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Izumi Kota—the nephew of Mandalay—had always hated heroes deep down. His parents, both Pro Heroes, had been killed by villains, leaving in his heart nothing but bitterness and rejection toward the very concept of heroism. In his worldview, heroes were pointless, meaningless existences.
So that night, while everyone else was occupied, he had slipped away to his secret base—a cliff that offered a panoramic view of the forest.
When the League of Villains attacked, Kota had also received Mandalay's emergency telepathic message. But before he could act, a tall, broad-shouldered man had emerged from the cave behind him.
Perhaps fate enjoyed cruel jokes, because this man—a member of the League of Villains—was none other than the villain who had murdered Kota's parents. A monster in human skin.
This was, without a doubt, the toughest enemy Midoriya Izuku had faced so far.
The man's Quirk was pure enhancement — the ability to strengthen his muscles to a superhuman level. No matter how much strength Midoriya channeled into One For All, even at one hundred percent, it was useless. His attacks bounced off the villain like strikes against solid steel, and in return, the recoil shattered every bone in his right arm.
And then, as if mocking him, Mandalay's second telepathic message had come through.
For just a fraction of a second, Izuku froze.
And that fraction was all the towering villain needed.
"See? You so-called heroes… always preaching about saving others… nothing but delusional fools."
The villain's voice dripped with mockery as his massive arm came down again.
Blood pooled beneath Midoriya's head, his consciousness wavering, his right eye swollen shut, his breath ragged.
Perhaps convinced victory was already his, the villain began talking, almost gloating:
"Hey, did you know? Your class rep—that blue-haired girl—she's our spy. Can you imagine anything funnier than that? U.A., the so-called top hero academy, harboring a traitor under its nose. What a joke."
"Shut… up." Midoriya, gritting his teeth, propped himself up on his shattered left arm. His gaze flicked toward Kota, lying unconscious and helpless nearby.
"You don't even know, do you?" the villain continued with a dark chuckle. "This training camp location—she's the one who gave it to us. Not just that—every one of your Quirks, every single weakness… all handed over by her."
Izuku's eyes fell to his mangled right arm. He closed them for just a moment, his mind flashing back.
When the camp ends, come find me… No matter what you want to say then, I'll give you an answer.
The voice—warm and certain—fueled his trembling frame.
But the villain kept going, his voice growing louder, more frenzied:
"Betrayal is disgusting, isn't it? That girl—don't let her cute face fool you—she's rotten to the core. You trusted her, didn't you? From what I've heard, you even like her. Hah! Pathetic. That 'innocent' girl you've been protecting? Nothing but—"
"Enough," Midoriya's roar tore through the forest, raw and ragged, cutting through the villain's words.
The man paused, then sneered, amused by the anger flashing in the boy's eyes.
"Oh? So you really do like her. Can't even let me insult her, huh? But don't misunderstand, boy—" With predatory calm, the villain started toward him, steps heavy, murderous intent radiating with every motion.
"At a time like this, worrying about her? You and this brat—you'll both be dead in seconds. Shouldn't you be begging for your life instead?"
Midoriya staggered upright, his broken body trembling violently. Deep within, One For All surged—unstable, burning him from the inside. His right arm was beyond repair; another strike at full power would turn it to useless shards. But none of that mattered now.
"Beg me," the villain snarled. "Maybe I'll let you die quickly."
And then, a voice—soft, cold, but sharp enough to cut through the roar of the forest—came from behind him.
"That won't be necessary."
The villain froze, confusion flashing across his scarred face. Slowly, he turned.
Not far behind him stood a girl with long blue hair, her eyes locked on him with an unmasked, chilling killing intent—Konata Izumi.
The moment Midoriya's gaze met hers, his pupils shrank.
Before he could even shout her name, instinct took over. Using what little strength he had left, he launched himself forward, dragging his battered body toward the villain in one desperate rush.
"This place… is dangerous. Go—!"
But her voice, steady and calm, cut through his panic: "Rest now. Leave this to me."
Something warm wrapped around him—her arms—and for a fleeting second, the world seemed to quiet.
A gentle glow swept through his battered frame, dulling the unbearable pain, easing the fire in his shattered muscles.
It was the first time she had embraced him.
And, in the deepest corner of his mind, Midoriya somehow knew—it might also be the last.
"I can only ease the pain… complete healing isn't possible yet." Konata's gaze never wavered from the villain as she spoke, her voice cold, sharp as tempered steel. "But I will make him pay."
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Konata knew one thing very clearly: the moment All Might arrived on the battlefield, it would mark the end of this night. Her remaining time was actually very limited.
Because, at the core of it, these League of Villains members were nothing more than pawns discarded by that man, All For One. Even if they were all captured, it didn't matter. He could afford that loss. But if she got caught by All Might, then she might truly leave this world with regret.
So, when she encountered that black-haired young man named Dabi once again—even though it was strange how he, who had been behind her, suddenly appeared in front of her—she didn't think too hard about it. After quickly warning him that All Might would arrive any second, she told him to gather all League members and retreat immediately. And as for her intel as the "insider," Dabi trusted her enough. Following his instructions, and carefully avoiding her classmates, she arrived at the edge of this cliff.
"Oi oi oi, I'm not seeing things, am I? The one who betrayed every single one of them… actually has the nerve to come out here and save them?"
The bloodthirsty, muscle-bound man recovered from the earlier shock quickly. His voice carried a cruel edge as he stared at the girl with twin green ponytails calmly standing not far from him.
"This form of yours… I think it's that idol, Hatsune Miku, right? In that form, do you really have any combat ability? I remember… I used to be your fan. So, what, you're trying to protect him?"
"You know, I really hate all this fighting and killing stuff. I think it's boring. If something happens, can't we just sit down, drink some tea, and have a nice chat? But nooo, everyone insists on fighting to the death.
Sometimes, I really wonder why people like you even exist. You have no conviction, no belief, just this mindless drive to destroy and kill. Look at you—grown man—and yet you pick on kids younger than you by who knows how many years. Do you even have the right to keep living?" Lowering her gaze, the girl stepped closer toward the muscle-bound villain.
"A long, long time ago… I don't even remember exactly how long. It was supposed to be a happy family outing. But because of one drunk driver, everything came crashing down. I was only five at the time."
The corner of her lips curled into a strange smile as she walked toward the villain, her voice low enough for only the two of them to hear. "I was lying in a pool of blood, red and white scattered everywhere… and the two people who loved me most… gone. You know, I realized then that death isn't the end of life. After brushing shoulders with death, I stopped fearing it. And people who treat life so carelessly… aren't worthy of having one."
By the time she finished speaking, she had closed the distance completely. Lifting her head, she showed him a pure, innocent smile. "Take a guess. What do you think five-year-old me did after that?"
"W-what…" The man instinctively stumbled back a few steps, fear etched all over his face.
From this girl, he could feel a darkness—deep, twisted malice, like an abyss with a demon lurking inside. She had changed.
When she let go of that boy, Midoriya Izuku.
When she tilted her head to look up at the night sky.
When she lowered her gaze again to look at him.
When she slowly walked toward him.
When she smiled, pure and untainted.
If, moments ago, she had seemed like any ordinary passerby, then now… the sheer pressure radiating from her was suffocating. An intense sense of danger swallowed him whole almost instantly.
Impossible.
Like the mythical Pandora's Box, a forbidden seal that should never have been opened—except now, the box had been thrown wide open.
"Hahaha…" He struggled to suppress the overwhelming pressure crushing his mind, laughter spilling out in broken, distorted sounds.
"What are you laughing at?" The girl tilted her head slightly, genuinely curious. "Me?"
Muscle fibers swelled under his skin, crawling along his arms until they covered his hands completely. His voice trembled with feverish excitement. "Fear… It's been so long since I felt this. You… you feel exactly the same as back then."
Meanwhile, Midoriya, after hastily tearing some fabric to bandage Kota's head wound, finally looked toward Konata.
He wasn't that surprised to realize Hatsune Miku was her—it was something he had already suspected. But this—this situation where the enemy seemed suppressed without her lifting a finger—what on earth was going on?
He hadn't faced her directly, so he didn't see the change in her. But looking at this eerie, almost unnatural scene, a bad premonition started to creep into his chest.
"You know…" Ignoring her earlier question entirely, the muscle-bound villain pointed at his left eye, a twisted grin spreading across his face. "Two years ago, there were these two pro heroes—Waterhouse, I think their names were. They managed to make me feel fear for just a moment. Back then, I almost… almost had my head blown off along with this eye. But too bad for them. In the end, I killed them. Just like I'll kill you, the one giving me that same feeling now."
His form blurred in an instant—attack initiated.
His Quirk, Muscle Augmentation, boosted his speed and strength to their limits. Pure enhancement, to the point where the muscle growth burst through his skin and covered his body, amplifying his power even further.
So what if she made him feel fear? At this distance, there was no way she could dodge his attack.
The mountain wind swept up dust and gravel as his movement stirred a violent whirlwind.
In an instant, his muscle-covered fist crossed the distance and appeared right in front of her. He didn't care about anything anymore. Whether she was a comrade or the idol whose songs he once loved—none of that mattered. A full-force blow that could turn the cliffside into rubble was now aimed at the small girl in front of him.
From behind, he could vaguely hear the pained shout of the boy lying wounded. But the fist was already at her face.
His grin grew wider, madness gleaming in his eyes. He wanted to see her panic, to see her crumble.
But… her expression stayed the same—calm, almost indifferent. Only those emerald-green eyes held something deeper, something unreadable.
She let out a soft sigh, almost exasperated. Even in this moment, she found the time to speak.
"Judgment begins."
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The night wind atop the mountain was cool, and above, the starry sky shone brilliantly, so close it felt as if one could reach out and touch it. Beneath that sky, the silent forest burned under ghostly blue flames.
Here, on this rarely visited mountaintop, Midoriya Izuku witnessed another side of the girl—one he had never expected, a hidden form of her—though it disappeared quickly afterward.
"W-what…" The man stared in terror as his arm, which had just struck at the girl, began to crack from the fingertips upward. A bone-deep chill crawled up from his feet and along his spine.
He knew better than anyone the terrifying force behind that punch. Even he would never dare to take it head-on. If the girl had dodged or blocked in some way, it would've made sense. But she hadn't even moved. His punch had clearly landed. And yet… why had it done nothing?
No, it wasn't just ineffective. It had bounced back at him—completely. He could already feel it now. The bones in his right hand were thoroughly shattered, as if his own strike had been reflected back onto himself.
How could such a thing even be possible?
"As a member of the Hatsune Legion, you actually dared to attack me. What exactly is going through that brain of yours?" Tilting her head, the girl gave him a strange smile, then slowly reached out her hand, grasping at the empty air.
"I told you before. Disgusting existences like you don't deserve to remain in this world, let alone possess life. So next, you can prepare to—" Then she noticed the man staring strangely at her right hand. Frowning, Konata glanced down—only to see that what she was holding… was a leek.
Konata: …
And just like that, the tension on the mountaintop crumbled in an instant.
Silently staring at the leek in her hand, Konata suddenly had the urge to curse out loud. Couldn't she stay cool for just a few minutes? She had wanted to summon Shana's Flame of Heaven and, in her near-invincible state, finish this quickly. But she'd forgotten the biggest flaw of her current transformation—Hatsune Miku's overwhelming exclusivity.
As the world's number one princess, Hatsune Miku would never willingly harm anyone. Which meant this transformation… had zero combat ability.
So now she couldn't summon Flame of Heaven. She couldn't use her Railgun's electromagnetic fields. She couldn't do anything. And thus… she summoned a leek.
And what was she supposed to do with a leek? Was she seriously supposed to pull off some kind of "Leek Spin Giga Slash" against this guy?
Just imagining herself charging at the enemy swinging the leek made Konata feel like all the color had drained from her life.
Of course, the reason his attack had bounced back earlier was simple: he was one of her million fans. Any damage inflicted by a fan was automatically reflected. And even if he wasn't a fan, the damage would've been distributed among those million fans, rendering it negligible. That was why she hadn't even thought to dodge.
But now, having summoned a leek in front of everyone, she realized the situation had once again spiraled out of control.
Her original plan was to use this moment of "dark Konata" to teach Midoriya a good lesson—something to keep him from obsessing over her anymore.
But now what was she supposed to do?
Especially when that bloodthirsty muscle freak and Midoriya were both staring at the leek in her hand with equally baffled expressions.
It was like a gang boss gearing up for a life-or-death showdown, digging into his bag for a machete, only to pull out… a sparkly magical girl wand.
After a brief, suffocating silence, Konata turned away and casually tossed the leek in Midoriya's direction. It traced a perfect arc through the air before landing neatly in front of him.
After a few forced coughs to mask her embarrassment, Konata pretended to be calm as she said,
"Eat more leeks from now on. They're good for you."
Muscle Villain: …
Midoriya Izuku: …
The atmosphere instantly grew even more bizarre. Konata felt a wave of despair and wanted to throttle U.A.'s informant a few times.
She desperately tried to steer the tone of the scene back on track, but at this point, what could she even do? She was just as hopeless as anyone else.
"Are you… mocking me?!" Barely steadying himself, the muscle-bound villain roared at the girl with her back turned to him, charging forward again.
He didn't understand why she had said those words. He didn't understand why, when she could've easily killed him, she'd pulled out a leek like it was a joke. And now, with her back turned toward him—toward him!—it was the ultimate insult.
Being ignored once was bad enough. But to have her back to him now? That was pure humiliation.
He didn't know how she'd reflected his attack earlier. But he was certain that ability had a limit. If he just hit harder—
And then, once again, he got flattened.
Konata turned her head, staring silently at the muscle-bound idiot now lying half-dead on the ground. She could only fall into deep silence.
She had expected muscle-for-brains to be… well, not the sharpest tool in the shed. But this level of stupidity? Even after proof that attacking her was completely pointless, he just had to keep hurling himself at her.
So now… what was she supposed to do?
Turning her gaze toward Midoriya, Konata suddenly felt a headache coming on.
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Sorry for not updating yesterday, I was a lil busy. Also, the powerstones reached the goal for an extra chapter… which means I owe two? Or maybe one. Hmm.
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