A Tarnished Hero

Chapter 42: Up The Wizard Lift

"Fucking dogs... I swear if I see any of them again in this godforsakan cemetery..." Izuku scowled, his hand gripping tight against the handle of his zweihander, the blade lodged inside a dog's corpse.

"What's your problem with dogs, anyway?" Katsuki questioned, his hands steaming from an earlier explosion he had wrought against a poor pupper. "I know they want to chew us to death, but they're fucking easy compared to the other enemies we fight."

"Easy?" Izuku turned his head so fast, one could imagine him getting whiplash. "Heh, say that again when you have dozens of these mongrels hounding you."

"So?" Katsuki still couldn't see the point. "What about those soldiers... or bandits dressing up as soldiers swarming us with numbers?" He scoffed slightly at the mental image. "As if any of those fuckwads could even lay a scratch on me."

"... You'll see." Izuku left it at that, leaving a puzzled Katsuki behind. The ash blond blinked twice, before shrugging and following the armored greenette into some kind of passageway lit up by torches on the outside and inside that a zombie and dog were guarding... Well, the dog was just lounging about and the zombie looked depressed, but semantics.

The passageway curved slightly to the right and at the end, they could see an open gate. Anything further was still covered by fog. However, they could hear something moving... Something mechanical... Like chains pulling and tugging, with the creaking of wood following.

Looking at each other, both Izuku and Katsuki nodded, their guards raised and ready in case something decided to jump them. Slowly approaching the open gate, Katsuki's eyes roamed the inner walls, his red eyes looking for anything out of place that may prove a hindrance to their advance. Izuku, meanwhile, focused on the gate, his right hand's grip tight yet loose, ready for anything that may be hurled his way.

The closer they got, the more the rumbling sound of chains and wood echoed within their ears. A bead of sweat dropped from Katsuki's chin and onto the concrete steps below. The stairs leading up to the gate were wet, their boots splashing amongst the little puddles.

They looked at one another one last time, the ash blond nodding his head and Izuku slowly going through the gate, his zweihander ready and waiting. His eyes scanned around every nook and cranny, and when he realized there was nothing waiting for them, he lowered his blade.

It was a relief to know that there weren't any ambushers hiding within the fog, but then again, where else could they hide? It was a literal concrete pathway going straight, with stairs at the end and...Izuku had to blink. Was that some kind of elevator?

Katsuki followed his gaze and had to blink as well. "The fuck is that?"

"I have no idea..." Izuku approached the thing, noting that there was an extended platform right at the middle of the bridge next to the giant lift that didn't seem to stop. Looking down at the bottom, they couldn't see the end, another huge platform made of wood slowly emerging from fog down under and making its way up, past them and into the fog overhead. "Might be some kind of lift... Though, I don't feel safe using it as of yet. What say we explore more for a bit?"

"I'm down." Katsuki nodded; his gaze turned towards the stairs at the other side of the bridge heading slightly up.

"Keep close then." Izuku took point and the two continued onward, ignoring the noisy lift for now. They scaled up the stairs and arrived at what seemed to be a field with statues of robed women praying and a giant monument right at the end.

What caught their eyes, however, was something swirling in the air just right next to it. Feeling the foreboding sense of something coming, Izuku tensed his grip and readied himself for a fight. Katsuki did the same, noticing the armored greenette's body language and readying his already sweaty palms.