A Tarnished Hero

Izuku was furious. The ten months living… no, surviving The Lands Between wasn't something a normal person would be able to go through without substantial changes. After all, humans are nothing if not adaptable. However, it didn't mean he did not loath every second of traversing those dangerous paths.

He remembered that stupid commoner-looking guy who transformed into a giant bear - runebears, if he recalled correctly - and had him for lunch because he was too stupefied to call Torrent. If not for the guidance of Grace, then Izuku's story would have ended there.

But that's not all.

While traversing Limgrave's very own Agheel lake in search of more weapons and armor to take down Margit, he came across a tiny patch of land with worshipping… Izuku didn't know what to call them. And as if Murphy decided today was not his day, a fire-breathing dragon came flying out of nowhere and obliterated a bunch of them!

Of course, being the sensible teen he was, Izuku hoofed it out of there with Torrent and then came across a basement-like structure with a chest inside.

Surprise surprise, Murphy wasn't done dealing him shit yet, and once more, he was fucked in the ass. It took him a few blinks before he realized he was in some kind of mine with a bunch of old looking people that had stone-like skin mining crystals with their sorcery.

And then those dreaded cockroach things. Oh, how he hated them with a passion.

Luckily, he was able to escape the damned mines, despite repeatedly being locked inside after each death. He swore he would come back and get his revenge.

And so what if it isn't hero-like? Try saying that after getting punctured to death for the eleventh time in a row when all you wanted to do was get the fuck out!

Izuku sighed, drifting about in this void for who knew how long was getting to him. The last thing he remembered was defeating the second flying dragon he encountered during his journey across The Lands Between and getting sucked into a giant black portal.

He still didn't know what the portal was, but if this what was inside, then he'd rather stake himself in the heart right now and hopefully wake up in the last Site of Grace he'd frequented.

… He'd wait for another hour… That is if he could even notice time pass while floating in this damnable void.

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Izuku was done waiting. He's been floating in this pit-black void for who knows how long already. Every time he wanted to shlunk All Strike down his chest, he thought to wait for another hour, and every time after that. It kept on delaying to another hour, until he was just done with waiting and decided to take action.

Grabbing All Strike from his back, Izuku positioned the blade point right over his chest. Just when he was about to plunge it down mercilessly, a tiny bright light on the horizon surprised him, letting his grip around the blade slacken.

His other hand quickly made for a break for the blade before it drifted of into the nothingness. As he grabbed the blade, the light continued to grow.

And grow.

And grow…

Until finally, most of the inky-black void was nothing but an afterthought. Here, surrounded by blinding, white light, Izuku couldn't help but marvel at the grandiose of the radiance.

It felt warm. Comforting. Like it tore down the semblance of chaos budding deep within and sprung up order in its stead.

A smile graced his lips as Izuku embraced the light, encompassing him in its brilliance.

And just as the brilliance arrived like a comet, so too did it leave like father on his way to pick up milk.

Snapping his eyes shut as the brilliance was too much for him, Izuku gasped when he felt the warmth and comfort vanish and turn into scorching heat. Opening his eyes, he saw only flame.

Flame and burning bricks.

"Where am I?" Izuku's legs twitched and it was then that he finally noticed that he was standing on solid ground, no longer floating in the seemingly unending void. "What…?"

"Oi, any one of you guys know this prick?" Izuku did a double take. Did he just hear…

"Fuck if I know. You, big guy, notice any of us in fucking armor of all things when we got sent through?" Yes, yes, he was hearing it. His mother tongue.

"Nope. That means he's one of the brats. Kill him!" Japanese. If he was doubting his ear earlier, then he wasn't now… wait, did he just say kill him?

Snapping his head to the side, Izuku saw an incoming bile of green goo hurtling at him like a missile. Not that it was as fast as a missile, or any arrow that flew at him back in Stormveil Castle. Frankly, he'd seen those dragons hurl fireballs faster than that slow-moving projectile, Glintstone sorcery in the case of the latest dragon he'd slain.

Simply side-stepping to the side was enough to dodge the blob of green goo, but when it impacted the asphalt just behind him, he heard sizzling. Taking a glance behind him, while also making sure that none of the aggressors could take advantage of his momentary lapse in awareness, Izuku's eyes widened when saw the asphalt burn and dissolve due to the blob of green goo, now obviously seen as acid.

Glancing back at the trio of attackers, he narrowed his eyes. Reminisce later, fight now.

Grabbing All Strike that was, miraculously, lodged into the asphalt nearby, Izuku took a stance. Observing the body language of the trio before him, Izuku noticed that some of them were trembling slightly. Nervousness, maybe?

Not that it mattered. All that mattered was that they wanted to kill him, so he was going to defend himself.

Rushing forward, he noticed that the three of them had their eyes wide when he suddenly appeared before them. Swinging his sword from right to left, his blade tore through meat and flesh. Bones broke and organs ruptured as two of the attackers were bisected through the waist and came tumbling to the ground in heaps of gore.

"Fuck!" The last of his attackers, one who was fortunately saved by the skin of his teeth because he was able to move at the last second, threw a wide-eyed glance at the corpses beneath Izuku's feet.

Meanwhile, Izuku's mind was racing. What had he done? He… He didn't mean to do this… They... They were weak… As soft as tissue… Paper... None… None of the enemies he's faced in The Lands Between died in a single hit from All Strike.

And said weapon was reinforced with smithing stones that all of his runes could afford.

Stepping back, he didn't realize that the last attacker just up and left, screaming all the while about a monster in human skin that killed his buddies.

The hypocrite.

But he wasn't wrong. Izuku was a monster. He's killed a lot, even if he didn't want to. Sentient beings too, even if they looked far from a human. Those shambling corpse-lookalikes that wandered around Limgrave, or those foot soldiers that guarded Stormveil Castle.

He'd killed them all, just for the mistake of standing against him during his journey to become Elden Lord.

To right all the wrongs and fix The Land Between, returning it to its former glory.

At least, that's what he was told to believe. He didn't know why he was doing so. Maybe out of a purpose born out of desperation? Because he couldn't be a hero in Japan, so become a hero somewhere else?

He didn't know.

Even with the last ten months to reflect on himself, he was still struggling in the dark, his purpose waning and flickering every other day. At least Melina was there to cheer him up whenever he was feeling down… Wait…

"Melina!" Izuku couldn't help but voice out her name. He looked all around him, not giving attention to the corpses beneath his feet. Maybe she could give him a reason as to why he's here and not in The Lands Between.

He stood there, silent as the grave as he kept on looking for a site of Grace he could rest on… To speak to the girl who he owed his life to…

Seeing that there were no sites of Grace to be found nearby, Izuku took a step forward and into the blazing inferno of the burning buildings. All to find a site of Grace where he could hear her comforting voice.

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"Dude… What the hell…?" Katsuki had to scrunch up his nose in silence when he came across the poor bastards rotting away on the ground, away from the flickering flames of the burning buildings. Looking to his side, he saw Eijiro already heaving out his breakfast on the ground.

"… Shit… Shitty hair, we're not alone. Keep an eye out." Katsuki knew he was an ass. But even then, he knew when to tone it down when something like this happens.

Something like when Deku saved him…

He shook his head. Mourn later, survive now. Even months later, he was still grieving the loss of his only friend… The friend he pushed away day by day because of his idiotic ass. Even just remembering the face of his long-buried friend caused his heart to ache.

But no, reminisce later, survive now. His mother would kill him a second time if he came home in a body-bag like Deku did.

"Bakubro… Who… Who would do this?" Eijiro pointed at the bisected halves of two villains just… laying on the ground. Eyes distant as they stared at the void. "I… I know they're villains but…"

"I know, shitty hair. Nobody deserves to go out like that." Katsuki was once again reminded of how Deku died back then. Just looking at the two was giving him flashbacks. "Come on, let's keep moving."

Eijiro just nodded and followed along, taking uneasy glances at the two corpses as they went farther and farther.

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Not here… Not here either… Where is it!?

Izuku was fully ready to bring down the buildings around him in a fit of rage. Maybe then he could finally one site and have his questions answered. But no, all he saw were fire, and more fire.

Even wearing his armor, the one he pried off of one unlucky horseback riding vagabond with their furry collars, was starting to get a bit hard to breathe in. His skin was boiling at this point, his sweat evaporating the moment it left the pores.

It wasn't long until he stumbled upon a fire exit door, which confused him to no end. Looking at the burning buildings behind him, one that could pass for a small town, then back at the door, he couldn't help but scratch the back of his helmet.

At least the door answered one of his questions.

He wasn't in the Lands Between. He was skeptical at first, back when those three spoke Japanese, but a fire exit door, with both English and Japanese written on the red-painted metal? It was all the proof needed.

Still didn't know what use a fire exit door is when an entire town of buildings is burning right behind him, but eh, semantics.

That said though, he didn't notice the entire town was domed in. It was hard to see it because of all the fire and smoke, but now that he was at the edge of the dome, he could see it clearly.

Not delaying any further, he gripped the door handle and twisted it open. Stepping through the doorway, Izuku's eyes widened once more when he saw what was on the other side.

A giant pool of water with a… yacht? Yes, a yacht floating above it. Giant mountains that looked artificial. A landslide that looked like a glacier had landed on top of it. Some more mini domes scattered around, and a giant plaza right at the center.

And of course, there was another dome that encompassed all of the areas he'd listed. But that's beside the point. What was worrying was the fight occurring in the plaza.

A bunch of people, ranging from human-looking to downright strange humanoid creatures were fighting a guy fully dressed in black with a white scarf and yellow goggles.

… Not his problem. If there was one thing that The Lands Between taught Izuku, it was that going headlong into a fight without regard to one's safety was a death sentence…

But he was Izuku and damn him if he isn't trying to be a hero every now and then.

And so, with a heavy heart and his steel ready to sing, he put Melina on the backburner for now and approached the chaotic battlefield.

Albeit he'll tone down his strength for this. He wouldn't want to kill any more of them if he could help it.

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Shameless Plugs:

patreon.com/IAmGuavaFruitFictionHub (Only a single advance chapter as of now, got busy with life. I'll make sure there's 5 of them by the end of the month.)

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