Ch: 65: Emptying The Tank

The artificial human didn't speak. It didn't roar.

It charged.

The mountain cracked under the force of its lunge, a blur of inhuman muscle and rage barreling toward Kael like a living boulder. Dust flared beneath its feet. Rocks split. Air howled.

Kael moved.

Flashstep activated instantly, propelling him in a sharp burst to the side—but even then, the aftershock of the Artificial Human's charge sent a wave of pressure crashing into him. His boots skidded against the fractured slope. He barely stabilized before its fist tore past where he'd just been, pulverizing the stone in a single blow.

"Faster than anyone I've faced," Kael muttered, already moving again, his breathing sharpening. "And stronger too."

Tendrils of DarkBind lashed out from his back, catching onto a crag above and swinging him upward just as the beast turned, tracking him without hesitation. Kael's body twisted in the air—just enough to fling a Sound Spike directly at its head.

The screeching burst exploded, sharp enough to crack nearby stones.

The Artificial Human paused. Twitched.

Then growled—and kept coming.

Kael landed hard. His eyes narrowed. "Didn't even flinch."

His muscles ached. His limbs burned. This wasn't like fighting villains—those could be outmaneuvered, outwitted. This… this wasn't a fight. It was a wall slamming into him over and over again.

And his usual arsenal wasn't cutting it.

Kael ducked a wild, sweeping claw, Flexweave twisting his spine like a gymnast's, and countered with a Kinetic Forge-fueled uppercut. The impact rang out like a thunderclap, the ground fracturing beneath the Artificial Human's feet from the force—

—but it didn't move.

Instead, it brought its elbow down.

Kael barely dodged, but the descending limb grazed his shoulder. The pain was immediate—sharp and bright. His arm went slightly numb.

He hissed and rolled away, clutching the bruise. The pressure alone from that blow had nearly dislocated his joint.

'I can't keep this up.'

The realization hit him cold. Every Quirk he'd been using so far—Flashstep, DarkBind, Kinetic Forge, even the support ones like Flexweave or Sound Spike—were what he considered "safe." The ones he'd practiced, honed, and trusted over the years.

But even they were cracking under the weight of this thing.

His breathing slowed. The wind shifted.

'I have no choice. My body can't handle them, but it's life or death. Might as well take this piece of shit down with me. Then Yumi and the rest of the class will be safe from it. I hope that Aizawa's taking care of things down there.'

Kael reached deeper into his arsenal of stowed away Quirks.

This wasn't a time for restraint.

He activated the Quirk, Gravemark.

It wasn't one he used lightly.

His skin shimmered faintly—his body felt heavier, anchored. Every footstep now left slight fractures in the rock, and when he raised his arm, the power behind it felt dense—compressed by gravity, like he could turn weight into momentum.

The Artificial Human lunged again.

Kael stood his ground.

He ducked under the first blow—and with Gravemark boosting him, slammed a knee straight into its gut. The beast lurched back—its feet dragged through the earth for the first time.

Kael didn't stop. He combined Gravemark with Kinetic Forge, turning momentum into fuel and hurling himself like a wrecking ball into its chest. A concussive boom rang through the canyon.

The Artificial Human crashed backward into a boulder.

Kael staggered, coughing. The weight of Gravemark was starting to dig into his bones. He felt like he was dragging chains with every movement. It made him stronger, yes—but slower.

And that was when it came back.

Not limping. Not dazed.

Just faster.

Kael barely dodged. The Artificial Human's claw sliced across his side, shallow but burning. He tumbled, landing hard on his shoulder. Pebbles and grit filled his mouth. His ribs screamed.

'I'm not invincible,' he reminded himself.

'Never was.'

He forced himself to stand. Blood dripped down his side. The mountain zone was a warzone now—craters, broken peaks, and scorch marks scattered like the aftermath of a natural disaster.

He blinked sweat out of his eyes and pushed further into his mental arsenal.

Fine. Let's see if I can chain this next one.

He activated Quirk: Mirage Skin.

Immediately, his body flickered—afterimages trailing behind him. It wasn't true invisibility, but it warped perception. Even as the Artificial Human looked toward him, its eyes hesitated—tracking a dozen possible Kaels all at once.

Kael used the confusion to jump high, Floating midair, and hurled a Sound Spike downward. The Artificial Human flinched—just a fraction—but enough.

He twisted midair and dropped like a meteor, gravity-enhanced by Gravemark, his palm glowing with kinetic energy. He slammed both fists down on the creature's back.

It roared this time. A real sound. Agony.

But it didn't fall.

Kael landed behind it, panting. His eyes were glazed with pain, his heartbeat racing too fast to control. Something felt… off. His body trembled—but not from exhaustion.

From instability.

So many Quirks clashing in his nervous system. Their limits were stacking. Their drawbacks merging.

His skin glowed faintly. Not a Quirk—just heat from overexertion.

He blinked. Just for a second… he thought he saw someone else in the corner of his eye. A flicker of himself—older. Harder. Wearing the weight of the world like a mantle.

Then it was gone.

The Artificial Human twisted its neck toward him. Kael's fists clenched.

"This is going to break me," he muttered.

"But I'll break it first."

…

The wind howled through the cracked mountain walls, slicing through the air like the shriek of a dying star. Dust curled in spirals at Kael's feet as the artificial human's shadow stretched long and jagged across the stone. The beast exhaled—a throaty, inhuman growl laced with low-frequency vibrations that made Kael's bones ache.

Kael wiped the blood from his cheek where a chunk of rock had grazed him earlier. He flexed his shoulder, still sore from a blow he barely avoided, and breathed deep to keep his pulse steady. The shadows of DarkBind shimmered behind him, slithering like living tendrils of purpose.

'You've taken hits before,' he reminded himself. 'This is no different.'

But he knew it was.

This creature wasn't acting on rage or pride. It didn't posture or gloat like the villains he'd faced earlier. It was a perfect instrument—cold, unflinching, and absolutely focused. Whatever it was… it wasn't alive in the way people were. And that made it harder to scare, harder to predict, and infinitely harder to stop.

The monster lunged.

Kael barely twisted aside, the creature's fists smashing into the stone behind him like hammers dropped from the sky. Shards erupted from the impact, one catching Kael in the side as he flipped away, grimacing.

'That would've pierced my lungs if I'd been a second slower.'

He landed hard, rolled, and flicked out DarkBind in a flurry of tendrils, trying to trap one of the creature's arms. But the beast twisted, tearing free with raw power and speed unnatural for something its size.

He backed away, heart pounding as he reached deep inside his arsenal. He'd spent three years collecting these Quirks—some through combat, some through mercy, some in desperation. But he hadn't used them all. Some he'd locked away, buried beneath layers of discipline and caution.

And now… he had no choice but to use them, just to buy him even three seconds of time.

He pressed his palm to the ground.

"Ignition Pulse," he muttered.

A dormant Quirk he'd never dared use.

The earth beneath him shimmered—and then exploded in a concussive burst of kinetic energy. Kael rocketed upward into the air, fire cracking off the soles of his shoes as the artificial human stumbled backward, momentarily disoriented.

'Reason I never used this? It destabilizes terrain—puts everyone at risk. But right now, I'm the only one around. No excuses.'

Midair, Kael spun and activated another sealed Quirk.

"Serraskin."

His forearms shimmered, skin turning metallic-gray with fine, scale-like ridges—sharp to the touch. A defensive Quirk he'd taken from a mercenary who'd used it to deflect blades.

The Artificial Human saw him coming and raised its arms.

Kael crashed down with a spinning elbow, his hardened skin cutting across the beast's arm. It growled—a flash of surprise in those lifeless eyes. It felt that.

Kael landed, pivoted, and ducked a retaliating swing that still clipped his shoulder. Pain bloomed across his collarbone.

'Too close.' He staggered back. 'I can't keep this up for long. These new Quirks drain focus—and switching between them is burning stamina. Energy. They're even frying some of my brain cells. I keep repeating myself at times.'

He could feel it already. His heartbeat was faster, not from fear, but from the mental weight. Each Quirk had its rhythm. Switching between Flashstep, DarkBind, Serraskin, and all the other newer ones was like trying to play five instruments at once with a single hand.

The artificial human gave no pause. It leapt—faster than anything that size should be to—and slammed into Kael's position.

BOOM.

Kael barely escaped, though debris slashed across his lower leg. He stumbled into a crouch, coughing through the dust, and activated another sealed Quirk without hesitation.

"Gravity Shell."

A faint shimmer wrapped around him—subtle, almost invisible. The pressure changed instantly. His limbs felt heavier, his breath tighter—but the next blow from the Artificial Human met unseen resistance. The monster reeled back, stunned.

'Only lasts for ten seconds,' Kael thought, chest rising and falling. 'And every second feels like I'm dragging chains behind my bones.'

The artificial human roared, a fractured, metallic sound that echoed across the peaks.

He canceled Gravity Shell with a deep exhale. The oppressive weight vanished, but his body already felt the toll—muscles sluggish, lungs aching.

Not sustainable. Not alone.

He couldn't just keep stacking Quirks forever. Not without consequence. Even now, the strain of switching and combining them left a ringing behind his eyes, a pulse at the base of his skull. His body felt like it was on fire.

Still, he moved. He had to. For the sake of his classmates. For Yumi. For everyone.

'I need something that shifts the tempo… something that buys me time to think.'

Kael reached inward and unlocked another buried ability—one he hadn't touched since the moment he took it.

"Dustveil."

His body expelled a dense, fine gray powder that swept outward like a second skin, coating the area in a shimmering fog. Not a smoke cloud—this was finer, more reactive. The particles distorted depth, bent angles. The creature stepped through it—and instantly faltered.

It swung. Too early. Too far to the left.

Kael ducked, then darted behind a jagged slope of stone.

Dustveil… Taken from a smuggler who used it to escape Pro Heroes.

Drawback: It messes with your own perception, too. You move blind unless you compensate.

Kael closed his eyes.

Let the memory guide you. Remember the terrain. Echo steps. Feel the air.

The creature thrashed in the mist—roaring, swiping, pulverizing shadows that weren't Kael.

He moved.

Slipped behind.

Punched—hard—right at the back of its knee.

A crunch. The monster dropped slightly. Kael jumped back immediately before it could turn.

Then he felt it again.

That creeping sense in his chest—the one that had started when he first began unlocking sealed Quirks. Not pain. Not even fear.

Displacement.

Like each Quirk added wasn't just stacking power—it was chipping something away from him.

His timing. His instincts. Maybe even parts of himself.

He blinked away the dizziness, biting down on the worry.

'This is what I trained for. What I prepared for.'

The beast charged forward, crashing through the stone Kael had just been hiding behind. One massive hand grazed his shoulder, tearing fabric and skin.

He skidded back, a thin trail of blood streaking behind him.

Not fatal.

Barely.

The fog of Dustveil settled low across the broken mountain floor, swirling like ghost smoke around Kael's feet. He stood hunched, one arm bleeding, breath sharp, but eyes locked forward.

He wasn't the same as when this began.

Not just tired—different.

The power inside him—too many pieces jammed together—pulled in every direction. But even as it cracked at the edges of his control, Kael refused to back down.

He clenched a fist, felt the strain in every tendon, and whispered to himself—

"One Quirk down, a thousand more to go. I will defeat you!"

The artificial beast straightened from the rubble, unphased, inhuman.

And Kael… took a step forward.

For the first time in his life, he felt as though he truly wasn't going to make it out of a battle.

…