AnimeFan13579: It's how the fic's world works. A lot of myths were based on Rulers, Monarchs, and some Denizen of Chaos.
Whitemare: Don't worry too much about Kousuke, he will not hate his brother for what happened. Also, you might want to make an official account since guest reviews tend to take a few days before they appear in the review section, and I had to look at my email just to see if there's a guest review or not.
Reader20448: Izuku dreads imagining it to happen. XD
stream187: Regarding Bakugou, sadly the Trinity and the rest hadn't found an alternative way to safely save Bakugou from Baran. Also, thanks.
Daemon of Wrath: I'mma be honest, I was also wondering where you've been. For your first question, yes, and other ninja bullshits from the media. Second, yes, a fitting item drop, if I do say so myself. Also, nah. Giving him that along with Moonshadow made him broken. Yes, and he uses the Fragment of Yggdrasil as well, making the boost more potent. And yes, it is. Also, yeah, I read the latest chapter of Ragnarok.
With Uraraka and her team
"…I sense nothing," Uraraka says as she opens her eyes.
"My senses didn't pick any presence as well," Hoshino added as the teammates nodded.
"I can't hear them as well," Mirko says with a scowl. "Are you sure the pictures were not photoshopped?"
"The mana on the mountain feels like a beacon that screams 'I AM HERE' like how All Might did whenever he arrives at any scene, and it's not like any mana I feel from an awakened," Ochako says as she looks at the top of the mountain.
"So, all we can do is to climb the mountain and see for ourselves?" Kenzo says as they all nod in agreement before they start hiking. As Ochako walks, Leo emerges from Ochako's pocket shirt and starts floating next to her, summoning several wisps of flame around her. This made Hoshino raise his eyebrow.
"Interesting awakened abilities you have," Hoshino says.
"Oh, I am more than just Milady's awakened ability, sir," Leo says before bowing at him. His appearance has changed as he's looking slightly older, wearing a dress shirt with a black bow tie, white gloves at his paws, and a neatly-brushed mane. As Ochako grows in strength, the Celestial Spirits' ability to intervene in the mortal world increases and they will change their appearance based on their strength, although they will remain small.
"You…spoke…" Hoshino says in surprise, not expecting to have a conversation with her summons. He has multiple guild members who are summoners, but neither of their summons has the capabilities to talk, nor use magic. They were merely foot soldiers controlled by the mage. Yet, this child in front of him has the capability of doing so, simply showing she is powerful.
"Ah, you're not used to sentient summons, huh?" Leo says as he floats near Hoshino with a teasing grin. "Can't blame you, we are much more special than you think. The name's Leo, and yes, it's based on the constellation of Leo, and yes, the myth is real."
"Leo…." Ochako groans as Kenzo and Hoshino go shortcircuit hearing that.
"… You're the Nemean Lion that got killed by Hercules during his 12 labor because you won't stop taking women hostages in your lair," Hoshino said. His experience in studying ancient history and mythology kicked in. This made Leo groan.
"I didn't take them hostages! The myth was wrong! I was cursed by Hera, unable to stop charming every woman in the vicinity because she wanted to terrorize Nemea! I simply want to eat and then, bam! Women infatuated by my curse start following me like zombies!" Leo rants as Hoshino blinks.
"….I'm surprised that I can simply accept that statement," Hoshino says while scratching his cheek.
"Given how much of a jealous bitch she is portrayed in human mythology, it's not surprising. I mean, seriously, her husband did the cheating but she cursed the innocent one." Leo huffs.
"…" Hoshino sweatdrops, unsure how to handle the new facts regarding the myth. "May….I ask what are Olympians? Are they gods?"
"Nope, just a being from another dimension with immeasurable powers," Leo says. "Their strength and skills were completely out-of-the-world to humans of the past, and they end up worshipping those beings."
"….forget I ask." Hoshino deadpanned.
"This changes a lot of things we believed regarding human myth," Kenzo says while scratching his cheeks.
"Let's…not open more can of worms," Ochako says with unease. She had enough bombshells these weeks and she didn't need more of them.
"Agreed," Mirko says as they continue to hike, then suddenly, they all tense up as they sense presence.
"…you guys sense that?" Ochako says before summoning multiple Celestial Spirits.
"Yeah," Mirko says as electricity courses through her body. Then, an Oni, a humanoid bulky monster with a pair of horns, red skin, and leather loincloth wrapped around its waist along with a giant spiky club appears from the bush. They all tensed up as they could feel the power radiate from the Oni, rivaling an S-Rank awakener.
They sense another presence and turn around to see a spirit looking like a disheveled, rotten woman wearing a white robe, having long black hair and fingernails as sharp as knives. Both of them tense as the spirit hissed before the space around them shifted and they all teleported to an empty dark room.
'Spatial magic!?' They all thought in unison before tensing up as the Oni roared and tried to strike them down, but Kenzo immediately took action and shielded the attack from everyone. Ochako plans to attack, but the spirit suddenly grabs Ochako and starts draining her mana. Ochako quickly blasts a fireball to knock her back, causing the spirit to screech in rage, her face looking more grotesque and distorted.
Mirko tried to kick the spirit with a lightning-enhanced leg but she simply passed through it. Hoshino attempted to attack with a punch, but all he did was pass through her like Mirko. Ochako summons water using Aquarius' other magic [The Way of Water] before blasting it to the spirit, causing the spirit to hiss as she starts steaming and the skin peels off, making them squint in disgust. Ochako didn't know, but due to the unique property of Celestial Magic, it has the power of the blessing, which could purify lost souls and demon magic was effective against them.
"No!" They all turn towards the Oni in surprise, not expecting it capable of human speech before pushing Kenzo away and shielding the spirit with its body, lifting its club in a threatening manner. "You'll not hurt her!"
"….I should've been surprised at his capability of speech, but I somehow didn't," Hoshino says before Kenzo elbowed him.
"Not now," Kenzo hissed.
"Leave us alone, human…" The Oni growls as the spirit whimpers.
"I'm…sorry," Ochako says before putting away her wand. "We're here to investigate the mountain because of you and your friend's presence. We want to know if you mean any harm."
"We merely reside in the abandoned site…" The Oni growls. "None of us have any desire to harm…."
"… We're truly sorry," Ochako says genuinely as they all back off. The Blade Guild members were floored, not expecting the outcomes. For all their lives as awakeners, all the monsters they encountered were just wild, unpredictable, and savage. So, meeting one with such a sentient truly shook them to the core. "I know we're intruding, but may…I ask something regarding the death of a man in the mountain." Ochako pulls out a picture of the victim and shows it to the Oni.
"…that man attempts to kidnap our queen's child….and he says with a lustful face that he promises he will 'have fun' with her," Oni says with a disgusted look, making the group repulsed.
"A misunderstanding…" Hoshino says, his eyes widen in realization. "We need to tell the others,"
"…" Mirko presses her comm on her ears before scowling. "The comms were busted. The spatial magic cuts the connection." The spirit had the decency to be sheepish, despite being in pain. Ochako looks appalled before pulling out her phone and sure enough, her phone, the one that Izuku gifted to replace her old phone, ends up broken.
"…." Ochako comically weeps, causing both humans and yokai to sweatdrop.
Back with Izuku
"T-This way, Shinigami-sama," Izuku's eyes twitch as he hears Kirin's choice of words. He had enough of people and monsters calling him the most well-known title in the community of Chaos Denizen, he didn't need to know he had another title!
"So…" Izuku's eyes twitch once again as Akari opens her mouth. "Do you mind explaining what we just saw?"
"Permission to punish these sinners, Shinigami-sama-!?" Izuku uses [Ruler's Authority] to bind the Kamaitachi but due to the Bracelet of Destruction, he may have applied too much force, causing the Kamaitachi to squeak in pain.
"Uh, oops…" Izuku let go of the Kamaitachi while looking sheepish. "Sorry, but please refrain from killing my allies."
"S-sorry…" Kamaitachi squeak.
"As for your question….those are my summons. I can revive any monsters I killed and turn them into my shadows to assist me in battle." Izuku decided to give a brief explanation of his powers. He knows there's more than just that, but he rather not tell them everything.
"…so, what Kei detected during the spar…" Tawata mutters as Izuku raises his eyebrow. The mage can detect his shadows? They were hidden from most people except for Gang Orca.
"How many do you have? Kei senses a lot of them during our spars." Izawa stated.
"…I lost counts, honestly," Izuku says sheepishly as they all look at him in disbelief before Izuku pauses. "Oh, wait, around hundreds of them."
"I'm sorry, but hundreds!?" Tawata voiced her disbelief. She has friends from the guild with summons, but they only have 2 or 3 summons. Yet, this kid has hundreds of them and possibly more.
"Holy shit," Akari says as the lollipop almost falls from her mouth before snapping out of her shock. "Also, I'm curious, how do you speak to the monsters?"
"Oh, yeah. I wonder about it as well." Tawata muses.
"I…have no idea either. Maybe because of my abilities? I mean, I rule over the shadow of the monster itself." Izuku honestly had no idea. He never questioned it since Ochako, Eijirou, Gang Orca, and now Tokoyami seemed to understand the monsters as well, and no one had questioned it as everyone seemed to think it was normal.
"W-we're here, Shinigami-sama…" Izuku's eyes twitch once again as Izuku gives the Kirin a 'really?' look, making the Kirin confused as he is oblivious to what he did wrong.
"What does he say?" Tawata asks.
"He said we're here." There's no way Izuku will fully translate his words for the Blade Guild. They look at the front and are surprised to see that the supposed abandoned shrine seems to be completely renovated while tons of yokai roam happily.
Tanuki and Kitsune playfully chase each other around the shrine. A creature looks like a woman with an elongated neck communicating with a creature with pale skin emitting mist from her body and a creature with a mouth on the back of its head and a long black hair covering it. An umbrella creature with a single humanoid leg jumped around as it passed by a monster looking like an elderly woman with leaves around its body like a dress while holding a wooden stick. A wolf with armor-like scales, claws as sharp as crabs' pincers, a pair of fluffy tails, and a pair of horns can be seen sleeping in the corner while static comes out of its body.
It looks like a paradise for Japanese Yokais that people would only believe existed in children's fairytales. Izuku looks in awe while the Blade Guild members' jaws drop as they witness everything.
"Welcome…to our sanctuary…" Kirin growls softly as all Yokais pay attention to Izuku and everyone. They all widened their eyes in shock seeing Izuku before they all bowed down, either due to awe, respect, or fear, no one knows. Izuku's eyes twitch violently as the Blade Guild members look at Izuku curiously.
"Please…" Izuku says with a strained smile. "Get up from the floor…no need to bow…"
"That would be impossible to do…" Izuku looks at the source of the voice and sees a beautiful woman wearing an attire reminiscent of a shrine maiden with long black hair, a pair of fox ears, 9 fox tails protruding on her back, and sharp black nails on her hands.
"Greetings, Shinigami-sama…" The woman greets while bowing down, making Izuku twitch as the Blade Guild members look at Izuku.
"…are you perhaps Tamamo-no-Mae?" Izuku asks as the woman perks up in surprise.
"You know of me?" The woman, Tamamo-no-Mae, asks in genuine surprise. Izuku merely nodded as his eyes glowed green.
[Tamamo-no-Mae, Queen of Yokai]
[A benevolent ruler who rules over the Yokai. She had to evacuate all Yokai out of their home realm due to the darkness that was consumed by the actions of the Monarch themselves. As the ruler, she effectively leads her fellow Yokai through any conflict. She never loses her faith in the Shadow Monarch, Ashborn, while hoping he would hear her pleas for the safety of their kind or even guide them safely to the afterlife.]
'She….has faith in Ashborn?' Izuku thought in disbelief. To be honest, he thought most of Monarch's followers were either those who wanted power or feared them. So, hearing someone having faith in them weirded Izuku out, especially since the only time he heard something like that involved the new 'cult' that revolves around him.
'The emos and edge lords should NEVER meet her!'
"The human myth has stories about you," Izuku says as Tamamo merely nods, her lips forming a thin line.
"I can assure you…my myth paints me in the bad light…" Tamamo says.
"Yeah, I can tell. Your mana didn't radiate any hostility." Izuku says as Tamamo smiles.
"Well, let me welcome you to our domain," Tamamo bows down.
"… This is the weirdest moment I ever had in my life," Tawata admits.
"Same goes for me," Akari says as she looks at all the yokai and can't help but find some of them cute.
"Things keep making me question everything I believe…" Izawa mutters in disbelief.
"You humans could calm down. None of us Yokais have any intention of harming humans," Tamamo says as they all loosen up.
"Forgive me, Tamamo-san, but the Kirin isn't exactly reassuring," Izuku says, making them tense up again.
"…apologies, Kirin had always been….loyal to me." Tamamo sweatdrops. "He will take my command no matter what, even if it involves doing heinous acts. But, please rest assured, I mean no harm. Us Yokai merely seek refuge in this world due to the war we suffer in our home realm."
"Refugees?" Tawata questioned. "And what war?"
"….the war between the Rulers and Monarch…" Tamamo mutters in dread, making the atmosphere tense.
"Monarch? Ruler?" Izawa furrowed his brows.
"The manifestation of Light and Darkness themselves, the Order and Chaos, Creation and Destruction…" Tamamo mutters before using her mana to project an illusion. The illusion shows a group of beings looking like angels from the fantasy world while the other group looks like humans but they radiate darkness so much it's repulsive to look at.
"These beings exist even before everything is created, even before your home, Earth exists. Their battle can be felt through hundreds of realms in one universe, which leads to many beings from other realms landing on either Earth or other realms connected to the World Tree itself. These leads to events that I believe you humans know as mythologies." Tamamo says before showing multiple creatures from the myth were transported to earth and spotted by humans.
"….Sorry, I need time to process…" Izawa says while rubbing his forehead. "My brain is currently not braining."
"You mean….you're also…" Akari says as Tamamo nods.
"Not just me, but all of us had once stepped on this realm," Tamamo says. "Which is the reason why I choose to seek refuge in this world. We know we're safe here as long as we avoid humans, especially since they paint some of us in bad lights."
"….I blame you for this, kid." Tawata deadpanned at Izuku.
"W-what!? Why?!" Izuku exclaims incredulously.
"Kid, ever since I met you, weird things keep appearing that made me question the reality!" Tawata exclaims. "Sure, finding out my powers is magic is mind-blowing, but this!? This entire thing!? This is too much!"
"I didn't ask for any of this!" Izuku says while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Forget it…" Izuku turns to Tamamo. "Speaking of painting you all in bad light, I need to ask regarding the humans who got killed in this mountain….near the shrine."
"…. I truly apologize for this." Tamamo sighs. "It was because of my daughter…"
"…..you had a daughter?" Izuku blinks in surprise before thinking about it. Tamamo's appearance didn't match the image of the kitsune in the image. He thought the woman may use illusion to hide her appearance, but his senses didn't pick any mana-induced illusions.
"Indeed, Izumo, please come out," Tamamo says before the kitsune from the picture walks out with a scowl on her face, looking at Izuku and his team disdainfully.
"Really, mother? It's not enough you hate for what I did to that scum, now you brought a human here? For what? To convince me again, you-!" The kitsune, Izumo, yelps when Tamamo smacks her head, causing her to faceplant and everyone is either shocked at what they witness, winced at the painful faceplant, or sweatdrops at the unexpected action Tamamo has done.
"I swear for the umpteenth time, Izumo! You are testing my patience! This entire mess is all your fault in the first place! I had specifically said not to go out of our domain but no! You choose to walk out! And you end up getting caught by a human! To make it worse, you killed him and consumed his genital for fuck's sake!" Akari turns green as she is reminded of what happened to that man. "I get that man probably deserves it, but you could've just used magic to wipe his memories or even knock him out! Yet you go for the extreme! Your actions lead the humans here and I'm trying to clear your mess! And you dared to be a brat to your mother!?"
"You keep all of us isolated by forcing us to leave in this stupid shrine!" Izumo screeched as the humans awkwardly stood at the sideline while listening to them arguing. "We were once powerful races that could beat all threats, yet here we are, hiding ourselves like a spineless coward!"
"Every action has consequences, Izumo! You need to think before you can take any sort of action! I taught you that since you were born! I kept everyone isolated because our arrival already gained too much attention! We didn't need more attention! But, you just have to ignore everything!" Tamamo scolds her daughter.
"….This is super awkward…" Tawata whispers as Izuku merely nods.
"I am truly sorry for what my daughter did," Tamamo says before bowing down while forcefully pushing Izumo to bow down. Izumo did everything to escape, but it was futile since her mother's strength was absurd. "She is in her rebellious phase and she's acting out since we sought refuge here."
"Let…go of me!" Izumo screeched, which made Izuku's expression sour since her attitude rubbed Izuku the wrong way. From the situation, it was clear that Tamamo was a single mother who had to take care of her daughter and her entire kind. She was struggling to do everything herself yet her daughter only added more problems for her. Tamamo notices Izuku's expression and starts panicking.
"S-Shinigami-sama-!" Tamamo was cut off by Izuku giving Izumo an intense glare, causing her to tense up before looking at Izuku with a pale, fearful expression. Izuku merely glares at the kitsune as Izumo gulps, clamming her lips up.
"…." Izuku stops glaring before giving Tamamo an apologetic look. "Sorry to intervene, I rather not have someone screeching while we're having a conversation, even if it's your daughter. But, I need you to understand that a rebellious phase isn't enough excuse for her actions."
"I am truly sorry," Tamamo says with an apologetic look. "I have truly taught her how to deal with humans hunting her non-lethally."
"…may I ask what did that human do for her to kill him?" Izuku asks.
"He was trying to rape her," Tamamo says and in an instant, the women in the group lose all of their remaining sympathy towards the victim while the men feel a second-hand embarrassment.
"…well, you guys can still talk with the humans in charge to clear the misunderstanding." Izuku awkwardly suggests. He hates how he unintentionally dismisses the gravity of someone's death, but this issue is much bigger than he anticipated. The refugee didn't deserve to die because of one reckless girl doing something stupid, so he will make sure the best he can to help them.
"What's with the commotion?" Everyone is surprised when they hear a voice before a group of people with an Oni and a Yurei walk out of one of the shrine rooms.
"Ocha?" Izuku is surprised, not expecting his girlfriend along with her teammate to be here.
"Oh, they're with you?" Tamamo says before she pauses and sees Yurei looking injured but it slowly healed. "Ah…."
"Izu!" Ochako rushed to tackle-hug Izuku while Hoshino and Kenzo reunited with Tawata, Akari, and Izawa.
"Apologies, milady." The Oni mutters apologetically.
"Don't be. You're lucky because they're with the Shinigami-sama." Tamamo says as the Oni and Yurei widen their eyes before looking at Izuku, who groans in exasperation.
"….we're truly lucky…" The Oni mutters.
"….I hope you all don't mind if we have a civil conversation with the Yokai." Izuku decided to ask the Blade Guild.
"Kid, we all preferred this over getting ourselves killed," Akari says as she leans her arm on Kenzo, who slightly blushes.
"To be honest, we're all prepared to die in this mission," Tawata stated as Hoshino nodded. "We know how dangerous it is fighting against them, given the off-the-chart mana reading we got, and just being near them feels unease. Each of them was powerful enough to rival most S-Ranks. Not having to fight is a blessing in disguise."
"… For someone who's supposed to be neutral, you guys were no different than some heroes," Mirko admits.
"We're neutral, not evil." Kenzo deadpanned.
"Fair," Mirko shrugs before looking at the Blade Guild members. "Just one question, though. Will your Guildmaster agree?"
"No," All of them say in unison, without any hesitation.
"… What do I expect?" Izuku mutters before he turns on the communication. "Gang Orca-san?"
"I heard everything, kid. Everyone, stand down." Gang Orca says through the comm before he pauses. "Edgeshot? Do you copy? Edgeshot!?"
"…" Izuku feels his stomach twist as his mana slowly leaks out, causing everyone to tense up.
"Ryuji!? Ishida!? Fujishima!? Do any of you copy!?" Gang Orca shouts through the comm and everyone feels dread. "...Midoriya,"
"Say no more. Arise!" The moment those words left his mouth, the shadow underneath Izuku expanded before beings made of shadow started to emerge. It ranges from knights, mages, assassins, Tengus, Samebito, Leviathan, Cerberus, Ice Bears, Ice Elves, Lycanthropes, a humanoid cat that reminds everyone of Palico, and Erinyes. Izuku also take note of how the green color on each of them seems to grow darker and their appearance has more details. The Blade Guild's jaws dropped while the Yokais watched the display of power in awe.
"Spread out! Look for the East Team!" Izuku shouts as they all nod before spreading out. Kirin and Kamaitachi watch before collapse to the ground.
"… We almost died." Kirin whimpers as Kamaitachi nods shakily.
Meanwhile
East Section, Mt. Oiwa
"...weak," A humanoid monster with white hair, a pair of horns, black skin, and red eyes with black sclera wearing white pants with a belt, holding a gigantic white blade. A pair of floating heads resembling Oni's mask stare at the team menacingly.
In front of the monster, Goto Ryuji stood defiantly with both of his blades glowing with golden aura, his body was battered and bruised while he was protecting his fallen teammates. Edgeshot stood next to him with a similar defiant expression, his hand covered in a blue aura. Their communication device can be seen on the ground next to them, completely shattered.
"I was expecting more than this. Your aura and chi show you're no ordinary humans, and I expect you all might be fun. Yet, here I am, feeling bored just by fighting you." Goto wanted to retort but he can't as currently, it's a life-and-death situation. He hated this raid so much, not only did he have to work with some brats, he had to encounter someone much stronger than him once again, and he was losing badly, even with his teammate and former rival.
"Well, whatever. Let's get this over with," The monster says before slamming his sword to the ground and Mana bursts wildly from the monster's body. "I'm already bored with you two…"
[To Be Continued]