Chapter 56 - Yuga's Resolve

It was a chaotic situation with all kinds of attacks and battles ensuing in all places. Fireballs created grand explosions, ice took over the lands, fierce winds bellowed like draconic roars, thunder flashed with the fearsome rage of the heavens, and in all of that, only a single person can track everything that is concurrently occurring with his prying eyes.

The Nomu was high up in the air, its body positioned exactly in front of Shigaraki and Kurogiri. Its eyes looked at Ryuji with the simpleminded rage of a wild beast.

Ryuji grabbed the handle of his broken blade, his eyes squinted with complete focus. Everything in his vision turned black and white, with one shining figure in the middle glowing with a bright golden light.

He took a deep breath. The oxygen flowed through his bloodstream as every muscle roared and followed his will.

"Ha…"

At the edge of his breath, his broken blade left its sheath and released a flash of golden brilliance that blinded the nine heavens.

It was quick, it was silent, it was grand.

Plop.

Kurogiri looked to the side, his yellow eyes dazed. Beside him, Shigaraki stood with a hunched back and his arms flared out to the sides, ready to release a devastating blow, but there was one detail that made the unusually calm shadow widen its eyes.

A pool of blood continued to grow larger beneath the soles of his feet. Rolling on the ground, a pair of lifeless eyes stared at him, eyes that lacked the light of life.

The head's blue hair was dyed a tinge of red, its dry skin coated in scarlet red blood, on its stump, blood poured out like an endless stream.

Shigaraki… was dead.

Kurogiri was silent.

The villains were silent.

The students of Class 1-A were silent.

Both Aizawa and Thirteen were silent.

Even Ryuji and the Nomu were silent.

In an unexpected twist, the one that has died wasn't All Might, it wasn't AIzawa or Thirteen, it wasn't a student from UA, it was actually the leader of the group of villains himself, Shigaraki.

No one can believe what they had just witnessed. The silence that came caused their ears to ring, and their breathing to turn rough and suffocating.

Death.

It's something most lifeforms instinctually fear. It's the signal of the end. It's the last chapter of their meager lives. It's when they take their last breath and enter eternal slumber.

But the silence came and went like the wind.

Flash. Chaos once again ensued as a laser beam erupted out of Yuga's navel. He squinted his eyes in pain, and his body flew through the air in an arc.

And coincidentally, the trajectory of his body was at the same angle as Aizawa's vision, blocking his view of Kurogiri for a few solid seconds.

Kurogiri, in his dazed state, noticed this peculiar event as his Quirk came back to life all of a sudden. He got out of his stupor as his survival instincts came into play. He hurriedly grabbed Shigaraki's corpse, the Nomu, and opened a series of portals all throughout USJ.

Swish.

In less than a second, most of the villains swiftly disappeared like fleeting wind. Fortunately, a big portion of the villains still remained as their unconscious bodies littered USJ.

In the middle of this grand stage of chaos, Ryuji stood, his eyes staring at the pool of blood tens of meters away from him with a peculiar stare. He looked down at his hands, unmoving like a monolith. He didn't have the usual reaction as someone who had just done their first blood.

In fact, he was calm, calmer than what is normal. He silently shook his head and sheathed his broken blade, and stared at Aizawa and Thirteen with knowing eyes.

"Let's get this over with…"

…

A few minutes later.

All Might arrived at the scene and was swiftly notified of what happened. Not only did they suffer no casualties, but they also managed to arrest multiple villains, some of which caused massive headaches for the government. With them now practically behind bars, it served to ease a lot of worries for the innocent citizens of Japan.

But that was simply the first part, soon, he learned of the incidents regarding Ryuji Anwir.

"He…" All Might muttered with a shocked tone, "Killed someone?"

"Yes." Thirteen nodded their head and turned to look at a certain area in the distance. Ryuji was sitting on a simple white chair, his hands cuffed, while Aizawa stared at Ryuji, ready to activate his Quirk at a moment's notice.

All Might knew what they were doing. This was the usual procedure after all, and he also knew how to handle this. His title as Japan's greatest hero wasn't just for show.

He took heavy steps, his eyes full of worry and uncertainty. Soon, he stopped and arrived in front of Ryuji.

"Good morning, All Might-sensei." Ryuji greeted with an eccentric smile and leaned back on his chair. "I guess it isn't really a great way to see each other for the first time today."

All Might was inwardly surprised at Ryuji's calm demeanor, but after thinking about it more, he soon realized that this was to be expected, especially with the achievements and actions Ryuji displayed when the villains came to attack them.

"You're calmer than what I would have imagined," All Might said with a warm but solemn tone. Either Ryuji was calm because of his personality, because of experience, or because he had a few loose screws in his head.

"Heh, it's not that impressive when it's not your first time." Ryuji wore a wry smile. He then sighed and turned to look back at Aizawa, "Sensei, can you please rummage through my pant's left pocket."

"In there, you'll find a hidden pocket near the bottom, and you'll find a thin black case."

Aizawa nodded his head and did what Ryuji said, and as expected, he pulled out a black case slightly thicker than a card and showed it to Ryuji.

"How do I open it?" Aizawa asked monotonously.

"You'll have to run your finger along the right edge until you feel a slight indent, then press down on that indent and flip it open like a normal case."

Aizawa followed through and found the indent after a while. Then as he fiddled with the case, they heard a subtle click, and as he exerted a bit of force, the case soon opened.

Inside it, the two found a weird card that they soon recognized.

"This is…"

"A license to kill? And issued by the United Nations?" Aizawa mumbled in shock.

A license to kill is a license very few are given in the entire world. Aizawa himself has this card after working as an underground hero, but it was only given to him by the Japanese government and wouldn't work in other countries.

But this license is actually issued by the United Nations, meaning Ryuji has the right to kill anyone he wants anywhere as long as he has the right justification!

This incurred a deep bout of suspicion for the two heroes.

They already realized that something was up when Ryuji was calm as a serene lake when he killed Shigaraki, but having this license was a whole other matter with deeper implications. Even All Might, one of Earth's mightiest heroes, doesn't have this license.

Only specialized killers at the level of elites among elites could have this type of verification, working in the shadows and dealing with great threats that hide in the shadows of society.

Now, a lot of things started to make sense for All Might.

Ryuji was simply too mysterious and hid a lot of secrets that couldn't be normally explained. His hidden past, his great strength, his brilliant mind, unrivaled talent, all served to create a vague idea for All Might.

All Might silently sighed and nodded at Aizawa.

Aizawa understood what All Might meant and closed the case. He then opened the cuffs around Ryuji's arm and returned the case to the kid.

"You sure have a mysterious past for an ordinary student," Aizawa said with a sarcastic tone.

"Anwir-shounen…" All Might looked at Ryuji intently. He didn't know what to feel at the moment. What he just learned was simply too much. It could mean a lot of things, but All Might soon calmed down his turbid emotions and trusted that Ryuji wouldn't mean harm.

"Don't worry, All Might-sensei. My past isn't as deep as you would think it is. I'm just a bit more gifted than others, and knew a little more with my mind, and used that to help some crappy government. Heh, to tell the truth, I love Japan more than America already since I don't have to work myself like some sort of slave for free." Ryuji gave a depressed laugh.

"I see…" All Might chuckled as he imagined Ryuji complaining about free labor. 'Maybe this is why he's so greedy for money.'

…

Yuga got inside one of his family's numerous cars and greeted his chauffeur with a smile.

"I'm glad that you weren't hurt, young master." The chauffeur heaved a sigh of relief. "You can't imagine how worried your parents were after hearing the news from school."

"Hmph. Those villains are bound to lose when they first thought of defeating us." Yuga snorted in a pompous manner. "Especially with my brilliant and elegant Navel Laser."

"You're right, young master." The chauffeur laughed merrily and soon drove off.

Yuga then silently raised a glass window, blocking the driver's view and ears. After noticing that the chauffeur wouldn't be able to sense what is going on inside this part of the car, Yuga slumped his shoulders and rubbed his aching head.

"Hidden Order…" Yuga muttered a name and recalled in great detail what transpired in that endless white void.

A few hours ago.

"Who are you?" Yuga took a step back, apprehensive of the mysterious masked figure in front of him.

The man chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, "I go by many names, the King of Space-Time, the manipulator hidden in the dark, creator and head of Hidden Order, but you can just simply call me…"

The man leaned forward, his golden eyes shining with obscure light, and he whispered, "Leader."

"Leader? Hidden Order?" Yuga looked at the mysterious masked man, confused and fearful.

"Don't be so scared, Yuga Aoyama. Here, take a seat."

A chair appeared in front of Yuga out of nowhere, shocking him, but seeing that the man didn't have any malicious intentions at the moment, and how he was practically powerless in front of this unknown figure, he relented and sat down.

"Why am I here? What do you want with me?"

"That's a great question. And the answer is simple, we need you to become a part of Hidden Order." The masked man laughed and leaned back on his chair.

"Become part of Hidden Order?" Yuga raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, but to explain that, I'll also have to explain Hidden Order's greatest objective." The man chuckled and his eyes flashed with penetrating light that shook Yuga's soul. "Our objective is simple—"

"—It's to control the entire world."

Yuga widened his eyes upon hearing that ridiculous goal.

"Don't look so surprised as if you have just heard the most ridiculous statement. We're actually closer to that goal than what you may first think. Heh, just to reveal a little fun fact, almost 40% of the villains currently attacking USJ are actually moles planted by us in the League of Villains, the organization created by one of this world's greatest villains, All for One."

"What?!" Yuga almost stood up from his seat. What he just heard was too shocking. To think that this random organization he just heard of actually had so many moles in the organization of the person he feared the most.

"Heh, now I'm sure you're intrigued and curious, especially when you want to escape that man's grasp."

"Did you know, All for One is weaker than what you may imagine? If HIdden Order attacked without reservations, we could easily take him down, albeit with a lot of lives to be sacrificed."

"But, our goal isn't to defeat All for One, our goal is world domination, and to do that, we require power as great as that grand goal. A power that could allow one to have multiple Quirks at once!"

"Then, why am I here?" Yuga asked. What does All for One have to do with him and Hidden Order's goal? He's just a helpless pawn in this chessboard of heroes and villains.

"It's because you, my dear, is the key that would open the path to Hidden Order's success—the key that would become the successor of All for One and acquire the power that wreaked havoc in the entirety of Japan, and become the Symbol of Fear!"

…

Yuga got out of the car and arrived inside his room. He dropped his bag to the floor and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes flashed with a tinge of golden luster, his heart palpitated with nervousness and anxiety, but also excitement.

When it pours, it rains.

Now given a chance to defy his fate and enter the realm of the extraordinary, Yuga steeled his resolve and tightly clenched his fist. Now was not the time to hesitate. Now was the time to grab the chance Fate has given him and attain his own freedom!

He wasn't going to be found by this cruel reality, and instead control his own destiny!

Soon, a purple portal opened up in front of him, and he thought to himself, 'Today is the day I'll be reborn! Today would be the day I strive for my own freedom, and become Yuga Aoyama, the one who defied fate!'

He resolutely stepped forward, disappearing into the endless darkness.

AN: This chapter has 2324 words.

(June 10, 2023 - 562nd day of writing)