Shadow Monarch Hero: Viridian (SMH: Deku rewrite)

All-Out Conflict

"Forget my previous orders! Take them down however you can!" Momo shouted to the Wyvern squad. She initially wanted to just disable the fighter jets, rather than blowing them up, but it was clear that Russia was serious. These planes could handle a blast from a Colonel Grade Synthetic Shadow. There was no room to be merciful.

She now had an idea as to why Russia was using SU-57s instead of a newer generation fighter. It was probably easier to work with older models when using Magical Metals. Sure the SU-57 was outdated, but with a complete invulnerability to standard weapons it didn't matter what fighter went chasing after it.

Only Momo's F-54s could handle the job now.

"Copy that, Empress."

The exchange took place just as the cloud cover thinned, revealing the city of Sapporo below. The beaches were overrun by Russia landing craft, with soldiers rushing for downtown. Meanwhile, destroyers behind them were peppering the city with shells. However, the shells didn't explode into fiery shockwaves. Instead, they landed in a puff of smoke, the interior of the shell loaded with some sort of pressurized gas.

Knowing that her jets could handle the skies, Momo stepped off the wing of Wyvern 1-2, allowing gravity to take hold and drag her towards the streets they were flying over.

Moments before hitting the ground, she created a parachute on her back, slowing her just enough so that she could hit the ground running, rather than putting a dent into the pavement. It wasn't necessary, she would've landed just fine without the chute, but it felt gratuitous to her.

She landed in a suburban neighborhood. It was littered with bodies. Children playing outside, parents watching them, friends talking. All of them were on the asphalt.

For a moment, Momo felt immense rage build up inside of her. But then she noticed something strange. Through her increased senses she could tell that everyone was still breathing.

Momo took a deep breath, feeling slightly woozy for a second. The air looked clean, but it was still filled with the gasses from that shelling. It wasn't poison, it was anesthetic gas. The fact that it affected Momo meant it was laced with Magic, so that any Heroes in the area would fall unconscious as well.

Momo injected herself with a stimulant of her own, clearing the effects of the gas for herself.

It was a sound strategy. Knock out everyone who could be a threat and just waltz into the city. But it begged the question - why not just use poisonous gas? Why put everyone to sleep? Ethics seemed like a strange conclusion to draw since Russia was declaring war on Japan. It wasn't like the UN had enough power to hold them accountable for any war crimes, and countries like America wouldn't care enough to involve themselves. There was a much deeper reason for why these people weren't just killed outright.

"Behemoth!" Momo yelled just in time for the tank shell to hit the Shadow rather than herself. There was a good chance she could've survived it, no problem. However, modern magical weapons created a brand new playing field. One had to handle the situation with care.

Of course, Behemoth was the Tankiest Shadow in the Army, with Null as a close second, so the shell exploded against his chest with zero effect. There was hardly a scratch that he needed to regenerate.

Momo peeked around the side of the giant, focusing her senses on the tank. It too, was made of magical materials.

There were several big reasons as to why humanity didn't make vehicles or weapons with Magical Metal most of the time. The biggest was that it was in short supply. There was barely enough of it to make bits of armor for Heroes, much less vehicles. The other reason was that it interfered with technology since it put off Mana.