All Might moved first.
He launched himself forward with a force that cracked the air beneath his feet, the ground far below splitting as if struck by an invisible hammer. The wind howled around him as he closed the distance in an instant, eyes locked on the massive shape drifting through the clouds.
For a brief second, time slowed.
Then his fist connected.
The impact detonated across the sky.
The White Whale's enormous body twisted violently, its bulk forced sideways as a shockwave ripped outward. Clouds tore apart. Buildings below shattered windows simultaneously. Soldiers miles away were knocked off balance as the air itself screamed.
All Might followed through, chest heaving as he forced himself to stay upright in midair.
"...That's it?" he muttered.
His eyes widened slightly.
"I can only push about sixty five... maybe seventy percent."
The realization cut deep.
Once, that blow would have shattered mountains.
Now, it merely wounded a calamity.
The Whale howled, its massive body rolling sluggishly through the sky as blood spilled in slow, unnatural streams.
Before it could recover, Stars and Stripes acted.
Reality bent at her command.
The air around the White Whale compressed violently, shaping itself into an enormous, invisible construct that mirrored her own form. Giant hands formed and closed around the beast, fingers digging into its flesh with crushing pressure.
"Stay down," she commanded, voice steady but strained.
The Whale thrashed, its movements causing the mist to surge violently outward. The air construct creaked under the strain, pressure waves rippling through the sky as Stars clenched her jaw, every muscle in her body screaming in protest.
And then there was Reinhard.
He did not hesitate.
He stepped onto the Whale as if it were solid ground.
His boots struck its hide and held. Divine protections flared instinctively, adapting perfectly to the impossible terrain. In one fluid motion, he drew both swords.
The first slash came fast.
Too fast.
A line of light carved across the Whale's body, followed by a geyser of blood that sprayed outward in an arc.
The second slash came before the first wound had even finished opening.
Then a third.
Then a fourth.
Reinhard moved.
Not like a soldier.
Not like a hero.
He ran.
He sprinted along the massive curve of the Whale's body, feet striking flesh as if it were stone, blades flashing in relentless patterns. Each movement flowed into the next with terrifying precision.
Slash.
Blood erupted.
He leapt, twisted, landed again, blades carving deeper, faster, more violently.
Inside his mind, a thought surfaced with chilling clarity.
I will kill you. Kill you.
One strike. One perfect blow.
He knew exactly where.
But he couldn't because the plan was to bait the other whale to come out.
Instead, he screamed.
And attacked harder.
Every cut carried years of buried rage. Every strike was grief given form. Every step across that monstrous body was a memory .
This thing had taken his grandmother.
This thing had destroyed his family.
This thing had terrorized his world.
So he carved it apart.
From above, soldiers and heroes stared in stunned silence.
"He's... he's a death god," someone whispered.
Reinhard blurred.
The Whale convulsed violently as entire sections of its body were torn open. Blood rained down like crimson rain, splattering rooftops and streets below.
Each time Reinhard vanished from sight, another eruption of gore followed.
The news feed struggled to keep up.
The anchor's voice trembled. "That person... he's running on the creature. He's slaughtering it."
The camera caught Reinhard landing atop the Whale's skull, swords dripping red. For a single heartbeat, he stood still.
Then he vanished again.
Reinhard did not count his strikes.
He named them.
The first cut came low and wide, steel tearing through flesh in a blazing arc.
For my world.
Villages swallowed by fog. Towns erased. Names forgotten. History reduced to silence.
The second strike crossed it, faster, heavier, blood exploding outward.
For this world.
A borrowed sky. Borrowed people. A world that did not deserve to inherit that same terror.
His blades sang as he moved, feet striking the Whale's body again and again as if the calamity itself were a road laid out for his execution.
The third blow plunged deep, twisting as he tore it free.
For my family.
For those whose lives were rewritten with despair. For the memories that were never created. For the home that no longer existed.
He leapt, spinning, both swords flashing in perfect synchronization as he carved downward.
For my father.
A man who he once loved, plunged into a drunken despair after the loss of his family.
The Whale screamed. Its body convulsed, mist surging violently as blood poured from widening wounds.
Reinhard did not slow.
He landed, sprinted, and struck again, steel biting deeper than before.
For my grandfather.
For the legacy passed down in silence. For strength forged in responsibility rather than glory.
His breathing grew harsher. His movements sharper.
The next strike came with a roar, both blades crashing down with brutal finality.
For Theresia.
For the woman who inspired him. For the sword that shielded the helpless. For the smile she wore even as the world ended.
His vision blurred.
But his grip did not falter.
Reinhard raised his swords once more, muscles screaming, heart pounding like a war drum in his chest.
The last strike paused for a fraction of a second.
Not aimed at the beast.
But inward.
For me.
Then he moved.
And the White Whale bled.
For the one who killed his grandmother...
Endeavor watched, teeth grinding.
His flames burned hotter.
"Tch."
He shot forward, fury boiling over. "I'm not standing by while a kid steals this."
"Snipe here," a voice snapped over the comms. "Endeavor, hold position. You are assigned to aerial suppression and locating additional targets."
"I know," Endeavor snarled. "But I can-"
The White Whale interrupted him.
Its mouth opened.
The roar came.
It was not just sound.
It was pressure.
It crushed against the mind, clawed at memory, tore at the fragile threads that held identity together. Even through the sound suppression gear, soldiers felt it. A vibration in their skulls. A scream beneath the scream.
Some heroes flinched.
Some smiled in grim defiance.
"Haha! Its ability really doesn't work!" someone shouted.
Then the Whale erupted in more mist..
It blasted outward in all directions, while releasing a violent shockwave that slammed into everything nearby. Reinhard jumped back, boots skidding across air itself before he stabilized. All Might crossed his arms as he flipped back.
Stars and Stripes gasped as her construct strained, pressure rippling through compressed air.
"How?" she thought in disbelief.
Endeavor was hurled sideways, flames sputtering as he fought to regain control.
"Fuck" he cursed, forcing himself upright.
All Might surged forward again.
"DETROIT SMASH!"
The punch tore through the mist, dispersing it in a massive shockwave that cleared the sky.
And then the world froze.
Three massive shapes loomed in the clearing air.
Three White Whales.
They drifted forward in silence, their sheer size blotting out the sun.
The broadcast went quiet.
The anchor stared, lips trembling. "...There are three."
Stars and Stripes was horrified.
Did she not kill one?
Despair washed over the battlefield like a tide.
There was supposed to be two.
The Whales dove.
They struck the city with apocalyptic force.
Buildings collapsed underneath their pressure. Streets collapsed. Tanks were crushed like toys beneath impossible weight. Soldiers screamed as the mist engulfed them, their forms blurring, dissolving, vanishing mid-motion.
"All ground units retreat!" someone screamed.
Too late.
One Whale slammed down, swallowing an entire formation in seconds.
All Might and Stars and Stripes intercepted another, their combined force driving it back into the sky through sheer will.
Reinhard landed hard, breath hitching as his eyes snapped to the third as he launched himself forward.
Another roar echoed.
Explosions rocked the city.
Endeavor surged forward, flames roaring as he unleashed Prominence Burn, fire hotter than anything human hands should wield. The inferno swallowed the Whale whole, turning the sky white with heat.
When the flames faded, the beast remained.
Unscathed.
Endeavor stared, disbelief freezing his expression.
"...What?"
The Whale retaliated.
Chaos erupted.
Heroes were torn apart midair. Others vanished as the mist swallowed them whole. Collisions shattered buildings, sent shockwaves through the city, knocked heroes from the sky like broken dolls.
Earbuds were torn loose.
A scream pierced the air.
A hero clutched his head, eyes wide as madness took hold.
"No no no no no," he babbled, clawing at his face.
Reinhard saw it.
He felt it.
The battlefield drowned in blood, mist, and screams.
A/N: Hello everyone! I hope you've been enjoying the chapters. This work isn't dropped. Updates may be slower now that school has started again, but I'll do my best to update whenever I can. I don't have a huge backlog of chapters since I write as I go. If you have the time, please consider leaving a review; reading them really motivates me to keep writing and it gives new readers an idea of what they are getting themselves into. Thank you!