jiro had arrived wearing frilly dresses.
Still more students from Class 1A had arrived, which came as a surprise since Izuku never even knew they were present on the island. Katsuki Bakugo was the first of them, followed by his friend, Kirishima. Tokoyami was next, followed by Todoroki. The last to come were Kaminari and Minoru Mineta, who wore the garb of waiters. "Wow, did everyone come here?" asked Izuku.
"From 1A? The other girls are here and so are some people from Class 1B. They just can't enter the preview. They're waiting outside until the Expo officially begins," replied Yaoyorozu.
"A lot of people with connections to pro hero work are going to be here. You shouldn't be so surprised," said Melissa. "Let's go in and hear Uncle Might's speech."
The students entered the dining room, where All Might was already giving his speech to the crowd. "Heroes like me go out and beat the villains, but where would we be without our support? Without inventors and scientists like my friend Dave, who would make all those wonderful toys for us? If we are heroes to the average citizen, scientists are heroes to the pros!" said All Might.
In the audience, David smiled at how All Might praised him. He even felt a bit put on the spot by being mentioned in All Might's speech. The crowd clapped at All Might's speech, then broke to enjoy the dinner party. As Izuku and Melissa sampled the food, a man with short grey hair in glasses and a tuxedo approached. "Izuku, Melissa, it's me, Abel," the man told them telepathically.
"Whoa! That's you, Master Abel?" asked Izuku in return via the telepathic link.
"Yep. This is my alter ego, Yu Narukami," replied the man.
"So far, we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Everything is quiet," said Melissa via the link.
"Good. Enjoy the party like normal. Pretend like you don't know me," replied Abel.
"Mmm! Say mister, you should try this cheese. It's got a nice sharp taste," Izuku verbally told Yu, pointing out the plate full of orange cheese squares.
"Sure, I'll have a bite," replied Yu.
"Hey young Midoriya! Are you enjoying the party? What about you, Melissa? Are you having a good time?" asked All Might as he approached.
"Sure thing, Uncle Might," replied Melissa.
"Who's this?" asked All Might of Yu.
"Oh, that's, uh..." began Izuku.
"Yu Narukami. These kids recommended the cheese to me. After trying it, I can see why they like it so much," replied Yu as he took a cube to chew on.
"Did they? I'll have to try some myself," remarked All Might.
"Help yourself, All Might," said Izuku.
At that moment, all of the monitors in the room got disconnected from the network and started displaying only static. A tangled mass of roots expanded along the ground, translucent within the floor of the dining room. The room took on a hazy crimson appearance, lit by the Magatsuhi which flowed within the roots. The guests and pro heroes were puzzled by these strange events and did not know what to make of it.
"What's going on?" asked Kaminari from among the crowd, scanning around to see what was happening.
"This is so freaky!" remarked Jiro, not only noticing the environment change, but feeling its wrongness at a deeper level that she did not fully understand.
Yu, Izuku, Melissa, and David immediately felt the warping influence of the supernatural overtake the area, as well as demonic presences from further away heading towards their location. "Oh crap! It's a Domai..." said Izuku, before realizing his mistake and cutting himself off to avoid revealing too much information.
Yu quickly put his index and middle finger to his lips, a gesture to tell Izuku to keep quiet. "SHH!" he whispered.
"Huh?" asked Tetsu when he heard the exchange.
"Never mind," replied Izuku.
Melissa decided to go outside the dining room to see what it was like there. The rest of I-Island's central tower appeared to have been swallowed into the Domain, judging by the roots being there as well. Down the nearby hall, she saw several small green, imp-like creatures coming towards the dining room from around the corner. All of them carried a metal spoon with flaming oil in it. Melissa recognized these demons as the Ukobach, weak demons who stoked hell's fires under Beelzebub's command.
"Demons!" cried Melissa.
"Demons?" asked a dining room guest.
One of the Ukobach flung a fireball at her from its spoon, forcing her to flee into the dining room to avoid getting burnt. The guests inside saw the burst of flame and the pro heroes among them ran out to confront the Ukobach. All Might was the first out with his superhuman speed and went to punch one of the demons. To his surprise, his fist went through its body like it was just a hologram or illusion. The Ukobach struck All Might with fire, forcing him back despite only lightly singing him.
"These creatures... It's just like the Sports Festival," All Might remarked.
Takahiro, a pro hero who resembled an eagle man wearing headphones, also tried to claw an Ukobach with the talons on his hands. To his surprise, he was not able to damage the demon either. The Ukobach retaliated by hurling flame, but he was a bit quicker and sidestepped it. "I can't hurt them for some reason!" said Takahiro.
Another nearby pro hero, a blond man dressed like a Greek warrior or demi god, tried to punch an Ukobach. With his Quirk, Power, Pankration's attack would have struck with superhuman force. Instead, it simply passed through without causing any harm. "What do we do? If we can't harm them, how do we beat them?" he asked, evading a retaliatory fireball.
At the dining room, Izuku was pacing anxiously. "I can't stand by any longer! I have to help them!" said Izuku.
"Wait!" cried David, trying to get to Izuku, who had already left the dining room.
"To think I agree with that nerd! Let's blow these losers away!" said Bakugo, who followed Izuku out into the hallway.
Izuku approached the line the pro heroes had formed to block the Ukobach attackers. "Young Midoriya, stay back! You can't fight these things!" warned All Might.
"I can't just sit still. I have to help!" replied Izuku.
One of the Ukobach targeted him with a fireball, which he sidestepped. He quickly charged in and punched the creature to the ground. As it tried to get up in its daze, Izuku pounced and punched again, destroying it. "He beat it?" asked All Might, surprised that Izuku's attacks actually worked.
The other UA students and Melissa came out to help. Melissa formed a metal bullet before her index finger and fired it at another Ukobach. It punctured the demon through the face and destroyed it in a burst of Magatsuhi motes. "Don't forget us. We're not sitting around either!" stated Melissa.
Tokoyami extended Dark Shadow to strike at a third Ukobach. It clawed through the demon from behind and destroyed it in a single blow. "I got him!" reported Dark Shadow.
"Dark Shadow seems to work against them," reported Tokoyami to all present.
However, when Bakugo tried to blow one of them up with Explosion, his Quirk failed to affect it. "What are these things? My Explosion didn't work!" announced Bakugo as he evaded a fire flung his way.
Tetsu blocked the fire bolt of an Ukobach with the protection of Steel, then threw the mightiest, metal-loaded punch he could muster. Just as All Might experienced, Tetsu's fist just passed through the demon without causing it any harm. "My Quirk is no good! What's up?" asked Tetsu, backing from fire flung his way.
The Ukobach continued to come. Seeing no other alternative, Yu ran out to assist. Brilliant blue lightning forked out of his fingertips and seared three Ukobach. A fourth hurled flame at All Might, who quickly dodged, then dashed in on the attack. As before, his blow passed through uselessly. He was forced to evade a fireball shot out as a retort, then backed away to safety. Melissa fired at that Ukobach and pierced it through the torso fatally. "Are you okay, Uncle Might?" asked Melissa.
"Yeah, thanks to you," replied All Might. Some bangs resounded from behind them as David fired a pistol at another approaching Ukobach. The bullet pierced its head and felled it instantly. "You brought a gun, Dave? How?"
"Why didn't the metal detectors pick it up?" asked Takahiro.
"It's plastic with hard rubber bullets, no metal in it at all. I simply could not shake the feeling that something would go wrong tonight," replied David. While his pistol was indeed made of plastic and rubber, it was his Atma power, Gear of War, which had created the gun he was now using.
"There has to be some boss villain that's trapping us here. I'll bet if we take him out, this whole freaky place falls apart!" stated Bakugo.
"Yeah, but only Dr. Shield, Midoriya, Melissa, Tokoyami, and the grey-haired man were able to harm those creatures. If the boss villain is another creature like them, they're the only ones who can fight it," said Yaoyorozu.
"This is just like the Sports Festival with the bulls," remarked Uraraka.
"In that case, Tokoyami, Mr. Narukami, can you stay behind to protect the others? Dr. Shield, Melissa, and I will take care of their leader," said Izuku.
"You guys are going? You don't have the training like we do!" said Uraraka.
"Yeah, but you guys weren't able to harm these creatures like we could. If we fail, we'll still have Tokoyami and Mr. Narukami in reserve. If we're not out in an hour, they'll have to finish the job for us," said David.
"Dave, you can't seriously be thinking of taking Melissa and young Midoriya to fight such a powerful villain?" asked All Might.
"Don't worry Uncle Might, I've been getting some training in ever since I got my new Quirk. I'm not the defenceless little girl I was before. Izuku has some martial arts training, so he'll be okay," replied Melissa.
"I have faith in Dr. Shield and these kids. Don't worry about here. Give the boss hell for us!" encouraged Yu.
"All right, but no unnecessary risks. If it gets too hairy, don't be afraid to run," said All Might.
"Understood," replied David.
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Meanwhile in the Northwest City of I-Island, the streets were mostly quiet as the night life started in isolated corners and bars. Outside one of the unused warehouses of the city were several demons of the Fallen family. They were once angels, but fell from grace and became warped by Chaos. As they stood guard, others of their kind lurked inside the warehouse. One of them, a Decarabia, removed a tarp and unveiled a device resembling a plastic orb on a metal stalk. It was a new Perpetual Reactor, one which a Decarabia turned on by entering a password into a keyboard.
The device activated with a soft hum and created a small aperture into the Expanse, which gradually grew in size until the crimson void could be seen inside. In the Expanse, the Marduk's sensors started to beep a warning. Hundreds of demons had appeared nearby and flew towards the ship. The Marduk began firing all of its weapons from eyes formed on its chassis. A heat beam fatally seared through a Gagyson in the horde, while an ice beam struck Eligor, a red knight on horseback with horns on its helmet. Dozens of random demons fell to the Marduk's weapons, but dozens more appeared to replace them.
At the ziggurat at the Foundation Domain, their sensors started to beep as they detected the opening of the aperture, as well as the demons stationed in the area. "Spade Mercs," addressed Amane through telepathy. "Hundreds of demons have suddenly appeared near our ship. We're trying to fight them off, but they keep coming!"
"Our demons and sensors are reporting more than a hundred demonic presences around the source of the aperture, which is in a warehouse in the Northwest City. They must be guarding the source," reported Atsuro.
"There's also a Domain over the Central Tower in the Central City. That was the last place we detected Saemon and the others. They must still be inside," said Midori.
"The demons could not have picked a worse time for us. We'll have to trust that our friends can get out of the Domain. We'll send our forces to stop the demonic horde," said Atsuro.
Spade Merc demons appeared in flickers of blue a distance from the warehouse. As soon as they arrived, the demons of Chaos charged at them with eyes full of blood lust. A Star Spawn, a green demon with an octopus-like head and bat wings on its back, met the starfish-like Decarabia. The Star Spawn lashed its arm tentacle, which the Decarabia sidestepped. It retorted with fireballs, which burst upon the Star Spawn's chest and made it stumble back. The Star Spawn unleashed a psychic blast which overloaded the Decarabia's mind and stunned it. With a lash from its tentacle, the Star Spawn felled it.
Atsuro came face-to-face with Gremory, a woman in blue robes mounted upon a camel's back. Gremory's camel spewed fire at him, but he evaded, then blasted her with a yellow beam. It unseated her from the camel with a thud. Atsuro leapt up and landed with a power-packed punch to Gremory's stomach, a blow which destroyed her. "Keep moving! We need to get to the warehouse!" said Atsuro.
"Right!" replied the Spade Mercs and their allies.
After a few minutes of advancement, two Decarabia rushed at Yuzu from the right flank. She immediately caught them in a telekinetic hold, levitating the two demons as they were slowly crushed. Her demon, Mothman, sprayed a toxic violet powder upon them. They breathed in the poison and turned a sickly violet. The poison wrecked their bodies and they expired soon after. Midori sprayed a mass of flame onto the street, creating a wall which held several demons of Chaos at bay. Catsy the Cait Sith appeared and fanned the flames with air gusts, blowing the wall into them and setting a few on fire.
By now, the booming explosions had drawn attention from Northwest City's civilians to the battle raging on the streets. Although all electronics had been scrambled due to reality itself being twisted by the supernatural, the people could still see the demons with their naked eyes. They immediately fled into their homes and locked them up while others simply fled the area entirely.
As the Spade Mercs emerged from the entrance of an alley, a bolt of lightning struck Atsuro! He absorbed the blast in its entirety, then searched for the attacker. Instead, he saw a serpentine creature descend upon him and constrict him in its body. The creature, Samael, tried to bite into him, but Atsuro had grabbed Samael's chin and held him away from his body. Yuzu quickly rushed in and slashed Samael with claws of wind, causing immense pain to the serpent and forcing him to release Atsuro.
Midori looked around and saw the demon Lilith at the entrance of an alley. She resembled a naked woman with webbed hands and feet and a serpent coiled around her body. "You will not interfere any more. Only the best and brightest will harness Atma and gain true power!" stated Lilith.
"You're a monster! It's time to face magical punishment!" said Midori, pointing at the demon.
She unleashed a torrent of flame at Lilith. It came at her with such immense speed that she was taken off guard and blasted away, right through the alley and into a car. As she crashed through, she had scattered glass everywhere and stripped off the entire roof of the car. She continued onto a second car, smashing through its doors before landing on the street behind. She had left a massive indentation where she landed with twisted metal and shattered glass scattered around her. Lilith quickly picked herself off the ground, moments before vanishing into thin air.
END OF CHAPTER