READ WEBNOVEL INTERLUDE 6: ENCROACHING DARKNESS
It was night. High in the sky, the full moon shone brightly. The light of the street was even brighter, but this brightness was nothing more than a facade. What did this light hide? An encroaching darkness.
---
“*ARGH* NO! NO! STOP IT!!!!”
“MY ARM!!!”
“I BEG YOU!! SPARE ME!! I WILL FOLLOW YOU!!!”
Somewhere, hidden in a deserted ocean, a massacre was occurring. Scream, begging, crying. Shit, piss, blood and guts. All kinds of sounds and odors were mixing together. Dismembered body littered the floors.
It was hell. Simply hell. In this hell, a demon was standing with leisure as he faced few people who were kneeling and begging while they did their best to not look at the atrocity that happened around them. The demon began to talk in a measured but somewhat childish tone.
“You see..If you had listened to me from the beginning, all of this wouldn’t have happened.”
As he said that, he crouched down to face one of the begging men and put his hand around the neck of the said man more precisely, he only put four fingers around. The fifth one, his index, was raised a little and didn’t touch the skin of the begging man.
“Please! Please! Please!”
The begging man began to beg even more. Tears and snot mixing on his face, giving him a particularly ugly but pitiful appearance. The man knew.
He knew what would happen once this demon put his fifth finger on his neck. A stain could be seen growing on his pants. It was clear that the fear was so much that he basically pissed himself.
But he didn’t have to care about such embarrassment. How much worthy was shame when death was staring at you.
“OK… now that you became a gentle little dog, I can let you and your remaining friend alive.”
Those words were like the voice of an angel in his mind. He couldn’t but kowtow again and again, as he said in a loud voice,
“THANKS YOU!! THANK YOU!!!”
They said that the knee of a man was made out of gold. But it was only when one faced death that they could understand how meaningless such notions and honor were in the grand scheme of things.
Honor? Pride? Courage? Only those who faced the abyss and keep them could use such words.The man knew that being like themselves could only discard those notions in order to live.
The man took a furtive look at this demon. He was a slim man wearing all black.; a black tee-shirt and a black pants. He had messy grayish-blue hair that bordered on the white.
The most scary thing about him were those creepy hands on his arms, shoulders and face. Behind the one covering his face, deep blood eyes could be seen staring disinterestedly at him.
The moment he finished saying his thanks, a deep dark purple cloud formed behind the demon. From it, a deep voice came out,
“Tomura are you ready?”
The demon, no Shigaraki Tomura answered with a lazy voice
“Let go back. I’m sure that now everything is alright.”
The begging man, watched as the demon left and couldn’t help but fall on his butt, tears of joys visible on his face, and a sigh of relief come out as he said,
“We survived.”
He turned and looked at the ground that was littered by different kind of dismembered corpses. He felt like barfing. Just what kind of quirk was that?
---
Shigaraki Tomura stood in front of a Tv in a bar as he did his rapport about his recent activities.
“....And that's it. Sensei.”
A calm voice full of authority and dignity came out from the said Tv. There was no image, only sound.
“You did well. So what will be your next step?”
“Attack UA.”
This answer stunned everyone into silence for a short time before different voices exploded with laughter. The laugh didn’t last long though, when they realized was that he was serious about attacking UA
“Are you sure?”
Tomura felt a great amount of pressure in this voice. Still, he didn’t flinch and said with assurance,
“Yes. After more months of preparation I will attack UA and I WILL KILL ALL MIGHT!!.”
The last part was said with a great amount of rage and vehemence. Despite that, the other one still spoke calmly and with leisure
“How will you call your group?”
Tomura hesitated for a few seconds as he scratched his neck. Finally, he said,
“Let call it... The league of villains”
----
“A newborn calf isn’t afraid of the tiger. The Chinese really have great quote. This completely describes Tomura.”
An old man said this with an exasperated tone.
“Master, he is right. The young master doesn’t seem to understand what he is doing. One or two pro hero would be enough to decimate all the ragtag group of villains he is forming. Shouldn’t we stop him?”
This time it was a young woman who continued. During all that, Shigaraki, more known as All For One, or the symbol of evil stayed silent. Finally, he said,
“Doctor, Michelle, do you know the difference between a master and a novice?”
The two of them fell silent as they contemplated. All For one didn’t wait for them to answer
“The difference between a master and a novice is that the master failed more times than the novice tried.”
“...”
“There is absolutely no shame in failing. No one is perfect in this world. The most important thing is to be able to get up and try again. What’s more, businessmen have a saying...”
“...”
“... When you try, there can be two results. Either you fail or you succeed. When you don’t try, there can only be one result.”
“...”
“That’s why, I don’t mind if he tries. Perhaps he might surprise us and succeed, and even if he fails, he would have learned an important lesson that will make him closer to becoming a master… Doctor.”
“Yes”
“How is the special nomu?”
“He should be ready in a few months.”
“I see… Send him to Tomura once it’s ready.”
“But…”
“I understand your concern. But do as I say.”
The old man shut his mouth and nodded. All For One was a leader who listened to the opinion of his subordinates, but he always had the final say in any discussion.
“Now, Doctor, Michelle, you can go out. I need to rest.”
The two bowed and left without a word.
All For One, now alone in the darkness sighed,
“The time is coming near. The chess pieces are moving as I thought. All Might, 3771, I hope you won’t disappoint me.”