Chapter 119 : Echoes of the Empire and the Beginning of a Deeper Mystery

In the common room of Alliance Heights, cheers of victory and relief erupted as Endeavor raised his burning fist on the television screen. My friends jumped to their feet, hugging each other, celebrating the hero's victory over the monster. They saw the end of a horrific battle. I, on the other hand, had just seen the beginning of a nightmare far more personal and terrifying.

I remained frozen in my seat, my eyes staring blankly at the screen, which now showed panicked reporters. The sounds around me—Kirishima's laughter, Midoriya's excited analysis, even Bakugo's grunt of relief—sounded like echoes from a distant world. My mind kept replaying that last moment. The Nomu's movement. The way it twisted its hips to avoid an attack, the way its wrist bent in an efficient parry. It wasn't the random movement of a wild beast. It was the basic stance of Imperial martial arts. A fighting style taught to every soldier, a style I had seen in my increasingly vivid dreams.

The world around me felt tilted. All this time, I had thought my connection to the world of Akame ga Kill! was limited to myself and Akame, two anomalies who had accidentally been thrown into this reality. But this... this changed everything. It implied a bridge, an intentional connection between this world and my old one. And someone—most likely All For One and his mad doctor—had used that bridge to import raw materials for their monsters. Were they kidnapping soldiers? Or were they taking corpses from a past battlefield? The thought made my stomach churn.

"Tatsumi-san? Are you okay?" Momo's gentle voice snapped me out of my reverie. She looked at me with concern, noticing my pale face and my slightly trembling hands. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

I looked at her, then at my other friends who were now also looking at me. I couldn't say it. I couldn't tell them, 'The monster that just nearly killed our Number One Hero might have been made from people from my old world.' It was a madness that even my circle of trust would have trouble accepting.

"I... I'm fine," I said, my voice hoarse. "It's just... that fight. The power of that Nomu. It reminded me of something. Something that felt wrong."

That night, I couldn't sleep. I paced back and forth in my room like a caged tiger. The burden of this knowledge was too heavy to carry alone. I needed certainty. I needed answers. I took out the encrypted communicator that Ryukyu had given me, my hand trembling as I typed an emergency message.

Ryukyu-san. This is an emergency. I saw something in Endeavor's fight. Something very important related to our cases. I have to meet you. Immediately.

I didn't have to wait long. A few minutes later, a reply came. Secondary safe location. Thirty minutes. Come alone.

In a hidden laboratory located deep underground in an abandoned hospital, Dr. Garaki, or Kyudai Garaki, was observing a series of monitors with an annoyed expression. On the screen, he saw the charred remains of his masterpiece, 'Hood', being transported by the heroes.

"A failure," he hissed to himself, his hoarse voice echoing in the silent lab. "The 'High-End' experiment failed to achieve its primary objective of killing or at least publicly humiliating Endeavor. But..." He smiled faintly behind his thick mustache. "...the combat data obtained is invaluable."

He switched to another monitor, displaying Hood's biometric data and energy output during the fight. "Its super-regeneration functioned above expectations. Its tactical thinking and adaptation abilities, though still limited to its basic combat instincts, showed significant progress."

He walked past rows of giant stasis tubes that pulsed with a terrifying green light. Inside, there were more humanoid figures in various stages of development. He stopped in front of one tube.

"You soldiers from that 'Gate'..." he muttered, looking at the figure inside the tube. "Your physiology is extraordinary. Your bodies are incredibly resilient, as if they have evolved for endless war. It's a pity your original consciousnesses are too strong and stubborn to be completely destroyed. It causes instability." He patted the tube gently. "But that's alright. We don't need your minds. The echo of combat embedded in your muscles and nerves... that is more than enough to create the perfect soldier for my Master."

He then walked to the most isolated section of the lab, which was reinforced with layers of steel and energy dampeners. There, there was one stasis tube that was different from the others, larger and more robust, and the liquid inside it was an icy blue. Inside, a tall and majestic female figure floated, asleep in a frozen state.

"And you..." Dr. Garaki whispered, looking at the figure with a mixture of admiration and fear. "'The Ice Queen Specimen'. Our most valuable and most dangerous asset. If only we could find a way to control that unbreakable mind of yours... not even All Might in his prime would have been a problem. Patience. Your time will come."

I met Ryukyu in a small, closed café, which turned out to be one of her safe properties. She was already waiting, sitting alone in a dimly lit booth. My other teammates—Nejire, Uraraka, and Tsuyu—were also there, summoned by Ryukyu. She knew this was our secret to share now.

"Alright, Tatsumi-kun," Ryukyu said without preamble. "What did you see?"

I took a deep breath. "That Nomu," I said. "Its movements. Its fighting style. It wasn't the random movements of a mindless monster. It was a trained series of movements. A martial art. And I... I recognized it."

"Recognized it from where?" Nejire asked, her wide eyes filled with curiosity and concern.

"From my dreams," I replied quietly. "From the echo of the original Tatsumi's soul. It was the standard fighting style taught to all soldiers in the Empire, the world where he and Akame came from."

A shocked silence enveloped our table. The implication of my words was horrific.

"Are you saying..." Momo, who had joined us via a secure video call on Ryukyu's tablet, said, "...that the raw material for that Nomu... was a human from your other world?"

"I don't know for sure," I admitted. "Were they kidnapped? Are they reanimated corpses? Is there some kind of 'Gate' between worlds? I don't know. But the connection is undeniable. All For One, or his doctor, somehow has access to people from my world."

Ryukyu leaned back in her chair, her face pale. The threat they faced had just evolved from a domestic terrorist problem to an inter-dimensional crisis. "This... this changes everything," she whispered. "This explains why the Nomu are so resilient. Their physiology is different."

"It also explains why Humarise was so interested in you and Nejire-senpai," Momo added from the screen. "If they know about the existence of 'other worlds' and 'other powers,' they would definitely want to study it. Perhaps they are a rival faction to All For One's group, both trying to exploit resources from other dimensions."

The theory made sense. We were no longer just dealing with one or two evil organizations. We might be in the middle of an inter-dimensional shadow war we didn't even realize.

"So, what do we do now?" Uraraka asked, her voice trembling.

"We move forward," Ryukyu said, her resolve returning. "This information must not leak. The Commission would panic and might take the wrong action. The investigation into Humarise and Yozakura becomes our top priority." She looked at me. "And you, Tatsumi-kun, become more important than ever. You are no longer just a detector; you are the only living dictionary we have to understand this new enemy."

Suddenly, my special communicator vibrated. A message came in. Not from Ryukyu. Not from Akame. It was from a number I didn't recognize, but the encryption was highly advanced. I opened it carefully.

The message was short: "I know you work with Ryukyu. I planted a bug on Dabi during Kamino. He just mentioned a location in the mountains near Gunma Prefecture. A villa called the Meta Liberation Army headquarters. Be vigilant. - H"

H. Hawks.

He must have been investigating us after the Kamino incident and somehow found out about my connection with Ryukyu. Instead of reporting me, he chose to become a shadow ally. He was playing his own game.

I showed the message to Ryukyu. Her eyes widened as she read the name "Meta Liberation Army." "Another terrorist group," she hissed. "The world really is going to hell."

She looked at me, and I saw a new understanding in her eyes. "It seems our break is over," she said, her voice filled with the weight of the coming war. "Prepare yourself, Tatsumi-kun."

I nodded. I looked at my friends, at Ryukyu. I thought about Akame, about Hawks, about Humarise, about the League, about Yozakura. This world was far more complicated and dangerous than any story I had ever read.

"We're going to the mountains," Ryukyu said with a tone of finality.