I was sitting on the edge of the fountain, absolutely ravenous, devouring everything I had cooked and gathered during my travels through the different countries. With every single bite, I could feel my energy surging exponentially. For this process, I decided to shift into my purest form—just bare bones—since I needed to nourish my entire life essence right from the root, without any bothersome human filters getting in the way.
I was eating like a total psychopath, but gradually, I started noticing a shift. This time, it didn't feel like a raw power boost. No, don't get it twisted! What I was doing here was nurturing my mystical powers, making them infinitely more efficient. It was the exact equivalent of putting a sharper edge on a knife: the weapon doesn't get heavier or stronger on its own, but now it cuts ten times deeper. Great analogy, right?
I stopped eating for a moment. The feast I had here was pretty generous, but a single, obsessive thought started looping in my skull.
"Open," I said, my voice dry and deep.
A dark, distorted tear in reality manifested right in front of me. Inside lay my pocket dimension—the place where, if you remember correctly, I had stashed away the bone hand I ripped off myself a while ago. That very hand was now completely engraved, covered in mystical runes I had been meticulously carving. For what? Well, for obvious reasons: I was prepping it to eventually open a portal to Prismo's dimension. Yes, the Prismo.
You might be wondering, "How the hell do you know how to do that?" Well, remember the explanation about the Enchiridion, which detailed how one can travel between different dimensions by using artifacts of immense magical power. I wanted to do the exact same thing, but using my own hand as the catalyst. If Evergreen could create a crown capable of granting a wish so profound that it ended up fusing someone with the concept of Golb—and using my essence on top of that... why couldn't I do something similar? I wanted to forge the ultimate artifact to help me dimension-hop, or at least let me break into the dimension closest to the Wish Master's chamber.
I glanced inside the rift and looked at the mice I had mind-controlled a while back. The little bastards had been busy tracing and polishing the enchantments on the bone, using the knowledge I extracted from the Enchiridion. The guy who appeared in the original series only gave a very surface-level summary; he didn't reveal all the vast, dark lore that actually dwells within that sacred book. But me? I had access to the full, unfiltered information.
I reached out, grabbed the runic hand from my pocket dimension, and submerged it directly into the pool of green, radioactive liquid. I wanted to saturate it, maxing out its magical power to the absolute limit. That way, when I decided it was the perfect time to get the hell out of this dimension of heroes, I'd just have to use the hand. The final enchantment to activate it was a secret that only I knew in this universe.
Leaving it submerged there to soak up the pool's entire essence, I stood up to my full height. I looked around, taking in the silhouettes of all the Lovecraftian mutants walking back and forth, perfectly patrolling and covering every single square inch of ground zero.
"They grow up so fast..." I sighed mockingly, pretending to wipe an imaginary tear from my completely exposed skull.
Months went by—valuable time during which I personally oversaw, calibrated, and guided the energy of my own severed hand. Little by little, the mystical artifact was doing exactly what I wanted, absorbing power and mutating under the Enchiridion's enchantments. During that entire period, the heroes didn't dare come anywhere near the nuclear zone; I personally kept them at bay by detonating a bomb from my inventory every now and then, expanding the hostile territory without them ever realizing what the hell was causing those explosions out of nowhere.
POV Shift: Hero Commission Underground Laboratory
"So, what you're telling me is...?" a white-coated scientist muttered, adjusting his glasses as he stared incredulously at a man seated in a reinforced containment chair in the center of the medical room.
"That Quirks are mutating way past the norm—far beyond what is logically possible," the second scientist replied, typing nervously on a digital tablet while monitoring the subject's readings.
MEDICAL EVALUATION REPORT (CONFIDENTIAL)
Name: Kenji Morikawa
Age: 29
Original Quirk Registration: Low-Intensity Telekinesis (Max capacity: Lifting objects no heavier than 2 kilograms at a short distance).
Current Status: Induced Biological Mutation via Exogenous Residual Radiation.
"Ever since those damn nuclear wars started on the coasts, people with low-tier Quirks have begun undergoing severe alterations due to the radioactive fallout," the second scientist explained, handing over the printed report. "But what's really being affected isn't the physical body itself... it's the Quirk Factor in their DNA. Look at this guy. The man right in front of us experienced a brutal mutation. Before, he could barely lift a pebble off the ground without getting a headache. But now? Now he can lift entire concrete walls with the slightest effort. It's too absurd to be a simple natural mutation."
The scientists stared at the performance report and then looked at each other, a mix of fascination and pure panic washing over them.
"This is going to screw over the whole world, isn't it?" the first scientist said, taking off his glasses with a trembling hand.
"I just hope this isn't the start of some 'Quirk cancer' or something worse..." the other murmured, cold sweat dripping down the back of his neck as he watched the patient through the tempered glass.
Unbeknownst to them, the Lich's mystical radiation was beginning to break the evolutionary rules of quirks in society.
And sure enough, a full-blown Quirk revolution was brewing worldwide. Villains were running wild in the streets thanks to their destructive buffs. Common thugs who used to be nothing more than a nuisance were now evolving to levels that rivaled future Top 10 heroes. But what about the current Top 10 members? They weren't lagging behind either.
The Rabbit Hero, Mirko, had been completely caught off guard ever since the physical shift in her own Quirk began. Now, she had way more white fur covering parts of her body, and her feet had transformed, looking even more like a real rabbit's hind legs—claws included. Her physical strength had skyrocketed to an absurd degree; with the sheer power of her legs, you could almost say she was pushing All Might's level during his prime.
But she wasn't the only one. Plenty of Pro Heroes were upgrading their Quirks one way or another, each experiencing their own forced mutation. Endeavor was now permanently manifesting bursts of pure blue flame, cranking his temperature up to critical levels. All Might was barely seen in public due to his frail condition, but the few times he did show his face, you could notice a monstrous surge of strength in his weakened body—a final biological second wind.
Unfortunately, that wasn't even the best part of the picture. The worst thing about this revolution was that while the villains had increased their strength to catastrophic levels, their numbers had actually dwindled due to constant casualties and detonations in the nuclear zones. The overall volume of criminals was smaller, but they were infinitely more lethal.
Mirko sat on the edge of a high rooftop, letting the cold afternoon wind whip through her hair as she scowled down at the military report that had just been sent to her device:
CRITICAL THREAT REPORT
Codename: Muscular
Quirk: Muscle Augmentation (Mutated)
Commission Note: Muscle fibers now regenerate and duplicate exogenously at a speed that outpaces heavy military weaponry. Only the current Top 2 and Top 1 are fit to engage him in direct combat right now.
Mirko read that last line and just let out a heavy sigh. Before this whole mystical, nuclear hell broke loose, she had a fiery, loud, and competitive attitude, always itching for a good fight. But now? Now reality had slapped her right in the face.
The heroine shook her head, looking away from the report as she bitterly recalled the final message from her partner—the only hero who was truly close to her, one of the very few real friends she ever had in this damn hero industry.
The Winged Hero, Hawks.
He was never seen in public again after the first nuke went off in Yokohama. A lot of civilians and media outlets speculated on social media that he had simply fled or gone into hiding, but Mirko knew for a fact that the rumors of his death were real. They were literally on a phone call at that exact moment, discussing the weather anomalies, until the line cut out abruptly following a deafening roar. No one ever heard from him again. His wings had simply turned to ash mid-air.
Mirko stayed silent as she sat on the roof, brooding over the loss of Hawks and the twisted direction society was heading in.
POV Shift
Endeavor was the best, and he still held the highest villain arrest rate in history, but the job was getting harder by the day. With a fire-enhanced punch, he knocked out a villain whose original mutation only granted him diamond skin—except now, that diamond was exponentially denser, thicker, and more durable.
The Number Two hero rubbed his right hand, feeling the impact of the blow. Before the global mutations, a hit like that wouldn't have even made him flinch. He shook his head in frustration while waiting for the police to arrive at the scene.
Things had drastically changed for law enforcement too. Standard Quirk-suppressing cuffs weren't cutting it anymore. Now, the police had to use up to five devices combined with heavy doses of military-grade sedatives just to lock villains up, since their bodies resisted conventional methods with terrifying strength.
Blasting off from the pavement, Endeavor flew through the sky, propelled by his new, permanent blue flames. At least, if there was any silver lining to this radioactive chaos, it was his own power upgrade. And it wasn't just limited to him; Shoto, his youngest son, had also started manifesting blue flames on his left side, using them in perfect sync with ice that was now noticeably sturdier and denser. Endeavor smirked slightly with pride mid-flight; at this rate, his son really would become the Number One hero in the future.
All of this was happening while the world kept turning, without anyone at UA or the Commission having the slightest clue that the strongest hero and villain of all had also been secretly mutated by the Lich's energy.
And the Lich didn't know either. He was just over there, focused like a dumbass on mutating his own runic hand to escape this world once and for all. But who cared? Or did it matter? Ironically, the very heroes he could have easily defeated before were now being buffed to monstrous levels by his own doing, entirely oblivious to the consequences of his mystical radiation.
Meanwhile, in an underground lab hidden deep beneath the surface of an abandoned hospital, two people stood together: one with white hair, and the other with a completely ruined, scar-covered face.
"Will it be ready, Doctor?" All For One asked, his distorted voice echoing in the dim light of the medical room.
"One more week, my Lord... just one more week," Doctor Garaki replied, typing feverishly on his computers while monitoring the cultivation pods, which were vibrating with a thick, dark energy.
All For One merely flashed a macabre, smug smile as he gazed at the biological blueprints and the container of his next body, which was absorbing the radioactive mutation at a flawless pace.
What will the Lich do when he finds out about this? Find out in the next episode.
End of Chapter 19.
Author's Note: Hey everyone! How's it going? Quick question: are you guys still liking the direction the series is taking? I've noticed support has dropped off a bit lately, so please feel free to tell me if you'd prefer me to drop it, or if you'd rather I give it a super quick ending to wrap things up. On the other hand, thank you so much for the continuous support to the people who are always here dropping their power stones! If I see us hit the target of 150 power stones, I'll drop a double chapter if possible. Thanks for everything, and bye!