Chapter 37: New Alliances

Momo had never seen someone's face ever become this pale from the utterance of such a few words. It would honestly be somewhat impressive, if it wasn't for the fact that the person who was now pale with fear was the so-called Demon King of this realm.

Coming from him, it was just concerning, because if there was something that made Demon Kings afraid, then chances were pretty good that it would make everyone else afraid, too.

"Hitoshi, please stop joking," Izuku Midoriya said, in a low whisper.

"I'm not joking!" the purple-haired human exclaimed. "I saw him! He's a lich, and he's working with a bunch of bad people! Like, devils and sorcerers, and the Great Spirit of Murder!"

Well, that settled it. If Bakugou's sudden shift in facial expressions didn't tip her off that this Chisaki guy was bad news, the words like "lich" and "Great Spirit of Murder" definitely did. Momo watched Adventure Time as a kid, she knew liches were fucking terrifying.

But still, given the fact that Momo had no idea who this "Chisaki" fella is, she couldn't be completely afraid of him, not yet. She needed some context first. And she knew where to get it.

"Midoriya?" Momo looked over to the Demon King. "Care to fill us in?"

"...Kai Chisaki is a human. Or, given this new intel I've just received, was a human," Midoriya slowly started talking. "He was, to put it mildly, completely insane. He hated magic, he hated the chaotic nature of our world, he just… hated life. So, he made it his goal to destroy it all."

"Wow. A couple sentences in, and I already hate the guy," Monoma snarked.

"Hold on, I've heard of Kai Chisaki before, during my time as an apprentice witch. He was some kind of necromancer, right?" Hadou asked. "But I thought he died like, decades ago."

"He would delve into all kinds of magic, any magic that would allow him to accomplish his goal, necromancy included. Plus, he was born with two different unique magics, being able to manipulate both the earth, and modify his own body," Midoriya said. "So while he may have hated magic, he knew that it had its uses. In a way, it sort of made him a hypocrite."

"So, a hypocritical misanthrope with a sadistic obsession to end all life, with a dash of mad science sprinkled in," Bakugou summarized. "What a wonderful monster this world created."

"Bakugou's sarcasm aside," Momo cut in, "I would assume that no one would let this stand. If Chisaki won, then everyone would lose. Someone must have put a stop to him."

"Oh, someone did," Midoriya said. "Me."

Everyone blinked in surprise, as Togata asked, "You?"

"Surprised?" Midoriya cheekily asked, before getting serious again. "Yeah, I took him out. And I'm glad I did, not just for the greater good, but because it gave me a little sister."

Momo blinked in surprise, before she connected the dots. "Eri?"

"Yeah, I was… Chisaki's prisoner," the white-haired girl said, rubbing her arms.

"What?" Uraraka balked at that. "What would he want with you?"

"I dunno, she is a dragon," Sato said. "Maybe he wanted her to wreak havoc across cities, or maybe eating them will give you powers? Who knows, we could take turns guessing?"

"Could you guys maybe not?!" Kota asked, holding Eri closer.

"Actually, what he was planning to do with her was something much worse," Midoriya said. "He was planning to use both her and another dragon to power some kind of doomsday device. Word got to me, and I invaded his lair, destroyed the device, and freed the dragons. Eri ended up getting adopted by my parents, and Ryuko Tatsuma is now a close ally of ours."

"Okay, that's all well and neat, but how is he back?" Awase asked.

Midoriya looked over towards his subordinate. "You said he was now a lich?"

"That's right," the purple-haired man said. "His skin was rotting, and he's got some new magic on him… lich magic. The kind where evil fire and insta-death spews out of his body."

"Well, there's our answer," the green-haired demon said. "He's a lich. His soul must have escaped eternal damnation and found a home in some kind of phylactery, rejuvenating his body to the point where he could actually use it to move around again, given that it's decades old."

"A phylactery?" Tsuburaba raised his eyebrows. "Like the kind Jewish men wear?"

"A different kind of phylactery," Bakugou corrected him. "One used to store a soul."

"Exactly," Midoriya said. "And since it doesn't have to be on the lich's person, he can hide it anywhere. If we can't destroy the phylactery, we can't destroy the lich for good."

Okay, the Yaoyorozu heiress could see the problem now. They were dealing with a monster who planned to bathe this entire world in death, and who was nigh-impossible to kill. It was like having to deal with the persistence of Michael Myers mixed with the ambitions of Adolf Hitler.

Actually, scratch that. Hitler at least cared about Germany. This guy absolutely didn't give a fuck for any living thing whatsoever. This guy was more like… Ultron, from those Marvel Comics.

A cross between the undying nature of Michael Myers and the misanthropy of Ultron.

That was a horrifying picture, indeed.

"What also concerns me is these newfound allies of his," Melissa said, her black wings nervously fluttering every now and then. "Shinso, what can you tell us about them?"

"They've got some power-hungry mage by the name of Nine, a real tough guy, who claims he can manipulate the weather," the purple-haired human said. "They also have a triton by the name of Flect Turn, he wants to drown the whole world, and there's the Great Spirit of –"

"Hold up, back up," Kaibara spoke up. "What was that about drowning the world?"

"Pardonne-moi, but I think it would be best if we went back to the beginning," Aoyama suggested. "What exactly was that about a weather-manipulating mage, exactly?"

"I think I know who they're talking about," Melissa said. "Remember the cave-in?"

"You mean the one where we met Hagakure? Sure, we got trapped in there because of the… lightning… from the… storm…" Komori's voice slowed down, as she connected the dots.

"Holy shit," Kirishima whispered. "You think that was him?"

"Maybe," the fallen angel said. "It was definitely caused by magical means, and while I'm sure there are a few wizards out there capable of weather-altering magic, there are far less of them that would use it so carelessly or maliciously. There's a good chance it was… Nine."

"That's a really stupid name," Uraraka mumbled. "But what's his deal?"

"I think he wants to prove that he's the very best in the magical world," the purple-haired man said. "But he'd never be able to beat the boss, so he's decided to overthrow him."

"Oh, I get it," Amajiki said. "He couldn't win fair and square, so he decided to do the next best thing: Get rid of all the competition, so he'd have to win by default."

"That's… a pretty good analogy of it, yeah."

"Okay, so what about this Flectonious Turner guy?" Kaibara asked.

"Ah, I think I might know this one," Shoto said. "So, to summarize it really quickly, tritons are basically aquatic elves; blue skin, maybe a couple of amphibious features, but just as bad in dealing with foreigners as the old Todoroki Empire. From what I just gathered, this Flect Turn character joined this alliance… Wait, Shinso, do they have any kind of name?"

"Uh, yeah, they're calling themselves the Enlightened Evil."

"Thanks. So, yeah, he joined the Enlightened Evil hoping to achieve his goal of flooding the world, making it an ideal place for his fellow tritons and whatever fish friends he has. But if the big boss of the Enlightened Evil is a lich… then that might just be an empty promise."

"I don't know," Rin spoke up. "A lot of land-based creatures can't swim, and way more of them need at least some land to survive, so wiping out all non-aquatic species could help Chisaki, since it wouldn't just exterminate everything that lives on land, but such a worldwide environmental disaster would eventually impact the ocean life, as well."

"That might be true, but even then, there would be some life that would continue without any adverse effects. Deep-sea creatures and monsters that don't ever see the surface, any aquatic civilizations, like mermaids and tritons, they would all still be alive," Shoto explained.

"So, lich boy would just give the blue man what he promised, only to later stab him in the back," Bakugou summed it up. "Alright, who are the rest of these Enlightened Evil assholes?"

"Well, there's Chizome Akaguro, the Great Spirit of Murder," Shinso said. "He's legendary for being a centuries-old spirit that, while human in appearance, is completely monstrous."

"Yeah, I've heard a bit about him," Kirishima said, causing everyone to look at him. "Uh, my girlfriend said I might have a spirit affinity, so I asked the locals what they knew about them."

"Well, I seriously doubt you could form a contract with Akaguro," Shinso said. "Even if you had the proper affinity, he would eviscerate you the second you two made eye contact."

"I'm not so sure," Midoriya said. "Sometimes, the shiniest diamonds are in places you never expect to find them. We should test his affinity first, before making any assumptions."

"Right. Anyways, the Great Spirit of Murder is only in it for the kill. It's nothing short of a miracle he's been able to restrain himself around his new comrades," Shinso said. "After them, we have Garaki, he's basically a shittier version of Chisaki, but also alive, weaker… and fatter."

"Okay, so a human necromancer that doesn't have the same magical arsenal as Chisaki."

Shisno nodded at what Komori said. "Right on the money, miss. Garaki is still a human, a really old one and versed in dark magic, but still a human. We kill him, and he dies for good."

"Alright, how many upper-echelon guys do we still have?" Monoma asked.

"We have Chitose Kizuki, Maguma Iwata, and Geten –"

"GETEN?!" Shoto shouted. "You're sure about that?!"

"Uh, yeah, pretty sure?" Shinso said. "Ice magic, light hair, big coat?"

"Shoto, do you know who they are?" Momo asked.

"He's someone from my mother's side of the family," the peppermint-haired prince said. "When my father annexed the lands of the Himura, many members of the clan were lost to the wind. Guess it would make sense that some of them would want revenge, but this…?"

"Is extreme, I understand. They probably don't know what Chisaki's true goal is."

"Or maybe they just don't care," Midoriya said. "But what Todoroki said does bring up an interesting point… how many subordinates does each faction possess?"

"Faction? Aren't all of these guys on the same team?" Sato asked.

"Only on paper," Melissa said. "Chisaki wants to end all life, Flect Turn wants to drown the world, Geten wants revenge against Shoto's father. All of them, with the exception of Akaguro, probably have minions to carry out their wishes. Before becoming the Enlightened Evil, they would still be carrying out their goals, but they wouldn't be able to do all of this by themselves."

"She's right," the green-haired demon said. "I remember Chisaki having a bunch of lackeys the last time around, his biggest being a guy by the name of Kurono. There's also a good chance that there are other surviving Himura members following Geten, and for all we know, several tritons agree with Flect Turn and there are other power-hungry maniacs in league with Nine."

"So, it's not just the big bosses we need to worry about," Kendo summarized.

"Wonderful," Kodai sarcastically murmured.

"Thankfully, we at least know a little bit about our enemies," Midoriya said. "Hitoshi?"

"Right, well, aside from Geten, we also have Chitose Kizuki, an oni. If I heard correctly, she managed to sneak into the Nine Hells and retrieve Chisaki's soul for his resurrection."

"Makes sense," Midoriya said, nodding. "Devils wouldn't break their own rules like that. It had to have been an outsider; but we can't ignore the possibility that some devils might be involved."

"Hold up, are we just ignoring the fact that Hell is real?" Tsuburaba asked.

"We can deal with that revelation later, dude," Kaibara said.

"Anyways, the last of the big members is Maguma Iwata, a human mage with exceptional fire magic," Shinso said. "He would be considered the best… if the Todorkis didn't exist."

"God fucking dammit," Bakugou cursed.

Yeah, Momo could agree with that sentiment. This guy was basically a watered-down version of Nine, but rather than wanting to be at the top of the magical world… he just wanted to beat the mean politician who doubled as a shitty husband and father. Jesus Christ…

"Well, at least we now have a basic rundown of their motivations and what they might be capable of," Midoriya said. "Now, the question is… will we stop them together?"

"Huh?" Momo took a double-take. "Wait, you want to form an… alliance?"

"I suppose that would be the proper term, yes," the Demon King said.

"Uhh… you do remember that we were trying to kill you less than an hour ago, right?"

Midoriya simply chuckled at what Monoma said. "Well, in your defense, you thought that I abducted your friend. And besides, this new threat is far bigger than any of us."

Momo had to agree with Midoriya on that one. If Chisaki won, everyone would die. This was no time to be angry at one another over small stuff, they needed to think of the bigger picture.

"You can count Japan in," she said. "We'll fight alongside you to defeat this evil."

"Glad to hear it," the Demon King said, before turning to the Hero. "Well?"

"I don't know…" Togata said. "I don't know what to think anymore…"

"I can understand that feeling," Midoriya said, sympathetic. "I was lost and directionless for quite a long time, myself. But you have something now that I was too blind to see."

"And what is that?" the blond asked.

Midoriya extended his arm. "A hand reaching out to you."

Mirio Togata, along with the other members of his party, looked at the hand for a bit. But eventually, the Hero took the hand of the Demon King. "Alright. Let's save the world."

"Great!" Miroriya said. "We're going to need all the help we can get, so I'm going to start by contacting the rest of the Demon Lords! Nedzu and Tenko are out doing administrative work, but I do know that Kurogiri will be back here pretty soon, and Chojuro is still here…"

"Wait," Kodai cut him off. "Chojuro, as in, the Chimera…?"

"Uh, yeah, why? Did you guys knock him out while storming my castle?"

In Momo's opinion, Kodai's face said it all.

Midoriya couldn't help but stare dumbfounded at what was left of his bodyguard.

Which, if Momo was seeing it correctly, was pretty much nothing.

Hadou had really gone above and beyond when it came to dealing with the guard and the front door. Aside from the massive hole in the wall that the main party used to enter, the lighting spell she used also left behind a small dust shadow now permanently etched into the ground.

Like the rest of her Japanese countrymen, Momo was taught as a child what it looked like to have a person's shadow permanently etched into a wall. The only difference here was that magic was used rather than an atomic bomb, and that the shadow left behind was much bigger.

Now, while it was true that there were more powerful Demon Lords among his ranks, Chojuro "Chimera" Kon was best known for being the most physically imposing without any magic, if the intel Togata gave Momo and her team was any accurate. Stronger than a hundred men, and with his massive sword, he was the most proficient warrior in his ranks. And yet…

…Kodai was currently scrambling to find any piece of the demon's charred remains.

Momo couldn't help but awkwardly cringe. From the descriptions Togata and his companions gave her of the Demon Lord, it was safe to say that there was probably a speck of dust or two of the Chimera left, but it would be a while before Kodai found anything. And Midoriya…

Well, at least he wasn't angry about it. Or, to be more accurate, his face made it look like he was going through the five stages of grief simultaneously. But he wasn't saying anything, so that was probably a good sign. Or, at the very least, he was choosing his words carefully because he knew that he couldn't alienate his newfound allies in his fight against the Enlightened Evil.

"I'm not mad…" Midoriya slowly said. "I'm just… disappointed, I guess…"

Honestly? That could have gone worse.

"Anyways, while your… healer… attempts to revive my subordinate, we should probably talk about our strategy, Lieutenant Yaoyorozu," the Demon King said. "I have no doubt that Prince Shoto will be able to convince the Todoroki Empire to aid us, and from what I understand, the Elven Queen is a close ally of yours, but there are more people we can call to aid us."

"There's other nations on this continent?" Momo asked.

"Not exactly, I was referring to the regional governors of my kingdom," Midoriya said. "There are six of them, and along with the Demon Lords, they are my top assets. Their provinces have, if not the sufficient manpower, then the sufficient firepower to help us in our fight."

"Can't you go rally them yourself?" Momo asked. "You're their ruler."

"That is true, but that is a double-edged sword. I have to stay here to coordinate with the Demon Lords and form a base army," Midoriya said. "I also believe that your squad, while somewhat destructive, is a good representation of your JSDF. They can act as liaisons between our two armies. I will even send letters ahead of time to notify the governors of their arrival."

"I suppose you do know best…"

While the two of them kept talking, a mass of shadows appeared behind them, startling Momo. That darkness… those yellow eyes… those could only belong to one creature…

Midoriya smiled. "Ah, Kurogiri. You're back, and just in time."

"Of course, Master," the shadow demon said. "And who are your… guests?"

"We're friends of Melissa's," Momo said. "You know, the angel you grabbed?"

Kurogiri nodded. "I see. I apologize for any unwanted stress I may have caused you, but you must understand, I had my instructions: Find and retrieve Lady Shield –"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, "get Melissa and Izuku together," or whatever," Momo cut him off. "Look, next time you have orders like those, it wouldn't kill you to just explain the situation, alright? It would have definitely saved us the trouble of coming here to try and resource her."

"I… will try to do that in the future," Kurogiri said. "But I do have a question…"

That got Momo's curiosity. "Oh? Well, go ahead, I guess."

"Do you know anyone by the name of Shouta Aizawa? Or perhaps Hizashi Yamada?"

"HUH?! How do you know the names of the Generals?!" Momo demanded to know.

"Generals? They've really been promoted that high up? Amazing!"

"Kurogiri, I think it's best if you tell her," Midoriya said.

"As you wish," the living shadow said, slowly donning a more humanoid form, and even a fancy butler outfit. "While I do go by Kurogiri these days, I used to be called Oboro Shirakumo. I was a human in the JSDF alongside my friends, before dying and getting reincarnated here."

Momo could feel her jaw drop. What the shadow demon said… It was game-changing. Sure, thanks to Tsunotori, they knew that people from their world (or at least a parallel version of it) could get isekai'd here, but someone from their place and time which was familiar to them? And when did this happen? Did the timelines even match up? Kurogiri looked like he was older than Midoroya, but who knows what the average lifespan of a demon was? And how old was General Aizawa when his friend died? Maybe it was a different Aizawa from an alternate universe –?

"Yaoyorozu?" Midoriya waved his hand in front of her face. "Are you all right?"

Snapping out of her spiral, she asked the Demon King, "Did you know about this?"

"What, that Kurogiri used to be from another world? Sure. He helped me recognize who you were with by your uniforms, and explained a few things about your world's culture…"

Unbelievable. Izuku Midoriya, the fabled Demon King of this world, was potentially aware of things such as rap music and video games. Actually, now that Momo thought about it, it would explain why he was totally chill around her and the rest of the SREU. But still…

"If it's not too much to ask, I have a request," Kurogiri said.

"A request?" Momo repeated. "Uh, sure, lay it on me…?"

"May I please come with you to the Collibus Hills?" Kurogiri asked. "The last time I was there was for business, but it would be nice to see my old friends again. Especially Nemuri…"

"Okay, before I let you keep lusting after General Kayama, I hate to tell you that we don't have any room for you on any of the airships," Momo said, pointing back towards the others.

While Momo was talking to Midoriya Kodai was busy trying to revive the Chimera, the rest of the squad was busy getting the airships ready to fly back towards the Collibus Hills.

Due to how few seats they had, Melissa wasn't coming back with them, but Kota definitely was. No matter how much Eri complained, Colonel Sosaki would have skinned Momo alive if she ever learned that her nephew was left behind within the Demon King's domain.

"I know we'd be flying back towards where you are when we start rallying the governors, but we can't waste time on requests like these," Momo said. "We don't know when the Enlightened Evil could begin their operations, so we need to go from location to location as fast as possible –"

"Uhh… madame? You do know I can teleport all of you, yes?"

Momo blinked, before looking back at Kurogiri. "You can do what now?"

"My magic allows me to teleport to any place I can imagine, along with others," Kurogiri explained. "That was how I was able to retrieve Lady Shield the last time we met."

"You can do that… with our vehicles?" Momo asked for clarification.

"If you pass them through my gate, then yes."

Momo smiled. "I believe… that maybe we can work something out."

There was a hint of a smile on Shouta Aizawa's face this morning.

Normally, such a thing would never exist. Hell, the concept wouldn't even register in his mind. Being constantly swamped by paperwork and snot-nosed bureaucrats who don't understand people who do good just because it was the right thing was what he had to deal with on a near-everyday basis, and when he wasn't, it was usually because of some disaster.

But seeing everyone rebuilding after the attacks, it gave him hope for humanity. No, not just for humans, but for elves, dwarves, fairies, minotaurs, gnomes, and whatever else existed in this world, for living beings everywhere. What was supposed to be a massacre to rid the Collibus Hills of these people, became a rally cry for the people here to build a better life.

Shouta normally didn't walk around the town the Special Region locals were building, but he had been making efforts to visit it this week. The people there… Many of them experienced hardships they shouldn't have. Shouta and the rest of his people were soldiers, trained to deal with the horrors of war. But when push came to shove, those who decided to make this place their home took up arms and defended it, and now, they were rebuilding it, too.

For being such a pessimist, Shouta had to admit to himself, it was nice to see that people were able to move forward from something like that, and to build their lives up. The construction of the residential buildings for families like the Jiros was coming along nicely, the magic shops would be back in business pretty soon, and in the streets, there was… a portal…?

Unless the constant all-nighters Shouta was pulling for work had begun to have an adverse effect on his health, he definitely wasn't imagining the dark circle, full of black spots, and what he could only describe as "blood red," forming in the middle of the empty road. He also had half a mind to warn everyone of another attack, when the first "invader" came out of it…

"General Aizawa? Boy, am I glad to see you."

Shouta rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Yaoyorozu?"

The ponytailed soldier waved at him, as the four skyships Queen Hatsume had loaned them for their mission were pushed through the gate by the SREU. What was even weirder still, a familiar-looking teenager came through the gate, along with some white-haired girl.

"Oh, hey, Aizawa-san."

"Kota? Where the heck have you been, kid?! Your aunt –"

"Yeah, I know. Look, it's a long story, I'll explain it after this…"

Before he even got a chance to ask what "this" meant, Shouta watched as the evil-looking portal collapsed in on itself, before a dark, smoke-like demon appeared. Given Tsunotori's description from a while back, Shouta instantly guessed that it was the Demon Lord that grabbed Melissa. He began reaching down towards his sidearm, before the damnedest thing happened…

"Hello, Shouta," Kurogiri said. "How is Sushi?"

Momo honestly didn't expect to miss sitting in these military chairs the base had. But then again, after sitting in those skyship seats for nearly a whole week, her butt wanted something new.

The official report on Melissa's rescue stated that it was a complete success. And given that Melissa walked around the Collibus Hills for a few hours before having Kurogiri send her back, no one would be able to argue against it. However, it wasn't all fun and games.

The first order of business was to explain what Kurogiri was talking about. Convincing Aizawa that the Demon Lord that teleported in front of him was actually his long-dead friend was actually a bit harder than convincing Generals Yamada and Kayama. The blond was the first one to accept the truth, and was overjoyed to see his old friend. The others, though…?

To be perfectly frank, General Kayama slapping Kurogiri with tears in her eyes was not something Momo had on her "Weird Shit of the Week" bingo. There was also a bit of angry screaming on her part, before eventually talking some shit out, and then… kissing him? Momo wasn't sure how kissing a living shadow worked, but whatever floated Kayama's boat.

Aizawa was the hardest of the three nuts to crack. He wasn't outright denying the idea that Kurogiri and Shirakumo were one in the same, but he was always throwing out a bunch of tests at the poor demon. Like, what color did Shirakumo dye his hair in high school (blue), what item did he loan to Aizawa as a teen (goggles), and where he died (off the coast of Somalia).

Momo would have called it out as being a bit ghoulish, but they needed the evidence to convince Aizawa that Kurogiri was who he claimed to be. And while Momo doubted that her commanding officer was fully convinced, he believed the claims just enough to pacify the other two generals, and allowed everyone else to move on to their next challenge.

Said next challenge happened to be the Kota-Eri situation.

While it was true that Colonel Sosaki was extremely overjoyed to learn that her nephew wasn't killed by one of Imasuji's goons, she was less-than-thrilled that Kota's savior technically kidnapped him. It also didn't help that she was the little sister of the Demon King.

The only thing that prevented this from becoming a potential segment on the Dr. Phil show was the fact that Kota's testimony helped Eri's case here. Midoriya was kind enough to give Kota a place to stay in his castle, while also enrolling him at the Special Region's equivalent to a high school, allowing him to socialize with some people his age, along with getting an education. Momo wasn't sure if it could translate to an Earth-based education, but it was the thought that counted. It also didn't hurt that the two of them were… sort of dating? Kinda? It was weird.

Colonel Sosaki eventually relented, which was a good thing, too. Kota had decided to stick around with Eri, which meant that either he would be staying in the Special Region, or she would be immigrating to Japan, and Momo didn't have the time to deal with that. She was busy enough dealing with an upcoming war, legal proceedings based on the romantic passions of teenagers were something she couldn't waste time on. And speaking of the coming war…

The actual report Momo shared with General Aizawa was also shared with Queen Hatsume and her inner circle, along with a few trusted locals in the Collibus Hills during their closed-door meeting. She explained to them how Melissa was actually romantically engaged with the guy everyone assumed kidnapped her (that one was still on Midoriya), while also quickly glossing how she and her team almost helped the Hero and his party assassinate the local monarch of the region, before getting to the important stuff about the lich planning to annihilate all life.

"...You have got to be fucking kidding me," Aizawa groaned.

"Unfortunately, I am not," Momo said, just finishing up her retelling of the events.

"So, what are you planning to do?" Hatsume asked. It was still nice to see that Midoriya's translation spell was permanent, as that meant now Momo didn't have to constantly switch between Japanese and Latin. "I know I'm going to assemble my military, but you…?"

"Shoto and I are going straight to Endeavor City tomorrow to tell his family," Momo said. "I've already assigned each member of my squad to notify a different governor of Daemonium, per the Demon King's instructions. General, I trust we can count on the JSDF to aid us?"

"I seriously hope so," Aizawa said. "Imasuji's attack made our reputation take a big hit, and the politicians back in Tokyo may not believe us. Let's just hope that your report scares the crap out of them just enough that they actually loan us enough firepower to stop this Chisaki guy."

"I can notify my people back home," Tsunotori said. "The minotaur warriors will stand with you. I can also have them call out to all of our other contacts to help us. You should do the same."

Momo nodded. "I'll see who we can get. Hopefully, they'll be enough"

"And if they aren't?" Kurogiri asked.

"Then, I guess you should hope that you'll be reincarnated again."

Talking things over with the Todoroki Royal Family went pretty well, in Momo's opinion, but there was no time for celebrations, there was work to be done. And that meant leaving Shoto behind to head back to the Collibus Hills, and receive the newest assignment from Aizawa.

The assignment in question involved splitting up the SREU to head over to the various domains ruled by the Demon King and to inform his subordinates of the current situation, while also keeping their eyes peeled for any members of the Enlightened Evil.

Momo was given the order to send four soldiers of her choice to the first location, while also carrying some items at Midoriya's request. She went with Monoma, Bakugou, Kirishima, and Rin. Meanwhile, she and a few others had a different mission up north.

Momo was getting a funny feeling that it would be quite a while before she and the rest of her team would be all together. She hoped that they would stay safe while they were gone…

"Yo, Lieutenant?" Awase knocked on her door. "We're heading out."

"Understood," she said, grabbing her bag. Their new mission began… now.

Author's Note: Once upon a time, I had thought of a story of a teenage Aizawa getting summoned to a magical world to act as a babysitter for a younger Midoriya, while all of Aizawa's friends would be summoned Heroes that were supposed to kill the current Demon Queen (Inko). Obviously, that never happened, but if you squint a little, you can see that with Kurogiri's That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Demon adventure.

So, time for some lore! Chisaki's two different kinds of magic are one, generic earth-based magic from your flavor of isekai, and two, the magic of Dante Zogratis, you know, that one bad guy from Black Clover. Theoretically speaking, those two should be able to mimic the Overhaul Quirk fairly close, but we'll see. Now, for the comments!

Shin: Yeah, if anything, the scene with Mirio and Izuku was basically a recreation of the opening scene of Maoyuu Maou Yuusha, especially during the part where the Hero asks about all the people the demons brainwashed, and the Demon King basically says, "Get caught doing something wrong, and say demons brainwashed you." An excellent Eri pun, even if unintended, and Momo is indeed smart, hence why she's the leader of this band of misfits in the first place. Kodai will always need a bonk on the head for her behavior, but you'll also know why in a few chapters. Yes, the spells used by Midoriya were literally taken from the Overlord fight, all I did was translate them to Latin and be done with it. I actually had to look up what SOL and JWF, and while I might have gotten the message, I'm not sure I still have the actual meaning behind those abbreviations. But in short, yeah, Chisaki is a menace that everyone needs to fight against together.

nonae105: I'm taking that as a major compliment. 'Nuff said.

Anyways, back to the regular old shilling…

I'm pretty sure as you all know now, I have also made a Twitter account to post my art, so if anyone is interested in checking it out, /ErnaloreProf is the link.

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