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BNHA Singularity 224
🕑 Added 2023-11-27 08:20:43 +0000 UTC"I'm against this," said Detective Tsukauchi, wearing tactical gear and frowning as he learned that Izuku would be part of the group to attack the League of Villains' rural mountain headquarters.
"I understand your concerns, old friend, but we need Paragon's power to ensure nothing...unexpected occurs," explained Toshinori, decked out in a modified version of his Golden Age Hero costume.
"Yes, but have you considered how the public will react to learning that a student was placed in such a dangerous position?" questioned Tsukauchi. Tensions are at an all-time high because of the MWT Phenomenon. If the citizenry learns we're deploying children to the frontline, their confidence in our ability to protect them will plummet."
"It doesn't matter," interjected Izuku, preempting Tsukauchi's retort by staring the man down and firmly declaring, "We're not here to earn or uphold the people's trust. This operation's purpose is to root out an evil that has plagued this world and tormented countless people for over a century. If we fail and the League succeeds in rallying those who feel oppressed by the current system, people will look back on the nightmare of the Quirk Wars as if it were a tranquil prelude to a far more tumultuous era..."
Feeling cowed by the intensity of Izuku's gaze, Tsukauchi instinctively averted his eyes. Fortunately, they weren't alone in the back of the Hero Public Safety Commission's heavily armored, optically camouflaged cargo plane.
"Don't worry," said Toshinori, placing his hand on Tsukauchi's shoulder and sporting one of his world-famous smiles as he added, "Unless things get out of hand, I'll be doing most of the fighting."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" exclaimed Rumi, standing next to Izuku with crossed arms and a vicious, battle-hungry smile adorning her face.
"But, of course! What I intended to say was that us Pros will be the ones to take on AFO and his compatriots!" corrected Toshinori, puffing out his pecks with his hands on his hips.
"Better," said Rumi, elbowing Izuku in the side as she added, "As for this brat, you'd be better off worrying about his opponents. If push comes to shove and he's forced to take action, those bastards from the League will be lucky to escape with their lives."
"..."
Though it wasn't her intention, Rumi's words caused a tense silence to permeate the hold. The use of deadly force had been authorized for the operation, but even if their opponents were villains, the public wasn't very 'accepting' of Heroes who killed people. To those accustomed to peace, it didn't matter if the world's fate hung in the balance. Until they were personally affected by the situation, they held others, especially Heroes, to impossibly high standards...
Laughing to clear the tense atmosphere, Toshinori waited until all eyes were on him to shout, "Then we must ensure things don't come to that! Now, who's with me!?"
Following his words, Toshinori stuck out his fist, prompting everyone to approach and add their fists to the circle. Once everyone had joined, he then exclaimed, "This is only a single battle in our fight to restore peace and prosperity to the world! Everyone here is integral to that goal, so let us survive and never stop fighting for the future...!"
With Toshinori's words harboring a powerful compulsion to those who chose to believe in him, Izuku wasn't the only one who shouted, fired up after the antennae-haired man's impromptu speech. He was their rallying point and indisputably their most powerful fighter, so even though Izuku's Intuition told him the coming battle wouldn't be easy, he chose to believe in the Symbol of Peace and the future they would all create together...
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"It appears your predictions were correct. Well done..." said a man with distinctive white hair and glowing red eyes, seated atop what could best be described as a black throne with countless wires, pipes, and traditional Japanese paper talismans running to, from, and enveloping it. Before him were dozens of ornate purple-and-gold mirrors, some as small as a palm and others as wide as a meter. The central and largest mirror depicted Toshinori, Izuku, and the others performing their rallying cry while the remaining mirrors followed various persons of interest to the man, All-for-One.
"I...I am honored to serve the Great Lord..." said a young girl seated atop All-for-One's lap, her expression and eyes downcast and body trembling in response to having her head caressed. Her complexion was as fair as white jade, and her eyes glistened with the faint yellow hue of the Moon when it was full, but her most conspicuous features were her inordinately long and silky black hair as well as the tiny, rabbit-like ears atop her head. Her bangs were styled in an old-fashioned Hime(Princess) cut, and for a good reason, as she was a descendent of Japan's defunct imperial family and the vessel of Princess Kaguya.
"And so long as you continue to make yourself useful, I promise no harm will come to you," mused All-for-One, caressing the young girl's face and cupping her chin with a malicious, clearly amused grin.
Appearing a few meters away from All-for-One's throne, a young man with blue-and-black hair, prominent canine ears, and blue, whisker-like markings around his crimson eyes bowed his head on one knee, stating, "Our preparations are complete, Great Lord. At your command, we shall remind these mortals and the world abroad what it is to fear the Gods..."
Directing his gaze to the youthful-looking man, All-for-One smiled and mused, "Ah, Raijin...eager as ever, I see. But you should know that your and my future power will depend on the number of people worshipping us. Teach these would-be Heroes a lesson, but instruct your siblings not to go overboard with the collateral damage, okay?"
"As the Great Lord wills...!" replied Raijin, his form abruptly disappearing with a bluish-white flash of electricity. In his wake, Princess Kaguya held her hands before her chest, her brows trembling as she appeared to age in reverse. At the same time, a roughly 10cm mirror materialized from the center of her chest, joining the others and portraying Raijin meeting with his brothers, Fujin and Suijin, and several others...
"Hooooooo~? Did you foresee me asking you to produce another mirror? Well done, once again..." mused All-for-One, caressing Princess Kaguya's head. However, as the hole at the center of his palm could drain away her life force and strip her of her power in an instant, his caress was similar to having a gun pressed against her head. Princess Kaguya tried her best to smile in spite of this, but as she constantly received glimpses of futures where All-for-One whimsically harvested her power and Mana to make his own, it was becoming increasingly difficult not to break down and futilely beg for her life...
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"Hmmm...?"
Sensing that something was amiss with his Crisis Awareness, Toshinori looked westward and frowned even before Sir Nighteye's voice sounded in each of their ears, unable to prevent his voice from quivering slightly as he stated, "I advise you to abandon the plane and head to the enemy's base as quickly as possible. An army of Nomus, including Priority Target C, have begun pouring out of stabilized breaches across Japan. We have also detected a tremendous amount of Mana gathering in the sky. If our analysis is correct, it will soon develop into a typhoon spanning the entire country..."
"You heard the man! Let's move, people...!" shouted Toshinori, taking the initiative to hit the button that opened the cargo hold. What awaited them outside was a rapidly darkening sky, ostensibly emanating in the opposite direction of their heading.
"I'll go and check it out!" shouted Rumi, punctuating her words by pulling Izuku's collar and kissing him before leaping out of the back of the cargo plane with enough force to leave behind footprints and make the aircraft lurch forward slightly.
Nearly as soon as Rumi had departed, a bolt of lightning struck the plane, causing the interior panels and lights to flicker as the external camouflage was temporarily compromised. The aircraft and onboard electronics were made to resist surges of electricity and EMPs, but since the lightning was magical, it had a physical component that conventional lightning lacked.
As he had ejected from the plane shortly after Rumi, Izuku was able to trace the lightning to its source, a roughly teen-aged male with blue-and-black hair, garbed in attire reminiscent of a shinobi. Unfortunately, he only got a brief glimpse of the youth and had to rely on his Eidetic Memory to make out his features, including the fact he had Kanji ro 'Raijin' carved into the metallic surface of his forehead protector.
Moving in accordance with his Danger Sense, Izuku intercepted a bluish-white blade of energy with his left hand. Hundreds of millions of volts and thousands of amps surged into him, causing a bolt of lightning to emanate from the heel of his left foot and impact the ground, but Izuku didn't even flinch as he expelled Blackwhip from his palm and forearm like spears. An ordinary person wouldn't have been able to react to a nigh-instantaneous counter, but Izuku didn't even have time to activate the analytical function of his Digitalization before the youth vanished.
'He's moving through the lightning...' Izuku concluded, unable to follow the youth with his eyes but sensing him appear at the location struck by the lightning that had flowed through his body. Lucky for Izuku, the youth wasn't the only thing that impacted said area.
"That's enough out of you, young man...!" exclaimed Toshinori, appearing behind the blue-and-black-haired youth and karate-chopping the back of his neck before the wolf-like ears atop his head could twitch in response. His body flashed like he was going to dart away in a bolt of lightning, but only briefly before flickering out as he stumbled forward and faceplanted into the frost-covered ground.
Staring up at Izuku, Toshinori smiled and gave a thumbs-up, shouting, "I'll leave things here to you...!" before disappearing in the blink of an eye. His Slipstream Perk permitted him to cut through the air near-frictionlessly, so there wasn't even a shockwave produced in his wake.
Flying over to Izuku, Gran Torino didn't bother to ask if he was fine after being stabbed through the hand and electrocuted. Instead, he tossed him an undamaged earpiece and said, "I'll handle taking this one into custody. We need you to head back to Musutafu to prepare and defend the school. They have yet to take action, but thousands of female Nomu are hovering in the sky over various cities..."
"He's taking the entire nation hostage..." realized Izuku, the centers of his contracted pupils exuding an electrical green hue as a chill permeated his body. He and Nezu suspected that something like this might happen, but now that it had, the only emotion he could feel was rage...
"Remember your words to Tsukauchi..." said Gran Torino, placing his hand on Izuku's shoulder. Now, AFO, the League of Villains, and the MLA could blame them for any collateral damages\ or loss of life that came about as a result of their actions, but none of that mattered. The public would just as readily blame them for 'not' doing anything, so their only course was to press forward.
"I understand..." replied Izuku, replacing his fried earpiece with the new one before flying toward UA at breakneck speed. Most of the people he cared about were safely within his ever-expanding dreamscape, but that was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to those he was obligated to protect. That wouldn't change regardless of the label foisted upon him, so as he flew over the many towns and cities on his route to Musutafu, Izuku resembled a vibrant green bolt of black-tinged electricity as he destroyed dozens of female Nomus, causing countless others to start attacking both buildings and people...
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(A/N: I'm still recovering from the side effects of a fungal infection in my lungs and throat, but I feel I can start writing again.)
Comments
I swear, I was checking every day, but the one day I decide not to check, a new chapter gets posted. Regardless, I enjoyed the chapter. It really felt like the intensity of the situation was highlighted. Also, if I'm remembering correctly, gods are formed by folklore and the beliefs of the masses, right? If AFO is widely known as a demon lord and is being worshipped by a lot of people, won't be just become a god eventually? If so, I'm looking forward to Izuku's fight with a god! And lastly, please get better soon! I swear I got shivers just reading the words "fungal lung infection," so I can't really imagine how you're feeling right now, so instead of trying to offer half-hearted sympathy, I'll simply pray you get better soon (despite not believing in God)!
Greekfirefly
Thanks for the chapter and hope you feel better
