Chapter 53 - Confusion and forgetfulness

Author's Note: I am back Ladies and Gentlemen after two weeks of pause. Because of this I present you with this over 2k words long chapter. The fighting continues and yet our hero has not gained any advantage. Can he win this fight? As always I wish you a lot of fun with this chapter. Todays turn of events is due to the comment of ahmed_waleed_1200. Thank you for your contribution

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H: [ Well we might have a better chance if we charge at him together and I wound him with the sword in vital regions rather than try to kill him with my Creation&Manipulation which might not even work effectively as he could possibly regenerate any damage I cause. If I damage him in vital regions he can't rip the damaged parts off so easily.]

Connecting his mind to his familiars he began to give orders.

H: [Gaia kill all the minions surrounding us at all cost. Don't let them attack us from behind. Just attack every soft spot you can find to spread fear and terror. Tiamat should sneak around and attack the heels of everyone that might come to bother us and if possible attack All for One. Orion will attack All for One directly with my assistance each attacking one side of him. This way we might have a chance before we are being interrupted.]

Readying themselves the System decided to add a final touch to everything.

H: [Do it but not too loud so that we can still focus.]

H: [Nice! Now let's get this over with now.]

At this moment Gaia decided to intervene.

Gaia: [Why are you choosing something like that? Considering his chuuni behavior before there must be better ones.]

H: [Stop it. Be serious and give me something good to work with. I can't fight with this song stuck in my head]

H: [Good! Now let us fight this last battle. For Victory. And everlasting Glory!]

Before he had even finished his sentence Gaia had already leaped up from her position just behind his back, biting into an exposed throat of a minion that had stood behind him causing the man to stumble backwards attempting to pull her off his throat. Only causing the already deep wound to bleed even stronger and large pieces of skin and flesh to be ripped of in the futile attempt to remove her. Shortly after she jumped off of him while the man still struggled for a short while before he finally ceased all movement.

Orion and Hermann quickly advanced and began to attack All for One. Although Orion had grown extremely large for his kind and had gained many enhancements he still preferred to target lower regions like the legs or areas just below the rib cage. Hermann however liked to target the head, throat, arms or the torso. As they began their fight, Hermann stabbed at All for One's throat while Orion bit at the left leg, they decided to let AfO exhaust himself which would give them more opportunities to attack. After a few small exchanges Orion once more initiated a mental conversation.

Orion: [Why are we fighting him again?]

H: [We need his DNA for the quest and it might help me activate my own quirk]

Orion: [We don't know if you even have a quirk. But we really only need his DNA?]

H: [Yes? Wasn't that the plan all along?]

Orion: [Then why don't we just pick up the fingers he severed not to long ago and use them. There is no point in fighting a losing battle. We are strong but not strong enough. Let us leave this world and be done with this. I like the hunt but extremely dislike being the prey.]

Surprised Hermann stopped his assault for a second almost receiving a powerful punch to the head if he hadn't raised his shield at the last moment. Sliding backwards he mitigated the force of the punch before looking at Orion with a deadpan expression on his face.

H: [Why didn't you bring that up before?]

Orion: [I just thought you wanted to kill him for some extra points? I thought you were supposed to be super smart and all? Why didn't you think about this?]

H: [I just have good memory. Nothing else. I was just so focused on the fight that I kind of forgot about our goal. So would you mind and bring me these fingers?]

Orion: [I always knew you were a bit idiotic but I decided to follow you anyway so I might as well clean up your messes and stop you from doing anymore stupid things.]

Quickly Orion turned away from AfO and seemed to jump at a few minions that stood behind him seemingly unwilling to interfere with the fight to avoid hurting their master who would surely punish them severely for their mistake. It could also be the result of seeing the people across from you being ripped to pieces by a small, fast and absolutely furious furball that had sent them into shock. Anyway as they snapped out of their shocked state they instinctively raised their arms to protect their head and throat Orion quickly snagged the fingers that laid at their feet before jumping back to Hermann, shoving the bloody objects into Hermann's hand which held the shield. Grossed out by the sensation Hermann threw them into his inventory for later use.

H: [Hey system! Is there a restriction on the quest? Can I infuse them at a later date?]

H: [So now it's either stay and get better rewards or go and get something of less value. I have decided. There is only one way. RUN AWAY!]

Quickly he ordered all of his familiars to return to him. Gaia jumped of the victim she had just finished off, her red pelt appearing even more crimson now that it was covered in the blood of her enemies. Orion had stayed beside him until now and didn't decide to move. Tiamat seemed to be...missing? As he looked around while keeping his sight on AfO who still curiously evaluated the summoned animals, their strengths and weaknesses as well as their special features and capabilities and only defended to test them he suddenly noticed Tiamat. Since she had absorbed many abilities of her kind and similar organisms she had somehow gained the ability to blend into her surroundings although her color had shifted from brown to a black color with a purple hue. Perhaps it had been a quirk she managed to absorb that had belonged to one of the snakes? She had somehow managed to sneak up behind AfO without being stepped on and had seemingly decided on a single goal. Bite and retreat. Surprised Hermann was proud of her idea as it perfectly aligned with his new tactic.

AfO noticed his glance behind his feet that seemed to take longer than something casual and decided to turn around. Sadly for him however Tiamat had already prepared herself and now jumped up, landing a bite shortly above AfO hip. After she had pumped as much venom as possible into her bite. Letting go the 1.5 meter long snake slithered back to Hermann, avoiding many kicks of AfO that tried to cover the wound with his hand. With a satisfied and smug tone she finally arrived and replied to his message.

Tiamat: [Slow and steady wins the race. You always rush into everything. The only things that need to be fast is the actual attack and the retreat. And I would advise you to hurry as I do not believe that he will now allow you to retreat easily.]

As he saw AfO who now seemed to have realized that he would need to speed up the fighting in order to win this battle and treat the poison. Due to the anger that AfO displayed Hermann concluded that the man probably didn't possess a quirk that allowed him to conquer the toxins. Quickly retrieving his familiars and storing them in his Soul Storage and their bodies in his inventory he tried to run out of the building through the large hole that had opened up at his back due to Gaia's rampage. Before he could get far away however the cables that had chased him previously flew over his head, interweaving and forming a giant dome above his head, surrounding him from all sides. Shortly after blades emerged from them and the entire dome began to spin rapidly. The ground he stood on began to quake and lava began to spread from the direction of AfO, setting the grass, bushes and trees that covered the ground outside of the abandoned factory on fire.

The inferno that surrounded him began to feel incredibly hot despite his powerful status and the spinning movement of the large dome caused strong winds that began to empower the sea of flames that had spread all around him, letting the flames burn sideways which made him even more uncomfortable. Although his armor offered some heat resistance and could mitigate it to a certain extent this heat was far beyond it's capabilities. As Hermann watched the factory AfO exited it as well. The closer he came towards Hermann the more the dome shrank as it was bound to AfO's will and the distance between them decreased the cage began to restrict his evasive capabilities. The more the cage decreased in size the more powerful the rotation became. AfO slowly advanced, walking through a river of lava that reached up to his knees until he stood just about two meters away. Suddenly the cables that had been rotating fast stopped and suddenly entangled his arms in the tight net they formed. With eyes that promised pain AfO slowly covered the few centimeters that had separated them. With the same slow and effortless movements as before he raised his hand and grabbed Hermann by the throat before softly whispering

AfO: "You thought you were smart and could escape from me? You might be an interesting individual, possess many powerful abilities and great personal strength I have had enough of this."

Suddenly he began to glow in a dark red aura. As soon as the aura began to touch Hermann he felt a stinging and pulling sensation before it got uncomfortable the system send a message.

H: [Nice!]

AfO retracted his arm and looked curiously at his hand and then at Hermann. Suddenly the world around them began to crack and shatter. When Hermann looked around he noticed that he still stood at the same spot he had stood after he had retrieved his familiars. The minions surrounding Hermann stood still and their eyes stared into nothing with large pupils. AfO seemed to have crashed into a wall nearby and a team of four heroes stood at the entrance and Hermann's father stood just a meter away from Hermann separated from the group with an extended fist and a line of rubble leading from his position to the wall AfO had slammed against. The red aura that had covered AfO slowly subsided and Hermann now knew what approximately had happened. Everything besides AfO's actions had been an illusion that the other minions were now slowly snapping out of. Perhaps he had recovered faster because of his relatively high Int stat? Allmight had entered and punched towards the distracted villain the resulting shock wave blasting the villain away and destroying the illusion.

Although this had helped him now the situation just got a lot more difficult. How would he manage to implant the cells? How would he gain enough time to leave? Many questions but not enough time for exact planning. The near future shrouded in mystery Hermann prepared himself for the difficult battle and retreated a bit to observe the situation.