132 MHA 6

(A/N: I'm pretty sure I'm getting on some kind of watch list after this chapter XD. BTW no chapters next week, I'm going on vacation till next Sunday.)

With the destructive power of [Annihilation] still wreaking havoc around me, disintegrating everything in its path, I stepped through the gaping hole that was once a door. Despite my gentle smile, the frightened girl curled up before me remained visibly shaken. "Hi Eri, I've come to save you," I tried to calm her, but my [Mental Domain] skill made it clear that she didn't believe me, rendering my words futile. I also sensed the presence of the only other mind I left complete, rapidly approaching, prompting me to act swiftly.

Eri's voice quivered as she stuttered, fear evident in her every word. "W-Who are you? Where is Kai?"

"Kai won't be coming," I replied with a soft smile, extending my hand toward her. "You're safe with me. Grab my hand and let's leave this awful place."

Her body visibly shook, and her heart gripped by fear. "No, no, no. I can't do that. Kai will be mad," she pleaded frantically.

Taking a deep breath, I responded in a calm and gentle tone, hoping to alleviate her fears. "I understand that you're scared, Eri. But I promise you, I have no intentions of harming you. I'm here to protect you from the danger that lies outside."

"But... but Kai took care of me," she whispered, her voice filled with uncertainty. "He... he promised to protect me. I can't just leave him."

I maintained my composure, speaking softly, hoping my words would reach her. "Eri, I know it's difficult, but you need to trust me. Kai is dangerous, and I can protect you better. You don't have to live in fear anymore."

Anxiety consumed her, and her voice rose as she pulled back even more. "N-no! I can't! He saved me. Kai loves me!"

My expression tightened with frustration, my patience wearing thin. "You know what? I don't have time for this..." I muttered, feeling a hint of annoyance.

Recognizing that Eri's condition likely stemmed from Stockholm syndrome, I understood the need for a different method, one that required a more forceful approach. I drew near her, ignoring her desperate struggles to escape, and while utilizing telekinesis, I lifted her off the ground, making her futile wiggling intensify. Her breathing quickened, and I could practically hear the rapid pounding of her heart. Placing my palm gently on her head, I activated [Power Absorption].

Instinctively, she fought back, activating her own quirk, but time held no power over me.

As a ping resounded in my mind, a notification flashed before my eyes, and the pale girl's horn receded and vanished from her forehead. "There, now you have two choices," I stated, my armor shifting back into its original form. Utilizing [Mental Domain], I focused my abilities on her and continued, "Choose: a happy, quirkless life on the other side of the globe, with all your memories erased, or gain a new quirk while losing the past fifteen minutes of your memories."

"I want to forget," she replied in a monotone voice, compelled to answer truthfully under my mind control.

"Good choice," I responded. Magic swirled in the air as I worked meticulously. Scars faded away, erased by the forces of magic, while employing [Mental Domain], I forcefully eradicated the memories of half of her life.

Tragedy had dominated most of her existence, all stemming from her extraordinary quirk. Her thoughts were in disarray, and a pained expression involuntarily creased my face as I encountered some of the distressing memories nestled within her mind.

Astonishingly, she genuinely perceived Kai's inflicted suffering as a twisted expression of love - the type of love she thought she deserved.

With utmost care, I diligently purged her mind of the traumatic memory of inadvertently causing her father's demise, the recollection of her mother severing ties with her, and ultimately wiping away the haunting memories of Kai's disturbing experiments on her. Furthermore, I skillfully tampered with her remembrances of her family, implanting the belief that she was an orphan.

As she floated before me, a blank slate, it became apparent that her mental age had regressed to around four years old—a consequence that I had anticipated. However, at this moment, there was little I could do to address this issue. With a final thought, I temporarily shut down her mind, rendering her unconscious, and teleported her to the apartment Olivia had rented. I then turned my attention to face the impending collision with a freight train hurtling through the wall.

The next moment, the remaining section of the hallway exploded, sending debris flying in all directions. Emerging from the gaping hole was a figure resembling a bodybuilder on a strict diet of steroids, his muscles taking on a metallic hue and crackling with blue sparks.

Kai Chisaki, better known as "Overhaul", bore little resemblance to his original form. However, thanks to my [Mental Domain], I understood the reason behind his transformation, and it sparked a flame of anticipation within me.

Flashing him a taunting smile, hidden from his view by my helmet, I remarked, "You're late, your little plaything is long gone."

Rage flickered in his eyes as he gritted his teeth, striding closer with each step that distorted the metal beneath his feet. "Where is she?" he demanded, his voice seething with anger.

"Somewhere you won't be able to lay a finger on her. Not that you'll leave this place alive," I retorted with a casual shrug. "Consider yourself lucky, that it was I who found her and not my wife." My voice deepened as I continued, instilling a sense of unease. "If she had found out about the scars on the girl I had to heal, especially those in questionable places, you would have experienced eternal agony."

He snorted, flashing me a vicious smile. "If you're unwilling to tell me where she is, I'll just have to beat it out of you. And after that, I might as well have a little fun with your wife. Don't worry, she'll be in good hands. If you're lucky enough to survive the beating, I might even let you watch," he taunted. With those words, he vanished from sight, his speed far surpassing anything a human should possess.

However, he had made a grave mistake. His words ignited a primal rage within me. My eyes burned with a vibrant blue hue, brimming with mana. [Mind Discipline] struggled against my surging emotions. In that fraction of a second when he disappeared and reappeared before me, the skill, which had already reached a level in the hundreds, ascended seven more, and relentlessly continued to climb higher.

I raised my hand, effortlessly catching and crumbling his fist. My feet remained firmly rooted in place as my surroundings disintegrated from the colossal shockwave. The air grew dense, saturated with so much mana that breathing became impossible. A tangible hum filled the atmosphere, resonating with raw power and causing cracks of golden light to appear. Dark and ominous clouds began to gather, centered around the underground hideout, alerting anyone nearby to the imminent danger.

My voice, laced with a potent mix of rage and authority, reverberated through reality. Each word I uttered distorted the very fabric of existence, bending it to my will. "Care. To. Repeat. That?" I spoke, each syllable punctuated with an intensity that sent ripples through space.

A malevolent smile stretched across his face, a defiant spark glinting in his eyes as he activated his quirk, attempting to counter my overwhelming might. Yet, even as my arm momentarily faltered and my muscles threatened to disintegrate under the onslaught of his energies, I remained undeterred. My [Unwavering Resilience] and regeneration skills fought valiantly against the invading forces, their innate fortitude fueling my defiance.

I reached across, seizing hold of my right hand, and tore it from my shoulder with an almost poetic ferocity. And then, with a single swift motion, I plunged the disintegrating appendage deep into his fortified abdomen, the searing pain ripping through his being as it exited on the other side, rending apart his spine.

His eyes widened in shock, a glimpse of realization flickering across his face as my right arm instantly regenerated and he momentarily lost control of his lower half. Desperately, he activated his quirk once again, frantically trying to repair the damage. But it was already too late.

The laws of the world, strained and stretched to their limits, groaned under the weight of my unbridled rage. They resisted, struggling against an enigmatic and incomprehensible force that emanated from my very being. Yet, I paid no mind to their feeble protests. In a display of my unyielding dominance, I activated [Mana's Blessing] and an ethereal aura enveloped me, causing the laws themselves to bend and yield, bowing to my every command.

A solitary word, so softly spoken that it seemed to dance on the edge of a breath, yet brimming with an inferno of pure hatred, escaped my lips like a venomous whisper. "Shatter." And in that fateful moment, the very essence of sound recoiled, succumbing to an unyielding void.

A mesmerizing labyrinth of fractures, delicate as the finest spider's silk, unfurled from my epicenter, branching out with an intricate grace. Like a magnificent mirror, reflecting the shattered fragments of a fractured reality, everything in my vicinity succumbed to the relentless embrace of dust. The realm transformed into a haunting scene of obliteration as if the universe itself crumbled to ephemeral particles beneath my wrathful gaze.

The voracious void yawned wide, engulfing all within its reach, devouring existence in its insatiable hunger. Within a kilometer's expanse, all that once was, ceased to be, while the tapestry of space and the symphony of time were ruthlessly expunged from the cosmic equation, leaving naught but an abyssal maw of impenetrable darkness in their wake.

An earsplitting roar, reverberating through the desolate void, echoed with the wrath of a thousand unleashed storms. As my rage blazed unabated, I remained undaunted by the presence that stirred in the abyss. Thousands of eyelids, like ancient gates to an otherworldly realm, peeled back, unveiling a horde of menacing, reptilian eyes glistening with a sickly yellow hue. Yet, my fury surged unabated, fueling an indomitable resolve. With a graceful wave of my hand, I commanded, my voice laced with both authority and disdain, "Fuck off." A torrential surge of empowered annihilation surged forth, an unstoppable cataclysm obliterating the tier three and four Voidborn, rending their existence asunder and consigning them to oblivion.

"Yeah, this won't be enough," I uttered through gritted teeth, determination etched on my face.

With the infusion of divine power, an ethereal golden radiance enveloped me as [Divine Empowerment] surged through my being. I harnessed my skill, directing its influence into [Space-Time Manipulation], [Dimensional Wave Manipulation], and my recently acquired skill, [Rewind]. Forced by my will, I wove these powers together and commanded the fabric of space itself to mend the rupture I had torn. The once-gaping maw in reality obediently knitted itself shut, sealing off the abyss I had unleashed.

Concurrently, I invoked the power of temporal manipulation, activating [Rewind] in tandem with [Space-Time Manipulation]. Time itself submitted to my command as I summoned back the thousand souls I had obliterated in my emotional storm of rage. Their lives once snuffed out in the fury of my unleashed might, were revived, returned from the precipice of oblivion to the tapestry of existence.

Kai, the very embodiment of my anger, stood before me, dumbfounded, his mind grappling to comprehend the impossible. Gravity itself turned against him, bearing down with amplified intensity, crushing him against the earth. His once unyielding bones, reminiscent of unbreakable steel, crumbled to mere dust, unable to withstand the unrelenting force. A guttural scream of anguish tore from his lips, yet his consciousness, fleetingly snatched away by the sheer shock of his predicament, was once again thrust back into the throes of existence as I rewound time yet again.

With an iron grip, I seized his head, channeling the power of [Power Absorption], seeking to strip him of his despicable quirk. A ping resounded within my mind, however, the body modifications he had previously made still remained.

His experiments with his quirk had led him to rewrite his DNA, granting him new abilities and the capability to replicate physical quirks. However, the replication of Emitter-type quirks eluded him, as their manifestation required a mental aspect that escaped his grasp. Eri's existence had been reduced to his "save and load" mechanism, restoring him to his prior state whenever his perverse body modifications went awry.

As I held his head, I knew I should hand this vile creature over to Olivia, so that she could administer divine justice. However, my anger continued to simmer. The mere thought of him violating her reignited a raging inferno within me, that threatened to consume my mind.

[Link] rang a few times, indicating that Olivia sensed my emotional state, but I chose to ignore it. Instead, utilizing [Mental Domain], I forcefully awakened the villain before me.

A pained groan slipped past his lips as my awakening proved far from gentle. His gaze locked with my radiant, glowing eyes, yet before he could utter a single word, his head met the unforgiving embrace of the ground, scattering remnants of his existence across the cold, unyielding floor, and shaking the very foundation the building. However, in the next instant, time rewound itself, restoring his head to its previous state.

Yet, in the next breath, a remarkable transformation rippled through my being. A tranquil serenity washed over me, accompanied by a distinct chime echoing within the recesses of my mind. It signified the evolution of [Mind Discipline], granting my rationality absolute dominion once more. A smile, tinged with newfound clarity, graced my lips as all my mental skills simultaneously activated, elevating my cognitive capacities to an unprecedented level, and an ethereal glow enveloped my hands.

"You should consider yourself fortunate," I declared with genuine excitement, addressing the now incapacitated villain held firmly in place by my telekinesis. "Your worthless existence will serve to advance my research on souls." I paused for a moment, relishing the anticipation. "Now, brace yourself, as this may sting a bit," I warned, plunging my hand deep into his chest. His body became engulfed in a shimmering silver glow as his agonized screams reverberated throughout the room.

My grip grew unbearably tight, each finger curling with unwavering resolve as I sought to wrench his very soul from its mortal vessel. Every sinew and fiber of my being strained against an unseen resistance, unyielding in my pursuit to sever the ethereal tether that bound his essence. The inexorable pull of an invisible force taunted my efforts, yet I pressed on, fueled by an indomitable thirst for knowledge and determination to punish this mortal for his vile words.

The raw power of my mana blazed brilliantly, a fierce beacon of unyielding determination. And then, with a sound reminiscent of tearing fabric, the veil keeping his soul within was rent asunder. There, upon my palm, materialized a black marble, a mere fraction of the size of a walnut, its ebony surface keeping the essence of Kai Chisaki's soul intact. An ethereal gray mist wisped and curled within its confines, an intangible manifestation of his essence.

A faint thread of particles, ephemeral and fragile, connected the pulsating marble to the body that lay before me, still drawing breath, albeit in an unconscious state. That very thread, persistent and insistent, tugged relentlessly as if seeking to reclaim what rightfully belonged. But I refused to succumb to its pull. With my gathered mana, a maelstrom of energy enveloping my hand, I meticulously wove it into a gentle embrace around the marble, and with a resolute and firm tug, I severed the connection that bound his body to his soul.

Now free from the connection that bound it to the body, I examined the orb in my hands. The malevolence exuding from the oozing black marble repulsed me, triggering a primal instinct within me—an unrelenting urge to shatter it immediately. It was not merely a warning or a self-preservation instinct, but rather an unexplainable surge of intense animosity, aimed not at the owner of the soul but at the corrupting taint within. Though I had no rational explanation for these emotions, I swiftly suppressed them, redirecting my focus to the essence held captive within the soul.

In that very moment, as if in response to my intent, the world itself reacted. The marble quivered within my grasp, a feeble attempt to elude my clutches, while a new force tugged at its ethereal essence. Yet, this time, the pull lacked the vigor of before, its intensity diminished, as if weakened by the very fabric of reality. It yearned towards the heavens, a futile endeavor to escape its inevitable fate.

A chuckle escaped my lips, a mixture of amusement and determination. "Heh... You will not escape so easily into the embrace of the afterlife," I proclaimed, a glint of steely resolve gleaming in my eyes.

Harnessing the power of [Master of Natural Creation], I conjured forth a grotesque blob of flesh, an abomination barely clinging to a semblance of life. Its form, a softball-sized abomination wrought with pulsating flesh and exposed nerve endings, bore the weight of perpetual suffering. This wretched creation, fueled solely by the relentless infusion of mana, possessed a rudimentary consciousness, trapped within the confines of its tortured existence. It writhed in eternal agony, each convulsion a testament to its unending torment.

Drawing upon Voldemort's memories about Horcruxes, a twisted smile etched across my face as I bound the nasty soul to this morbid vessel, creating a fitting union. With this act, I severed the ties that connected this fiend's essence to the laws governing death in this realm, denying it the solace of finality.

Disruptions in the fabric of space signaled the imminent arrival of unwelcome guests, drawn by my earlier display of power that had unmasked the once-hidden location. With a flick of my wrist, a sharp gust of wind sliced through the air, severing Overhaul's lifeless body into two perfect halves. A notification materialized before me, confirming the fourth and ultimate death of this worthless trash. Yet, in harmony with the last two notifications, no experience flowed into my being, cementing the notion that I could only gain experience once from a singular entity.

Another graceful wave of my hand activated the combined powers of [Elemental Mastery] and [Overhaul]. The room itself underwent a dramatic metamorphosis, its very essence reshaped under the command of my skills. From the very ground, metallic spikes erupted with lethal grace, impaling the two halves of the lifeless husk and hoisting them aloft in a morbid display. Their contorted forms hung suspended in mid-air, a chilling spectacle that bespoke the twisted fate that had befallen this monstrous being.

Intricate channels, meticulously etched into the metallic surfaces, guided the macabre flow of blood, resembling crimson rivers, as they traced intricate patterns. They coursed toward the elaborate text meticulously carved into the ground, weaving a haunting message that unfolded before the eyes of any who happened upon this ghastly scene. It served as a chilling warning, a resounding proclamation of the emergence of a Dark Hero, shrouded in shadows and ready to reshape the world.

Unwilling to linger any longer, I channeled my power contorting and warping space itself, whisking myself away from this hellish scene of my own design.