Rain continued falling across the shattered remains of Kurogane Atoll.
Entire sections of the island had already collapsed into the ocean. Fires burned across broken steel structures while distant explosions echoed from deeper inside Garaki's underground citadel. Heroes and Nomu continued fighting across multiple battle zones, but for several long seconds, none of it mattered.
Because Kurotsuki had arrived.
The moment his presence spread across the battlefield, even experienced pro heroes instinctively felt their bodies tense.
It was not simple bloodlust.
Not killing intent.
Something worse.
Something ancient.
Izuku stood motionless among the ruins, green-black energy still spiraling violently around his body from the unknown power that had awakened during his fight against Raizen.
Rain evaporated before touching him.
Kurotsuki observed him quietly.
Silver eyes fixed on the unstable force surrounding One For All.
"So it's true," he said softly.
Izuku's expression hardened.
"What are you talking about?"
Kurotsuki ignored the question completely.
His gaze shifted briefly toward Raizen's destroyed body lying half-buried beneath collapsed steel and shattered stone.
"A failed vessel," he murmured. "Garaki will be disappointed."
Raizen coughed weakly from the ground.
Even while dying, fear filled his expression the moment he looked at Kurotsuki.
Not loyalty.
Fear.
That alone disturbed Izuku more than anything else.
"Kurotsuki," Izuku said coldly, "what are you?"
For a brief moment, silence filled the battlefield.
Then Kurotsuki smiled faintly.
"That question is exactly why you interest me."
Darkness spread outward beneath his feet.
The ground itself began decaying.
Steel rusted instantly.
Concrete cracked apart.
Even the rain around him distorted unnaturally.
Danger Sense screamed inside Izuku's mind.
Kurotsuki raised one hand slightly—
and the entire battlefield exploded.
Black energy surged outward like a tsunami.
Izuku reacted instantly, smashing his fist downward with One For All at full force to counter the wave before it reached the retreating hero squads nearby.
The collision split the sky apart.
Shockwaves rolled across the ocean hard enough to create massive tidal surges around the island.
Several heroes looked upward in horror.
"That pressure…" Endeavor muttered.
Even Star and Stripe's expression darkened.
"He's stronger than before."
But before Izuku could attack again—
another overwhelming presence erupted elsewhere on the island.
Everyone felt it.
The ocean itself trembled.
Kurotsuki slowly turned his head toward the island's center.
Then he smiled.
"Ah," he whispered. "He finally lost patience."
Deep beneath Kurogane Atoll—
something awakened.
---
Far below the battlefield, hidden underneath layers of reinforced steel and artificial biological structures, the heart of Garaki's citadel pulsed violently.
Massive machinery lined the walls of an underground chamber large enough to contain entire cities. Black liquid flowed through transparent tubes connected to incomplete Nomu suspended inside colossal incubation tanks.
Thousands of experiments.
Thousands of failures.
Thousands of bodies sacrificed for evolution.
And standing calmly at the center of it all—
Reiji Garaki smiled.
"You came."
Darkness gathered near the chamber entrance.
Then All For One stepped forward slowly.
The atmosphere itself seemed to distort around him.
Unlike Izuku's explosive presence, All For One radiated something quieter.
Controlled.
Refined.
Terrifying.
Garaki adjusted his glasses slightly.
"I was beginning to think you wouldn't descend personally."
All For One's expression remained unreadable.
"You used to hate unnecessary theatrics, Reiji."
Garaki laughed softly.
"And you used to hate sentimentality. Yet here you are, playing father."
For the first time since arriving at Kurogane Atoll, killing intent entered the atmosphere around All For One.
The pressure alone shattered nearby containment glass.
Several incomplete Nomu collapsed lifelessly inside their chambers.
Garaki's smile widened slightly.
"There he is."
All For One stepped forward slowly through the ruined laboratory.
"Tell me something," he said quietly. "At what point did you stop seeing people as human beings?"
Garaki looked genuinely thoughtful for a moment.
"Human?" he repeated softly. "Humanity is flawed by design. Weak. Temporary. Emotional."
He gestured toward the countless experiments surrounding them.
"I merely evolved beyond those limitations."
"You butchered children."
"I perfected them."
Black tendrils erupted across the laboratory instantly.
All For One attacked without warning.
The impact shattered the underground chamber.
Garaki moved backward through collapsing debris while mechanical appendages erupted from the walls around him. Artificial quirk amplifiers activated simultaneously, flooding the chamber with unstable energy signatures.
All For One tore through them effortlessly.
Shockwaves ripped apart steel structures while dark energy annihilated entire sections of the laboratory with casual force.
Garaki smiled even while retreating.
"You really are extraordinary," he admitted. "Even after everything."
"You sound nostalgic."
"Perhaps I am."
The next second, Garaki activated dozens of quirks simultaneously.
Gravity distortion.
Plasma generation.
Kinetic amplification.
The underground chamber became chaos instantly.
Explosions consumed entire sectors while reality itself warped beneath unstable quirk combinations. But All For One moved through the destruction calmly, almost effortlessly.
Every attack Garaki unleashed disappeared into darkness before reaching him.
Then All For One appeared directly before him.
His hand closed around Garaki's throat.
"You should have stayed a scientist."
Garaki smiled.
Then his body exploded.
Not from damage.
Transformation.
Black flesh erupted outward violently as Garaki's form expanded into something monstrous. Steel and organic matter fused together while countless faces emerged screaming from beneath shifting armor-like tissue.
The underground chamber shook violently.
All For One released him instantly before moving backward.
Even his expression darkened slightly.
"Kyodai…" he muttered.
Garaki's transformed body towered over the chamber now.
A colossal fusion of flesh, steel, machinery, and unstable biological evolution.
Dozens of glowing eyes opened across its surface.
Garaki's voice echoed from everywhere simultaneously.
"You once told me quirks represented humanity's next evolutionary step."
The massive creature moved.
One swing obliterated entire sections of the underground facility.
All For One crossed his arms just before impact.
The collision launched him backward through multiple reinforced structures.
The island trembled violently above them.
Heroes across Kurogane Atoll looked downward in alarm.
"What the hell is happening under there?" Bakugo growled.
Back underground, All For One emerged from collapsed steel slowly.
Dust drifted around him.
Blood ran faintly from the corner of his mouth.
Garaki laughed.
"Even you can bleed."
Darkness exploded outward instantly.
All For One released his own power completely.
The underground ocean surrounding the lower chamber surged violently while countless stolen quirks activated simultaneously around him.
Energy crackled across the battlefield.
For a moment—
Garaki stopped smiling.
The pressure surrounding All For One now resembled a natural disaster.
"You really haven't weakened at all," Garaki admitted quietly.
All For One raised one hand slowly.
"I tolerated your experiments because I believed humanity needed to evolve."
Dark tendrils spread outward across the chamber floor.
"But somewhere along the way…"
The darkness exploded upward.
"You forgot what humanity actually was."
The collision between them shattered the underground citadel.
Above the island, enormous fractures spread across Kurogane Atoll as shockwaves erupted from deep beneath the ocean floor.
Izuku felt it instantly.
Even Kurotsuki looked mildly surprised.
"That old monster is serious now," Kurotsuki murmured.
Izuku's eyes narrowed.
"What did Garaki do to you?"
Kurotsuki looked back toward him silently.
Rain continued falling around them.
Then he answered.
"He created me."
Darkness spread outward again.
"But he does not understand what he created."
Izuku stepped forward.
Green lightning erupted violently once more.
"I don't care what you are anymore," he said coldly.
"I'm ending this here."
Kurotsuki smiled faintly.
For the first time—
his expression held genuine interest.
Then both monsters disappeared simultaneously.
And the sky above Kurogane Atoll split apart.