226 Chapter 225

"That's the enemy castle?" asked a spear-wielding heteromorphic man with a mix of fish and dragonesque features, his wispy, pink, flame-like whiskers flapping in the air as he eyed UA's main building from his perch atop a distant shopping center.

"It would be unwise to underestimate them, Lord Susanoo..." said a heavily-armored man with vermillion hair, world-weary features, and a single crimson eye. His headgear, covering the lower half of his face and framing his head, vaguely resembled the oni-like mask of a Samurai, but it pulsed with intense heat. He also wore a predominately red mantle with a high collar and segmented shoulder plates, but its most conspicuous trait was the lava-like fluid flowing between each.

"Underestimate...?" repeated Susanoo, a malicious grin adorning his face as he cast a sidelong glance at their leader, a muscular, white-haired man with a scarred face and a menacing smile. His body was garbed in a skin-tight, sleeveless black suit with padded leggings, but he also wore a regal red cape that gave him the air of a King.

"With Lesser Lord Shigaraki spearheading us, this battle is as good as won!" declared Susanoo.

Though he maintained a menacing smile, Shigaraki shook his head and replied, "No. So long as All Might and his successor draw breath, nothing is certain. Also..."

Directing his gaze to Susanoo, causing a shiver to run through the fish-like man's body, Shigaraki added, "A vassal that expects their Lord to do all the heavy lifting is useless. Get to work."

Dropping to one knee and lowering his head, Susanoo replied, "As you will, my Lord...!" before rising to his feet, leaping high into the air, and spinning his spear overhead. As he did so, the already gale-force winds became even stronger, stripping away the facades of several buildings and forming a current of debris around Susanoo's body.

"For Lesser Lord Shigaraki...!" bellowed Susanoo, his voice comparable to a thunderclap as he sent the debris barreling toward the closed front gate of UA at extreme speeds. As the debris traveled, the visage of a fiery pink dragon formed around it, but it was unable to build up the momentum to do any serious damage as a beam of vibrant purple light promptly pierced its forehead.

"Who dares...!?" bellowed Susanoo, his voice causing pink lightning to flash through the clouds overhead as he glared in the direction the beam had originated. 

In response to Susanoo's shout, another purple beam emanated from the top of UA's main building. Instead of traveling in a straight line, however, it zig-zagged at extreme speeds, startling Susanoo as he attempted to take evasive action but moved directly into the beam's path.

Before the beam could pierce Susanoo's chest, it abruptly scattered as if it had impacted an invisible, spherical surface. At the same time, Susanoo charged forward, laughing as he bellowed, "As if the ranged weapons of a coward could fell the mighty Susanoo! Prepare yourself, fiend...!"

Undaunted by Susanoo's shout, the person firing the laser-like beams of energy, Kaina, narrowed her eyes and transformed the futuristic-looking gun barrel protruding from her right elbow into a form resembling a black sphere surrounded by a square amplifier. Then, instead of firing a physical projectile at speeds exceeding Mach 10, she bombarded the approaching Susanoo with Mana-infused soundwaves.

Though he should have been able to evade a directional attack moving at the speed of sound, Susanoo's pupils shrank to the size of pinholes as he witnessed Kaina's attack splinter and change directions as if bouncing off imperceptible surfaces. She also seemed to know where he would dodge, forcing him to evade backward. 

"So be it! You want to insist on your cowardly ways!? Then don't blame me for evening the playing field...!" bellowed Susanoo, backing directly into a building, crashing through its facade as if it were made from paper mache. Within were several people seeking refuge from the increasingly typhoon-like conditions outside, so he mercilessly grabbed a young mother holding her child by the back of her neck. Then, charging forward with the duo as human shields, Sasanoo made no attempts to conceal his sadistic glee as he shouted, "Show me the depths of your convictions, Hero...!"

"You're the fiend...!"

Catching Susanoo by surprise, Mirio abruptly appeared within his path, rising from the ground. Susanoo responded by thrusting his captives at Mirio while gathering a tremendous amount of Mana in his palm, but he underestimated what his opponent was capable of. He intended to blow up the hostages alongside Mirio, but the moment the latter touched the young mother and child, they became just as impermeable as him.

"Wha-"

Before Susanoo could understand what had transpired, a girl with electric green hair fashioned into two spiky buns appeared beside him, striking his side with her palm. There was no impact, but Susanoo realized something was wrong when he attempted to sweep his spear at the retreating third-year student. His movements started smoothly, allowing him to nick the girl's neck, but then he found himself being pulled toward the ground as if drawn by a powerful magnet.

"Holy cow, that was close...!" exclaimed the girl, cupping her neck to stop the bleeding as she stared at Susanoo with a mixture of triumph and fear. Her Quirk allowed her to give objects a positive and negative charge that caused them to behave like magnets. The downside was that it required her to touch the target with her right hand to give it a positive charge and her left hand to make it negative.

"The only time you should feel relieved and lower your guard is on your death bed..." said a raspy voice from behind the girl, causing every nerve in her body to tense as a hand grabbed her neck from behind, appearing from within a vortex of black vapor.

"Please, no..." muttered the girl, not even trying to resist as she recalled the information they had received on their opponents' powers and Quirks. She was certain that the person who grabbed her neck was the wielder of the Decay Quirk, so if she moved carelessly, her body would be reduced to dust instantly.

"Then, do you submit...?" asked the voice, causing tears to build in the corners of the girl's eyes before she closed them and responded, "Yes..."

Expecting to be killed, the girl felt a mixture of relief and mortification as something snug and heavy promptly materialized around her neck. She couldn't see it directly, but when she reached up to touch her neck, she felt the outline of a thick metal collar with a leathery inside.

"You can thank your parents for giving you a useful Quirk," said the voice, prompting the girl to turn around and confirm her suspicions. The person who touched her neck had been Shigaraki, but instead of using Decay, he placed a collar forged by Kagutsuchi around her neck, a powerful Artefact that forced those who had submitted into servitude.

Grinning like a demon, Shigaraki ordered, "Now, go and detain your fellow students. If they resist, you are free to maim, but try not to-"

Interrupting Shigaraki's words, Mirio appeared behind the green-haired girl, tossing two spherical objects toward the villain before wrapping his arms around his classmate and fleeing into the ground. The devices were prototype magical Artefacts developed by Melissa and her team and were intended to be used at the site of breaches to stabilize spatial distortions and disperse the Mana that gave them form. As such, when they promptly exploded, Shigaraki felt the Mana within his body rampage as the haze he emerged from disappeared.

"Forgive me! But this is the end for you...!" shouted a distinctly synthetic-sounding woman's voice, compelling Shigaraki to look toward its origin to find Anan in a more streamlined version of her astronaut costume, aiming her fingers in his direction.

Instead of showing a hint of fear, Shigaraki grinned from ear to ear as he lunged toward Anan. His acceleration was tremendous, but the suction of her Black Hole wasn't to be underestimated. Shigaraki thought he could blitz her before her Quirk could overwhelm his durability, but the rate at which his body broke down forced him to change tactics, escaping to the sky with a powerful burst of wind.

"He can fly..." muttered Anan, directing her hand skyward and increasing the power of her Black Hole's suction. Unfortunately, as the power of her Quirk fell off in accordance with the Inverse Square Law, Shigaraki could flee faster than she could expand her range.

"Suck on this...!" screamed Shigaraki, crossing his hands in front of him and making a sweeping gesture as he unleashed several massive, drill-shaped black spears. A few were aimed at Anan, but most were targeted at UA and several civilian structures. The largest was well over 500m in length, so even if she could take out those targetting her, Anan knew she would lose her footing once the spears impacted her surroundings...

Sparring Anan the need to worry about the campus, UA's barrier promptly activated, creating a shimmering blue dome encompassing a diameter of precisely 700m. The tips of the spears managed to pierce the barrier but failed to break through completely. Instead, they were lodged into it until the Mana comprising the membrane could expel or draw them in with less destructive force.

"Wow!" exclaimed Shigaraki, his expression ironically resembling a child on Christmas morning as he shouted, "I was told that UA had a barrier, but to think it could endure a full-powered attack from my Spiral Bit Quirk! But let's see how it fairs against ten more...!"

Raising his hands over his head, Shigaraki was prepared to send a fresh volley of skyscraper-sized spears at UA's barrier. Fortunately, just as he produced the obsidian black bits from the tips of his fingers, a sensation similar to being struck by lightning affected his body and mind, followed by the voice of his master stating, 'Don't forget, Tomura. Though our rule may be established atop a foundation of fear, we are the shepherds who will guide the people of Japan toward prosperity. Exhibit your power, but do not go overboard.'

Having been forcibly calmed down by his Sensei's All-for-One's voice, Shigaraki's expression became a mask of cold apathy as he retracted the bits from the ends of his fingers and responded, "I understand, Sensei..." Then, staring at the barrier, wind billowed around him as he accelerated toward it like a meteor, sending ripples across its surface with the heel of his foot.

"Then, how about this...?" Shigaraki mused, regaining a hint of his smile as he placed his hand against the barrier's surface and activated his 'original' Quirk, Decay. A roughly three-meter, hexagonal section of the barrier was reduced to inert, ash-like Manacules, but the moment Shigaraki thrust his hand through and tried to enter the dome, his instincts triggered, causing him to retract his hand, but not before a new panel could close around his wrist like the aperture of a camera.

'This barrier was made to counter my Quirk...!' Shigaraki realized, his smile developing so rapidly it tore the muscles of his face. At the same time, he used his free hand to chop through his right arm, choosing to regenerate the limb rather than using Decay on the panel while it was in contact with his body. His resistance against his Quirk wasn't perfect, so with the Mana membrane piercing the flesh of his wrist, there was a chance Decay could feed back into him.

"You're not going anywhere...!" shouted a voice from the ground, causing Shigaraki to turn, but not before the cape billowing around his body could retract and coil around him like a cacoon. The fabric around his neck also tightened, but not enough to overwhelm his durability as he looked down to find Best Jeanist standing with his arms crossed alongside a few local Pros whose names he couldn't bother to remember...

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(A/N: Melissa with prep time is like Batman with Tony Stark levels of intelligence (O w O)...)