Shadow Monarch Hero: Viridian (SMH: Deku rewrite)

Floor 50

"Looks like the Lords of Heaven and Hell are finally gonna get what's coming to them," A lithe man said, leaning against a throne of pure onyx metal.

The man on the throne, made of metal himself, like an automata, scowled at the man besides him as they watched the carnage unfold amongst the many Floors that Momo and Izuku tore through.

"Your mouth betrays you more than you betray others."

"Well I've never betrayed you," the Lithe Man pointed out.

"But it is how you ended up as a bounty for all of the Monarchs and Rulers, Stain."

"These two are worth it..." Stain muttered, smiling at the display, "Something about them is so... pure..."

The metal man rolled his eyes. "And they too will realize the burden of a king. Then they will become impure."

"Just because you failed does not mean others will, Raia." Stain rebuked.

"History never repeats itself the exact same way... but it does repeat itself. We've been around long enough to prove that theorem."

"Then why help?" Stain asked.

Raia shrugged. "Because my people come first, and even if I don't believe in them, I must take this risk on the Shadows, for the sake of my kingdom... my family..."

Stain chuckled. "Now that's a true Hero."

Raia's lips twisted into a messy smirk, "Oho. You and I both know I'm not even close to a Hero." The magical display changed as Izuku and Momo reached a new floor. "I'm just a King."

*******

[You have gained 10 Levels!]

[1,523 Noble Tenebris Souls]

[Floor 50]

"Well this has almost been boring," Izuku said as they prepared to siege the 50th Floor, about a third of the way to their destination.

"I too am... surprised," Quorra remarked. "Your strength is more than we could've possibly imagined."

"We gave you a poor showing at first huh?" Momo asked, referring to their encounter with the Lux.

"It did give a distinctly different impression," The Angel admitted. "We knew you were effective combatants, but your first fights with the Lux and Tenebris betrayed your true potential."

So far, every Floor had been a repeat of the first city they Raided, just without a Boss of any kind. But all they really needed to do was destroy the artillery towers to cause the rest of the Tenebris to dissolve back into a Soul, which Merix referred to as a Spiritual Form.

And despite traversing 35 Floors, they didn't get many Souls or Levels, likely due to the ease at which they fought.

Izuku would never complain about something being easy. He hadn't been handed many easy moments in his life, but it made him concerned for the future of the Dungeon. If they didn't acquire enough strength, they wouldn't be able to face the Lux. On the opposite end of that, the ease of the previous Floors could have meant that the coming Floors would be anything but easy.

Izuku didn't know a ton about video games, but he knew that certain milestones led to a marked increase in difficulty. The 50th Floor seemed like it would be one of those milestones.

"How long have we been in here?" Izuku asked. Time, without a clock or sunlight, was pretty difficult to calculate inside of Gates. Some mechanical watches worked inside Gates, but they usually were broken during fights. Thankfully, someone like Momo was able to keep a pretty good track of that sort of thing.