11

Chapter Text

Chapter 11

Fame and misfortune

It had been three days since Beldia attempted to attack the city of Axel. Three days since the population of Axel witnessed one young and decidedly odd Druid do the impossible. Three days of non-stop gossiping about the green-haired adventurer and his entourage…

"Did you hear? Some say he got his powers from fucking with Dryads!"

"Really?! No wonder he likes being surrounded by girls!"

"Maybe he is the son of a Dryad?"

"Wait! So is he building a harem to create a new race?"

Outlandish rumors like those were not only spreading like wildfire, many adventurers didn't even lower their voices when the Druid himself walked around the Guild, much to the distress of poor Luna, who saw this as the perfect excuse for Izuku to abandon the city.

No matter how bad the rumors got, one fact remained inescapable. Izuku had defeated a General of the Devil King's Army.

He was a Hero of Belzerg, and the Hero of Axel.

Making him flee would mean a massive blow to the city's reputation. It would no longer be considered the most rookie-friendly city of the Kingdom… her life would become hell with all the resulting penalties

"Oh, Gods and Goddesses…" Luna whispered her prayer, suddenly remembering that maybe she should change pantheons, "Greater spirits of the land… let Izuku find grace within the walls of our city."

Meanwhile, at a certain dwarven smithy …

"What do you mean that you're just a Druid?!"

Aela couldn't believe what Izuku had confessed.

Up to this day, she'd had the firm idea that the verdanette had been hiding his true class, that he was actually an Arch Druid faking his status. In her mind, it explained his victory over Kyouya, his weird magic, and his use of absurdly high level spells.

Learning that he had made an iron tree before the golden one where he buried Beldia had really cemented the idea too.

"It's just as he said, he is just a Druid." Megumin replied for Izuku, still reading the notebook in her hands, "As unbelievable as it sounds."

Today, Izuku had finally came out of hiding, leaving the inn to finally interact with the town. The first day he holed up, was mainly because he had absorbed mana from the undead to complete the combination spell that destroyed Beldia; this decision resulted in him learning that having such impure energy flowing through his body was very unhealthy… and painful.

When he entered the inn, after finally working the details of the reward with Luna, he simply fell face-first on the bed in the room she had gracefully offered him and couldn't move until late the next day.

The second day he was still working the soreness out of his body, with the healthy help from three cuddling girls… which led to him learning that cuddles and kisses truly had healing properties!

And when he finally went out, he found that no one wanted to charge him any money… at least when food and lodging was concerned. If they were being grateful, Izuku appreciated it. He still held the idea that these businesses would just charge them later for their services when his reward finally arrived… which wasn't that bad all things considered.

That reminded him he had yet to repair his customized robe.

"I don't get it." Izuku pondered with a concerned voice, "How come combining skills is something outlandish?"

When Izuku tried to explain skill combinations, Aela had fallen into screams of denial, like his words were heresy. As if hearing that he had used only lesser skills, combined with enhancements, to recreate higher level spells was like hearing that her religion was a lie. Megumin, however, had been extremely interested in learning more, and quite eager to learn about such power.

Hence why she was reading the notebook in her hands.

"It's just not possible!" Aela shouted once more, "Not even Kyouya could do it!"

Izuku just gave an apologetic smile to the pinkette.

It was hard to tell what was worse. That the poor girl was still trying to defend the guy that had abandoned her, or that she still saw that guy as a high standard to judge people by.

"Oi! Izuku!" The owner of the smithy approached the group, carrying what appeared to be a metal mannequin, "Here is the anti-magic target dummy. I want to see your girlfriend try to break this!"

Both Izuku and Megumin sputtered at his insinuation. Neither seemed ready to be acknowledged as an official couple yet. And yet, they didn't make any effort to deny the claim.

"Thing… Strong?" Liza asked as she poked the mannequin.

"Don't toy with it!" The Dwarf reprimanded her, although no harsher than he would to any other client, "This thing was made to deflect magic. It may be as good as mid-grade plate, but a brute like you may tear through it like tissue paper."

Liza seemed confused by all the terms thrown her way, but Chika was quick to take her scaly hand and guide her away from the dummy.

Izuku had decided that today was a good day to do two important things. Teach Megumin more useful spells, and commission Aela's custom crossbow. Both things, thanks to an innocent question, could be found at this particular smithy.

"Master asked for the dummy, so Megumin can test a new spell." Chika tried to explain to her fellow ex-slave, "Chika thinks you need to not touch it!"

The dwarf shook his head as the Black Harpy's whispers still made him feel like something had scratched his brain.

"So." The dwarf called them to attention as he planted the dummy on the ground, "What kind of super-magic are you going to cast?"

Izuku couldn't help but wonder why this was so hard to understand. Why did people really believe that combining skills was impossible?

Was synergy such an alien concept in this world?

"It's no super-magic. Definitively not anywhere in the same league as my Big Bang!" Megumin answered with a dramatic flair, finally returning the notebook to Izuku with a smile, "The catch is… that this is aimed at bypassing magical resistances."

Izuku had requested this dummy for the sole purpose of testing a theory. Magical resistances reduced the effects of magic; that fact was a no-brainer. Throwing a fireball, even an Explosion, on something highly resistant, or downright immune to magic, would result in only a waste of mana. But what if instead of being hit directly by the spell, the target was hit by a creation of the spell?

"HA!" The dwarf scoffed, giving a playful pat to the back of the dummy, "Good luck then! This thing is made of enchanted, silvered mithril!"

The claim of the dwarf was high, but if true, then it really was nearly immune to magical attacks… Izuku doubted it would survive for longer than a second against the Big Bang, but testing that was a big no.

"You ready?" Izuku asked to his beloved petite companion, "Remember to visualize all the components, ok?"

"Don't worry!" Megumin replied, showing a smug smile and a playful glint in her eyes, "It was an odd request, and a rather complex chemical formula, but I memorized it!"

When Megumin had requested more combination spells a day ago, Izuku mentioned that it should be possible to combine two low level spells and create something stronger than the sum of the separate spells.

Megumin snorted when the spell she needed to learn turned out to be Grease.

Grease. A utility spell that created a gout of a greasy substance; it could be anything oily or greasy, really. From pork lard to lamp oil, the spell could conjure on a limited area nearby or at a distance. It could be conjured from the hand forward or on a focal point to create a puddle of the stuff to cover a portion of the floor. It was a fan favorite for parties that made liberal use of tactical retreats and on actual celebrations as a standard prank. Most favored among adventurers who had to make torches on the fly, or stingy explorers who didn't want to spend money on lamp oil.

But it was not an attack spell.

"Chika, Liza." Izuku called to the demi-human girls, "Stay away from the dummy. We don't know how this will turn out."

Chika and Liza obeyed, moving themselves further away. Aela followed suit, fully intending to use the massive albino Gator-Girl as a shield in the case of a mishap.

Izuku knew for a fact that greasy substances made for great fuel, meaning strong flames. The conjuration part of Grease made the stuff real, which meant that if it were ignited, real flames would hit the target. Fire was not a torrent of mana, thus, theoretically bypassing the magic resistances.

Of course, normal flames could still be resisted by Fire Resistances.

That supposition led to a random thought… What if the substance was something not only flammable, but also toxic, sticky, and corrosive?

"Here it goes!" Megumin warned as she readied the first part of her spell, creating fire. "Ha Ha Ha! It's time to show how we, the Crimson Demons, can even manipulate the fires of hell!"

Megumin had decided to go full chunni.

The flame surrounding her hand wasn't meant to be thrown. Instead, it was designed to be the ignition method for the grease that was about to be expelled from a point just beyond her hand, but still touching the conjured fire. Like a Flamethrower… or Flamer.

"Burn in the eternal fires of hell!" Megumin shouted as she pointed her open palm toward the dummy. There was no need to chant or name the spells, as they were very weak ones, "HELLFLAME!"

For an instant, the flame surrounding her hand took on a deep blue tinge. Then, from her hand what erupted could only be described as a torrent of liquid rage. Brilliant blue fire streaked toward the dummy, licking it like a tongue out of the depths of hell.

The spell barely lasted a single second, but the effects were obvious. The metal mannequin was set ablaze, blue flames sticking to it like napalm on a lump of flesh. It shouldn't have been possible; the dummy was magic-resistant, and there was nothing in the metal to feed the flame, let alone ignite it.

"That is hellfire!" Aela shouted in absolute distress, "Those are actual flames from hell!"

The pink-haired Ranger shouted as she pointed at the burning dummy like she was witnessing heresy. It was hard for her to believe otherwise too, as the sheer destructive power she witnessed had to be demonic in nature, not the spell of a little girl.

"How?" The hollowed voice of the Dwarf was followed by the sounds of twisting metal.

The dummy was twisting as it melted, producing sounds akin to screams of suffering and pain.

"IZUKU! IZUKU!" Megumin was jumping happily in place, unable to avert her eyes from the terrifying effects of her new spell, "It worked! It really did! "

Izuku chuckled, enchanted by the childish glee of the petite Arch Wizard.

"Of course it did." Izuku replied, giving a head pat to the girl, "Coal tar is not only flammable, it burns hot, slow, and sticks to most surfaces. By adding sulfur to the mix, we get a different color of flame, in addition to highly toxic and corrosive byproducts that will pile up the damage."

Izuku explained, just in time for a pungent, repulsive smell to reach their nostrils. Aela was quick to throw up, Chika and Izuku having covered their noses in reflex. Megumin and the Dwarf seemed quite unfazed though.

"Smell… funny." Liza supplied, showing how little she was affected by the noxious smell.

"That's burning brimstone…" The Dwarf knew very well that smell. It was the smell that warned the dwarves they were getting closer to the gates of hell, and should stop digging.

"That is a mixture of hydro-sulfuric and sulfuric acids." Izuku explained too, taking a few steps back from the almost molten dummy and the blue flames, "That combination eats through metal with ease, and it's rather toxic… we may want to retire and let that mess burn."

Aela didn't understand what the Druid had said, but she clearly understood that the petite Arch Wizard had created something horribly dangerous.

"Do you think Wiz is finished with my robe?" Izuku asked, remembering how the beautiful yet highly customized cloth had been reduced to tatters during his fight with Beldia, "I kinda miss it."

Aela finally understood that everyone in the Druid's party was dangerous.

The Druid himself could turn the most basic of the druidic spells into horrifyingly deadly skills. The Arch Wizard, already dangerous for being a Crimson Demon, was learning impossible spells. The Crusader was probably stronger than Mitsurugi, and she didn't even have a relic weapon at hand. Then there were the slaves. One with muscles harder than steel, and the other could weaponize her voice.

What was she supposed to offer to this party of rampaging monsters to settle her debt?!

"Aela." Izuku called, gaining the attention of the still recovering Ranger, "Come with us."

The offer came with a smile and an extended hand that couldn't belong to such a monstrous character.

The pinkette still took it though. She needed help to get up after all… not to mention that she really couldn't refuse at the moment.

"Where?" Aela asked, slightly concerned.

"To Wiz's shop." Megumin replied for Izuku, "We have to see if Izuku's robe is ready."

"We also have to gear you up." Izuku continued, earning a questioning stare from the Ranger, "Mister Talenof here has already accepted the commission for your crossbow. Now we have to get you some tactical gear to make full use of the weapon."

Aela couldn't understand these people.

She was drowning in debt, with anything she earned going to their pockets, and they insisted on giving her better gear. What kind of party leader was this guy?!

Not Kyouya… the great hero… lovable and fair… the same guy that abandoned her…

"Alright." Aela finally replied, now standing up, and barely tolerating the foul smell of the burning brimstone, "I don't know how I'm going to repay you for all of this though."

While Izuku looked confused at the words of the pinkette, Megumin just rolled her eyes.

The petite Crimson Demon knew now how Izuku operated. As an Outworlder, his morals and sense of fairness worked on a different level; what others saw as giving too much, he deemed it as a fair trade for companionship. She, being the epitome of stubbornness, knew it better than anyone else.

"IZUKU! MEGUMIN!" Darkness' shout interrupted the moment; the Crusader was running as fast as she could, earning worried stares from her companions.

"Did something happen?" Izuku asked, feeling like this haste wasn't provoked by his reward arriving sooner than intended.

"A mage from Lyndon arrived at the Guild Hall; she is asking for Megumin." Darkness reported, before taking on an even more serious tone, "She demanded Megumin's presence, immediately."

Izuku and Megumin exchanged worried glances. That didn't sound good.

As the party departed to meet this mage, the Dwarf continued staring at the molten slag, still burning that ethereal bluish tinge…

"Maybe I can use this hell-molten metal…" Talenof muttered to himself, "Yeah, it'll be used on that crazy crossbow!"

Never be said that dwarves didn't know how to recycle.

A few minutes later, at the Guild Hall …

As they traveled, Izuku was informed about what was happening.

Mages from the collage of Lyndon, located in the capital, were universally known to be the best mages on the continent. All useful magic was researched there, and if a new useful spell was created, it was expected to carry the name of a Lyndon mage.

Magic created by Crimson Demons was usually tolerated, as it was not useful for mages outside the clan. Many of the spells in the advanced magic branch, as well as the dreaded detonation branch, were created by Crimson Demons, and as such, were labeled as useless. Even the coveted 'Light of Saber' was known to be just a waste of mana when compared to more traditional spells like 'Scorching Rays' or 'Meteor Swarm'.

It made sense that Megumin would be called. Her 'Big Bang' had updated the books, immortalizing her name by creating something terrifyingly powerful.

But, was she being called for the sake of recognition? Or…

"You are late!" A boy no older than Izuku shouted, looking down on Izuku and his party, "You, the Crimson Demon. Lady Stella is waiting for you. Go inside the private room."

The boy barked his orders, acting like he was superior to everyone in the Guild.

Izuku took notice of the odd orange hair and the vibrant purple robes. A wizard, who only needed a pointy hat to gain a role in a Disney movie.

Doing his best to ignore such a mental Image, Izuku and his group made their way to the private room, just to be stopped by the irate young Wizard.

"Hey!" The boy shouted now, "You are meant to enter alone!"

"No." Megumin replied flatly.

"WHAT?!" The Wizard freaked out, outraged at the rebellious attitude of the little girl, "You must obey…"

"No. I don't need, or have, to obey your etiquette rules." Megumin explained, subtly reaching for Izuku's hand in clear need of support; the emerald Druid didn't hesitate to squeeze her hand, "Among your hierarchy, you need to send letters with proper time to answer the summons. I got no letter and the request was too sudden. Obviously you think such are not needed because I'm not part of your collage, which also means I don't need to adhere to your rules for the same reason."

The boy seemed ready to explode.

The moment the young wizard reached for his wand, Darkness and Liza sprung into action. The Crusader had Shield and Club at the ready, standing firmly between the boy and the petite Crimson Demon, while the albino Gator-Girl was already shielding both Izuku and Megumin with her body.

"Are all Lyndon Mages this disrespectful?" Darkness asked in obvious outrage, "Have your kin truly forgotten what it means to be part of the Nobility?!"

Darkness had taken a truly intimidating tone. Being noble-born gave her a level of insight on the rules of nobility second to none, and that included the rituals of summoning and requesting. Lyndon's mages were considered nobles in some capacity, and just like nobles, they were known to abuse their authority in some regards. Their abuse of power, though, didn't excuse them from following proper etiquette. This forced summoning was rude, to say the least.

The boy didn't know how to answer, but it was unnecessary anyway.

"Please, excuse the behavior of my little apprentice. Lady Dustiness Ford." A young woman, older than Darkness, but still in the bloom of her youth, interrupted the standoff, "My student tends to get overzealous when dealing with this type of business."

Darkness visible winced when her family name was thrown out into the open.

Izuku was not a naïve boy. He could recognize the wrongness of the situation. This woman must be the so-called Lady Stella, and her eyes did not recognize the worth of anyone in his party, sans Darkness. So… she wanted to avoid trouble with the local nobility.

"Zach." Stella called to her apprentice, who stiffened immediately, "Apologize to this noble lady immediately."

As if a switch had been punched, the boy fell to his knees and mumbled apologies.

Lyndon's mages were treated like nobles… but they didn't hold any titles. Antagonizing the friend of a noble was tantamount to antagonizing the noble themselves. They obviously believed that Darkness could have invoked her rights as a noble to… crush them into oblivion.

"I will let this go, as long as you remember to show proper manners." Darkness managed to pull off her aristocratic act, even if it was obvious to Izuku that it left a foul taste on her tongue, "Now, please explain what this is about."

The woman, Stella, failed to hide her twitching eyebrow.

"Of course." Stella replied with a fake smile, "The Arch Wizard and I need to discuss her spellcraft. As you may be aware, it is within our rights to have such a sensitive exchange in a private room."

Darkness clicked her tongue. Spellcrafting and its secrets was one of the things that nobility had no claim on.

"I understand." Darkness conceded, then, after exchanging a small glance with Izuku, threw her last punch, "However, you must understand that she won't go alone anywhere, not without our party leader. And before you try to say no, he helped her to create that spell you are trying to understand."

"I… see…" The mage was very surprised by that information, "Then please, follow me. But the slaves cannot enter. Especially that hideous… Harpy."

When things had begun to look bad, Chika had jumped and perched herself atop the railings of the second floor. She wasn't shying away from conflict though, she was getting ready to attack like a bird of prey. To fall upon her target, and sink her claws deeply into whatever she deemed an enemy.

"Chika obeys Master." The Black harpy informed, eyes glowing like blazing coals with zeal, "Crazy mages are not Chika's Master."

"Don't worry about her. Please, lead the way." Izuku said before things could deteriorate again, then she turned toward Megumin, before lowly whispering his next words, "Liza may break through the door if anything bad happens though."

Megumin chuckled as she followed the woman, who was totally unaware of how dangerous the party was.

About 30 minutes later …

Inside the private room, Izuku learned even more of how twisted this world was.

The Lyndon Collage of Magic had always been the one to claim ownership of all the most powerful and useful spells. There was no two ways about it. While most of the spell repertoire in the library was created by them, not every useful spell was created by them, originally.

When an upstart like Megumin created something radically different, powerful and useful, Lyndon's mages would reverse-engineer the spellcraft, tweak it to fit their style, and then reclaim the spell as their own. Spells created by Crimson Demons were, as usual, completely ignored due to their unique circumstances. The 'Light of Saber' spell was powerful, but it used so much mana and had such a large probability of misfiring that most sane spellcasters would never use it outside of special circumstances; Crimson Demons, on the other hand, had such large pools of mana that they could spam the damn thing like it was a trivial matter.

Crimson Demons did not create good spells; that was the universal truth. But when they did, there was always a mage from Lyndon ready to steal the credit, so that such a truth remained unbroken. Lady Stella had the intention of doing so, but there was a rather big problem.

"How does this work?" Stella asked with no small amount of annoyance, "I spent a rather large amount of skill points to learn your spell, it gave me the knowledge of the formula to cast it… but I can't understand anything about it!"

In order to reverse-engineer a spell, the caster must understand the knowledge behind it. Learning the spell gave the user the knowledge to cast it, sure, but not the intrinsic knowledge behind the principles of the spell. Knowing the spell 'Fireball' gave the caster the knowledge of how to mold and channel the mana to shape the energies into reactive fire, but not the knowledge of how mana changed the nature of the air to create said fire, nor how it primed the fire to explode upon contact; that had to be learnt at the collage, upon reading massive tomes on magic theory.

Megumin's Big Bang used knowledge not found in any book in any school of magic in the entire world. While that didn't stop other Arch Wizards from learning the spell, there was no way to properly understand the principles behind it. This meant that for all intents and purposes, there was no way to steal the credit of such a spell.

That meant that Megumin, a Crimson Demon, had beaten the Lyndon Collage of Mages.

"What the hell is an atom? How are they the blocks of reality?" Stella continued her interrogation, looking more stressed with each passing second, "How can something move at speeds beyond sound? How can a block of reality shatter?! Nothing here makes sense!"

Seeing the woman start to freak out was getting harder on both Izuku and Megumin. They were fighting against the urge to chuckle.

For Megumin, this was the greatest victory she could ever have, to have such a renowned mage begging for her knowledge. For Izuku… it was rather fun to see how his knowledge of physics and chemistry was causing someone quite the mental breakdown.

Seriously, if this happened with just that, then what would happen if he taught Megumin even more complex things? Would she be able to unleash a supernova? Create a miniature blackhole?

The mage suddenly slammed a quill and parchment onto the table.

"The Collage of Lyndon will have this knowledge." Stella said in a rather ominous tone, "Explain, in full detail, how this spell works."

Izuku and Megumin shared a glance for just a second, then they turned to look at the still annoyed mage before them.

"No." Megumin replied, loud and clear.

The woman reeled back as if struck.

"Megumin has no reason whatsoever to comply with your demands." Izuku elaborated, linking hands with his petite companion, "Your demand is also unreasonable. You cannot ask for something without offering anything back; that's rude."

"The pride and honor of the Lyndon Collage is at stake!" Stella all but shouted, to her, there was nothing illogical about her request, "An upstart like you! Allowed to walk with such honor! LUDICROUS!"

Megumin and Izuku finally chuckled.

"Geez! It's just one spell." Megumin said in a mocking tone followed by her trademark smug grin, "What are you going to do when I finish developing the rest of my spells?"

It was a bluff, of course, but Megumin wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste. Having the chance to lord her spell all over the most prestigious of collages was something no living Crimson Demon could possibly ignore.

"You have more spells?" Stella asked with a hollow voice, this situation was way too much for her. She was supposed to get the knowledge and then leave this upstart in the dust, as it was her right as a Lyndon mage. Instead, she had been absolutely disrespected!

"There is an anti-magic dummy still burning with the fires of hell somewhere in a dwarven smithy." Izuku decided to add his piece. Honestly, these Lyndon mages were hard to tolerate.

"What?!" The senior mage asked in surprise. She knew about such targets, but to hear that one was burning due to a spell?

Megumin chuckled, unable to resist the impulse after seeing the shocked face of the high-ranking mage.

"What else could you expect?" Megumin said with a fond smile, "My boyfriend just taught me how to summon burning brimstone from the depths of Hell!"

Izuku froze. He had expected their relationship to escalate, of course, but hearing such a statement from her lips, with such a proud voice…

Stella froze. If what she heard was true, then there was no way to prevent the Crimson Demons from gaining fame and recognition. It had been a century since the last breakthrough in magic knowledge had been achieved, and the King was contemplating reducing the privileges of the Lyndon Collage due to this lack of achievements. The mere idea that the King might shift his benevolence to the Crimson Demons was intolerable.

"So, it wasn't a fluke then?" Stella asked with a trembling voice, "This devastating spell wasn't an accident? Did you stumble upon some ancient tome of power?"

"Nope!" Megumin replied, holding her chin high with pride, "It was the result of research and attaining true knowledge of the natural world!"

Izuku felt so proud of his companion, who managed to understand that nature held so much power, just waiting for the right mind to make use of it. He was still going to make sure that the petite Arch Wizard learned more than just brutal detonations though.

Stella took a deep breath, steeling her resolve for the actions she would have to take now.

"I see. If that is the case… If you really are a prodigy…" The mature mage drawled on as she stood up, her blue robes dangling down as she was slightly hunched, "It'll be better if you die just as a fluke."

Izuku and Megumin blinked in surprise; they were expecting the woman to beg for the knowledge, offer money for it, even going as far as requesting that Megumin join the famed academy. Izuku barely had time to react as a blade materialized in the mage's right hand.

What happened next… was too fast paced for Izuku to think things through…

The woman brandishing the blade against his dear Megumin…

The petite Arch Wizard recoiling in horror at seeing such a blatant attempt to murder her…

Izuku jumped to hug Megumin in a thoughtless attempt to shield her from all harm. His body had moved, again, before he could think. But this time his heart had been consciously telling him what to do. His mind had no chance to cope with all the emotions he felt at that moment, when he felt the tip of the blade touching his back.

His heart and soul had agreed on the course of action though, making his body react with the sole intention of keeping his beloved Crimson Demon safe.

BAM!

The door of the private room slammed open. A cute brunette was on the other side, worry written on her features. Her eyes were reminiscent of Megumin's, marking her as a Crimson Demon herself, just taller and more developed than the petite Arch Wizard.

"Megumin! You are in danger!" The girl shouted, "The Lyndon mages are not to be…"

Her words died in her throat, worry being replaced by horror at what she found. A room full of blood and large spikes going everywhere, impaling everything except a single spot.

"I'm… sorry…" Izuku muttered as he fiercely held Megumin in his arms.

Megumin couldn't reply.

There was blood everywhere, and it was running down the massive spikes coming out of Izuku's body. Blood that was coming from a body skewered by a lot of said spikes.

Now the blood was falling on her face, all thanks to gravity. To her, it looked like Izuku was the one bleeding… and the blood was still warm…

Eyes rolling back, Megumin fainted, unable to cope with the idea of seeing her first death.

"Lady Stella!" The apprentice cried in absolute distress.

"What the hell happened?!" Luna asked in horror.

"I'm sorry…" Izuku repeated, tearing up, while slowly being covered by the blood of his first human victim.

Up to this day, he had managed to cope with death. First by constantly repeating that culling wildlife was necessary, and that the animals hadn't really suffered; then by forcing his brain to accept that most goblinoids were far too feral to be considered humanoids that could be reasoned with, thus, their deaths were necessary to save human lives.

Today all that crumbled down, as he found himself guilty of taking someone's life. No excuse could come to mind, not even the fact that he had defended someone important from a murderer. The fact remained unchanged and unchallenged.

Izuku Midoriya had killed…

In the small bag where he stored his belongings, Izuku's adventurer and slave cards pinged. The first denoting that he had unlocked the next step in the class system, and the others showing that his girls were now able to gain classes of their own.

The following omake was requested by LeafBladeFox, thank you for your invaluable support!

Omake – Aqua ' s adventure time.

Aqua felt that her luck was truly changing for the better.

After finally escaping from Izuku's tyrannical rule, she had joined with another reincarnate. One who properly worshiped her, that pampered her like she deserved, and ensured that she was as comfortable as possible. It was much better than living with the damnable nerd and his policy of hard work!

The Swordsmaster was a bit of a creep though.

Everything he said had a flair of romantic notion that was very one-sided. He may be cute, but she had no intention on being entangled with a mortal.

The Thief girl was alright. She wanted the boy, and money of course. She also seemed to notice that the goddess felt no attraction toward the Swordsmaster, which made her less of a problem.

Leaving Axel hadn't been too troublesome. Aqua just made a quick stop by the graveyard to put up a powerful barrier, so her services wouldn't be required anymore, and then just went to their rooms to pick up all their belongings, as they weren't going to return anytime soon.

The pinkette, Aqua assured them, would be fine with Izuku as long as she kept working. The young Druid was too kind to lost girls to let her starve or sleep in the stables.

Their last step before hitting the road toward the home base of the Axis Cult was to tackle a quest, one that they sneakily decided not to officially take. Rather, they looked at the details, and departed without registering it; more treasure to keep for themselves that way.

"See?!" The Thief shouted as she pointed to a chest, one that just a second ago had turned into a giant maw and devoured a nearby stone, "I knew it was too easy to be safe!"

Aqua shuddered, thinking about what would have happened if she had actually reached the chest. She really wanted the money, as leaving Izuku's party hadn't left her with any resources to her name, thus she wanted to lay claim to a treasure chest for herself.

"Here, this seems to be the last room." Kyouya stated as he readied Gram, the treasure he valued second to only his beloved goddess.

Nodding to each other, they entered, ready to face the final boss of the dungeon, and claim the treasure for themselves.

The final room was not the grandiose chamber that liches and necromancers all fancied. It was just a spacious bedroom. On the bed, a well-preserved skeleton rested, still dressed in a properly cleaned dress. To the side of the bed, in a well-crafted wooden chair, sat what appeared to be a mummified corpse clad in wizard robes.

Keel the lich, owner of this dungeon, had waited for someone who could cast high-leveled holy magic. Over the centuries he had been content on allowing random adventurers to come and plunder his home, keeping the most dangerous of his servants locked away, so the chances of meeting a priest of sufficient caliber increased.

The blue-haired girl reeked of holy magic, and had shown no trouble when purifying the few of his servants that he sent their way.

"Greetings, adventurers." Keel greeted the party, showing himself as non-threatening as possible.

The lich didn't want to fight. He had no reason to do so. His beloved had passed away long ago, leaving this world without regrets due to his love being true. And now she waited at the gates of heaven, just needing him to be properly purified so they could take that last step together.

He only had to make a request, and then offer all the treasure he had in his secret chamber in recompense…

Then Kyouya had to act without thinking.

"Die monster!" Kyouya shouted as he unleashed the power of his relic blade, "YOU DON'T BELONG IN THIS WORLD!"

In a flash of light, the body of the lich, and the skeletal remains of his beloved, were turned to ashes. With a self-satisfied smile, the Swordsmaster decided to ignore that liches reformed after enough time had passed, favoring the idea of simply getting out fast, with his party's hands full of gold.

"I'll check the area for hidden doors and chests." The Thief informed her companions as she went about her business.

"I'll make a barrier here, so no other undead can take this room." Aqua declared, unknowingly paving the road for worse things to claim the dungeon.

Kyouya, for his part, felt like a true hero. Just having Aqua by his side, he felt as if his power had been boosted beyond the capabilities of any other mortal. He even felt like he could face All Might on equal grounds!

Their search for gold was cut short though.

The sudden death of the final Boss had triggered the remaining undead. Angry that their master was slain without getting his request even heard, and all of them seeking release by holy magic, they charged as a massive horde against the group.

In an open area, Kyouya wouldn't have hesitated to unleash his sacred weapon, but in such a confined space? Even he knew the dangers of being buried alive. Thus, the group ran to the exit, screaming in horror like hopeless rookies.

Notes:

Magnus: You all knew that Megumin's stunt was going to cause trouble, and it was just a matter of time before someone forced Izuku's hand. One a more cheerful note, please vote in the poll to choose the classes for Izuku's girls!

Classes options:

Chika: Arcane Trickster or Shadow Monk.

Liza: Draconic Sorcerer or Totem Barbarian.