A Tarnished Hero

Chapter 48: The Queen

The trip back to the locked door wasn't that eventful, save for some other sorcerers and their "henchmen" hearing the commotion in the main courtyard and deciding to fight Izuku and Katsuki. Of course, it didn't end well for all of them as the sorcerers found themselves forcefully drifting into lala-land and their "henchmen" being reduced to smears on the wall, courtesy of the ash blond.

Once that chore was all said and done, the duo returned back to the lift and rode it up, both Izuku and Katsuki being silent all the way up. They saw the opening at the top get closer, and as the moonlight from above dawned upon them, they saw a giant, closed door right in front of them, the lift stopping with one last click. Looking at each other, their eyes observed their surroundings, noting nothing much in the open area before what was probably the topmost structure of the entirety of this academy.

Approaching the door, Izuku laid his hand upon its metal surface, sliding his palm across its structure as he felt something from within beckoning him... Calling him...

"It's here." Izuku said as he turned back to Katsuki. "The Great Rune. I can feel it."

"So, what? I go back to that room and wait for you again?" Katsuki huffed with his arms crossed. "Fucking hell man, you sure you can't just do it in one try? Three days was already fucking boring, if you die multiple times, who knows how long we'll be here."

"... I know." Izuku sighed, hand leaving the metal door as he closed his eyes. "But I sure as hell can't find a way to bring you back to Japan if I don't get this Great Rune. So we're stuck at an impasse."

"Impasse my ass." Katsuki groused. "But fine, just go and die a few more times. Just make sure that you win in the end, got it?"

Izuku nodded silently and waved him goodbye, while giving him his bottomless box. The ash blond just shrugged and went back to the lift, accepting the box and stepping on the pressure plate that caused its mechanisms to come to life. Slowly, it sank, but Katsuki's eyes never left Izuku's as his body slowly vanished within the floor.

Turning back to the door, Izuku let out a huge sigh. Here it is. The culmination of the entire journey from the bottom of this academy. His heart thumped as he laid his palms on the door. He paused for a second or two, before pushing.

The door creaked and groaned as Izuku pushed it open. Pushing energy into his legs, he continued onward, the giant hallway daunting for a man of his stature. He could hear whispers gushing into his ears, eyes roaming around in search of threats, only to feel something on his foot. Looking down, he saw something, or rather, someone nibbling against his boot. Pulling leg back, Izuku readied his sword, only for the being to turn up and grin at him.

A child. A literal fucking child... Dressed in the robes of the sorcerers without any kind of headwear.

Then the whispers began to pick up, gibberish entering one of his ears and out the other. All around him, children with the same robes looked at him, faces grinning as they slowly approached him by crawling. Suddenly, something shone from above, right in the middle of the entire room. Looking up, he saw her

She was a towering woman – twice the height of a normal person. She was within some kind of golden bubble, and in her arms, she held what looked to be an amber egg, pulsing with untold power.

She didn't look at him, no, she didn't even care that he was there. She only had eyes for the amber egg that rests within her bosom, gazing longingly as it pulsed.

"Hush, little culver... I'll soon birth thee anew, a sweeting fresh and pure..." Her voice, melodic and regal, entered his ears. The chatter picked up, the children, all of them looking at him like they wanted to play, while giggles picked up in pace. Now, what the fuck was he supposed to do here? The Queen didn't want to chat, what with her being occupied with the amber egg, the children might as well be talking gibberish with how he didn't understand even a single one of them, and he sure as hell didn't want go full on murder hobo against them because it would just be in bad taste.