Volume 1 - Lord Of Mysteries - Begins!
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In the alleyways of Tokyo, darkness choked the sound out of the steps, screams of panic going unnoticed.
Wearing a blue one-piece, and lush-red lipstick, a woman was running, her bare feet slipping on the grimy, rough ground.
"Help!" she cried, dryness becoming needles inside her throat. "Please… Somebody… Help!"
She looked over her shoulder and saw the darkness taking shape, her heart lunging to her mouth.
Her foot struck a brick.
She fell.
She dragged her body forward ignoring the pain banging inside her toes. She again looked back, her nails grinding on the ground.
It was a man.
Dark. With lust in his eyes.
The woman lashed out with her left hand. Bubbles exploded from her palm, engulfing the space between her and those eyes.
"Hahaha!" the man laughed as those bubbles popped after touching his body. "What a useless Quirk you have there, missy…" He licked his lips.
The woman stood up and limped. "He…"
This time, the man behind him lifted his right hand, his palm aiming at her legs. A short, black thorn came out, parting his skin, and then it shot toward the woman.
With a bloody squelch, it struck her limping leg and passed right through it.
A scream of agony and hopelessness echoed, melting into the darkness.
This time when the woman fell, she knew she wouldn't be getting up.
"Haha!" the man laughed, now standing only a few feet away from her. "Sluts like you… should be more careful… no?"
The woman cried. "Please…"
The man's laugh died as rage took over. He took a firm step forward.
It was then they heard voices.
"… I can't…"
"All Might's Balls! Just suck it up!"
"… I can't… I am… gonna… vomit…"
"Here. Stuff my feathers inside your mouth."
"…? Ew!"
It was like the bickering of two children; a boy and a girl.
So, when they saw a full-grown man walking out of the shadows with a crow on his shoulder, they just didn't know what to think of it.
"Crow your mother!" the bird shrieked. "You motherfu…"
"Nyx!" the man wearing a white lab coat exclaimed at the profanity, his eyes widening. He had a headful of black hair with glossy black eyes.
The villain standing beyond the woman frowned. "I didn't say anything…"
The bird scoffed. "You were thinking it! I am a raven. Name's Nyx. But I will allow you to call me Your Highness, you mongrel."
Nyx had a voice that felt like she was a girl in her late teens. However, it also carried with it a touch of coarseness.
The white lab coat-wearing man was holding a handkerchief on his nose. And it didn't need much brains to figure out that he just abhorred standing there… surrounded by filth and smell.
The villain, Black Thorn, didn't like it.
Why they all thought themselves to be higher than him? Why? First, it was this slut! Now, a freaking talking bird? He hated it. He hated them all.
He again lifted his right hand.
The bird lifted her wing.
Black Thorn stepped back, expecting an attack. Living on the streets had made him astute enough to expect such things.
Surprisingly, no attack arrived.
The bird used the wing to hide her face and... "Aachoo!" she sneezed, rubbing her beak with her wing. "Excuse me."
"I am gonna…" Black Thorn cursed, fury rising to his face.
Suddenly, the lab coat-wearing man bent his back.
Alarmed, Black Thorn again stepped backward.
Surprisingly, no attack arrived. Again.
The man took the piece of cloth off his mouth and…
"Bleh!" he vomited. Then he cleaned his face and threw the handkerchief away. "Sorry. I am Luke. Can you please leave… this lady… alone?"
Nyx facepalmed. "What are you doing?!" she cawed. "Years of training! Years! And that's your opening line?!"
"I…" Luke didn't know what to say. He took out a new handkerchief and covered his nose again.
Thoroughly pissed off, Black Thorn pointed his arm toward them. Now that they had come here, he couldn't let them leave alive.
The thorn whistled through the air as it left Black Thorn's palm.
The bird's feathers stood up on their ends. She took to the air with a great push of her wings. Because of the force, the man shifted opposite, the thorn missing both as it traced the path between them, hissing.
Another thorn had already appeared in Black Thorn's left hand.
It took him a few seconds to create a thorn. So, he had learned to keep a thorn ready right after firing the first.
Also, Black Thorn could only fire one thorn from one hand at a time. The weakness was, of course, countered by the sheer speed of the thorns and their sharpness.
With a low bang, the thorn left Black Thorn's palm as he aimed at the bird.
Nyx effortlessly fluttered away. Thorns after thorns came at her, but she dodged them all, going in and out of the darkness.
Then, as Black Thorn let out an annoying grunt, she perched herself on a pipe against the wall. Mockingly, she turned around, showing Black Thorn her tail feathers.
"Can't touch this…" she sang, twerking. "… Ten-tena-na… Can't touch this…"
Meanwhile, Luke helped the woman stand up barely touching her shoulders. She was staring at him with a dead expression, clearly in shock.
"Please close your eyes," Luke said. "Please."
The woman didn't know him, but she knew only he could help her now… somehow. So, she closed her eyes, leaving herself to fate.
Opposite them, a thoroughly enraged Black Thorn's eyes spewed murder. His head snapped toward Luke and the woman and he aimed at them, ignoring the bird.
"Nyx…" Luke said, snapping his fingers. "Don't kill him."
Black Thorn didn't hear Luke. Nor did he care. With a bang, the thorn left his palm. If landed, it would pass right through both the woman and the man. The very thought made him smile.
Suddenly, the bird fluttered between the incoming thorn and the targets.
A shine coursed through Nyx as if someone had shone a mirror at her from very far away.
In a matter of seconds, Nyx went through a majestic transformation. Flesh squirmed. Bones popped. The small raven suddenly enlarged, becoming a twelve-foot, two-legged, feathery wyvern.
In the darkness, Nyx's red eyes shone bloodier than blood.
The thorn struck her feathers right under the head and… ricocheted off.
Black Thorn's face paled. He shifted his body to just turn around and ran. Too late.
"Go back to the hole you came from…"
Nyx's girly voice possessed a draconic might, booming in the ears. With one lunge, she crossed the distance between her and the villain, swatting him with her wing.
Like a bullet, Black Thorn struck the wall at the end of the alleyway, coughing blood, his eyes rolling back into his head.
Booommmmmm!
"… and by hole, I didn't mean your mother's vagina!"
From behind, Luke gasped. "Nyx!!!"
…
By the time the woman gained enough courage to look back, opening her eyes, Nyx had already regained her original form.
"Don't worry," Luke said, smiling at her. "He's gone."
Nyx fluttered her way to Luke, perching herself on his right shoulder.
Tears streamed down the woman's cheeks, her entire body trembling. "Thank…" Trying to smile, she put her hand on the man's chest.
But Luke stepped away, eying the blood and filth on her hands.
The woman just gawked at the frown on his face.
"Don't mind him," Nyx cawed. "He's a cleanliness freak. Also, if you are thankful, how about flashing us? You know… show us those titties."
"Nyx!" Luke gasped, horrified.
"…?" the woman, biting through the pain, looked at the bird as it eyed her breasts. She didn't know why, but the idea of a bird drooling over her just brought out a smile on her face. And then she ended up laughing.
Seeing her giggle, Luke smiled behind the handkerchief.
"Luke!"
The sudden voice jolted both the man and the bird.
From the corner, Keigo Takami, former No. 2 Pro Hero — Wing Hero: Hawks — walked out, wearing a black suit. He was followed by a dozen agents, wearing similar uniforms and black glasses.
It took just a glance for Keigo, the current chairman of Hero Public Safety Commission, to figure out what happened here.
Keigo looked at Luke. "Why did you leave the car?"
Luke's gaze fell as he stuttered out the answer. "It felt like… she needed help."
Keigo frowned. "That wasn't my question. Why did you leave the car?"
Nyx flapped her wings. "I needed to go, alright! Can't a lady go to bathroom in peace in this city?!"
Keigo's frown deepened. He stared at Luke. "Your eye…"
One of Luke's eyes had gone blue. Guessing this, he smiled wryly. "The contact lens must have fallen…"
Keigo shook his head. "Let's go. They are waiting for you."
"Hawks…" Luke suddenly said, following the man. "… she didn't see my Quirk. I promise."
Keigo stopped. He looked over his shoulder and… smiled. "Don't worry. You did well… for a person who's seeing the outside world after a decade."
Smiling behind his handkerchief, Luke's shoulders relaxed.
Then, he and Nyx disappeared with Keigo.
Behind them, the guard at whom Keigo had glanced, took out the mobile.
"Good evening, Sir," the head guard said, his voice flat. "Subject Minus One used his Quirk… No, Sir. No. He tricked us, Sir… Yes, a villain and a… civilian. A woman, Sir… He claims she didn't see anything… Sir, this will — Alright. Yes, Sir."
Cutting the call, he looked at other agents.
A few of them rushed and brought the villain, dragging him on the ground.
"Excuse me…" the woman approached the head guard. "It hurts… Can you please…"
Bang-Bang-Bang!
In absolute shock, the woman saw the agents firing rounds after rounds at the villain, killing him on the spot.
Meanwhile, the head guard put on a glove and picked one of the thorns fired by Black Thorn.
The woman looked away from the dead villain.
The head guard's hand flashed, the thorn puncturing her heart.
Blood seeped out of the woman's mouth with a gasp as she stared at the man in disbelief.
"I am sorry…" the man said, twisting the thorn inside her. "He is the hope of this world… We can't afford lose ends. I am sure the world will… understand."
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100 Power Stones: +1 Bonus Chapter