Chapter 31 - Nightraid (V)

Author's Note: This chapter got a bit larger than I anticipated as I got somehow carried away but I'm sure none of you will be complaining about a longer chapter. For all of those who got fet up with this larger Raid story part, don't worry, this is the last one for this raid. I'm pretty excited about what I have planned for the next on so be prepared for the messed up fate of the world.

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As Hermann raised his shield and ran forwards to inflict any of his shield skills onto him it was quickly blocked by the wooden arm of the boss. The boss grabbed the upper rim of Hermanns shield and pulled it forwards as well as downwards to make him stumble. As Hermann realized this he quickly pulled his shield back in his inventory to avoid falling to the ground. His slight lack of focus, even if it was only for a split second, was rewarded with another wooden fist punching him in the stomach sending him sliding a few steps backwards. Preparing himself for the next punch Hermann reequipped his shield just in time to feel another punch colliding with it. Astonished Hermann was in shock as he had never faced an enemy with such strength as well as a useful quirk. In his head countless thoughts raced but none seemed helpful until he noticed a small notification.

As he looked up he saw the smiling face of his opponent right in front of him.

Boss: "Scared? If you want to defeat me then maybe you should try using your head."

Without waiting for an answer the boss reeled back his head and his forehead towards Hermanns nose. Quickly ducking his head behind his shield he managed to avoid the blow.

Boss: "It seems that up until now you have never faced someone else in real combat that had the potential to harm you. Let me teach you! Listen up! Your shield is not flexible enough. If you choose to protect your head..."

Suddenly he used one of his legs he had turned to wood to kick at Hermanns lower body which was not covered by the shield.

Boss: "Your sight gets hindered and your lower body is unprotected. If you truly want to fight like this then why don't you wear armor?"

At this moment the boss felt the blade cutting below the left side of his rib cage. Shocked he looked downwards only to see that Hermann had diverted his attention to his right by seemingly showing a lack of skill with his shield inviting him to try and kick his lower left side were his shield didn't cover his body anywhere.

Boss: "How? Why did you do something this dangerous?"

H: "I knew of your arrogance and simply exploited it to win. As simple as that. You said that you wanted to recruit me so I knew you weren't going to fatally injure me."

Boss: [Impossible! This damn fool! If I wasn't for that strange moment were I took a lot damage when I punched that shield I wouldn't have been so cautious about it.]

After evaluating the severity of his wound that was barely even a centimeter deep he answered:

Boss: "No matter. Such a small injury won't harm me. It is but a scratch."

As soon as Hermann saw the injury he knew he had won as nothing could heal the wound caused by his sword or even stop the bleeding. With that happy thought in mind he advanced closer towards his enemy. Using his shield once more to push him back to allow for openings he quickly stabbed right after in hopes of creating more wounds that would accelerate the death of his enemy. And so as they continued their fight Hermann managed to find another opening allowing him to sever the left arm of his enemy.

H: "Now tell me who is the overconfident one."

Boss: "It's just a flesh wound. Nothing to worry about."

H: "A flesh wound? Your arm is off."

Boss: "No it isn't."

With a mocking gaze Hermann looked at the ground were the arm laid. To his astonishment his opponent simply picked the arm back up and held it at the stump at his shoulder. Slowly small wooden tendrils emerged from the wooden stump, trying to reconnect with the severed arm. Pleased with himself the boss raised his arm.

Boss: "See? Good as new. Something as minor as a mere limb injury is not enough to seriously concern myself with."

H: "Oh really? Let's see about that! Why were you able to attempt to reconnect your arm with your body but were unable to heal the cut underneath your rib cage?"

Slightly sweating on his forehead replied:

Boss: "Something as minor as that is not worthy of my attention. Even a chopped off arm barely meets the requirements. As you can see..."

With that he attempted punch out with his freshly reconnected arm only for it to fall off and roll around on the floor.

Boss: "something as minor as this...WHAT??!! How is this possible??"

H: "I told you that you were overconfident. Now shut up and fight!"

Faced with the traumatic shock of being unable to reattach his arm the boss backed away and screamed:

Boss: "Stay away!"

in a extremely frightened voice. Never in his life had he encountered a situation were he couldn't recover from having been cut in his limbs. In fact he had never fought a battle were he even had a chance of loosing. As such he had no experience of dealing with a loss or the appropriate actions one had to take to avoid death in such a scenario.

With slow steps Hermann advanced towards the now terrified leader.

H: "Now that I think about it, I don't think I've had the chance to use my punches and kicks against people with my full power. I'm so glad you volunteered for the job."

Storing all of his equipment besides his mask Hermann sprinted towards the leader and kicked him upwards in the stomach. Accompanied by a loud crashing sound the leader bulldozed through the ceiling and the outside wall of the office building, across the street straight into the pizzeria and bashed his head into the counter painting it with brain juices.

H: [WEEELLL...I guess that was a bit over the top…]

H: [A useful thing called brain that this guy sprayed across the pizzeria where I wanted to eat later but now that the store is covered in blood and chunks of brain I don't think they'll serve me some pizza.]

H: [Sure why not, I mean what could go wr…]

As soon as Hermann decided to agree to the proposal he felt a fist impact his right cheek along with a loud shout

?: "Texas Smash!!!"

The punch and the winds generated send Hermann spinning back into the office building. After the world stops spinning in his eyes he can see a large muscular man with weirdly shaped blond hair turned with his back towards him declaring to the gathering crowd:

Almight: "Worry not! For I am here! As the symbol of peace I will protect you from this villainous Individual."

Then he turned towards Hermann and declared:

Almight: "Come here Demon and face justice!"

Chuckling Hermann rises up from the rubble that was created due to his impact with the already fragile structure of the office building.

H: "I know that suit. It's Altight!"

Almight: "Cease your mockery and face me. I will send you to prison to protect the innocent from your evil plans."

H: [Damn. After that whole fight I'm just totally disinterested and because of that punch that I noticed that I am by far outmatched. It is best to retreat for now and confront him once I have become stronger.]

To allow for a safe escape Hermann cloned the cells surrounding his wounds and additionally drawing back the blood to allow for the necessary cells to take that place once more. From the outside nothing could be seen as Hermann was still only visible as a void-black shadow. After the short time he had needed to 'heal' his wounds he began to prepare his escape.

H: "Hey Mr. Altight have you ever heard the saying 'Where the light is brightest, the shadows are the deepest'? It might be interesting for you to find out what lays beneath this office building. There should be a few files down there about the people down there and the people who funded them. Enjoy your reading. But I have urgent business to attend to so forgive for not being able to entertain you right now."

Almight: "Stay! Or I will chase you until you surrender yourself!"

H: "I'm sorry Mr. but you are not my type and seemingly a creep so excuse me. As for the poem...the opposite is also true. Only in the deepest darkness can light shine the brightest."

With that Hermann firstly activated his Energy&Matter perception ability that had grown to 25 meters and erased all light followed by releasing a bright light from himself after a second of adaption to the darkness to blind everyone similarly to a flash bang thus blinding everyone which helped him in his escape. After he had escaped closer towards the orphanage without anyone noticing he took off his mask, stopped his light absorption and reentered his room and closed the window. As soon as he was finished he erased all traces of blood in his clothing as well as repairing all damaged parts. Following up he changed into his pajamas and went to bed early oblivious to what would await him the next day.