Chapter 117: Half
"Are you... a Pro Hero?" Stain slowly drew his sword, his body facing Shosei Meisei.
This person is clearly the Hero Killer, the one all the pros are after. One hero has already been taken down by him. Should I listen to him and run?
Shosei instinctively took a step back, but then immediately stopped himself.
No. I can't run now. Behind him was the bustling main street, with countless people milling about. If he left now, never mind whether the Hero Killer would chase him, if that many people saw him flee in disgrace, his reputation would be ruined. Even his past of slacking off on the battlefield might get dug up.
A bead of sweat trickled down Shosei's cheek. He was scared to death, but he forced himself to put on a calm and composed expression. "I am the Pro Hero, Eye of the Dawn. Release your hostage, and I can let you leave."
"Let me leave?" Stain repeated his words and began to laugh. "Eye of the Dawn? There is only one person who can be called the 'dawn,' and that person is not here."
"You're talking about All Might, aren't you?" Shosei said, his voice steady. "Just because the Number One Hero isn't here doesn't mean there's no one who can bring you to justice. From what I hear, Endeavor has already arrived in this city. Your only path to survival is to escape now."
The hero Native coughed up blood and laughed. "Endeavor is here too? You're finished, you damn murderer! You will face justice!"
"That fraud, Endeavor... I've been wanting to kill him for a long time. You don't need to worry about my fate. As for you..." Stain grabbed Native's face with one hand and slowly drew back his sword with the other. "If you have the nerve to call yourself a hero, then you should think carefully about your last words."
In the instant Stain was about to thrust the blade, a brilliant golden light illuminated the entire alley and slammed into him. Caught off guard, he was sent flying, the sword knocked from his hand.
Native, who had been prepared to die, saw that he had been saved. After a sigh of relief, he shouted, "Eye of the Dawn! Don't worry about me! Didn't I tell you to run!?"
Shosei Meisei straightened his back and slowly lowered the hand that had been covering his left eye, revealing a golden pupil that flickered like candlelight.
"Heh heh... A hero... can't run from a fight."
Just like his hero name suggested, Shosei's Quirk allowed him to convert his stamina into golden waves of light and fire them from his eyes. His normally red eyes were just colored contacts he wore to prevent his Quirk from accidentally going wild.
His Quirk's attack power aside, it looked incredibly cool, possessing a stunning, aesthetic beauty.
Although it was similar to Aoyama's Navel Laser, it was fundamentally different. Aoyama's Quirk was a physical laser with tangible attack power; he could even use its recoil to fly.
But Shosei's golden light was more like a concussive wave. When it hit an enemy, they would be sent flying by an immense force, but it wouldn't cause any external damage. It was like a palm strike that could hit a mountain on the other side—it attacked the enemy's insides.
It was a powerful Quirk, but every use converted his stamina into light. The greater the power, the more stamina it consumed.
Because no one except the person being hit could tell how much power he was actually using, after becoming a Pro Hero, he had started to get lazy. During team-ups, he would just convert a tiny amount of stamina into a light wave and let his teammates finish the enemy off. No one could tell the difference. Afterward, he could openly claim that his stamina was depleted and he needed to rest at a hospital.
This was how he had been getting by as a Pro Hero. Until one time, when he was teamed up with his former classmate, Shota Aizawa, his laziness had caused Aizawa to be needlessly injured. Afterward, Aizawa had keenly sensed that the intensity of his ability didn't match what he remembered from their school days and had privately questioned him about it. At the time, Shosei had been filled with guilt and had accidentally revealed the truth...
After learning the truth, Aizawa had not told anyone else, but he had intentionally distanced himself from Shosei. Shosei, in turn, no longer bothered to pretend in front of Aizawa. Every time they met, he would mock him, saying his dedication was pointless and that his own fame, gotten through slacking off, was greater. But every time... he would be ignored.
"Ah, why am I suddenly thinking about all this? I may like to slack off, but that doesn't mean I'll just stand by and watch when someone is in danger. Aizawa... I really wish you could see this..." Shosei thought, mocking himself.
That one blast had consumed half of his stamina.
Shosei lifted his head and shouted to Native, "Get up and run, now! He won't be able to move for a short time!"
Native knew this was the perfect escape opportunity Shosei had created for him, but no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't even move his fingers.
"It's the enemy's Quirk! I can't move!" he shouted helplessly. "Don't worry about me! Go get help!"
"Damn it! Looks like I'm on my own!"
Shosei cursed under his breath. He took out his communicator to call the hero hotline while running toward the cornered Native. He had calculated that the Hero Killer would be stunned for at least five seconds. That was more than enough time to make the call.
As Shosei was dialing with one hand, he heard a shing sound. Suddenly, his phone shattered. A gleaming knife shot out from it, spinning unstoppably as it flew toward him.
Shosei's pupils contracted. He could only just barely twist his body to avoid a fatal blow...
With a sickening thud, in front of Native's eyes, Shosei collapsed to his knees and then fell to the ground. Blood began to flow freely from his shoulder...
"Eye of the Dawn... a decent Quirk, and your actions had a hint of heroism. But in the end... you are not a hero," Stain said, clutching his chest as he stood up. Just now, he had used a strange technique to throw the knife, not only stopping Shosei's call for help but also taking him out of the fight in a single blow.
"Because a hero... does not lose to evil."
Stain once again drew a sword from his back and walked toward Native. "This time, no one can save you."
"Gah—!"
Suddenly, a flicker of movement caught Stain's attention. He instantly changed direction and swung his sword to the side.
A figure in what looked like knight's armor was sent flying by the unexpected blow. If he hadn't been wearing a helmet, he probably would have been decapitated.
"A kid in a uniform..." Stain frowned at the person who had failed to ambush him and was now struggling on the ground. "Who are you? Get lost. This is no place for a child."
The Hero Killer had a principle: he only killed Pro Heroes. He wouldn't harm ordinary civilians, let alone a child.
"So that means... I don't meet your criteria for a target yet..." The boy in the uniform rolled across the ground and landed on one knee. He clenched his fist tightly and shouted with emotion, "Listen well! The name of the hero who will defeat you is Ingenium!"
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 400 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!