The King of Heroes: Null/Virtue

Xsis

5 Years Later:

In a not-so-crowded tavern on the outskirts of Fearis, sat a young man with a sword.

The tavern was run-down, being on the edge of the lands, and only there for the occasional travelers. But it wasn't a bad place either. Ever since the Fake War - which was what everyone called the war between Draxia and Vitrion, and Fearis and Miro - the lands of the two nations had been flooded with relief aid.

Now, the water was safe to drink, the crime was a fraction of what it was, the economy was shifting to from war-production, and there hadn't been a single border conflict. The most important thing, at least in the eyes of many, was that the nations of Fearis and Miro were repairing their relationships quite rapidly, at least in terms of geopolitical time-scale.

Of course, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Both nations had committed various crimes of rape, civilian murder, child soldiers, slave soldiers, and many more. The nations were healing their relationship with each other and the rest of Estaria, but the people would be scarred for decades to come and many had suffered permanent damage from the war or the lead toxicity.

People would remain bitter far longer than the cleanup process, but at the very least, thanks to Draxia's insistence on the people governing themselves, the people and the government were walking in lock-step for the first time in forever. That helped smooth things out.

That was all to say, this place was quiet as a mouse, and that suited the young man fine as he drank away his worries.

"Ya wanna talk about it?" A voice suddenly asked. One not belonging to the bartender, and one with far more Lumina than any ordinary person should have.

The young man instantly drew his sword and spun around, swinging the blade at chest level.

His blade, Excalibur, had never once failed to cut through anything, even other blades. And yet, it met with a satisfying CLANG sending vibrations up his arm.

"Hey, not bad!" Izuku complimented, holding Calamity in one hand and looking entirely non-plussed by the attempt to kill him. "Your reflexes have improved and you're not even using any stat boosting Items! Not to mention the last blade you swung at me shattered like glass! Big improvements!"

Ayrex Monoma Archon just grumbled to himself and sheathed his sword. "I thought you were someone Shigaraki sent after me. Since you're not an assassin from Mirrim, could you leave me alone?"

Izuku allowed Calamity to disappear into its pocket dimension, but didn't leave. Instead, he took a seat next to Monoma. "For the record, I would like to say I'm sorry about what happened to you. I also want to say that there are people who are proud of the decisions you made with your life. Of you being your own man and making the right choice-"

"What do you want? Everyone I ever meet, they just butter me up before they ask me for something."

Izuku paused and looked down at his hands. He made sure the barkeep was out of earshot before he said, "From one Shifter with a crap past life to another, I meant it."

Monoma's eyes became the size of dinner plates. "You're kidding..."

"Nope! Earth sucked ass for me. I was a genetic test tube monster super-soldier assassin baby in some lab... that probably doesn't sound super believable, does it?"

"No, but I can't imagine a local Estarian coming up with that lie either," Monoma replied, now significantly more relaxed than before. "Can't believe you would tell me that, though. With your position and power, you'd risk it all to-"