The trip back to the locked door wasn't that eventful, save for some other sorcerers and their "henchmen" hearing the commotion in the main courtyard and deciding to fight Izuku and Katsuki. Of course, it didn't end well for all of them as the sorcerers found themselves forcefully drifting into lala-land and their "henchmen" being reduced to smears on the wall, courtesy of the ash blond.
Once that chore was all said and done, the duo returned back to the lift and rode it up, both Izuku and Katsuki being silent all the way up. They saw the opening at the top get closer, and as the moonlight from above dawned upon them, they saw a giant, closed door right in front of them, the lift stopping with one last click. Looking at each other, their eyes observed their surroundings, noting nothing much in the open area before what was probably the topmost structure of the entirety of this academy.
Approaching the door, Izuku laid his hand upon its metal surface, sliding his palm across its structure as he felt something from within beckoning him… Calling him…
"It's here." Izuku said as he turned back to Katsuki. "The Great Rune. I can feel it."
"So, what? I go back to that room and wait for you again?" Katsuki huffed with his arms crossed. "Fucking hell man, you sure you can't just do it in one try? Three days was already fucking boring, if you die multiple times, who knows how long we'll be here."
"... I know." Izuku sighed, hand leaving the metal door as he closed his eyes. "But I sure as hell can't find a way to bring you back to Japan if I don't get this Great Rune. So we're stuck at an impasse."
"Impasse my ass." Katsuki groused. "But fine, just go and die a few more times. Just make sure that you win in the end, got it?"
Izuku nodded silently and waved him goodbye, while giving him his bottomless box. The ash blond just shrugged and went back to the lift, accepting the box and stepping on the pressure plate that caused its mechanisms to come to life. Slowly, it sank, but Katsuki's eyes never left Izuku's as his body slowly vanished within the floor.
Turning back to the door, Izuku let out a huge sigh. Here it is. The culmination of the entire journey from the bottom of this academy. His heart thumped as he laid his palms on the door. He paused for a second or two, before pushing.
The door creaked and groaned as Izuku pushed it open. Pushing energy into his legs, he continued onward, the giant hallway daunting for a man of his stature. He could hear whispers gushing into his ears, eyes roaming around in search of threats, only to feel something on his foot. Looking down, he saw something, or rather, someone nibbling against his boot. Pulling leg back, Izuku readied his sword, only for the being to turn up and grin at him.
A child. A literal fucking child… Dressed in the robes of the sorcerers without any kind of headwear.
Then the whispers began to pick up, gibberish entering one of his ears and out the other. All around him, children with the same robes looked at him, faces grinning as they slowly approached him by crawling. Suddenly, something shone from above, right in the middle of the entire room. Looking up, he saw her
She was a towering woman – twice the height of a normal person. She was within some kind of golden bubble, and in her arms, she held what looked to be an amber egg, pulsing with untold power.
She didn't look at him, no, she didn't even care that he was there. She only had eyes for the amber egg that rests within her bosom, gazing longingly as it pulsed.
"Hush, little culver… I'll soon birth thee anew, a sweeting fresh and pure…" Her voice, melodic and regal, entered his ears. The chatter picked up, the children, all of them looking at him like they wanted to play, while giggles picked up in pace. Now, what the fuck was he supposed to do here? The Queen didn't want to chat, what with her being occupied with the amber egg, the children might as well be talking gibberish with how he didn't understand even a single one of them, and he sure as hell didn't want go full on murder hobo against them because it would just be in bad taste.
Something thumped against his head and cluttered to the ground. Zweihender at the ready, he turned around and looked for anything that dared wish him harm, only to see some books resting beneath his feet. Curious, he knelt down and grabbed the book, opening it the second his fingers touched the rough cover. The letters were unrecognizable and his brows furrowed.
Weird, but not unexpected. He dropped the book and looked around once more, only to see the faces of the grinning children as they looked expectantly at him. And then he saw one of them glowing, singing even. He approached the child as their – because he sure as hell didn't know the gender, what with all of the children being androgynous in looks – voice reached a pitch and curiously crouched down. Their eyes widened when they saw him and they faltered, their mouth clamming shut as the glow suddenly subsided.
He heard the sounds of glass breaking from above, and he looked up, only to see the bubble surrounding the queen crack a little. Eyebrows raised, Izuku set off to find some other child singing while emitting a golden glow.
Some more books were sent his way and he dodged them with ease, while some of the children swung their candlesticks at him, all with a smile on their face. He ignored them, avoiding most of them as much as he could. When got to the next child, he knelt in front of him and booped his forehead with his finger, the sudden contact snapping them out.
More cracks filtered in his ears and he continued.
The giggles and chatter picked up even more, with more books being sent his way. More children fell from above as they landed harshly against the floor, their faces also locked into that eerie grin.
He wasn't going to lie, this was very, very weird for him.
The last one, he flicked a finger against. The child moaned for a bit as his voice cut off, and then something shattered. Looking back towards the Queen, her bubble broke into pieces of glass as she fell from the air. Landing on the ground with a thud, Izuku winced a bit at the harsh impact, but he noticed the Queen not suffering any damage whatsoever, her eyes still locked on the amber egg.
Approaching the woman, Izuku gripped his weapon tight, in case she decided that he was finally worth her time and threw something at him, but even within an arm's distance, she just didn't care. She clutched onto the egg gently, eyes full of adoration and love, and somehow, that made Izuku cringe a bit.
When was the last time someone looked at him like that? His memories of his mother may be hazy, but he could still remember the time when she gazed upon him with the same feelings, decades ago when he was but a sweet, little child. Because of that, no matter how much he tried to psyche himself up, he couldn't raise his sword against the Queen, even as the children continued hurling books at him with some sort of telekinesis.
But taking the egg? Well, that was another thing.
Grasping the egg with a firm grip, he tugged. The Queen, sensing the imminent threat, scowled as she tugged back. The rest of the children around them went quiet, some of them even scampering back and hiding as the Queen pushed energy into her arms.
Izuku would not budge. He would get the Great Rune, and something told him that it was probably inside this amber egg the Queen was holding. Expelling air from his lungs, Izuku tugged one last time, but it proved too much as he inadvertently forced the egg out of the Queen's hands and out of his as it went flying through the air.
It landed with a wet, sickly thud a few meters away. The Queen slumped to the ground, dazed from the sudden loss of weight. Slowly, she lifted her head, her eyes darting frantically in search of the egg.
When she found it, a broken gasp escaped her lips. One trembling arm reached forward as she dragged herself across the ground, her movements sluggish, desperate.
"Ahh, my beloved…" Her voice cracked as she clawed at the floor. "Have no fear, I will hold thee. Patience…"
A flicker of guilt stirred in Izuku, but it was quickly swallowed by unease. He stepped forward, his focus locked on the amber egg—until he froze.
A thick, inky fog seeped from the egg, so black it devoured the light around it. Izuku's grip tightened around his zweihander, his instincts screaming danger. The tendrils of darkness curled and twisted, stretching toward the ceiling like skeletal fingers.
"Ye will be countless born, forever and ever."
The mist bloomed outward, swallowing the ceiling in its endless void. And as the last traces of light were consumed, a voice echoed through the abyss.
"Upon my name as Ranni the Witch."
A pale glow pulsed from the egg. Wisps of white mist coiled outward, weaving through the darkness like threads of moonlight.
"Mother's rich slumber shall not be disturbed by thee."
The Queen was gone. In her place, an ethereal figure rose from the mist, her form eerily familiar.
"Foul trespasser." She stepped forward, robes billowing like the tide, staff in hand. Her voice was calm, yet absolute. "Send word far and wide."
The black fog surged, devouring everything in sight. Izuku's breath caught as the walls and floor melted away, replaced by a shallow ocean stretching to infinity. Above, a vast sea of stars shimmered in the void. He would have burned this vision into memory, had it not been for the ice-cold dread creeping down his spine.
"Of the last Queen of Caria, Rennala of the Full Moon."
She stood still, staff raised, the colossal moon hanging behind her. The Queen, for who else would it be, opened her eyes and glared at Izuku.
"And the majesty of the night she conjureth."
Izuku stepped back, zweihander poised and ready to strike, only for his eyes to widen as Rennala gathered energy into the tip of her staff and her palms. His instincts screaming, Izuku leaped to the left and dodged what amounted to a literal death beam that pierced through the unending sea of stars.
Izuku's sweat dripped from his chin and into the bottom of his helmet. That would've instantly atomized him if it had hit. Looking at the Queen, he saw her creating slow moving glintstone stars that picked up in speed as it tracked his movements. Cursing under his breath, Izuku barely dodged the stars, the heat radiating from each one piercing through his armor.
Swinging his zweihander, the tip of his blade barely reached Rennala's robes as she jumped back and created more stars that followed him. And as he set off to dodging those, she gathered more energy into her palms as a crystal, spiked ball formed in front of her. It then shattered and flew at Izuku with breakneck speeds.
He was able to dodge most of it but some of them plunged through his armor and into flesh, blood seeping out of the wounds as Izuku bit down a scream. Stepping back, Izuku grabbed his crimson flask and took a sip, his wounds reknitting themselves with a sickening squelch as pain flared through his nerves.
He needed to watch out for that.
Izuku charged ahead and weaved through the glintstone stars, swerving and ducking as the heat sweltered off of them. Once he was close, Rennala reared her arm back and Izuku readied his sword.
He didn't expect for her to throw her staff towards him as it spun and a glintstone blade formed around its shaft. Izuku did well to block it with his zweihander, and it flew back into Rennala's hand where she readied another spell. Izuku didn't give her the time as he stepped up and swung.
His blade struck true as the Queen let out a soft cry, blood spilling to the shallow water below. She jumped back, creating more glintstone stars that homed in on him. He dodged through them and dodged through the next set that Rennala had created while he was busy with the first.
Close once more, Izuku swung and his blade hit air, the Queen jumping to the side as more stars, more than he could handle, flew his way. Backpedalling, Izuku bobbed and weaved, his armor jiggling at the sudden bouts of movement that he was forced to commit. Once he was sure that was all over, Izuku laid his eyes on the Queen, only for it to widen as a gout of flame rapidly spread towards him.
Izuku jumped to the side, his lower legs getting hit by the fire, causing him to gulp down a cry as metal melted into flesh. Grabbing his flask once again, Izuku gulped down a sip as his roasted legs went to normal, along with his armor that reformed, albeit a bit damaged.
Quickly standing on his legs, Izuku placed his flask back in his pack in under a split second and looked at the Queen, a dragon made of mist standing proudly by her side.
Izuku had to hold in a wince. This was not going to be a fun time.