Chapter 17 - Shadows Below The Light

『 Omniscient POV 』

At the northern and southern shore of the Syrup Village, unbeknownst to its citizens, a couple of legendary battles are currently in play.

*Swoosh!!*

"Why won't you just stay still?!"

"Shit!"

*Bam!!*

But despite both battles being legendary, one is very much more dangerous than the other.

*Boom!!*

*Bam!*

And the said more dangerous battle was, of course, the one that Midoriya is currently facing off... alone, once again.

'How the fuck did this peaceful detour and shopping turned into a deadly one!?'

The green haired teen asked his own mind as he once again landed in front of the ship that he had stolen, which is now fully destroyed.

'Just how!?'

And just when he dodged another attack of his opponent, his question once again surfaced in his mind.

『 Several Hours Ago, Midoriya's POV 』

*Bam!*

"Yikes! I should've been careful! Thankfully, I only dropped the first bag and not all five of them at once."

I muttered to myself when I saw the damage that one of my five loot bags had made on the wooden floor that I had landed on.

The other four were being carried by [ Blackwhip ], which, to be frank, was quite the challege.

It took me all day to buy all of the things that I had listed and by the end of that, I already had four huge bags following me and one bag on my hands.

A situation that I found annoying and exhausting.

For one, because, although I did not really paid attention to it, I knew that I received some weird looks from the people that saw me.

After all, what kind of freak would pull four heavy, huge looking bags behind him while carrying another one in front of him.

And for two, because I had to look for the shops that was selling the stuff that I had listed for hours to no end.

With some of those shops being far away from the other, which took me quite some time to reach with my increasing baggages and all, at that time.

Fortunately, no one tried to mulct and steal from me despite me being an outsider.

"For once, we chose a peaceful island to stop by."

My thoughts turned into my own words without even me realizing, but as soon as I did that, I also realized that...

'... I just raised a flag, didn't I?'

Shaking my head to remove that thought out of my mind, I tried to look for my friends but in the end, I found... no one.

"Where the heck are they? It's already close to mid night and they are still not here? What happened to them?"

Left with no answer to my confusion and worries, I just decided to be productive and began to remove the things that I bought out of their bags and place them where they belong.

"Let's start with the cabin rooms first... of course, by that, I mean the sleeping area."

With that goal in mind, I quickly began to do my new task in hand... unaware of the eyes that was watching me from afar.

『 Omniscient POV 』

On the other side of the island, Luffy and Zoro can be seen relaxing in their own ways while Nami and Usopp continues to stand close to the edge of the cliff that they are currently located at.

With the last duo seemingly looking out for someone.

Well, not really someone, but a pirate crew.

That's right, Midoriya's red flag had already been raised by his friends way earlier than he'd like and the one that brought it to them was none other than, Usopp.

The son of Yasopp, a member of Shanks' crew and one of Luffy's close friend.

Hours ago, when Usopp heard that the straw hatted pirate said that, he exploded with pride as he shared his story to his new friends.

He shared to them how his mother used to talk about his father to him when he was young.

Because of her stories about him, Usopp admitted that, despite the fact that his father had left him and his mother behind, he was proud of his father.

That's the reason why, he'd sometimes tell to his friends that he'd become a great pirate just like his father.

Once he finished with his story, Usopp told to the trio that, from time to time, he will go to the large mansion that was placed on top of a hill to share a story or two to an unfortunate soul that was suffering to an illness... just like what he had done for his mother.

And although most of his stories were a lie, Usopp told to the trio that being believed at was not his goal but it was to bring joy to the people that he care about.

When they heard that, Luffy and Zoro gave him a respectful looks.

Although both of them knew that what Usopp was doing something that might backfired to him, they still respect the genuine determination that they felt from Usopp when he told them that.

After that, Nami asked Usopp to meet Usopp's friend as she would like to try to see if she can do anything about her illness.

Of course, although skeptical at first, Usopp still happily agreed once Nami explained that, as she started her journey at an early age, she had to learn everything necessary to survive... and a few medical books are included to the things that she had studied.

Usopp was not the only person who was shocked to hear that as even Luffy and Zoro's eye widen themselves when they looked at her.

Anyhow, after a few banter here and there, they all arrived at the gate of the mansion of this hamlet.

But instead of going for the entrance, Usopp led them to the side and showed them how to climb the mansion's fences like a pro.

After climbing the fences, one way or another, Nami and the others successfully introduced themselves to Kaya.

Though, the knowledgeable thief had not managed to do her goal as, short after their introductions, a man with glasses entered the scene and said some uncalled comments about how Usopp was worsening Kaya's illness.

And as if not satisfied with that, the four eyed man even made some comments to criticize his father for being a pirate.

When a certain duo heard him say that, Nami could have swear that she felt some cold wind coming from them.

Thankfully nothing extreme happened and after a while, Usopp ran out of the mansion... leaving the three pirates behind.

Though, Luffy and Zoro silently left too, which made Nami to do the same.

Then after a while, the trio found the brooding Usopp looking at the sun which was about to take its rest.

Without even talking with each other, the trio automatically joined him and they enjoyed the peaceful sight before them.

Though, that peace was broken the moment when they all heard the conversation that a weird looking man was having with the bastard that insulted Usopp.

The conversation contained the plan to invade the Syrup Village and kill Kaya for the four eyes to get her family's inheritance from her.

Hearing that, Luffy and Usopp was filled with rage but thankfully, Zoro and Nami made the rational thing to do and stopped the duo from revealing their presence and eavesdropping.

After a while, the four eyed bastard and the weird looking one, who turned out to be both pirates, finally parted ways and left their group in peace once again.

Shortly after that, Usopp quickly ran away from the group, with the intention of warning the villagers about the plan of the bastard and his crew.

But his efforts were met with angered shout by the villagers, this time true anger because his timing is not the right one as they are currently busy with their afternoon activities and so, they have no time to play whatever game he was having.

After that, he went and explained the truth to his friend, Kaya, in an attempt to get help from her.

But instead of believing him, Kaya also turned him away as she viewed his words and actions as his revenge from what her butler had said to him earlier.

When Usopp heard that, he began to feel desperate and so, he did some idiotic stuff and as a result, Kaya hit him in the face.

The moment that happened, he was devastated and so, he once again ran away out of that mansion.

Half an hour later, Luffy and the other once again found him and after some talking and few motivational speeches, Usopp gained the courage to face the pirates by himself if he have to, as long as he can protect his home.

Satisfied by his determination, Luffy and Zoro happily agreed at Usopp's request for help and so, they are now in the situation where Luffy and the others were currently waiting for the pirates that was about to come in this shore.

『 Few Hours Later, Midoriya's POV 』

Although exhausting, I managed to finish my job just before the small clock in my room point its hands at the number 12.

Despite my long hours of activities, however, my friends still had yet returned to our ship.

"I'm starting to get worried now."

I muttered to myself as I laid my back onto my newly fixed bed.

Although sleeping on a bed when sailing can be uncomfortable and dangerous at times, it is still more comfortable than the hammock that Luffy uses.

Also, I think Nami shares the same thought as mine because despite having her own hammock, she still used the bed in her room as her sleeping place than the hammock.

"Luffy and Zoro are strong and this place is quite peaceful so I doubt something will happen to them... besides that, I'm tired as heck so I will just look for them tomorrow."

With that being said, I finally closed my eyes and began to fully enjoy the comfort that my bed is offering to me.

Unfortunately, even though few hours had quickly passed by since I entered the Dreamland, something suddenly forced me to wake up and jumped out of the window that was intentionally close to my bed.

*Boom!!*

And not long after I got out of my room, I heard a loud noise before it suddenly erupted in flames.

Hesitantly taking my eyes away from the burning cabin, I finally noticed the figure that my [ Danger Sense ] were wary of.

'If not for my quirk, I would've been burning in there right now!'

Coming to that realization, I squeeze my eyes tight as I tried to look at the appearance of this unknown person while trying to overcome the blinding light that the Sun was giving me, as it slowly rise onto the sky.

"Who are you?"

I asked the person who I identified as a man, who was wearing some kind of black theme outfit covering his whole body from head to toe.

"Me? I am no one but the person who will bring you to the place where I came from... to hell!!"

After his useless introduction, the unknown man suddenly vanished from my view before I felt a sense of danger above my head.

'Damni-!'

"[ One For All; Full Cowling, 25% ]!!"

Realizing that cursing won't help me at my current situation, I hastily active my main quirk.

*Boom!!*

*Creek!!*

*Bam!!*

And thanks to that, although at the expense of our ship, I managed to counter the heavy punch that I received from my opponent.

"[ Fist Of Wrath; Punchless Blow ]!!"

*Boom!!*

*Bam!!*

Unfortunately for me, I underestimated my opponent as I failed to do anything but stay still as the man sent another attack on my fist.

'How did he do that without even punching!?'

Thankfully, although my mind is filled with confusion, I still managed to quickly raise the percentage of my quirk and thus, trusting my increased durability, I managed to tank the attack that he sent.

Sadly, the same couldn't be said with our ship as it was heavily damaged because of the man's continuous assault.

"Wait!! Can you at least explain why you are doing this!? This boat is the only way out of this island that me and my friends have and I will appreciate it if you don't damage it more than you already had!!"

After I distanced myself from my assailant, I yelled out my thoughts one more time to at least get an information out of him.

*Bam!!*

'Is that-!!'

Unfortunately, this guy seems to be anti-social because instead of talking with mouth, his response was in a form of a crimson glowing fist.

*Creek!!*

And after blocking his next dozens of punches, I grudgingly accepted the fact that the boat won't receive any mercy from this bastard.

Why?

Well, because at this point, majority of the boat had already been destroyed.

"Why you!!"

Tired of being at the receiving end, I finally gave up the peaceful approach and just decided to sent a punch of my own to his masked face.

*Bam!*

*Boom!!*

*Crack!!*

Once I heard the sound of cracking bones, the punches that was coming towards me suddenly halted.

*Swoosh!!*

And a second after that, a heavy flow of air suddenly pushed towards my opponent, making him lost his balance.

And perhaps because of the shock that my attack damaged him more than he expected, for the first time, the bastard chose to remain still in his place.

*Swoosh!*

Making use of this opening, I quickly dashed towards him and then bomb his body with dozens of punches, much faster and heavier than his previous ones.

*Bam!*

*Crack!!*

*Swoosh!!*

*Bam!!*

Because of that, multiple sounds of bones cracking as well as the sounds of heavy winds following my fists were filling my ears.

After a while, I finally stopped punching the bastard that destroyed our ship.

"That's what you get for destroying our ship, you bastard."

I muttered to myself with a low voice before I took a deep breath to calm myself down.

"Now then, to make sur-!"

But as if karma turned its eyes on me, the man once again vanished from my view just when my [ Blackwhip ] was about to tie him up.

'He can still move?!'

I thought to myself before I hurriedly search for him.

"[ Heaven Style: ]!!"

Deaspite my efforts, however, what made me locate him was not my eyes or any other senses but the angered voice that sounded out from... above myself once again, no, to be specific, he is above the clouds.

'Oh no you don't!!'

Sensing the dreadful feeling from my opponent, I did not hesitate to increase the percentage of my quirk once again...

"50%!"

*Swoosh!!*

*Boom!*

... Use that power to quickly appear behind him...

*Bam!*

"Achk!!"

... And sent a powerful kick onto his spinal cord.

*Swoosh!!*

*Splash!!*

A powerful kick which caused some high waves to form on the ocean below us, while the remaining few clouds above us vanished instantly because of the air that was produced by my attack.

Thankfully, the waves that I made were headed onto a landless sea and not towards a random island of this archipelago.

*Crack!!!*

*Thud!!*

And of course, this attack once again broke the hundreds of bones inside his body.

"I'll ask again, who are you?"

After reaching above the spider like crater that he landed at, I decided to ask my question once again.

'For him to be still alive even after having his bones broken for hundreds of times... he's dangerous on so many levels. And he was actively trying to kill me, but why?'

While I wait for his response, which was delayed because of his coughing, I couldn't help but ask myself questions that I had no answer to.

But as I was doing that, and looking at his silhouette behind the dust that is slowly dissappearing, I finally heard the noise of another battle going on somewhere from the other side of this island.

'What the hell is happening in this island?! First I was attacked during my sleep and now I'm hearing more noise of battle going on!! Hopefully, Luffy and the others are safe!'

"Wha-!!"

One of the things that I've learn throughout the wars that I've gone through was that, losing focus while in combat can cause you some... casualties.

*Bam!!*

And that's exactly what happened to me right now.

'Damnit!! After all this time!! I... I still...!!"

After I hardly stabilized myself in the air, I looked towards the person that sent that heavy blow on my guts.

"What?!"

But what I saw just confused the hell out of me, because...

"How!?"

The person before me is the same person who should've been having a hard time moving because of his broken bones and fatal injuries.

"How are you still fine!?"

"Playtime is over, now... die!!"

Instead of answering my confusion, the man before me chose to start his attack on me once again, devoid of all of the injuries that I had caused him just a few minutes ago.

[ To Be Continued ]