The night before the raid was the longest night of my life. I didn't sleep. I spent hours in the dorm's private training room, pushing my body to its limits, trying to get used to the sensation of manifesting the sword blade on my arm. Every time I summoned it, a sharp pain still shot through me, but now there was a purpose behind it. This was no longer a power I feared, but a tool I had to master. I thought about my fights against Todoroki and Bakugo, then compared them to the fight to come. Our opponents tomorrow weren't students competing for victory. They were monsters and killers fighting for life and death. There would be no referee. There would be no Recovery Girl waiting at the end.
My thoughts kept returning to Eri. To her terror-filled eyes. To her trembling body. The echo of the original Tatsumi's soul within me—a warrior who had repeatedly risked his life to protect the weak—roared in agreement with my resolve. The cold hatred I felt for Overhaul was no longer just a primal reaction from Incursio; it had become entirely my own. That man had turned a child into a tool, a sacrifice. And that was an unforgivable sin.
The dawn broke in a grim shade of gray, as if the sky itself were mourning what was about to happen. We, the students involved in this operation—me, Midoriya, Kirishima, Uraraka, and Tsuyu—gathered in front of the dorm. The atmosphere was tense. There was no joking or light chatter. We all wore our hero costumes under thick jackets.
"Are you ready?" Midoriya asked, his voice quiet but steady. He had grown so much since the Sports Festival. The burden of One For All was beginning to change him from a nervous boy into a young leader.
"Born ready," Kirishima replied, punching his hardened fists together.
I just nodded, my mind already on the battlefield. We boarded an unmarked van sent by the police, joining the other pro heroes at the meeting point near the Shie Hassaikai headquarters.
The scene at the meeting point was an incredible show of force. Dozens of pro heroes and hundreds of police officers moved with a silent efficiency. I saw Sir Nighteye standing in the center, giving final directions to the team leaders. Ryukyu was there, looking majestic even in her hero costume. Fat Gum was giving Kirishima and Amajiki a pep talk. Aizawa-sensei just stood silently in a corner, his red eyes glowing behind his goggles, watching over us, his students, with the vigilance of a mother tiger.
Ryukyu approached our group. "Remember your duties," she said, her eyes looking at each of us in turn. "You are the support team. Your top priority is to protect and rescue civilians if necessary, and to assist the pro heroes. Do not engage in one-on-one combat with the core members of the Hassaikai unless there is no other choice. And you," she looked at me, "stay near me. I need those senses of yours."
I nodded. "I understand."
Sir Nighteye gave the final briefing. "Our target is the underground complex beneath this mansion. Intelligence indicates it's a labyrinth designed to confuse intruders. Top priority is the rescue of Eri. Second priority is capturing Kai Chisaki and securing all the Quirk-destroying bullets. We move fast and decisively. Don't give them time to react."
With that, the order was given. "OPERATION... BEGINS!"
The raid began with overwhelming force. Ryukyu, in her colossal dragon form, immediately destroyed the main gate and the outer wall of the mansion with a single, giant tail swipe. The other pro heroes stormed in from all directions, quickly disabling the Yakuza guards in the courtyard. Their initial resistance was futile against the combined power of so many heroes.
We followed behind, entering the now-quiet mansion. The atmosphere was eerie. The luxurious Japanese-style house felt empty and cold.
"Where are they?" Uraraka whispered.
"Underground," Sir Nighteye replied. He pointed to a hidden passage behind a large painting. "The entrance is there."
As the first group of pro heroes began to enter the narrow passage, the entire building trembled violently. The walls around us began to shift and change shape. The floor beneath us suddenly folded upward, and the ceiling descended.
"It's his Quirk!" Midoriya yelled. "One of them can control this building!"
It was Irinaka, aka Mimic. He had turned his entire headquarters into a deadly, living labyrinth. In an instant, our large raiding team was split apart, separated by concrete walls that appeared out of nowhere. I was thrown into a dark corridor with my familiar team: Ryukyu, Nejire, Uraraka, and Tsuyu.
"Damn it!" Ryukyu cursed. "He managed to separate us!"
"Momo-chan!" Uraraka yelled into her communicator, trying to contact her friend who was on another team. There was only static. Our signal was also jammed. We were alone.
In another part of the labyrinth, Midoriya, Mirio, Aizawa, and Sir Nighteye landed in a large empty room. They were also separated from the main group. 'They're trying to stall for time and separate us one by one,' Sir Nighteye thought. 'We have to keep moving forward, toward Chisaki.'
Back in our corridor, we were faced with our first threat. From the shadows ahead of us, three figures emerged. They were Hassaikai members, wearing their distinctive plague masks.
"Well, well. A dragon and her little hero chicks," one of them sneered. "The boss said there would be guests. He didn't say the party would be this fun."
Ryukyu took a position in front of me. "You three, stay back. Let me handle this."
"No," I said, stepping forward to her side. "We don't have time to fight one by one. We have to finish this quickly." I looked at Nejire, Uraraka, and Tsuyu. "We are a team. We fight as a team."
Ryukyu looked at me, then smiled faintly. "Alright, then. Show me what you can do."
The fight began in the narrow corridor. This was the first test for the real "Team Ryukyu." The first villain, whose body could stretch like rubber, tried to attack from the ceiling. Tsuyu reacted instantly, her tongue shooting out and wrapping around the villain's body, slamming him to the floor. The second villain fired bone projectiles from his hands. I manifested my Incursio gauntlets and parried the attack, while Uraraka touched some nearby debris and made it float, creating a makeshift shield.
Nejire, with a smile on her face, gathered her energy. "My turn!" She fired a concentrated Nejire Pike, disabling the third villain before he could even use his Quirk.
We moved with a surprising synergy, each person covering the weaknesses of the others. But as we defeated them, a creepy laugh was heard from the walls around us. Irinaka's voice.
"You think it's that easy, heroes?" he said, his voice echoing. "You will never reach our boss. You will all die in this labyrinth of mine!"
The wall in front of us suddenly moved, closing off our path. The wall behind us also began to close in, trying to crush us.
"He's trying to crush us!" Uraraka yelled in panic.
"I can hold it!" Ryukyu roared, transforming into her large dragon form and holding the walls back with her full strength. But I could see she was struggling. "I can't hold it forever! Find a way out, quick!"
I closed my eyes, ignoring the chaos. I focused on one thing: the sickening, wrong feeling that Overhaul radiated. My dragon's hatred compass. I stretched my senses out, searching for him in the middle of this ever-changing labyrinth.
"There," I whispered, my eyes opening and pointing to the floor beneath us. "He's below us. Far below."
"There's no way down!" Nejire said.
"Then," I said, manifesting the sword blade on my arm. "We'll make our own way."
I looked at Ryukyu. "Hold the wall a little longer!"
I plunged my Incursio blade into the concrete floor. With a roar, I channeled my power, cutting a large circle around us. As I finished the last cut, Ryukyu released the walls. The five of us fell through the hole I had just made, landing in another corridor on the floor below, just as the walls above us slammed into each other with a deafening sound.
We had escaped, but we were now even deeper in the enemy's den. I could feel Overhaul's presence getting stronger. We were getting closer.
At the end of the dimly lit corridor, I saw a large steel door. Behind it, I felt Chisaki's aura at its strongest, and also... another small, trembling, terrified aura. Eri.
As we approached the door, a cold voice was heard from a loudspeaker above us. Overhaul's voice.
"I must admit, I'm impressed you've made it this far. Especially you... anomaly." He was talking to me. "But your game ends here."
The steel door in front of us opened slowly, revealing a large room. In the center, stood Overhaul. And beside him were two of the strongest members of the Eight Bullets of Death. The real fight was about to begin.