"Shit!" a hero yelled, narrowly dodging a jagged strike from one of the mutants.
"Watch out!" another replied, lunging forward and severing the creature's arm with a clean katana stroke.
Two others were struggling, backing away and barely maintaining distance as the mutants advanced relentlessly.
Suddenly, a blur of speed cut through the chaos. In an instant, two mutants were decapitated.
The bodies hit the ground.
A second of silence.
And then...
Green flames.
They were consumed instantly. Too fast.
"...That's a quirk, isn't it?" the hero asked, his breathing heavy.
"Kenta Arashi."
The other stood back-to-back with him, eyes scanning the perimeter.
"That's right."
"Ryo Kurogane."
His hands emitted a faint, dark glow, as if he were hardening the very air around them.
"But it's not a normal one."
On the other side:
"Careful," Aizawa said, pulling the executive back.
They were being surrounded, and yet... they were still filming.
Aizawa clicked his tongue.
"Why are they still recording?" he asked, the black lines under his eyes now prominent.
"We need proof of whatever the hell this is," one replied, refusing to lower the camera.
Another held up a bag.
"Take a sample, please."
Aizawa looked at him for a second, then shifted his gaze toward the other heroes. They were fighting, resisting, but... something felt off. This wasn't just an attack. It felt... like they were being tested.
He scowled but said nothing. For now.
He reached out with a protected hand, crouching to pick up a severed arm from the ground.
But before he could touch it—
A whisper. Low. Close.
"Burn."
The arm ignited instantly. Green fire.
Aizawa recoiled several steps by reflex.
"—"
He dropped into a defensive stance, searching. There was no one there.
But that voice... it sounded familiar.
"Look out!" Ms. Joke shouted, pushing an ice hero who hadn't reacted in time.
The impact sent her flying. Too far. She slammed into the ground with brutal force.
"What the hell?!" the other hero stammered, still on the ground. That kind of strength... they hadn't shown it until now.
Aizawa looked up sharply.
"They're using quirks."
He activated his own instantly, locking eyes on one of the mutants. But it wasn't enough. There were too many.
Suddenly, they all began to move differently. Faster. More precise. As if they finally understood what they were doing.
Aizawa gritted his teeth. He couldn't suppress them all.
"Retreat!"
The order was clear. The heroes began to move, backing out.
But one... stayed behind.
A mutant stared him down. As if it recognized him. As if it knew.
It raised a hand.
One second. Two.
Shinnn—
A clean cut. A leg fell to the ground.
"Kaito!" several screamed at once.
His body collapsed. He tried to react, but he couldn't. The mutants got there first. They swarmed him.
Screams. Chaos. The others couldn't get close.
"Agh—!"
The sound cut off. Not abruptly, but enough.
And what followed... no one spoke of. They just watched, pale and frozen.
Because the body... began to change. Right there. In plain sight.
Aizawa didn't hesitate anymore.
"Retreat now!" he roared, carrying one executive and pulling another hero along.
No one argued. Everyone ran.
Behind them, the mutants were no longer looking at everyone. Just one. A single target.
And the rest... kept advancing.
"Leave them for now," I said, descending to the ground again.
"Only a few follow them... the weakest ones." I didn't want them to see more than necessary. I wanted them to leave thinking that was all there was.
I walked back a bit, looking at the sky. Helicopters were trying to get close, only for heroes to block their path.
"...Idiots," I muttered. They see all this and they still come.
I shook my head and kept walking toward the center, right where the green fire was most concentrated. That was the spot.
I knelt, looked at it for a second... and began to eat it.
Just like that.
The fire vanished upon contact; it felt heavy, useful. My eyes darkened as I muttered under my breath, arranging everything, optimizing it little by little. From the outside, it must have looked bizarre... a young girl crouching, expressionlessly eating green fire.
As I did, I thought about the information.
Outside, the news outlets were frantic because they couldn't get in or record anything. But then, an email arrived. Anonymous. Sent multiple times.
The subject: "The Fraud Association."
They didn't think twice. They opened it.
And when they saw what was inside... they leaked everything without a filter. Files, evidence, shady dealings. All of it.
Out of spite. For ratings. Whatever the reason.
In a matter of minutes... it wasn't just the city. The rot was spreading everywhere.
Social media was worse. Clips, screenshots, people jumping to conclusions, others making things up, some claiming they knew the truth all along. No one agreed on anything, but they all coincided on one point: something was very wrong.
In some areas, people began to gather in front of Hero Offices. It wasn't a massive crowd yet, but it was enough to make noise. Shouts, demands, questions no one would answer. A few things were thrown against walls—nothing major, but the atmosphere was turning sour.
And while the world fell apart, the Lich didn't stop.
Absorbing. Accumulating. Growing.
In the Association headquarters, Ryuko Tatsuma didn't look like her usual self.
Papers everywhere. Screens glowing. News repeating the same thing over and over.
She turned down the volume on one, only for another to blare the same headlines.
She ran a hand through her hair, frustrated and exhausted.
"Again..." she whispered as another leak flashed on the screen.
Every day something new. Every day worse.
An assistant burst in without knocking.
"Ma'am, the popularity ratings dropped again—"
He didn't finish. She already knew.
"Where the hell is all this coming from?" she muttered, leaning her hands on the desk.
No one answered. No one knew.
Trust was slipping away. Slowly but surely.
And the worst part... they couldn't do anything to stop it.
Meanwhile, Aizawa had reported everything he saw. He didn't sugarcoat it; he told them straight that those things weren't normal, those weren't common quirks, and someone was behind it. That was enough for the higher-ups to move faster than they liked to admit.
The President stepped in—calls, meetings, pressure. They began asking for international support because this no longer looked like a local problem. If someone could do this... who was to say they weren't capable of more? The U.S., Russia, several others were already involved—not just to help, but out of fear.
The official excuse was radiation.
They knew how to handle that. Technology, protocols, hazmat teams... that wasn't an issue.
What they didn't understand... was everything else.
But would the Lich allow it?
Not a chance.
He wasn't going to let them clean up his playground like it was nothing. Not after everything he'd done.
And the best part? He already had something in mind.
Something simple. But devastating.
I looked at my hand, then at the horn, feeling that strange power. That quirk.
"Let's go back to basics," I whispered.
Eri's body... was going back to its roots.
The Lich walked the streets toward where the Shie Hassaikai base used to be. The mission was simple: take Overhaul's body. Why? Easy. To use his power better than he ever could. After all... someone had to be the true King of the Underworld.
"Heh..." I laughed softly, wearing different clothes, acting, looking around as if I were lost and nervous. People had asked me a couple of times, and I always said the same thing—that I couldn't find my dad. It was enough to avoid suspicion. Some even told me to go to Sir Nighteye, All Might's former sidekick. Pity... they weren't going to have a mission anymore.
After a few hours of waiting, he appeared. A man in a bird mask grabbed my arm roughly.
"You better be alive. The boss is going to be happy with you, kid."
I didn't say anything; I just started struggling, faking it, moving as if I were truly trying to escape while he tightened his grip and led me into an alley.
Inside, he covered my mouth, and that's when I let my body go limp, as if I'd fainted. Everything was controlled—breathing, pulse, movements. Let him believe it. He picked me up and carried me in.
When I opened my eyes, I was inside. A closed, cold, silent room.
"...This is it, isn't it?" I thought, nodding slightly to myself.
Without wasting time, I moved my fingers as little as possible, placing small talismans at key points. Nothing flashy. Just enough. Because if this guy... Overhaul... had more mental resistance than usual, it was better not to take risks.
The door opened. Slowly.
Overhaul walked in first. Mask on, posture straight... but it was noticeable. Something was off.
He stood in silence for a few seconds, looking at me. I stayed on the floor, acting as if I were just waking up.
"...So they found you again," he finally said in that low voice. He took a few steps closer.
"You don't know how much of a problem you've become."
He stopped in front of me, looking down. His hand rose slightly, then paused. Not out of compassion, but habit. Control.
"But it's fine," he whispered. "We just have to start over."
His tone was calm. Too calm. But his fingers trembled for a fraction of a second.
He raised both hands, bringing them toward my face. Inches away. Ready.
Before he could touch me, I spoke one word.
"Stop."
My voice came out doubled, as if it wasn't just mine.
Overhaul froze. His body tensed, and his hand stayed inches from my face, unable to move. I slowly looked up—one eye black, the other normal.
"I've learned a lot from you," I said calmly, stepping forward. "I'm going to return a bit of what you did to this body... it had a hard time."
I tilted my head.
"Thank you... Father."
I smiled.
Green fire began to seep from the walls and the floor. Overhaul moved again, but he wasn't the same. He backed away, confused.
"Eri... what is this? Another power from your curse?"
"You shall be compensated for your achievement... ten thousand times over," I replied, both voices blending.
Beneath him, the floor opened—dark, deep, bottomless.
"No... wait—"
The ground vanished, and he fell.
He appeared in a void, gasping for air.
"...It was just a dream," he said with a distorted smile.
But then he heard the voice.
"That was the first one."
He froze.
"9,999 to go."
It all started again.
Time ceased to matter. The only constant was the voice, always close.
"You're only just beginning."
In real time, the Lich merely watched Overhaul's floating body. Seconds passed. He wasn't going to touch him yet—not until his mind finished breaking.
I shook my head and looked at the body. It twitched slightly, his face vacant. His eyes flickered... until they went out.
I smiled.
"...That fast?" I murmured. "You didn't even last a thousand."
I stepped forward and gripped his head firmly. I was going to use a seal, but I hesitated.
"Mnn... better this way."
I leaned in and began to whisper into his ear—old, heavy words. Mental control. Not to dominate him, but to use him. His mind was already shattered, so there was no real resistance.
As I spoke, I saw it all.
Memories.
How his quirk worked. How he activated it. How he shaped it.
It all flashed by without a filter.
I let out a small laugh. "Interesting."
Then I began.
It wasn't a possession. It was a fusion.
I took his body and integrated it into mine, not the other way around. The base remained Eri—her appearance, her form—for convenience. Less suspicious. But the body was different now.
The process took a few minutes. Not painful, but high pressure.
When I finished, I stretched. I looked at my hands. Firmer. More stable.
The bones were denser, the body better constructed. My height had changed slightly, becoming more functional.
I walked to the mirror and touched my face.
"Heh..."
I looked at the horn. There it was. The core.
"With this, I rewind and regenerate..."
I looked at my other hand.
"And with this... I destroy and reconstruct."
I smiled. Everything fit.
"Not bad for a start on self-improvement."
I touched the floor.
Waves spread through the entire base—walls, hallways, everything. Within seconds, the guards began to fall one by one, without even understanding why. It wasn't a fight. It was a cleanup.
Two hours later, Sir Nighteye arrived.
The place was a wreck, but not from an explosion. It was different, as if someone had rearranged the environment to their whim.
Teams were pulling out bodies in silence.
Nighteye walked among them, counting.
One. Two. Three...
He stopped.
The Eight Precepts. Nothing. Not one of them was there.
And then... Overhaul. He was gone too.
He stood still, his expression turning grim.
"...What the hell just happened?"
As for me, I walked away in a cloak.
I felt different. Stronger. All thanks to the "bullets."
"A normal body would collapse with more than one quirk..."
I looked at my hand.
"...Good thing I'm not normal."
The Eight Precepts. Or rather, what was left of them.
The one with the blades, the giant with brute force, the one who manipulated the terrain, the one who distorted his surroundings, the speedster, the one with basic regeneration...
Combined with Overhaul...
"Not bad at all."
I kept walking, blending into the crowd.
No one suspected. No one understood. And that was perfect.
End of Chapter 9.