Does a Doll Deserve to Live a Happy Life? (Patreon)

Chapter 35: A Swift Conclusion

With Sieg & Artoria

Running alongside Artoria, we quickly moved through the destroyed city. It didn’t take long before we passed the source of all the devastation.

It was a giant of a man with brown, spiky hair, parts of his body jagged and lined with spikes jutting out of his back. At the moment, he looked less like a person and more like a massive mole, one with enormous, clawed fingers that tore through everything in his path. He barreled forward at full speed, ignoring every attempt the Heroes made to stop him as if their attacks weren’t even there.

“Their attacks aren’t doing anything to it,” Artoria said, eyeing the giant critically.

“Tamamo should be there any moment,” I replied, facing forward again as we sprinted past the creature, heading toward the other battle I could sense nearby.

A few seconds after I said that, a massive pillar of ice erupted in front of the giant, one strong enough to stop it in its tracks, a clear sign of Tamamo’s arrival.

“Let’s hope Caster doesn’t damage the city more than it already is,” Artoria muttered with a worried frown, throwing one last glance behind us before speeding up again.

“Knowing her, she’ll probably end up turning it to ash if it doesn’t go down fast enough,” I said, not particularly concerned, trusting Tamamo to handle it.

“Anyway, we should hurry. I sense a fight raging ahead,” Artoria said, focusing on the distance.

And indeed, with the speed we were running, the battlefield quickly came into view. The area was reduced to rubble even more thoroughly than what the giant had caused. It looked as if someone with a decay or disintegration ability had torn through the city.

‘If I remember correctly… that kid with the hands on his face had a disintegration Quirk,’ I thought, spotting flashes of fire and debris being blasted into the air.

“Get ready, Artoria. You might have to hold the Heroes back from interfering while I deal with the one responsible,” I said, narrowing my eyes as I spotted several Heroes surrounding a lone figure, one strong enough that was able to hold his own against all of them.

“I suppose that’s for the best,” Artoria said, sounding reluctant but fully prepared.

‘I wonder how much stronger you’ve gotten, Midoriya… Mirio,’ I thought, remembering the two teens I’d fought against when rescuing Eri.

=====

With Tamamo

“GET OUT OF THE WAY!!”

Listening to the giant screaming at her, Tamamo puffed up her cheeks in irritation. With an elegant flick of her fan, she sent another Curse: Void Cleft Great Chaos Heaven, locking him in place.

“How uncouth. Don’t you know it’s rude to yell at a beautiful woman?” she chided mockingly, narrowing her eyes in glee as she watched the giant struggle helplessly.

Tamamo had arrived only moments ago and immediately immobilized the brute to minimize further destruction to the city. She knew if she didn’t, that prude Artoria would lecture her later, and Tamamo didn’t feel like dealing with it today. Better to behave… for now.

“Though I guess I can’t really compare other men to my Sieg-kun. It wouldn’t be fair. My Sieg-kun is perfect, after all, and none of you could possibly compare to him~” Tamamo gushed, going on a small rant listing all of Sieg’s qualities.

She stopped when a burst of blue flame shot from the giant’s back. One of her four tails swept through the air, snuffing the flame out instantly. Then a voice followed.

“Would ya shut up already about Sieg-kun this and Sieg-kun that? It’s annoying!”

Tamamo focused on the giant’s back and smiled blankly as five individuals emerged from between the spikes, four men and one blonde girl. The one who had spoken was a man with black hair and severely burned skin.

“Finally decided to show yourselves, I see,” Tamamo said casually, unsurprised. She’d sensed them from the start, she was simply waiting for them to reveal themselves.

“So you already knew we were here.” The man in the white mask and top hat clicked his tongue in annoyance. He turned toward the black long-haired man with the laptop. “Do you know who she is?”

The man quickly typed on his keyboard. “Unknown. All I found is that she’s wanted across Japan, so she’s clearly not a Hero.”

“That’s old news to me,” Tamamo commented with a shrug further confusing them. She knew her history better than anyone.

“Wait~” the blonde girl said, eyes lighting up. “I remember her! Back at that loser Yakuza hideout! She beat up a bunch of Heroes pretty easily which I thought was really cool!”

“Then why is she here now?” asked the purple-haired man with reptilian skin.

“I can answer that if you want~” Tamamo said sweetly, drawing all eyes back to her.

“Don’t tell me you’re turning over a new leaf and you’re here to capture us?” the burned man mocked, looking ready to attack again.

“Fufufu, nothing as silly as that.” Tamamo waved a hand, amused at the very suggestion. “I’ll leave Hero work to my beloved. I’m here for a much simpler reason.”

She tilted her head, closing her eyes like an innocent maiden.

Then her smile sharpened.

Her eyes slid open, cold, fox-like, and predatory.

“You see, that brute you’re riding on ruined the precious memories I made with Sieg-kun during several of our dates with his reckless destruction. I obviously couldn’t let him get away with that… so I’m here to make him disappear~ Simple, right?”

She smiled sweetly, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, before releasing her terrifying aura across the battlefield.

Instantly, the giant and everyone riding on him froze in horror, brought to their knees by her killing intent.

“O-Oi… oi… y-you’re kidding, right?” the burned man stammered as sweat poured down his face. “Don’t tell me we’re about to fight a monster even scarier, and stronger, than Shigaraki?”

“Hihihi, I know we’re probably super dead, but I can’t help really admiring her~” the blonde girl said with a huge grin, despite her entire body trembling in fear.

“N-Now’s not the time to be admiring our enemy, Toga!” the man in the top hat and mask hissed, reprimanding her weakly as his shaking hands dipped into his pockets.

“B-Bad. T-This is really bad,” the purple-haired, lizard-skinned man stuttered, eyes wide as he stared at the vision of beauty, and death, smiling sweetly at them.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to kill you~” Tamamo said brightly.

The group visibly relaxed.

“Thank goodne—”

“I have a better idea~” Tamamo chirped. “I’ll just capture you and present you to my beloved as a gift. Since you all seem somewhat important, I’m sure you must have some value~”

She emphasized “capture” with a knowing hint in her voice, an inside joke only Sieg and those close to him would understand, and giggled happily.

“S-she’s completely insane,” the man with the laptop whispered, shaking from head to toe.

“Now, now. I thought I went over this already with the big brute,” Tamamo said, wagging her finger playfully, which contrasted sharply with the pure malice in her eyes. “That’s not how you speak to a beautiful girl. There’s only one person in existence who can get away with that, and unfortunately for all of you, none of you are him.”

“Now then, enough talking~” she continued cheerfully as a large gold and violet mirror materialized in front of her. “I don’t want to waste any more time on humans who annoy me. I want to get back to my beloved’s side as soon as I can so I can see him acting all cool and sexy.”

She smiled sweetly, terrifyingly.

“So ready or not, here I come~”

And with those last words, a terrifying monster descended upon the League of Villains and escape became all but impossible as tori gates suddenly surrounded them from all sides.

=====

Back With Sieg & Artoria

Arriving at the battlefield, we were greeted with a far-from-pleasant sight, most of the Heroes were on their last legs, with only two blurs clashing violently in the sky.

One was a green-haired kid in a green suit and huge red sneakers. The other was a white-haired man in black pants, his body marred with severe burn marks that were slowly, very slowly, healing over time.

Izuku, easily recognizable thanks to the arcs of green lightning crackling around him, was clearly close to collapsing. His arms were bruised horrifically, most likely broken, yet he was unrelenting, refusing to let up his attacks on who I assumed to be Shigaraki.

At first glance, he seemed stronger than during our last encounter… but only slightly. What really stood out to me instead was that he seemed to possess more Quirks now. Something about being able to use the abilities of the previous users of his Quirk if I remember correctly.

Taking a quick survey of the battlefield, I immediately spotted Mirio lying injured on the ground, weakly attempting, and failing, to stand and rejoin the fight.

‘Is this all you’ve grown in six months?’ I frowned. It wasn’t much, honestly. ‘But then again, I really shouldn’t compare my own hellish training under someone who’s raised legends and killed genuine gods… to whatever meager training these kids had available to them.’

Forcing all emotion from my expression as we approached, I turned to Artoria. She was scanning the battlefield with a deep frown, no doubt every instinct she had was screaming at her to intervene.

“Artoria. Just like we discussed earlier, make sure nobody interferes,” I murmured, aware of the many eyes that had noticed our arrival.

“Leave it to me,” Artoria said with a firm nod.

I returned it, then vanished in a burst of speed.

I reappeared just as Izuku and Shigaraki were about to collide, materializing between them. Both were caught completely off guard.

“W-Wha—!?” Shigaraki managed, confusion flickering across his eyes, his hand still extended toward me.

“I-It’s you!” Izuku gasped, eyes wide in recognition.

I didn’t bother responding.

My hands blurred.

An instant later, Shigaraki was sent crashing into the ground, hard enough to carve a crater into the shattered debris.

At the same time, Izuku choked, eyes bulging, as my fist slammed into his solar plexus. His breath left him in a broken wheeze; his pupils rolled back before consciousness slipped away entirely.

I caught the kid before he could fall, letting his limp body rest in my arm as we descended.

Landing lightly on the ground, I spotted another somewhat familiar face based on Tamamo’s description, struggling uselessly to rise even when he was bleeding from a missing right leg.

I vanished again.

A moment later, I reappeared in front of him, startling him completely.

“…Y-You.” Aizawa muttered with a cough, narrowing his eyes at me in anger. “W-What do you want with my student?”

I didn’t answer immediately. Instead, I gently laid the unconscious kid beside him, surprising him again, and stood up.

“Nothing. I don’t want anything from him, or from any of you, honestly. I’m just making sure he doesn’t interfere with what’s about to happen, since from my personal experience with the kid, he’s extremely nosy.”

“A-Are you with the League of Villains?” he asked through another cough, his tired eyes never relaxing.

“Of course not. But I don’t really care if you believe me or not.” My voice remained flat. “I’m just here to finish what you Heroes should have done a long time ago.”

Before he could respond, we heard movement, Shigaraki pulling himself out of the crater.

“I’ll have my companion heal both of you once I finish this,” I muttered, turning away. “Consider it an apology for the beating my girlfriend gave you all last time.”

And with that, I vanished in another burst of speed, reappearing in front of Shigaraki, who now wore a furious scowl.

Behind me, I faintly caught an angry shout from a blonde kid who appeared beside Aizawa.

“Who the hell was that pretty-boy bastard, and that damn broad!? Do you know them Aizawa-sensei?”

I ignored him.

“Who the hell are you!?” Shigaraki demanded, one hand shooting up to furiously scratch his neck as if out of nervous habit. “More and more pests keep showing up.”

“That’s none of your concern,” I said coldly. “But you ruined a very precious girl’s day out today. So I’m here to put you down like the rabid dog you are.”

I was still angry that on the first time that Eri had come back to civilization after gathering all of her courage, all of this shit had to happen.

“As if I give a crap,” he muttered, scratching even faster. Then he suddenly stilled, slumping forward slightly. “Doesn’t matter. Since you’re in my way, I’ll just kill you too!”

He thrust out his hand, and that’s when I noticed he had a hole in his palm that began glowing yellow a second later.

A blast of force shot in all directions.

Knowing Izuku and Aizawa were behind me, injured and unable to defend themselves and trusting Artoria to handle the other side, I summoned my blade instantly. With one powerful swing, I released a shockwave of my own, canceling his attack completely.

“Tsk! Are you a hidden boss or something?!” Shigaraki snarled, shaking with fury. “Just die already!”

This time, he extended his fingers toward the ground.

I knew exactly what would happen if he touched it.

So I moved.

Using the Raptor’s god-like speed, I appeared beside him in an instant, and without hesitation, sliced clean through both his arms just below the elbow.

Blood sprayed.

Before he even registered the pain, my next swing drove my sword straight down through his chest, pinning him to the ground with brutal finality.

“Ggh—!”

Shigaraki let out a strangled gasp, staring down in disbelief. First at the stumps where his arms used to be… then at the blade buried in his chest. Finally, his gaze snapped up to me, filled with hatred.

“Y-You… b-bastard…! Who the fuck are you!?” he wheezed, trembling with rage and shock.

“Sieg,” I answered simply.

I pulled out my Stamp from my pocket, pressed it firmly against his forehead, and in the next instant, he vanished into my Pocket Space, leaving the battlefield in stunned silence.

Relaxing now that the main villain had been taken care of, I straightened to my full height, pulling my sword free from the ground before letting it dissipate a moment later. I turned when I felt several Heroes, those who had recovered from the shock, cautiously approaching.

Among them, I spotted a bulky redheaded man wreathed in flames across his face and upper torso. Endeavor, I could only guess. The blonde kid yelling earlier, now scowling daggers at me, was obviously Bakugo, especially now that I had a closer look. And finally, Mirio stood with them as well, noticeably not smiling, for once.

Bakugo in particular had a murderous glare on his face, teeth grinding audibly as he stared me down.

“Who the fuck are you?” Bakugo demanded.

Before I could answer, Artoria appeared at my side in a blur of blue and gold. Ignoring the three Heroes for the moment, she turned to me and gave a proud nod.

“Nicely done, Sieg,” she said calmly, a faint smile touching her lips.

“Don’t ignore me, you bastards!” Bakugo exploded, literally, as small sparks crackled in his palms, clearly readying himself to attack.

Looking at all their serious expressions, I couldn’t help the sigh of annoyance that escaped me.

‘Maybe it was a mistake offering to help heal the wounded.’