33 Chapter 33 gods among us: Legendary Battle of the Gods - Hymn of Dawn Forever Known

Time stood still at that moment. I could see it all unfold before my very eyes. My perception was such that even the smallest detail was not left unnoted. I think that this is the first time that I've ever hated my existence here.

When I leaped to kill All For One, I had done so with nigh absolute confidence of my success. The path had been clear, All For One was busy taunting Izuku and the distance between us was short. It should have been over in a flash.

It wasn't.

As I reached out with my lightning-covered hand, Sharingan blazing and searching for any movement that might denote even the slightest of retribution, it happened. It happened so fast that I couldn't even react properly. One moment I was staring down All For One, my hand stretching out and mere inches from plunging into his skull and frying his brain, and the next I was plunging my lighting-covered hand through my mother's chest.

For a few moments, I was shocked. I thought that it was an illusion, a figment of All For One's perverted imagination forced onto me for his twisted pleasure.

Then I felt the warmth. A familiar warmth.

Viscous, pulsating warmth of the remains of a heart trying to pump blood uselessly clenching around my forearm.

Then I heard her voice

"Madara?"

Ilooked at her, the woman that brought me and my brother into this world. She is a kind and gentle soul that even put up with my distancing from her and never stopped loving me. She loved me and my brother so much and I... was killing her.

My eyes widened as I heard my brother scream in the distance. The crackling of lightning in my hand died down and I pulled it back. It was now coated in crimson blood and making a sound so retching that it will haunt my nightmare for decades to come.

"No, please this can't happen, please" I begged quietly

Without my hand supporting her, my mother began to fall. I caught her and sank to my knees.

She was dead.

It mattered not that the whole world could see us

She was dead, and the last thing I ever said to her was to get out or would take her only remaining son away. I didn't even get to make amends, what a horrible son I must be.

Grief overtook me and I screamed. I wailed my pain and grief as I held my dead mother in my arms.

Dead my hand

My brother, orphaned by my hand

The enemy...

NO!

I REFUSE!

At that moment the frigid grief that held me vanished and in its place a terrible boiling hatred took root in my soul.

I screamed again, this time not out of grief, but of pain, of anger, and rage so hot and pure that I could have used it to scorch the earth. And I did.

My eyes felt like they were on fire like someone took them out with hot pincers and poured molten metal in my eye sockets. I did not shy away from this pain, I embraced it. This was the method of my revenge. A power etched into my blood and brought forth by the loss of a loved one so dear that one would set the world alight to protect them, a loved one that you failed to protect.

This was not about justice. This was vengeance.

I swear, I will not rest until all that All For One is and ever was is erased from history itself and if I have to unmake the world to do that, then so be it.

For now, though I shall settle for burning his flesh away. I will burn down his legacy later.

I wiped my head to look at All For One, the demon that took my family from me, the evil that made me commit one of the most heinous acts imaginable.

I could sense the power coursing through the molten pits that were now my eyes as the three tomoe pattern of the Sharingan spun and spun and as it churned up the blood-red depths of my iris and a new pattern emerged. Six spokes, all shaped like a teardrop converging around my pupil and at their head, their outermost edge, a single dot of red was to be seen.

O' sun hear and obey.

"AMATERASU!"

Izuku's entire life shattered at that moment as he saw the Chidori in his brother's hand pierce their mother's heart. He screamed and tried to rush forward, but he was tackled to the ground by Gran Torino. He continued to trash in the old man's hold, but it was useless, he would not let go, no matter how much Izuku screamed and cursed at him to do so.

The other heroes watched in shock and horror as

Madara let loose an unholy scream of pain and grief. A scream that had All For One laughing so hard that he threw his head back

"Wonderful, oh how wonderful! I can't believe that you fell for it! Oh, can this day get any better? I already have my enemies on their knees, what more can I desire?" said All For One as his laughter subsided into chuckles "Well, there is quite a lot that I desire, but for now how about I declare myself Emperor of Japan. It is a fitting end, no?

What say you, people of Japan?" asked All For One as he pointed a finger to the shocked and horrified

camera crew

Just then, another scream, this time of rage tore itself from Madara's throat. All For One turned to deal with the eldest Midoriya when his head snapped up and stared down All For One with hateful crimson eyes.

Changed eyes, changed heart.

Izuku felt his heart drop. He knew what was happening. His brother had activated the one thing that he swore he would not seek. Power for power's sake. Power for retribution, for vengeance, for destruction.

Madara Midoriya has awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, and may the gods have mercy for those upon which those eye's sight falls for he will have none.

"AMATERASU!"

Izuku felt as well as heard the calling of the heavenly illumination flames. And he saw the result.

As blood dripped from Madara's left eye socket, the new pattern of the Mangekyou Sharingan spun and black flames erupted on All For One.

The King of Evil screamed in pain as he began ripping pieces of his flesh from his bones in an attempt to stave off the destructive flames. As if seeing no other option, AFO opened his mouth wide and shed his skin. What emerged was a grotesque version of the man, pink and without hair, missing limbs and other parts of his flesh. He could hardly be called a man, such was the wretchedness of his state. It was as if he had expelled his soul from his domed corpse.

With a scream of rage, he threw an attack at Madara.

Izuku despaired. His brother was not moving, and he could not. He resumed his struggle against the heroes that were, in hindsight, rightfully trying to stop him from getting himself recklessly killed even harder. He had lost his mother today, he will not lose his brother too.

In the end, it seemed like he needn't worry. As the attack approached, a golden aura surrounded his brother, parrying the attack.

AFO looked befuddled as he tried to regain some semblance of his former body and strength back.

The golden aura around Madara shifted, as a ribcage formed from it, and then a skull and two skeletal arms, all golden. The skull had a crown of horns atop its head and as it stabilized it roared along with Madara

"SUSANOO!"

All stood in awe at the sight, a sight that will be forever burned into the hearts and minds of those watching as the time a new god had come into his full might upon the battlefield

The giant chakra construct swung its arm and a wave of pressurized air shot out, blowing AFO away.

Madara rose from where he had knelt beside his mother's now lifeless body and began to slowly stagger towards All For One as he panted heavily, bod his eyes bleeding profusely.

Were this a fair fight, Madara would have won, there was little doubt about it. But it was not and Madara was tired, Izuku knew this. He remembered when they were little and used to cuddle together at night that his brother would sometimes tell him stories of great men that were known to be able to call upon the gods to act as their shield and sword. While the description slightly differed, Izuku knew that this was what he was talking about. This was the ultimate shield and sword, the very thing upon which Varuna was based.

He with the ability to help by all means: Susanoo.

But Izuku also saw how incredibly taxing such a thing was for his brother and he knew deep in his heart that if Madara fought All For One as he is now, he would lose, not because he would be defeated, but because All For One will flee.

As he watched the screen, Katsuki was left horrified. Many around him shared the same sentiment and even the news commentators were silent. How could they not be, after all, they had just witnessed the tragic ending of what seemed to be Rikudou's last desperate attack.

Next to him, Katsuki was aware of Yayorozou and Kirishima barfing, while lida stood still, shocked and horrified.

What came next was sure to scar people for life.

Even Katsuki's heart twisted at the sound of

Madara's tragic wail and disgust filled his mouth at the sound of All For One's laughter.

He wanted to puke, but his eyes were riveted to the screen in a nearly perverse manner.

He watched as Izuku, no as One For All was wrestled to the ground by one of the other heroes to stop him from recklessly charging the evil megalomaniac that had just forced his brother to kill his own mother.

And then he watched as Madara rose, soul and eyes full of hatred and all of it directed at one person

He watched as he bathed the King of Evil in black hell flame.

It was not glorious; it was not funny or commendable. This was not the world of heroes that he had been raised to believe in. This was a twisted mockery of that world. As more and more people began to despair, even as Madara, clad in his golden avatar staggered forward to once again do futile battle with the King of Evil, a single voice broke the silence

"This is not how it will end. Do not despair! For I AM HERE!"

All Might felt like a failure. He had failed his master, and now he was failing his heir and successor. He was failing the world. He was supposed to be the one to fight All For One, not Madara.

Not for the first time, All Might had wondered how the world would have been without Madara.

Would he and the world at large have survived this day? Would they have seen the dawn of a new day as free people or as the subiects of All For One?

As he watched on now, All Might couldn't but despair. Who was there to say 'I am here'? Who was there for the people to rely on?

Not Madara, not now while mad with grief and rage and with hatred rolled off him in droves. Even as he staggered towards his wounded foe clad in that golden avatar of his, All Might could see that all that was holding him upright was pure strength of will and an undying hatred for All For One. All Might would be remiss to not compare this to the hatred he held for the symbol of evil after he killed his mater.

And at the same time, young Izuku was too young, far too young in both body and spirit to be asked to hold the weight of the entire world on his shoulders as All Might once did. All Might took a look to his side where Gran Torino and Best leanist were both restraining Izuku who had tears in his eyes as he struggled ever harder to escape. What he would do afterward, All Might had no idea. He coUld flee or fight, the result was all the same. All Might was gone and all that remained was Yagi Toshinori, a pitiful quirkless old man.

"Remember Toshinori. Whenever you feel you can't go on, remember your origin"

Yagi almost gasped. That was his master's voice

This was the end, wasn't it?

Yagi looked around and all he was were the frightened expressions of the people around him and all of a sudden he was 15 again and the world was shrouded in darkness.

'No, this is not the way I'll go. My origin, I must remember. There must be something that can turn the tide of this battle, something to make sure that All For One dies for good.' And it was then that a memory arose in All Might's mind.

-FLASHBACK-(around the time of the practical exams)

All Might had rarely returned to his agency recently. Now that he had taken to teaching full time, he simply had no time to dedicate to it. Still, he thought that he should at least pay a visit to see young Madara and how he was doing.

As he walked through the doorway, he couldn't but notice a slew of fresh faces around. It seemed that Young Madara had made some changes. Not that he was disapproving, but it seemed odd.

As he identified himself at the security desk, he was almost instantly ushered to a private elevator.

That was certainly odd. His smaller form certainly didn't get this kind of attention, even from his own agency back when he still led it.

He arrived quite quickly to the top floor and was led into a grand room. It was quite spartan, with but a desk and a single wall of glass windows to let sunlight in. there were also a couple of chairs, though most odd was the fact that Madara was doing paperwork at the office.

The boy looked up and blinked, as if not believing what he was seeing.

"All Might, did you need something?"

"Not particularly, no. I mostly came by to see how yosiere doing. After all, I did sort of drop this all on you quite suddenly"

Madara glared at him at that. All Might replied with a sheepish smile

"As you can see, I am quite busy" he replied scathingly.

All Might flinched at that. He remembered hearing that Madara had just returned from successfully busting a large den of organized crime and got leads and evidence on many of its higher-ups. That was bound to cause some paperwork.

"Right, well I'll only be a little. Actually, I wanted to ask you something about what you have written in your findings about me, specifically about the thing that you call the Eight Gates"

Madara looked at All Might for a while before motioning for him to sit down as fuinjutsu circles activated and barriers were raised.

"What about it?"

"Well, I wonder why you called them frail?"

Madara gained a look of recognition

"Ah, that. Well, it's as I said. They're frail. Being subjected to the stress of having the full power of One For All coursing through them almost constantly for the past 40 years has simply worn them down. You have to remember that the gates are there to regulate the flow of chakra through the body. The fact that you pushed One For All through them along with normal chakra has destabilized them. It's as simple as that" he explained

"Then, will the same happen to young Izuku?" asked All Might concerned

Madara laughed and shook his head

"This won't happen to us. This happened to you because you pushed and trained with One For All before you developed even a shred of your own chakra and thus you pushed the gates to take the full brunt of One For All's nature energy's corrosive effect. What should have normally been dampened by a layer of chakra came into direct contact with the gates and began eroding them.

Why do you think I didn't let lzuku use OFA as soon as he received it? Anyways, why do you ask?

If you were in any danger I would have told you about it the moment I discovered it"

"Well, it's more of an old man's curiosity this, but I have heard young Izuku say something about the Eight Gate Formation. When I tried to ask him what it was he clammed up and told me to talk to you"

Madara's face became grim, and All Might couldn't help but feel a shiver go down his spine at that look.

"He was right to tell you to come to me. Needless to say that you can't tell this to anyone, but it goes like this. The Eight Gates Formation is a forbidden technique of the highest order. I already explained this to the faculty at UA. But in essence, you can open the gates inside your body for a massive power boost. The downside is that, like with One For All, an unprepared body will be shattered by its use. Heck even for a prepared one it will be hell.

The gates exist because the human body simply can't take the full force of chakra without shattering. You must understand that even under the direst of conditions, I would hesitate to use this technique. Messing up would mean certain death"

Suddenly a light bulb appeared in All Might's head

"Does that mean that I can-"

"No" said Madara resolutely "For you it will be suicide. The shock on your body that opening even a single gate will cause may very well lead to a chain reaction that will break open all the gates, even the Gate of Death. I need not tell you that nothing can save you from death if that happens"

All Might nodded and, after thanking him for his time, he left to ponder what he had learned

-FLASHBACK END-

As he remembered, All Might couldn't but look at the battlefield. Was this the time to use it?

All For One was running as more and more of the crater where a city once stood was now being ringed with black flames. Even so, he couldn't help but notice that Rikudou's avatar was beginning to look somewhat more ghostly and it no longer had a head and one arm. It was clear that he was at the end of his line. He had reached his limit and without using the gates himself, he would lose.

Even if AFO didn't kill him, they couldn't allow him to escape.

And so, All Might dug deep for that one last remaining ember of One For All and sent it smashing with all his might into the place where he knew the first gate was located.

All Might gasped in pain as he felt the gate not open, but shatter and power unlike anything he has had or felt before was now coursing through him and returning him to his original form as a cloak of crimson energy, his own blood that was currently evaporating, formed around him.

He could feel young Izuku's eyes on him and the sheer horror that was exuding from him.

"Do Not Fear! For I AM HERE"

With that, All Might leaped into battle.

Even if it will be his last, All Might was determined to go out as a hero. Still, he couldn't but think back to his successor and how disturbingly tragic and similar this was to his own master's death.

'I have taught you all I can, young Izuku and I have become your brother's pupil in my own right.

Please forgive this selfish action of mine, but I still have one more person to save tonight.'

"ALL MIGHT!" screamed Izuku in horror

He knew what the red vapor signified. He knew what his mentor, the closest thing to a father he and Madara have ever had had just done, all for the sake of finally ending that monster that forced his elder brother to awaken those cursed eyes.

All Might was gone in a flash, and with a single punch, he broke through Madara's Susanoo, or what was left of it, and grabbed him. He brought Madara back and laid him on the ground. Izuku lost it and unleashed black whip, tearing through Best Jeanist's fibers and all but teleporting to his brother's side

"Ni-san!" called out Izuku

Madara gave him a soft and pitiful smile in return, looking up at him with his crimson Mangekyou eyes that more so much pain in them. Izuku turned his gaze to All Might only to find him gone.

He was flying through the air, kicking it to go even faster as All For One attempted to fly away. The battle with his brother had left him scarred and missing all his limbs. The only reason why his guts were still intact, despite the massive whole rippled into his abdomen, was that he was keeping them that way through some clever use of a telekinesis quirk. In the end, Madara had left him even more damaged than his previous fight with All Might ever did.

Izuku attempted to rise and do something to support All Might when Madara grabbed his hand

"Don't" he rasped

"What! Why?" demanded Izuku

Madara said nothing as he tried to stand. Izuku helped him, but it was clear that Rikudou had nothing left to give. Izuku would bet his life that he was using the last sheds of his chakra to power his eyes, possibly to create a last-ditch Susanoo to protect him and those around him.

Madara pointed his hand at the battle unfolding above and looked at the camera

"Look! Watch and burn this sight into your hearts and minds! Look and bear witness as the greatest of all the villains falls at the hand of the greatest of all the heroes"

"Ni-san" began Izuku

This was painful even for him, did his brother even know what he was asking the regular people of Japan?

"No! Don't you dare look away! Don't you dare disrespect All Might's final act. Watch and bear witness! This is the end of an era! Watch and bear witness as your hero fights for you!" roared Madara

Even weak as he looked right now, none could deny his words. Even the rest of the top ten heroes stood and bore witness, transfixed upon the battle in the sky. That night, all across Japan people stopped what they were doing and watched and cheered as one heart and one voice for their greatest hero to triumph. For evil to fall and good to prosper.

They all stood and watched as All Might, clad in crimson, saved them all.

As All For One tried to escape, All Might would send blows of pressurized air of such force that it parted the clouds and broke the ground. All For One was at his wit's end, desperate for anything he could do to survive, but against this level of power, there was nothing he could do.

Eventually, All Might managed to land a blow on his head, nearly crushing his skull, that sent him rocketing to the ground. All Might followed suit as he announced his last attack. The sum of all that he and seven others had cultivated added to a power learned from one's own pupils

"UNITED STATES OF SMASH!"

Time and space bent against his fist as a crimson lance formed behind him. The ground below shattered with such force that the resulting quake caused large-scale devastation through Japan. The resulting updraft forced entire buildings to be swept up. It was of such force that Izuku had to raise a shield to protect himself and the people around them from it, though he never looked away from All Might's last stand.

But it mattered not. The fist of justice had reached its mark.

As the smoke cleared, it was clear for all to see, All Might standing in that crater. The whole of Japan was silent for a moment, and then as the first ray of dawn bathed the area in sunlight, All Might rose one fist in the air.

Victory

The crowds all around Japan broke in tears, sobs, and cries of joy. Each end everyone was chanting

All Might's name.

All except two.

For Izuku and Madara knew what this truly meant.

As the sun rose enough, it began to form around All Might a halo of light. It was then that Madara finally allowed his Sharingan to tuned off and he let out a sob. Izuku did much the same as both brothers sunk to their knees and cried. Those around them were confused. They could not sense what they did. They could not sense as All Might's chakra finally flickered out.

As a slight breeze picked up, slight particles of dust began to flow upwards and away from All Might, until finally a sufficient gust of wind blew and All Might's charred remains dissolved into not but ash and dust, all blown in the wind. The greatest hero had given his all and all that remained were the two boys that stand as his legacy.

The ray of light that one shone on All Might now shone of Madara and Izuku, but they did not care.

The two young would-be pillars remained in that same spot and cried. They mourned the death of a mother and the final act of love from a father, a mentor, and a savior.

Dawn had come, and with it had brought both terMble pain and newfound hope.

For now was the time for mourning, for reconciliation.

After all, this was but the end of one thing and the beginning of another, and there was still much to be done, but that could wait... for now.

A/N I'm not crying you are crying