Chapter 279: It’s the Demon King!

--Wednesday, July 8, 2172

In the middle of a well-lit office, filled with small cubicles with different equipment, sat a beautiful woman in her thirties. With pale pink hair and eyes of the same color, her irises resembling a flower, and dressed in a black business suit. The woman checked her phone while packing various items into her bag.

Curiously, the feed of the short video app she was watching showed her, over and over again, edits of a handsome young man with black hair and mesmerizing blue eyes—videos the woman never skipped and always liked. By the time she had gathered most of her belongings, she stopped again to watch a video of the young man. At that moment, a female voice sounded from behind.

“Are you ready?”

“Almost, give me a second.” the woman quickly replied, setting her phone aside, then hurried to put the last items in her bag without bothering to look at her colleague.

“You're really obsessed with that ‘Demon King’…”

The newcomer, a woman of similar age and also dressed in a business suit but with pale blonde hair, bluish eyes, and cat ears on her head, commented with a small sigh as she looked at the phone on the desk. The pink-haired woman showed a calm smile and slung her bag over her shoulder as she replied.

“I'm not obsessed; I just saw the video and liked it. It's no big deal.”

“Yeah, right, the fact that out of every 10 videos, 5 are of the ‘Demon King’ is pure coincidence...” The cat-eared woman rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically, then added in a somewhat confused voice.

“But seriously, I don't see what's so appealing about that boy. He's handsome, yes, but he's just a kid, and a pretty arrogant one at that.”

“He's not arrogant, he's self-confident!” The pink-haired woman shot back as she grabbed her phone, then added, filled with “righteousness.”

“It's only arrogance if you don't have the capital for your confidence, and the Demon King has more than enough! He won the first-year sports festival overwhelmingly, and right after that, he managed to defeat the Hero Killer with a single blow! Tell me, how many fell to Stain? More than 30, all professional heroes, and he dusted him with one hit!

“He left Endeavor in shame, saved the day, and is even a medical genius who managed to contain a mortal wound on the spot until paramedics arrived! I'm telling you, the Demon King is All Might's worthy successor! No, I take that back, the Demon King will make history on his own!”

“You're exaggerating. The boy is strong, sure, but he doesn't compare to the Symbol of Peace. Besides, he doesn't even want to be a hero, and even if he became one, no one called the 'Demon King' could succeed the Symbol of Peace.”

The cat-eared woman turned around to start walking towards the exit as she replied, which prompted the pink-haired woman to step forward and retort, filled with dissatisfaction and reproach.

“Hmph, you just don't understand the Demon King's appeal. He's like a dominant CEO, cold on the outside and warm on the inside. Besides, you'll see, even if he doesn't want to be a hero, in a few years the Demon King will be Japan's secret weapon! Invisible and unmatched!”

“Oops, sorry, I forgot I was talking to one of the ‘Demon King's’ ‘wives.’” The cat-eared woman teased with a mocking tone as she walked beside her friend, who lifted her chin and haughtily replied.

“I'm honored; soon we'll reach two million followers.”

“I thought your little online group was cooling off lately.” The cat-eared woman commented with a playful tone as she pressed the elevator button, to which the pink-haired woman replied with confidence.

“It's not cooling off, just a bit slower follower growth, but the community is more active than ever! Besides, it's temporary; someone like our ‘Husband’ can't go unnoticed. It's only a matter of time before he goes viral again, and the ‘harem’ will grow like crazy! Mark my words, the servers won't be able to handle it, and I will be the one to present him on the news!!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.”

The cat-eared woman rolled her eyes again and replied sarcastically as she stepped into the elevator. In response, the pink-haired woman chuckled smugly as she also stepped in. But at that moment, the cat-eared woman's ears twitched backward, and she promptly turned her head just in time to see a middle-aged man running urgently toward the elevator.

“There's a surprise raid on the League of Villains, and All Might is involved! One of you needs to go cover it now!!”

“I recall you owe me one from the other time…”

Hearing her boss, the cat-eared woman turned to look at her colleague and commented with a small smile, which caused the pink-haired woman to let out a small, tired sigh. She then stopped the elevator and replied seriously.

“I'll go.”

…

Soon, the woman was aboard a helicopter with a cameraman and two pilots, watching from the air as a burst of fire escaped the windows of a building surrounded by heroes and police. At that moment, the cameraman focused on the building while several drones shot toward the scene in an attempt to record, so the pink-haired woman quickly grabbed a microphone and prepared to go live.

“3, 2, 1, we're on!”

Soon, the woman received the signal from her cameraman, so she quickly adopted a serious expression and began reporting the facts in a professional tone.

“…It currently appears Endeavor is in combat and—”

“What is that?!”

While the woman was presenting, one of the pilots suddenly shouted incredulously. The woman turned to look, closely followed by the cameraman, who quickly focused on the front. Looking ahead, the woman couldn't help but open her mouth in disbelief as hundreds of what appeared to be slashes of black energy unfolded in all directions. Immediately after, the slashes were replaced by colossal, dark electrical arcs connecting the sky and the earth, awakening a primal terror in all who saw it.

But even before they could process the terror of those lightning strikes, the entire crew could see a colossal ball of light rising into the air. Almost instantly, the ball of light exploded, creating a massive mushroom cloud, while the entire top of the mountain was instantly vaporized.

“Brace yourselves!!”

At that moment, the first pilot urgently shouted while hurriedly manipulating the controls to descend. At the same time, in the distance, a colossal shockwave could be seen approaching with the naked eye. Shocked, the woman stared at the thick dust cloud caused by the approaching shockwave, feeling that it was all over.

Right at that moment, several thick tree branches grabbed the helicopter and pulled it down at high speed, just in time to hide behind a building and avoid the brunt of the shockwave. As the pilots tried to stabilize the helicopter, the cameraman asked the stunned woman, his face completely pale.

“Are you okay?!”

“I'm okay…”

The woman replied, still in shock, her gaze fixed on the mountain now turned into a plateau, where thick thunderclouds exchanged normal lightning and ominous black lightning. But, although the sight was terrifying beyond belief, the woman felt something in her chest urging her to go to the mountain. She felt that those terrifying dark energy slashes were calling her.

That feeling was so powerful that, even with trembling legs and a face as pale as paper, practically bloodless, the woman bit her lip hard, then shouted at the pilots with a trembling but determined voice.

“T-towards the mountain! W-we have to go to the mountain now!!”

“It's too dangerous; let's send the drones first!” The second pilot shouted, equally pale, while the first pilot finally stabilized the helicopter. The woman quickly shook her head and replied loudly.

“It's not enough! We have to go; my instincts tell me something monumental is happening there!”

“Your survival instincts aren't that sharp, are they…?”

The cameraman couldn't help but mutter quietly. At that moment, the first pilot saw a message informing them that the entire conversation was being broadcast live and promising them a substantial reward if they went. After a few seconds, the pilot gritted his teeth, and after calculating everything he could do with all the money, announced solemnly.

“We're going! They promised us a reward worthy of the risk!”

…

…

…

“Son of a bitch!”

Kai's rage caused his shout to echo throughout the mountain, making it tremble as his Conqueror's Haki went wild, unleashing uncontrollably and causing storm clouds to fill the sky while thick, dark electrical arcs began to run rampant. At the same time, unknown to Kai, the mini-self showed an expression full of anger, then blurred slightly as his eyes released an ominous glow.

Simultaneously, the increasing glow from the charred pieces of flesh in the air stopped abruptly, causing the seemingly condescending eye in the air to open in disbelief. At that instant, all the pieces of flesh exploded in unison, but the enraged young man in the air was no longer visible, having vanished as if by magic.

“Kai-shonen!”

Seeing a brutal explosion unleashed, All Might couldn't help but shout in alarm, wanting to jump in to help the young man amidst it all. But just then, All Might heard an angry and slightly distorted voice not far from him.

“I'm fine, but that motherfucker is a damn cockroach. He's still alive, but I can't stay much longer. Let's attack together. If we can't hit him, I'll have to leave, and you'll have to hold him until I return. Someone on my side was attacked.”

As he spoke, Kai landed on the head of the defeated Machia, unleashing a powerful kick that finally knocked him unconscious. All Might quickly turned to look at Kai and, seeing him unharmed, let out a sigh of relief, then commented in a serious tone while clenching his fists tightly, creating small shockwaves.

“Leave him to me.”

As he spoke, All Might noticed that Kai suddenly looked toward the sky, so he quickly looked in the same direction, where he could see several drones approaching in the distance along with news helicopters. At that moment, Kai's slightly distorted voice resonated with visible disbelief in his tone.

“Those guys really have no survival instinct…”

“They'll do anything for a good story… I've seen them do worse.”

All Might replied with a somewhat helpless voice. Kai shook his head, then unleashed his Conqueror's Haki and focused his gaze into the midst of the destruction cloud left by the explosion, commenting in a cold tone.

“Let's go!”

As he spoke, Kai shot forward at great speed, leaving behind a trail of dark lightning, which All Might quickly followed, creating a brutal sonic boom. In a helicopter, the cameraman focused the camera on the center of the destruction, where a visibly pale, pink-haired woman announced into the microphone with a trembling voice.

“We have just arrived at the scene, and All Might is teaming up with an unknown hero in black armor. They are currently heading toward the center of the destruction. It is likely a powerful villain is the cause of the explosion!”

As she announced, the woman couldn't help but follow the trail of dark lightning with her eyes, somehow feeling a certain familiarity with that strange man. But before she could reflect deeply on it, an apocalyptic scene unfolded before her. From the center of the destruction cloud, colossal compressed air cannons and black energy slashes, no less inferior, shot out in all directions.

The brutal combined power completely erased the destruction cloud, revealing to the cameras a man in his thirties with white hair, visibly injured with several parts of his body charred, fleeing hastily through the air. But halfway, All Might appeared in front of the man and unleashed a brutal punch while announcing loudly.

“Texas Smash!!”

Facing the blow, the white-haired man deformed grotesquely, and his arm acquired a colossal, misshapen size from which faces and protrusions of different metals emerged. That strange arm seemed to resist a great deal of the Symbol of Peace's power, barely retreating a few meters, shocking those watching from the helicopter.

But at that instant, behind the white-haired man appeared the man in black armor surrounded by dark electrical arcs. A brutal pressure descended upon the area, even reaching the helicopter. While everyone in the helicopter felt suffocated by terror born from the depths of their souls, the pink-haired woman could see the man move his swords at a terrifying speed, shredding the white-haired man to pieces.

That scene immediately brought to the woman's memory something she had seen—hundreds, thousands, or maybe even more times—her ‘husband,’ the Demon King, cutting the armor of the ‘Iron Maiden,’ Yaoyorozu Momo, at the sports festival. As if struck by lightning, the woman opened her eyes in disbelief and exclaimed loudly while gripping the microphone tightly.

“It's the Demon King!!! The Demon King is fighting side by side with the Symbol of Peace!!”

***

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