Chapter 67: Homelander

Eight years ago…

It was a bright sunny day in the heart of the United States of America, New York City. Not only that but it wasn't cold in the slightest. Which was a rarity, since New York tended to be one of the coldest places in the U.S. year around. Though the day that Kiyotaka Ayanokoji and his father Atsuomi arrived in the Big Apple, was a day unlike any other. The conditions were perfect. Now all there left to do was to meet 'him.'

"This way, Kiyotaka." Atsuomi whispered to his son as he led him throughout the crowded and busy streets of the single most populated city in all of America. Atsuomi already knew of the destination in mind that he wanted to take his son too. Kiyotaka was aware of this too. But traversing the city was far easier said than done. Since the both of them lived in a secret facility called the White Room that was located somewhere within Japan, they were forced to take a plane to get to New York.

However, after arriving at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, they had to take a taxi to get to New York City. But once getting there they had to abandon the taxi unless they desired to wait a few hours. This is relatively common for New York since it is known for its traffic jams and atrocious drivers. There was no way that it wouldn't take at least three hours for them to get to their destination. To do so would be a waste of time. So, Atsuomi made the decision to walk the rest of the way. And since Kiyotaka was no more than a child at this current point in time, there was nothing that he could do to persuade his father to wait the extra few hours. Not that he disagreed with his choice though. Kiyotaka Ayanokoji simply did not mind cramped spaces due to being stuck within the White Room for most of his life.

In fact, this was the first time (And the only time until arriving at ANHS eight years later) That Kiyotaka had seen the outside world with his own eyes. He didn't have the chance to see any of Japan, because Atsuomi had taken him with him in a private limousine with tinted windows that made it impossible to make out what was outside. Furthermore, after leaving Japan, Kiyotaka was advised by his father not to look at their home country whatsoever even when he would only barely be able to make out the rooftops of the buildings from the vantage point of the plane. This all meant that New York City was the first experience Ayanokoji had with the world beyond the White Room. His expectations were already quite low.

However, even Kiyotaka Ayanokoji could not be more surprised at what he saw with his own eyes. The city had a few locations that could be described as stunning. But the vast majority of it, was overflowing with trash on the streets. In every corner of the city there were smoke shops and with it the stench of tobacco that made young Kiyotaka's nose flare up. Not only that but there was a plethora of homeless people stinking up the streets with their presence alone. This made the entire atmosphere be dominated by the combination of such revolting stench.

But that wasn't all. Even regarding the people who had money and were dressed in a way that reflected their higher class they completely ignored the homeless as if they didn't exist. The wealthy even walked past Kiyotaka and when doing so they almost seemed to intentionally shove him a bit even though he was a child. Except, they didn't seem to care as if where they had to go was more important than the wellbeing of a single child. And if you thought all of that was bad then that was even the worst part. It was until the father and son made their way to Times Square, that Kiyotaka realized that the worst had just arrived.

The worst part that Kiyotaka Ayanokoji thought personally was seeing all of the superheroes being advertised on the big screens that overtook multiple buildings in Times Square. The faces of the most influential Superhero Team in the world, The Seven, were everywhere he could look. And out of all of them, Homelander, the so-called greatest superhero, was far and away the most prevalent of them. This all made Kiyotaka realize one thing in particular. That these people, no, the entire city seemed to worship this one man. And if that was the case (And all evidence was pointing strongly to it) then this city is…

"… Rotting from the inside out." Kiyotaka declared with a mutter that no one heard aside from his father. But this was all according to Atsuomi's plans. He had wanted his son's first experience with the outside world, to be the very city they are in right now. This is because of how corrupt it was. This in turn would teach young Kiyotaka a valuable lesson, that this country did not deserve to be crowned as the strongest among the entire earth. But it wasn't as if Kiyotaka actually shared the same goal that his father did about wanting to bring their homeland back to its former glory, their aspirations couldn't be more different.

What Atsuomi had achieved by giving his son his first experience with society being New York City of all places only confirmed the latter's suspicions regarding the world outside of the White Room. If such a city as New York was allowed to thrive and its people as well, most of which were morbidly obese, then the United States of America was beyond saving as a whole. New York was considered to be the pride and joy of America by a vast majority of the population and if 'this' was what people called the most wonderful city in the world, then maybe the earth too couldn't be salvaged. And the sole fault lies with one man and one man alone. Though to call him a man would be incorrect. Kiyotaka didn't want to admit it. But Homelander was no man, but a god…

… And that god was once again descending upon the city just as he did back then. Kiyotaka couldn't help but be reminded of that memory from his past as he had seen Homelander do the exact same thing when he was a kid. But there was a light difference between what happened before and what is happening now. Back then Homelander had that supremely fake smile on his face that was seen in all the advertisements in New York. And now, Homelander was not smiling, not in the slightest meaning of the word.

"Come… Homelander." Kiyotaka said while the distance between them might as well have been immeasurable with him being on the ground and Homelander up in the sky. But since Homelander had a level of hearing that far surpassed any mere human, he heard Ayanokoji's words. This made him let out a bit of a chuckle as he slowly descended upon the city below him. But his smile was nowhere to be seen as Kiyotaka knew that Homelander was glaring daggers at him. He didn't even need to see the face of the so called 'World's Greatest Superhero.' Kiyotaka knew that he had royally pissed Homelander off…

… And he was counting on it. But he wasn't done yet. He had to make him madder. Because people who let their emotions take over are prone to making mistakes. Homelander was beyond anything that he had ever faced before, beyond anything that existed on this planet. Even with Kiyotaka's Regeneration Quirk, surviving against him was not going to be easy. That's why by pissing him off to no end, was the surefire way of getting out of this alive and with his enemy dead. But then the question became how was Ayanokoji planning to kill Homelander? He already had a person in mind who he believed could accomplish the job. But even still, he wanted to test himself against Homelander, to see how strong he really was when fighting God.

"Not even America and its incorrigible people would let you do something so stupid as to invade a foreign country's soil. And yet here you are. Why is that? Just what do you hope to accomplish here, Homelander? Saving the innocent? Or… killing me? Just which is it?" Kiyotaka asked as he slowly advanced while using his Air Walk Quirk to meet Homelander in what might as well be the heavens! Homelander saw Kiyotaka do this and was slightly taken aback by it. He had only met one single other being capable of flight. But she was already dead. Was this his way of saying that 'I'm on your level?' Of course, this made Homelander grit his teeth as now his world was being invaded by this mere mortal!

"Oh please. Do you honestly think you can kill me? I mean I'm quite curious. You talked a big game on that video. But tell me… how exactly are you going to do it?" Homelander jokingly asked while smirking not expecting in the slightest the response he would receive by the man making his way to him.

"Don't know. I'm going to try cutting your head off and see if that works." Kiyotaka declared while steadily closing the distance between him and Homelander. This made the smirk vanish instantly from Homelander's face as he narrowed his eyes once more at Ayanokoji.

"Then go ahead and try it. But the moment you do my head won't be the one on the ground. I can fucking guarantee that." Homelander made a declaration of his own while his blue eyes became red signaling that he was about to use his heat vision. But even though this threat was made abundantly clear, Kiyotaka didn't even bat an eye at him and closed his eyes. When he did, he pictured the vast number of Quirks at his disposal before picking the one best suited for the job. And that was-

'SPRINGLIKE LIMBS!' Kiyotaka shouted internally while coiling his muscles akin to a coil spring! He had already stored enough force way ahead of time, and now all he had to do was release it!

'WHOOOSH!' Kiyotaka then shot through the sky faster than any human would be able to blink! And he was heading straight for Homelander! He had accomplished this by using the Quirk Springlike Limbs on his left arm to shoot him forward as if he was a bullet fired from a gun! Though he still had his right arm! And with it, the bones in his arm shook violently over how much raw energy he had stored within it!

'RUMBLE!' At the same time, black lighting sparks that with outlined in red were unleashed from the overwhelming amount of power he had in his right arm! And the time to release all of it was now!

'BAAAAAAAAAAM!' Kiyotaka's right arm became elongated and launched forward as if it was a rocket! It had one destination in mind! To land a hit straight at Homelander's chin and knock his head off! With the amount of energy he had stored within himself Kiyotaka would be able to turn any man into tomato paste with this single attack! He doubted that even Izuku Midoriya would be able to survive after being hit directly by it! It was one of his strongest attacks! And yet-

'BAM!' Homelander caught the hit with a single hand like catching baseball! This caught Kiyotaka off guard as his eyes went wide. He knew that the most influential superhero in the world was fast. But this attack was practically instantaneous. The interval of time from when he attacked, and the blow was deflected by Homelander was less than a second! That was beyond any of Ayanokoji's calculations regarding the speed of the god in front of him. But it was that exact moment that Kiyotaka remembered that fact. That this man was far beyond any human and even his peers among The Seven. And that miscalculation would cost him dearly.

"Nice try. But…" Homelander spoke until his voice trailed off as he suddenly appeared face to face with Ayanokoji that was akin to teleportation! But it wasn't teleportation! That wasn't one of Homelander's abilities! Which meant that this was his sheer speed alone! Could his speed actually be on the level of Hirata with his Overclock Quirk?! No! He far surpassed that speed! Kiyotaka was at a loss for words! Not that he was going to be saying anything. Because right after Homelander closed the distance between them-

"… No." Homelander said as he ended the fight between them with a single word and attack. And with a 'BAM!' He slammed both of his hands onto Kiyotaka's head making it burst into a billion pieces!

'Drip. Drip. Drip.' And as the blood of this man showered upon him like rain, the god smiled in satisfaction. With an overlooking view from within the sky he witnessed the mere mortal falling back down to where he belonged. Right where all the other lowlifes named humanity must stand upon for all of eternity. The earth is a lowly place that is infested with creatures called homo sapiens. However, Homelander might be thought of as one of them, he is far beyond any of them or at least that's what he believes to be the case. But considering how very few beings can even trade blows with him without shattering all the bones in their body, this is to be expected. It was sufficient to say that Homelander hadn't met his match in any capacity…

… Until now.

"… The fuck?" Homelander muttered out as he noticed that the mere mortal that he had killed in such a decisive way that would go against that very notion, was regenerating. And not just slowly like with 'The Female.' But fast. Incredibly fast. The head that he had smashed to pieces was coming back together piece by piece until it was as if Homelander hadn't attacked Ayanokoji in the slightest. Never before had he seen a human come back from such a grisly end. And yet, the mere mortal by the name of Kiyotaka Ayanokoji came back to life without so much as a scratch. But this surprised the man too.

"The pain lasted for all but a second until everything went dark. It was as if I had lost consciousness when he attacked me. But he didn't just attack me. He 'killed' me. Look at that. That's my blood on the ground. I didn't get a chance to look at it when Horikita's brother ripped my heart out. But here it is. Huh. Is that one of my eyes too? Interesting. So, I must have really did die back then." Kiyotaka muttered while observing the blood on the ground below him and the remains of what used to be considered his head. He was fascinated by it in a way that was akin to a child seeing a colony of ants at his feet. For almost anyone else, this would be utterly horrifying. But for Ayanokoji it was a sight to behold. Garaki wasn't all too amused by this though.

'Kiyotaka. Don't you have to attend with someone right about now?' Garaki reminded Kiyotaka as the latter closed his eyes before opening them once more to look back at Homelander who was utterly dumbfounded over what he had just witnessed.

"Yeah. I know. But don't you think he's pretty taken back by it all too? Isn't that right… Homelander?" Kiyotaka replied with a question that was for both the Doctor inside of him and the god in the sky. This comment made Homelander click his tongue as he realized how foolish he must have been looking. He hadn't wanted to let any human see that he wasn't all that intelligent as the world made him out to be. No matter, he'll just have to try and kill this mere mortal again and again until he finally does die. But before he could do it again-

"I want to ask you something Homelander. Do you… remember me by any chance?" Kiyotaka asked as he began slowly advancing to the god in the sky once more. In response Homelander's eyes twitched a bit as he couldn't fathom just what the hell this human was talking about.

"Remember you? I don't have the slightest idea who you are. And I don't ca- Homelander spoke until he was cut off right before he could finish by Ayanokoji making the former grit his teeth out of dissatisfaction over being interrupted.

"Oh yes you do. I met you when I was a child." Kiyotaka replied while making his way back into the God's domain, further angering said God in the process. But even then, the false god laughed to himself as his blue eyes became red.

"Do you have the slightest fucking idea how little that narrows it down!?" Homelander snapped back as he was about to unleash his heat vision that would be able to kill any human in less than a nanosecond. Except, if this 'human' he was fighting against could survive his head being crushed to pieces then would his heat vision much less anything else actually be able to kill him? The thought alone grinded the gears in Homelander's mind that might as well have been mechanical. It's only natural. Because he had been blindly following the orders of other people throughout his entire life.

In that respect both Homelander and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji were quite similar. And they were even more alike than you would ever expect them to be. Though that will become more apparent as their fight continues. Even still they had their fair share of differences too. Unlike Homelander Kiyotaka wasn't following the orders of his father, Garaki, or anyone else longer. He was simply doing what he always wanted to do. And it was because of that, along with the fact that Homelander's eyes had been still blinded that he didn't realize Ayanokoji had ascended beyond the realm of the gods into another plane of existence that had yet to be given a name. And there he had gained the high ground over Homelander both metaphorically and quite literally.

But you may be asking how did Kiyotaka was even capable of doing such a thing? Even though Homelander might as well have been blind due to being on a leash by the hands of the U.S. he wasn't actually blind when using his heat vision. He could still see clear as day. But even though that was the case, Ayanokoji had gone several meters above where he had been floating in the sky all this time! Homelander would never have allowed such a 'human' to rise above him! So, what happened?! The answer is-

'SPRINGLIKE LIMBS… PLUS SPEARLIKE BONES!' Kiyotaka thought internally as he used two of the vast number of Quirks in quick succession! First, he had used Springlike Limbs to shoot himself into the sky akin to a rocket! Much like he had done moments prior before getting his head annihilated! But it was because Ayanokoji had realized that closing the distance between them was a mistake that he sought to do the opposite by gaining the advantage of creating distance between them! In fact, he didn't even need to get up close to attack Homelander! Not with Spearlike Bones! The same Quirk that had dealt a devastating blow to Yosuke Hirata's stomach-

'BAAAAAAAM!' Was the perfect counter to Homelander's insane level of speed! Because before Homelander knew what hit him, several cone-shaped spears protruded from Kiyotaka's body and shot forward into they all hit the false god's body at the same time! The combination of speed and the timing of the attacks, being practically instantaneous with each other completely caught the 'superhero' off guard! But that wasn't all! There was one more thing that caught Homelander by sheer surprise more than anything else! And that was-

'… Drip…' The fact that he was bleeding from his mouth. At the same time, Homelander completely froze in place with his eyes wide open as he recalled the last time he had bled being so long ago. In fact, he hadn't bled a single drop of blood since he was a child…

… Until now. And it was due to the efforts of not just a 'human' but someone who clearly wasn't even an adult yet. Homelander was more than double the age of Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, the latter of which might as well have been a child when compared to the former. It was that 'child' that caused him to bleed. Not someone that he had respected like Black Noir. Not someone who he viewed 'strong' like he was like his son Ryan. Not even the woman he had gained affection for, who was no longer in this world was even capable of damaging him to such an extent. However, this 'child' did exactly that by making his blood drip from the sky where both of them were and back onto the ground of where humanity lies.

"So, I guess even gods can bleed." Kiyotaka said while looking at Homelander with a slight smile on his face. It was barely present. But Homelander saw it. He knew it was there. His eyes couldn't have been playing tricks on him. That child… that fucking child made him draw blood!

'How dare he!? How dare he!? How dare he!? How dare he!? How dare he!? How dare he!? How dare he!? How dare he!? How dare he!? How dare he!? How dare he!? HE WILL RUE THE DAY THAT HE WAS BORN!' Multiple voices within Homelander's shattered physique screamed out in unison until they shattered to pieces like glass as the 'true' Homelander took control of his thoughts once more. And without wasting a second to even begin to contemplate what he was about to do-

'WHOOOSH!' Homelander closed the distance between him and Kiyotaka in an instant. Once again, Ayanokoji wasn't able to react quickly enough. It wasn't as if he didn't know how fast America's number one hero was. Homelander's speed simply surpassed anything else that existed in this world. It might as well have been incomprehensible even to a genius like Kiyotaka Ayanokoji or Kyudai Garaki. And even if it was able to be understood by man, there wasn't anything a man can do to compete with a god on equal footing. Once again that truth was made apparent…

'BAAAAAAAM!' By Homelander forcibly ripping out the spine of his enemy! Except the way he did it wasn't by pulling it towards him but upwards! This caused the head of his enemy to remain connected with the spine as the body fell back down to the earth.

"Hahaha… not so tough now." Homelander declared after letting out a laugh with a satisfied look on his face. Kiyotaka was able to see it as he was barely still alive at that point on the verge of death. But before the grim reaper could take him away…

'FWOOOOOM!' Homelander used his heat vision to burn the head of the treacherous snake in his hands for even thinking that he was allowed to be in same domain as him. Not even Ayanokoji's skull remained as his ashes scattered into the wind. The God then let out a sigh of relief as he earnestly believed that he had finished his adversary for good. His foe may have been able to come back once. But surely his power must be limited in some way. Even Homelander had limitations with his powers, such as that he would have been unable to stop a certain plane from crashing a few years ago. And this 'man' this 'child!' He wasn't even close to his level! That's what Homelander was sure of. And yet as time passed by the false god heard something, no. 'Someone' moving on the ground.

"There's… no fucking way." Homelander declared as if his words were written in stone. But his enhanced hearing allowed him to hear all sorts of things even with the distance being a mile. He could even pick up on things a few miles away if he focused on trying to pick up on something specific. Not that he ever needed to do that. But his body betrayed him by doing exactly that. There was no possible way that 'child' could have survived such an attack that would have killed any 'human!' No one would have been able to survive their head being destroyed! Not even Homelander! And yet… this fucking child did exactly that! Not just once! But twice! Just hearing that pathetic worthless fucking human walk on his own feet was enough to drive Homelander past the point of no return.

'WHOOOOSH!' In an instant the clouds scattered and broke apart due to the winds of mother nature not being able to do a damn thing against Homelander's overwhelming rage. Nothing could stop him now.

'CRAAAAAAAACK!' Not even the stone ground below him stood a chance of stopping Homelander for even a second as it broke to pieces below him! But when Homelander invaded the sanctuary of the people, he deemed lesser than him, humanity, he could not find the single human he was looking for. He knew he had heard him. He was just walking not even a second ago! Where the hell could he have gone!? He was just fucking here! But even though America's so called greatest superhero was pissed beyond belief he still found it in him to laugh a bit over his enemy's cowardice.

"Good. It seems that you knew that you were completely outmatched. Hahaha… there really wasn't a fucking thing you could have done against me, and you know it." Homelander declared once more as he was about to leave. Of course he wasn't intending to let his enemy off the hook. Not for making him bleed. He was going to set this while island ablaze. He was still here, somewhere. That way that child dies for sure. Sure a few hundred lives would be snuffed out too. But so, what? Homelander did not give a single fuck about any 'human.' But in order to do that he would need to get back into the sky. Only then would he send this place to hell. But before that could happen-

'FWOOOSH!' A purple vortex materialized out of nowhere as Homelander was caught off guard by it. It was the first time he had ever seen something like that. It was almost something you see from a Hollywood blockbuster directed by Steven Spielberg. And yet, this was no movie. This was the real world. And that meant that portal was real too. And from within it the arm belonging to his name outstretched toward him at lightning speed! And before Homelander could do a single thing-

'BAM!' The hand of that 'human' touched his forehead. But strangely nothing seemed to happen. Then what was the purpose of it? Homelander didn't seem to care as he gnashed his teeth while his eyes became crimson. And then…

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Homelander shouted at the top of his lungs as red-hot energy shot forward from his eyeballs. And with a decisive 'SLICE!' The hand of his enemy was separated from the latter's arm. But just as quickly as the arm protruded from the vortex, so did the opposite occur. This left Homelander all alone once more as his enemy vanished along with whatever that strange portal was. Could that have been another ability of his enemy? No! The thought of it was ludicrous! Only Homelander and beings on his level were granted multiple powers! That fucking child was nowhere near that! He should remain here with the rest of humanity where he belongs! And as for Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, what he had done was-

'WARP GATE PLUS SPRINGLIKE LIMBS PLUS FORESIGHT!' A combination of three Quirks he had at his disposal! Except, he did not possess the Foresight Quirk that belongs to Suzune Horikita! That being said, how on earth was he able to acquire its power!? Well, the answer is quite simple.

'My copy of Foresight that I made using the remnants of Nagumo's Quirk will soon vanish. But that doesn't matter. Horikita can keep her Quirk. I want nothing to do with it. All I wanted was to use it just once. So, that I could shine a light on his past.' Kiyotaka declared internally. He already used the elite espionage personnel to acquire Horikita's comatose body from the hospital she was located in. Once that was done, she was brought back to her school with all of her classmates, sleeping along with them. And all Kiyotaka needed to do was copy her Quirk by using a copy of the Quirk Copy! But since that Quirk was a duplication of a duplication, it wasn't exactly stable. And just like Twice's clones it wouldn't be able to function after incurring significant damage.

However, as his use of Foresight vanished, Kiyotaka saw all that he needed to see as several images akin to a strip of film appeared one after another in quick succession with each other. It was then that Ayanokoji processed everything he wanted to learn about Homelander in an instant. In fact, it was one of the images he saw that gave him everything he ever wanted to know about America's pride and joy and much much more. Even though he knew what he saw were Homelander's memories, it was just too… ironic. Just how could they be so… similar?

'FWOOOSH!' The purple vortex materialized once more as Kiyotaka Ayanokoji emerged from within it as he wasn't even trying to obtain the element of surprise anymore. He knew for sure that it wouldn't work twice. So, there was no point in trying to use Warp Gate in that fashion again. But Kiyotaka didn't mind. Not one bit. He wasn't trying to surprise his enemy any longer. It was the other way around. Unintentionally on Homelander's part, he had surprised Ayanokoji in a way the latter thought was not possible.

'Clap. Clap. Clap.' That's why Kiyotaka applauded his enemy while slowly clapping his hands together. This bewildered Homelander as he couldn't even fathom why this fucking child was clapping at him. But Ayanokoji couldn't help it. After seeing how similar they were with his own eyes, there was nothing else he could do but clap. He was that impressed. Not with Homelander. But specifically with his upbringing. The way he was raised, and the place he was raised in, it was so similar to where Kiyotaka had grew up in that it was almost comical. And the cherry on top, was that he knew Homelander's name. His 'real name.'

"You probably still don't remember me. I guess I can't really blame you on that front. It's been eight years since we last saw each other. I'm sure that even I wouldn't remember a face belonging to someone that I hadn't seen once in that period of time. So, I understand. In fact, I understand you completely… John." Kiyotaka declared with his usual emotionless expression. But this sudden declaration and more specifically that last word he said… just how in the fuck did he know his name?!

"H-How do you know that name?" Homelander asked with a slight stutter that was noticeable to both himself and Ayanokoji. Though that was only natural. Homelander wouldn't have been able to guess that Kiyotaka possessed the ability to take a look into his past, as brief as it may have been, the latter saw everything that made the former who he was in an instant. He even heard the 'real name' of that 'superhero' accompanied by the reel of film that he had witnessed. And now, he had realized the 'truth' regarding Homelander. And Ayanokoji was more than ready to exploit his enemy to gain the upper hand.

"Because that's one of my Quirks, or it happened to be for the briefest of intervals. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that you and I are quite similar. To think that even someone as powerful as you were forced to be isolated by society within a 'White Room.' Not the same place I came from, but still… it's rather amusing. We had both been experimented on by adults who were much weaker than us. We had to put up with them time and time again. We were forced to shed our skin and become strong. And it was for that reason that you and I are the people we are today. We are the same, John." Kiyotaka declared. His words fueled Homelander with more rage if that was even possible.

"Hahaha…. Hahahahahaha! And yet, Homelander laughed once more, quite boisterously until he completely snapped.

"I'M NOTHING LIKE YOU!" Homelander declared at the top of his lungs before unleashing his heat vision at Kiyotaka Ayanokoji! And just his speed, his beams of pure energy traveled across the earth in an instant before making contact with his enemy!

'FWOOOOM!' And with that, Ayanokoji was burnt to cinders! All the skin melting off of his body in a nanosecond! His internal organs were reduced to ashes! There wasn't a single drop of blood that wasn't evaporated by the intense heat of Homelander's heat vision! And with a decisive but anticlimactic 'Bam!' Kiyotaka's charred corpse fell onto the ground below his feet. Homelander was sure of it now. That his enemy had finally succumbed to death. Even if he had managed to recover from his wounds before, in both cases his body had been intact! But now his entire body was wrecked beyond repair! This time there was no possible way that Ayanokoji would be able to regenerate! It was over! Once again, that's what Homelander had foolishly assumed. And once again…

… He couldn't have been further from the truth.

"No… it can't be…" Homelander muttered as his voice trailed off while noticing his enemy's body rapidly regenerating before his eyes. This time it was undeniable. His foe possessed quite a versatile Regeneration superpower that allowed him to escape the jaws of death. That much Homelander was sure of considering that he had witnessed it firsthand. But it was that unsettling truth that made Homelander lose whatever reason he had left to hold back. Because if his enemy could survive being burnt alive until there was nothing left of him but his bones, then he would have to eradicate off the face of the earth! That was the only way that he would be able to kill him!

And that was right. Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's regeneration Quirk allowed him to regenerate from all forms of wounds and life-threatening injuries. Even destroying his brain and heart wouldn't be enough to kill him. The only way that he would be able to be killed to the point of no return would be to annihilate every trace of his body, every cell that exists within him, so that there wouldn't be a single speck of him left. That's the only way to rid the world Ayanokoji once and for all! But Homelander didn't realize that or at least not at first. He was just too enraged to even comprehend that fact. In fact, the only thought that existed within his mind was-

"WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!" Homelander shouted at the top of his lungs as his eyes became bright crimson. The result being that he unleashed a massive burst of his heat vision. One that Kiyotaka managed to barely avoid by materializing Warp Gate. Though this meant that the burst of heat vision shot throughout the sky until it came across what happened to be behind him.

'SLICE!' Which happened to be a random building. The upper half of the building was sliced in half causing it to demolish upon the lower half. Kiyotaka Ayanokoji noticed that from within the bright blue sky as he emerged from Warp Gate. He knew now that the gloves were off. And that Homelander was going to do everything in his power to kill him by any means necessary. This came with two consequences. First of which is that if Homelander figures out that Ayanokoji can be killed indefinitely by being annihilated without a trace of him left, then its game over.

However, that's all this really is… a game. A game designed to test himself against the world's greatest 'superhero.' But he had already managed to land blows that caused Homelander to bleed. Surely that should be enough for Ayanokoji. And yet, it's not.

'Throwing in the towel now, just when it's getting interesting will leave a sour taste in my mouth. I have to see this fight through to the bitter end. But not if it kills me.' Kiyotaka thought internally. He was caught in quite a dilemma. He had no intention of dying forevermore. He was driven by a significant goal that he aimed to accomplish, irrespective of the costs involved. But at the same time, he wished to engage in more 'fisticuffs' with Homelander. Why was that? Surely such brutality was beyond him. And yet, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji felt an urge to continue fighting Homelander. This was the first time this had ever happened to him. Except, that it's not.

Back then when he had created a hole in Hirata's chest and had Manabu put to sleep with the Gas Quirk, he could have killed them if he desired too. And yet the thought never crossed Ayanokoji's mind. Even when he desired to kill Horikita, he went about it by slashing her throat open when a clean strike to the head would have finished the job. Were these 'mistakes' on Ayanokoji's part? No. Of course not. Kiyotaka was incapable of making such arbitrary mistakes. So, then what could it have been? What was holding him back in all of those situations? Kiyotaka is almost certain of the answer. But even still he-

'I can't let him destroy the school. That place must NOT be destroyed at all costs. After all, its walls, the very stone that was constructed to fortify the school into what it is, it all belongs to me. And I will not let him sully it.' Kiyotaka declared internally before snapping his fingers once more as Warp Gate materialized with a 'FWOOOSH!' He then poked his head through the vortex while maintaining his footing within the sky by using Air Walk. And within the gate that opened to where his lair was, Tsukishiro was there. All Ayanokoji had to do was nod at him. Tsukishiro already knew what he wanted. And he wouldn't be able to deny it from him. So, he grabbed two of his orbs from his pocket and threw them out of the gate.

'Whoosh!' And from within the deep blue sky the two orbs of the same color fell until the contents of which were released before they could reach the ground. Two beings in fact. One was a humanoid monstrosity known as a Nomu of the winged variety. The other was someone all too familiar. Her long white hair that used to be blonde was enough of an indicator of her true identity.

"You're up, Decay." Kiyotaka declared while Decay stood on the top of the winged Nomu as they both were in the realm of the gods. Meanwhile Homelander noticed this from the ground. Their situations had been completely reversed. Knowing that, Homelander flew into the sky with the intention of mercilessly killing his enemies until they could no longer return to life.

To Be Continued…

Next Chapter: Overlord

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