Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Vongrak.
Izumi POV - September 22
Today was the raid against Shie Hassaikai. Two days ago, Nighteye had used his quirk against a member of Shie Hassaikai and had seen Eri and the place where she was, which was still their headquarters.
The heroes had also been able to verify all the information I had sent them thanks to Issei Ichijou, so we practically had the entire Shie Hassaikai in our sights now.
We were now in front of the police station and began coordinating with the police. The sheer scale of the operation was truly impressive.
"This really escalated quickly," Mai said beside me, and I nodded unconsciously.
"Yes, but against someone like Shie Hassaikai it's necessary." I said distractedly.
"Do you still feel that bad feeling?" Tanya asked, frowning. I just nodded.
"A bad feeling?" Aizawa asked, approaching. I glanced at him and nodded.
"Yes, I've been feeling a... bad feeling for days now, it's hitting hard today. Tell the heroes not to let their guard down." I said seriously. Aizawa stared at me before nodding.
"I'll do it, and stay alert. If you see anything, report it immediately. But also remember your role, Miyamura. You're essential to this operation," Aizawa said seriously. I nodded, completely confident, ignoring Mirio and Izuku's almost frustrated looks. Neither of them argued; after all, it really was the best option.
My role. The role I'd been assigned was to find Eri, rescue her, and get out of there. And in fact, it was the best option. The idea was to pull Eri into my shadow and keep her safe, remove the potential hostage and victim from the battlefield so the heroes could focus on fighting and stopping the villains. It was the best option, and in fact, I completely agreed.
Mirio was able to lose his quirk only because he had to defend Eri; without Eri on the battlefield, it would relieve the burden on the heroes, and in fact, it could make Chisaki focus on me.
Furthermore, to my surprise, the heroes present had no shame in admitting that I was one of the strongest people in this group, so the burden of keeping Eri safe had fallen on me.
I took a deep breath as I fidgeted with my fingers.
"We'll save her." Visha said beside me with a smile. I took a slight breath before smiling back.
"Of course," I said confidently, taking out a piece of chocolate and beginning to eat it almost lazily. I ignored the sighs beside me and focused on the taste of the chocolate.
Once Nighteye finished organizing everything, we quickly began moving towards Shie Hassaikai headquarters, advancing until Nighteye stopped us one block away.
" Lady Nagant, can you feel how many members are inside? " Sir Nighteye asked seriously.
""73."" Lady Nagant and I said at the same time. Lady Nagant looked at me curiously; I just shrugged.
"There's only one S-rank, I suppose that's Chisaki. There are two that are close to her, but they're still A-rank. There are about a dozen of them. Everyone else is B-rank or lower." Lady Nagant said immediately. I looked at her impressed; sensing auras with that level of detail was impressive.
"Can you see Eri?" Aizawa asked. Lady Nagant and I both pointed in the same direction toward the ground. Aizawa nodded and then looked at me. "Can you reach her?" Aizawa asked, looking in my direction. I simply nodded, moved my hands, and the Divine Dogs appeared beside me. I decapitated one of them and let its power settle into my body.
It wasn't as powerful as using Totality with both of them, but it was enough to make my Disorientation disappear. I could feel my wolf ears and tail emerging from inside my kimono; it was annoying, but not enough to bother me.
"I can." I said simply, then moved my hands, first passing through my Round Deer and then following Rabbit Escape as I fused both shikigami once more. The Jackalope emerged from my shadows and began to multiply. "Each of you grab one. They're capable of healing, though not very strongly, and anything will help, in the worst-case scenario, they can heal enough to stop any serious injury and stabilize a person until someone can heal them properly." I said with a grimace.
My Jackalope continued to multiply and began to climb on top of every hero and police officer present; they all looked at me in surprise, but nodded with a look of gratitude.
"Very well, let's move forward." Sir Nighteye said, his gaze hardening. I moved my hand, and Mai transformed into a sword. We all advanced at the same time.
"As soon as I read you the order, we're going into the eye of the storm! I'm counting on all of you to make this quick and smooth." One of the policewomen said. I wanted to snort; this was going to be anything but quick and smooth. I ignored the heroes' conversation and stared at the headquarters door.
The moment the policeman touched the button on the communicator, a huge arm came through the door. Rika Katsukame, although I previously knew her as Rikiya, was a huge, muscular woman, wearing a Plague mask and gauntlets with metal knuckles.
I moved immediately, received Rika's next attack with my foot, struck Rika's attack hard and pushed it to the ground, moved Mai and launched myself forward and left Rika for the other heroes to deal with.
I ignored the mere thugs; they weren't able to sense my presence as I swiftly passed by them. The moment I entered the Shie Hassaikai residence, I sank into my own shadow. I began to move through the shadows, following the map Sir Nighteye had drawn, cutting through all the obstacles in front of me—both walls blocking my path and a few straggling villains—as I followed Eri's aura.
Eri's aura was completely different from everyone else's. Being a child, her presence was different, but so were the emotions that emanated from her, making it easy to know what they were.
I ignored the villains, including important members of the Shie Hassaikai, and simply kept going until I finally reached a large room, where Chisaki was, next to her was her assistant, Chronostasis, who was carrying Eri, I appeared between them.
"I see you have a cute package in your arms." I said cheerfully. I could see them both jump immediately. I just grabbed Eri, snatched her from Chronostasis's arms, and fell into my shadows as their attacks passed by.
I moved through my shadow several meters away and re-emerged, Eri still in my arms.
"W-what, who-" Eri tried to say, confused, while looking at me. I just smiled warmly at her.
"Oh goddess, aren't you adorable?" I murmured, unable to stop myself, as I looked at Eri. My words froze her, just like they did the villains. "You're a cute, adorable unicorn. I'll take you home with me," I said happily, placing my cheek against hers and starting to float her joyfully.
"W-what-" Eri squealed, not fully understanding what was happening.
"Do you want chocolate?" I asked with a smile as I took out a chocolate bar and gave it to Eri. Eri was still terribly confused, but after a few moments she let out a shriek. I just moved my head to avoid what felt like an arrow, or a hair, or whatever, without even looking at her. "Mmm."
"nNo Chocolate? A candied apple? " I asked, pulling out a candied apple on a stick. I turned slightly to avoid Chisaki trying to touch me. Eri just screamed and clung to my haori. I sighed. "I'm busy. Can you all just go and die somewhere?" I asked curtly, looking at Chisaki and her assistant. Chisaki glanced at me before sighing in annoyance.
"You shouldn't have been able to get here so fast. I guess I underestimated you, Ryuma's grandson," Chisaki said, sounding almost bored. I just hummed softly, glancing over my shoulder as I felt two people sneaking up behind me. "Eri, come back here, or do you want him killed? " Chisaki said, her voice like an order.
"G-go away or she'll kill you-" Eri whimpered while trembling, she looked completely terrified. I could feel a pang of anger rising inside me, but I just smiled gently, crouched down and laid Eri on the ground. Eri trembled as she tried not to cry.
"I see you're intelligent-"
"Want to see a trick?" I asked Eri cheerfully, interrupting Chisaki. Eri shuddered and looked at me, confused. I clasped my hands together once more and formed the head of a dog, then a rabbit. My remaining Divine Dog emerged from my shadows, almost as tall as Eri, and a small rabbit appeared atop it. The white wolf appeared in front of Eri with a silly expression and its tongue sticking out, the Rabbit Escape perched atop it, peering curiously at Eri. "Look, they're white like you!" I said gleefully.
"What are you-"
"Want to know a secret?" I whispered to Eri with a knowing look. "They're made of shadows, you can't use your Quirk on them." I said with a smile, Eri's eyes widening as she looked at me. Then the shikigami moved, the rabbit leaping first and landing on Eri's face, startling her as she clattered. Next, my Divine Dog excitedly approached Eri.
"N-no S-stop-" Eri seemed completely lost, not knowing what to do, as she tried to get the white wolf off her and stop it from licking her cheeks. I just laughed.
"Hold on to them, they'll protect you," I told Eri confidently. Eri looked confused before panicking as she began to sink into my shadows. Eri clung to the animals as the shadows enveloped her. Just in time, the ground completely shattered before reforming into enormous pits and stakes pointing in my direction.
I simply moved easily through them, and when I finished I stood gently on the tip of one of them.
"Wow? Attacking me without knowing if you could hurt Eri? " I asked coldly as I looked at Chisaki who was touching the ground.
"Ahh … even if I destroy her, it won't have any consequences for me, as long as I repair her immediately. She can be resurrected, I can return her to her original state… she's experienced it firsthand." Chisaki said without any emotion. I gritted my teeth. Oh… I knew it. It was the same speech I'd given Mirio. I was fully aware, but even so, the amount of anger and hatred I felt was immense.
"Hey Mai, do you want to cut these guys down? Because I really want to cut them down." I said coldly.
"How curious, we were thinking the same thing," Mai said coldly. The ground crumbled again, but I didn't care. I started to fall before punching the air and propelling myself forward. I appeared next to Chronostasis. Mai enveloped herself in Haki and struck the villain a dozen times, shattering her aura and then slashing off both her hands, before turning and kicking her hard in the chin, knocking her completely unconscious. I dodged Chisaki's attack and moved to the other side of the room.
This time, I appeared from the two people who had tried to slip away. I felt my sense of balance slip slightly, and I lost my balance before I realized it wasn't working. In fact, I didn't feel any worse than usual, so I simply went after Deidoro Sakaki and Shin Nemoto. Neither of them was strong enough to react to my attacks. Their auras were instantly destroyed, and I cut off both of their hands again, then struck them hard on the head, knocking them unconscious.
I jumped to the side to avoid Chisaki, standing in the middle of the room as I bounced through the air.
"Causing such wounds... you truly are a bloodthirsty hero." Chisaki said, narrowing her eyes dangerously. I shrugged.
"I like to cut off the hands of those who deserve it. Hands are a privilege, one that is revoked when they use those same hands to harm others." I said easily. Even so, I couldn't let them bleed to death, so I discreetly let a jackalope emerge from my shadows and heal them, enough to stop the bleeding. Then I vanished into thin air and reappeared beside Chisaki.
"And you, you don't deserve to keep them." I said coldly to Chisaki. I moved Mai at a terrifying speed; Chisaki wasn't able to move fast enough.
Mai struck hard on one of Chisaki's wrists only to be stopped by Chisaki's aura, which was more resistant than she expected. I just pushed harder; my Haki momentarily surpassed her aura and I managed to cut it slightly, but I moved away when she tried to touch me with her free hand.
Chisaki growled, ducked, and touched the ground once more. I braced myself to dodge everything around me as I froze completely. Chisaki's destruction didn't stop at the surface of the ground; it went deeper and deeper, several dozen meters below where we stood. Everything shattered instantly, and I could finally feel it.
Hundreds of presences appeared immediately, hundreds of presences I hadn't been able to sense before, which was the strangest thing. We weren't that far away, barely 20 or 30 meters apart. My Haki was strong enough to cover kilometers, so not being able to sense something so close was... worrying, to say the least. And most importantly, I hadn't felt the broken door right below us at all.
Chisaki and I began to fall at the same time. I looked at Chisaki, who was impassive as she fell, several meters from the ground. The surface shattered by Chisaki finally reformed beneath her, or rather, created a kind of platform, a long beam that extended from the wall and ended beneath her, several meters from the new ground.
I punched the air and stopped at the same height. I glanced cautiously at Chisaki before looking down. I could see signs of the broken door, but something felt off; my Haki was hitting hard. I narrowed my eyes to look at the monsters swarming the dungeon entrance.
At that moment, several lights on the walls began to glow brightly, and then I saw her. I began to turn considerably paler.
They weren't monsters, or at least, not entirely. They were… something I'd never seen before. They… felt human, they felt like monsters, they felt like an amalgamation of both, and their forms were the same.
They were not simple dungeon monsters; these monsters had a specific, often almost predictable, form. They looked like very oversized or magical animals. Even the Grimms, despite appearing to be made of tar and nightmares, resembled animals, and most importantly, they were similar to each other.
But this… I didn't remember ever seeing monsters like this. None of them were alike; they were all different, though they shared a common theme. They looked like a horrible fusion of monsters and humans.
I could see what looked like a humanoid monster; its torso twisted and bent over itself, several arms emerged from its torso and bent at impossible angles, its feet were deformed as it moved slowly, and its head was covered by several hands.
There was another one; it had the body of a wolf, but its head was the body of a woman, from the torso up, like some kind of centaur, only more twisted. The human body was completely black, with muscles, tendons, and bones exposed; I could see its spine from here. The person's head was just a skull with the broken lower jaw of an animal.
Her hands were large and deformed, her fingers were of different lengths, some were long and others barely existed, then there were the legs at the bottom, they were not those of a wolf, instead she had human hands for legs, hands that trembled as they tried to support the weight of her body.
Then there was what looked like a woman; her skull had lengthened to resemble that of a lizard, her body had lengthened and thinned, her legs were twisted, and she was leaning forward, holding herself up by hands longer than her body.
And so, each one just as twisted with the others, each one seemed an unholy fusion of monsters and people, all made without any care. And she could feel them; they were all alive, all were people who were alive, but she could also feel the monsters; they were there, fused together, and she couldn't tell where one began and the other ended.
"H-h-hel-p!""D-due-le!""p-por f-favor!""A-aide-m-moi!""H-h-Hilfe b-bitte!""A-aiu-to!""D-dói m-mui-to!""T-ta-su-ke-te!""P-po-mo-cy!""A-a-ju-da!""S-sos s-s'il-v-vous-plaît!""H-h-alp!""A-a-yu-da-me!""S-soc-cor-so!""P-po-mo-gi-te!""H-h-e-lp m-me!""O-o-ne-gai!""B-bi-tte!""A-a-i-de!""A-a-iu-to!""S-s-o-s!""P-po-r-fa-vor!""N-ni-sai-di-e!""N-na-nga-nga-la-a-nga!""S-sa-i-di-a!" "P-pl-ease!"
I shuddered at the broken, rasping voices of the crowd below. I could feel the pain in every word, but more importantly, I was able to identify different languages in that cacophony of grief. English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, French, German, Japanese, and more—I had also identified at least two African languages.
I suppressed the urge to vomit at the implication and clenched my teeth tightly.
"What did you do?" I growled furiously as I glared at a completely calm Chisaki. I was going to kill that bastard.