Chapter 450 - My CO Stash #50 - Shadow Monarch Hero: Deku by Shadow Sovereign (MHAXSoloLeveling)

-Did not expect for the author to actually put Jin-Woo into this crossover considering Izuku yoinked the system already, but it'll be really cool if Jin-Woo gets OFA instead!

Synopsis: Izuku Midoriya is the World's weakest E-Rank Hero. Barely able to pay for his mother's medical bills and keep himself alive, Izuku finds himself waking up in a hospital bed after supposedly dying. Suddenly blessed with his very own "Quirk," Izuku is no longer the weakest. In fact, he just might very well become the strongest. (Solo Leveling Crossover)

Rated: T

Words: 215K

Posted on: fanfiction.net/s/13650915/1/Shadow-Monarch-Hero-Deku (Shadow Sovereign)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics/originals mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1-3 (exceptional)

The Gates. Bridges between dimensions.

On one fateful day, these Gates popped into existence all around the world, monsters of all shapes and sizes pouring out of them like an infection. They held no weaknesses to modern conventions. Not even tanks or missiles could kill them. They came to be known only as… Villains.

From the start, it was humanity's battle to lose. The Gates were metaphysical and could not simply be boarded up. The only way to close them permanently was to enter them and kill the "Boss" Villain. Some were powerful enough to tear entire squads of soldiers apart, others could wipe out armies. Or at least, that was the estimate. Bosses never left their Gates and the basic Villains were enough to decimate humankind on their own.

Entire cities were lost, and Villains were running rampant. Entire Governments were in disarray, the public was on the verge of total anarchy, and it had only been three weeks. But then, everything changed.

The first of Humanity's weapons emerged. Heroes as they would come to be known, exploded onto the scene. Each and every one of them wielding Quirks, powers that allowed them to fight the Villains head on and win. They could be as simple as increased strength, or as powerful as a scorching inferno.

While the massive influx of attacks by Villains was being steadily subdued, the amount of Hero deaths in those early days was astronomical, so a system was put in place. Heroes, Villains, and Gates were given a value, a Rank if you will, to ensure that a Hero never took on more than they could chew.

Unfortunately, not all Heroes were created equal and I was a victim of that system. I am the World's weakest E-Rank Hero, I had no unique Quirk, and I had come to find myself at the mercy of the World's most powerful dungeon, "The Double Lair."

I was at the edge of death, alone and beset on all sides by villains. But as my vision faded and I sunk into unconsciousness, I felt a gentle touch on my head and from there, everything changed.

Upon waking up, I found myself in a hospital, completely safe and blessed with my very own Quirk, "The System." A quest window that only I could see. If I completed the quests given to me by this System, I could grow stronger, I could surpass the weakness that held me down.

My name is Izuku Midoriya and this is the story of how I became the World's most powerful Hero!

Chapter 2

"There's a Villain Gate by Tatooin Station! I hear some sort of giant broke through the Heroes lines!"

Those two sentences sent a shock of excitement through Izuku Midoriya's body as he watched the masses begin sprinting towards the site. Not because he liked watching Villains rampage, but because he loved watching Heroes take them down. It was a spectacle that anyone and everyone loved to watch, a spectacle that proved Humanity wasn't just some punching bag, that they were a force to be reckoned with.

Of course, while this was the excuse Midoriya gave out, it was not the truth. Every takedown, every display of Heroic power gave him the extremely satisfying catharsis he could not give himself.

Izuku Midoriya, like most of the world's current population, was considered an E-Rank Hero, but unlike the majority of the world, he did not have any unique Quirk to accompany him. He was completely special in that regard, which only made him mundane in the eyes of the rest of his peers. He didn't have the same increased strength that came standard with being a Hero, or the slightly increased regeneration. Midoriya was as weak as they came.

If he were to face off against even the lowest of E-Rank Villains, it would take all of his efforts and a healthy amount of luck to escape with his life. He wouldn't even be able to hope to defeat his enemy.

For all those reasons and more, he found himself inexorably drawn to every last Hero fight he could witness. And before he even knew it, Midoriya found his legs rapidly pumping as he followed closely behind the crowd.

As he neared the station, Izuku found his eyes tracking far above the railways to gaze upon the Shark-headed villain tearing apart the surrounding area. Just behind him, Izuku could see the telltale signs of a Gate. The swirling blue ethereal portal stood fifty feet in all directions.

Though Izuku himself was adept at sensing the intricate energies coming off the Gate, he had seen enough to recognize the pattern. It's rotary speed and the duration of the particles coming off of it told him it was a low B-Rank at best. Highly dangerous and yet, hundreds of people had crowded around to observe as if it was an everyday occurrence. Probably because it was.

It had been decades since the first emergence of Gates and in modern times, people had become desensitized to it all. Heroes were always stationed at Gate entrances, so even in the event that some Villains snuck out, they were typically dealt with in a matter of seconds. In this case, it was none other than Kamui Woods at the rear guard.

His body was completely unnatural, made entirely of wood that bent and flowed like water. With roots shooting from Kamui's body to entangle the Villain, Izuku made haste to pull out his latest notebook, nearly missing a second giant join the fight.

"EAT THIS!"

With a roar that would put a dragon to shame, Mount Lady, a Hero with Gigantification Quirk, brought a massive iron mace to the side of the Villain's head, deeply denting its skull.

Midoriya almost sympathetically winced, forgetting for a moment that it was a Villain, an interdimensional monster that only existed to kill.

Mount Lady was an A-Rank Hero. At the top of her game, it wasn't unfeasible for one strike to be all she needed to take down the threat. In fact, as the Villain collapsed to the ground, Izuku was able to make out his unmoving body.

The sudden beeping of an alarm shook Izuku out of his focus and he looked down at his watch, blanching as he did so, "I'M GONNA BE LATE!"

Izuku hated the feeling of his current clothing. His sweatshirt hung too loosely and was so baggy that he ended up spending a good two minutes trying to shove all of it into his too tight pants.

These were his "Hero" clothes so to speak. They were the only clothes he owned that he could also afford to lose. On multiple occasions, Izuku had considered his form-fitting school uniform, which was by far more comfortable. But school uniforms were expensive and Izuku didn't have the skill needed to knit the clothing back together well enough to hide the claw marks and bladed attacks.

Approaching a construction site, Izuku looked down at his phone making sure that this was, indeed, the site of the D-Rank Gate.

While Pros were officially licensed and run by the Government, thus giving them access to more power and more money, it wasn't necessary to become a Pro Hero to clear Gates. It was, however, necessary to be in possession of a Beginner's Badge, an ID of sorts that confirmed the person in possession was able to make their own informed decisions about entering Gates.

Izuku grimaced in response to the memory that thought brought up. It had taken months of convincing and conniving to get his own Beginner's Badge without a Quirk of his own. In reality, he shouldn't have been able to get a hold of it in the first place.

"Again?!" Izuku heard a familiar voice cry out in his direction and flinched in response.

"Uh… good afternoon Miss Yaoyorozu."

Turning on his heel, Izuku came face to face with Momo Yaoyorozu, an irrefutably beautiful girl who was a good 7 centimeters taller than him. Her obsidian hair was currently hanging low over her back as she attempted to work it up into a massive ponytail.

Izuku had a hard time not staring at her. Every bit of her body was as if it was hand-sculpted by the gods. No matter how much of a gentleman he was, her chest always demanded a quick glance from him, much to his shame.

Thankfully, Yaoyorozu was too caught up getting herself ready to focus on Izuku's emerald-green eyes.

"I keep telling you, it's just Yaoyorozu… or Yaomomo. It's what my friends call me. Besides, we're the same age."

Izuku bowed low, "I'm sorry Mis- um… I'm sorry Yaoyorozu."

Yaoyorozu fought to not roll her eyes. Her father always scolded her about how unladylike it was. "What happened this time?"

Izuku stood up straight once more and scratched the back of his head nervously, "Oh… it just happened while doing some Hero work."

"Sure… what actually happened?"

Izuku sighed, knowing full well where this was going.

As expected, he ended up sitting on a nearby piece of rebar with the girl as they waited for the entire Hero party to be assembled.

"You even went to a hospital?!"

"Yeah," Izuku mumbled, red hot embarrassment filling his body, "It was an E-Rank and I was the only one hurt."

"How could you have gotten hurt that badly in a party?"

Izuku found himself wishing that he didn't exist at that moment. Here he was, sitting with the drop-dead beauty of a girl and he was spilling his guts over why he was so weak. It was detestable, it was shameful, it was just straight-up horrifi-

"Midoriya?" Yaoyorozu's concerned tone dragged him back to the present and he shook his head.

"Sorry, it's been a long day and I haven't managed to snag any coffee yet." He chuckled lightly in an attempt to ease her mind, but her gaze only grew more concerned. "I swear, it's nothing… I'm fine."

Yaoyorozu finally nodded, giving up her immediate concern for him and instead choosing to ask, "Why do you even want to be a Hero?"

Of course, it was only Izuku's luck that a change of topic would draw him back into that pit of shame and disappointment.

Earlier That Day:

"Since you're all third-years, I think it's time for you to seriously take a look at your future and think about what you want to become." Izuku held his head low to his desk as his middle-school teacher spoke, "I'll be passing out the handouts now, but…" The man threw the papers into the air, "You're all pretty much planning to go into the Hero course aren't you?!"

The class screamed "Yes!" In affirmation and Izuku meekly raised his hand alongside them. He might've already been able to do Hero work with his permit, but Izuku didn't dream of merely staying at the bottom of the ladder. He wanted to climb as high as possible and reach his favorite Hero, All Might. To do that Izuku needed to go to the very best Hero school.

"UA High?!"

Izuku realized the rest of his class was staring at one Katsuki Bakugo. He didn't need to hear the rest of the conversation to know that the blond was bragging about how he was totally going to enroll at UA and get accepted for sure. He had been like this since childhood and showed no signs of changing anytime soon.

The teacher nodded as he looked at his papers, "Oh? It looks like Midoriya wants to go to UA as well."

Izuku attempted to bury his head further into his desk, but the attention of his peers drew it back up.

"You can't get into UA's Hero course just by studying!"

"Yeah! A Quirkless E-Rank like you stands no chance of getting admitted."

"H-Hang on!" Izuku tried to break through their wall of shouts, "They abolished that rule! T-There's just no precedent- AH!"

Izuku was flung back as Bakugo slammed his palm down on his desk, a mini-explosion sending him flying backwards into the wall.

"Listen here you Quirkless loser!" Bakugo shouted, "You'll never make anything of yourself! You're below even the rejects! So why don't you just take a nosedive off a building!"

"Bakugo," The teacher said calmly, "We don't accept that sort of talk here."

Izuku didn't bother to mention that the teacher had only spoken up after Bakugo had made his point.

Grinning arrogantly, Bakugo took his seat once more, a final, "Worthless," Thrown over his shoulder at Izuku.

Present Time:

"Worthless, huh?" Izuku murmured to himself as he looked up to the partially constructed building, wondering if he should just make the climb now and save everyone the trouble. But Yaoyorozu's calming hand on his shoulder dislodged the bleak thought from his mind. He had a responsibility to his mother, he couldn't leave just yet.

"Midoriya? You keep spacing out?" Yaoyorozu suddenly blanched and hopped off the beam before bowing, "Forgive me, I've caused you discomfort with my question!"

Izuku waved her concern away with a wide smile, "Nah! It's nothing! I just wanna become a Hero for the fun of it! I think I'd die of boredom if I didn't have this job to keep me company!"

Yaoyorozu looked like she wanted to say something else, but a nearby, "Alright! Let's get this show on the road!" Cut her off.

Looking over, Izuku saw their raid leader standing at the ready and pushed himself to his feet. Clenching his fist, he steeled his nerves, "Time to prove my worth."

Chapter 3

"You say you do this for fun, but if you keep having fun, you're going to end up dead!" Yaoyorozu complained as she used her unique Quirk to create bandages that she wrapped around Izuku's injuries after spilling some potion over them.

Yaoyorozu technically wasn't a healer Hero, but her ability to create medical supplies and healing potions that no one else could make from her mana made her a vital asset to any raid she was a part of.

Izuku shrugged, "Sorry."

"Midoriya… the way you fight… it's awful, you put yourself in danger so readily, without any concern for yourself." Yaoyorozu looked directly into his green irises, "What is the real reason behind not quitting your job as a Hero?"

Izuku looked down at the small crystal in his hand. The Villain Core was likely the only money he would make off this raid. It was a tiny E-Rank piece, barely enough to keep him afloat.

"I just… wanna be a Hero I guess. Save people and all that," Izuku said as he thought back to that one catchphrase, that one internet clip of a certain Hero rescuing hundreds from Cala island as the S-Rank Gate emerged.

His reasoning wasn't necessarily a lie. Izuku relished the thought of being able to save people from the rampant Villain Gates that appeared without abandon. But of course, that was just a dream, this was reality. And in reality, Izuku was a Hero because it was the fastest way for someone like him to make money, to both take care of himself and his mother's medical bills.

Obviously, Izuku hated handing out that factoid. He was already weak and struggling as it was, he didn't want to bring any more shame upon himself by asking for handouts.

"Hey everyone!" Kaito Otachi, the Raid Leader, shouted out, "Listen up for a moment!" With a jet-black katana resting on his shoulder, he certainly fit the image of a warrior, even with his wrinkled appearance, "Since the Gate hasn't closed yet, it looks like the Boss is down this tunnel. Since none of us are employed by any Hero Agencies, it's up to us if we want to take this thing on." He nodded solemnly at some of the cautious glances he was receiving, "It's going to be dangerous, so we could always just wait for the more skilled Heroes to come in and kill this thing. On the other hand, our profit margin will go way down. So, I have a proposal. The seventeen of us will take a vote, and no matter what the result, no complaining when we're done."

Two of Kaito's old buddies immediately agreed, then two other Heroes voted against continuing. Eventually, the final two votes came down to Izuku and Yaoyorozu.

"I-I don't want to go." Yaoyorozu stuttered out, one hand grasping her arm.

"Hmm," Kaito acknowledged, "Eight to eight. Which just leaves one."

All eyes focused in on Izuku who fidgeted under their gaze for a moment as he looked down the Boss's tunnel. It was claustrophobia-inducing, roughly made from stone, and likely had a deadly Villain at the end that was willing to kill them without hesitation. But, steeling his nerves, Izuku met Kaito's eyes, "I'm going!"

"Just one last time, for my mother, for us."

Izuku wrung out his hands nervously as he stole a glance at Yaoyorozu, "Hey… I'm sorry about forcing you to come by voting yes."

"I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me?" Her eyes were hidden by her bangs and her tone was anything but fine.

"Are you… really okay?"

Yaoyorozu exploded like Izuku had never seen before, "No! Of course not! Are you crazy?! If that stab had been just an inch higher, you would've had a hole in your heart! Not to mention all the other wounds I had to patch up! What even made you say yes?! Did you hit your head too?!"

"Sorry," Izuku mumbled, "Once again, she's right and once again, I'm in her debt."

" Are you sorry?"

"Yes."

Yaoyorozu heaved out a sigh, sufficed with her rant, "Then if you're really sorry, maybe you can pay me back by having some lunch with me."

"..." Izuku was stunned silent for a moment, until Yaoyorozu spun around and locked eyes with him, thankfully missing his blush in the darkness of the cave.

"What? Do you not want to eat with me?!" Yaoyorozu asked with mock offense.

"N-No!" Izuku said a little too forcefully, "That's not it at all! I-"

"Hey!" Kaito yelled out, "I think this is the Boss's door."

It was a tall, two-door entrance, blue with gold trims and detailing. Its handles were the old-fashion type of door knockers. Two simple massive rings to pull the thing open.

Quietly, so that no one else could hear, Kaito's two friends whispered to each other.

"Hey… this feels dangerous." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah," The second man agreed.

"Alright people!" Kaito announced, "This is it! Let's make some money!" Resting his palm against the door, he lightly shoved, opening it with next to no resistance.

A chill settled against Izuku's spine and for a moment he considered stopping, turning around and running away. But the surrounding Heroes convinced him otherwise.

"Mr. Otachi is one of the most skilled C-Ranks out there."

"If he weren't about to turn 60, he could've chosen any Hero Agency he wanted."

"We trusted him this far. It only makes sense to keep going."

Just like that, opinion had shifted in Kaito's favor and before he knew it, Izuku found himself stepping cautiously into the dark room.

About to throw a fireball into the room to light it, Kaito was nearly blinded by the torches that exploded into existence with blue fire.

"Oh… wow," Izuku breathed out as he gazed upon the massive stone-walled room. It was a good two hundred feet in diameter. The edges of the room were covered with giant stone statues that stood only five feet apart. The real attraction, however, was at the very back of the room. A king's throne occupied by a statue at least three times the size of the others. Its head was adorned by an odd crown and it seemed to be wearing some sort of robes, like the senator's of ancient Greece.

"I've never seen anything like this."

"Are we sure this is still a dungeon?"

"Don't be stupid."

"You think the statues are the enemies? There's nothing else here."

"Do I really have to repeat myself? They're statues, they don't move. Don't be stupid."

Yaoyorozu found herself hugging closer and closer to Izuku, "It… feels like someone's watching us."

"Come on now Miss, don't talk like that, it's only gonna scare the others," Kaito reprimanded.

Izuku could help but find himself agreeing with Yaoyorozu, even if he was the more inexperienced Hero.

"Mr. Otachi! I think I found something! You should come see this!"

What the Hero had found, was by far the most curious thing in the room. Another statue, tucked away besides the massive statue at the back. It was an angel of death, a slab of engraved text held in its bony hands.

"Hey… isn't that Runic?"

"Anyone know it?"

Yaoyorozu quickly volunteered herself, always happy to show off the skills not related to her Quirk.

"Carthenon Temple's Commandments. First, worship the Lord." Izuku suddenly shuddered, the same chill he had felt earlier tracing its way down his back. Turning around, he was certain he caught the movement of one of the bigger statue's eyes. "Second, praise the Lord." Izuku squinted closely, attempting to discern anything he could from the behemoth carving. "Third, prove your faith. Those who do not follow these commandments, will never return alive."

Izuku and many from the rest of the party, found themselves jumping in shock as a bang echoed through the apparent Temple. Looking over to the source of the sound, Izuku's veins filled with ice, the door had slammed itself shut.

For a few crucial seconds, not a sound could be heard, not even the labored breathing of Yaoyorozu.

Finally, a muscle-bound Hero threw his hands in the air, "That's it! I'm done with this shit! It was a mistake to even come here! Enjoy the Boss's treasure!" Strutting towards the door, he reached out for the ring handles.

"No…" Kaito mumbled at first, his body completely tensing up, "DON'T TOUCH IT!"

The distinctive screeching of stone on stone filled everyone's ears and then… a simple WHOOSHING of air.

Just like that, their party member was dead and in his place, stood one of the stone statues, his mace extended out and covered in crimson blood.

"It… moves…?" Yaoyorozu squeaked out, her legs beginning to shake.

"Wait… if that one moves… then," Izuku's head swiftly whipped around to face the king. He hadn't moved a muscle, but his eyes were glowing bright orange and staring down the helpless teen.

"Oh… god…"