What was once a lush forest in the mountains was now scorched and devastated land. The only things left were two enormous craters in the middle of nowhere.

In this world, young heroes are taught that their priorities are the safety of themselves and others, defeating the villain, and minimizing collateral damage as much as possible.

That last thing was impossible.

Muscular had somehow become an enemy against whom holding back would be fatal.

Allen floated toward the center of the crater. At this moment, his suit was damaged—something that would only be possible if the attacker had enough strength to penetrate his bio-electric field, and that had indeed been the case.

Once Allen reached where Muscular lay unconscious, he landed.

"This is..." Allen frowned. The muscle fibers on Muscular's body moved like tentacles.

Akeno – Is he still conscious?

Eve – After an attack like that?! Impossible!

Angelica – No, it looks like they're moving on their own.

Gwen – It reminds me of that symbiote I fought last week.

Allen – Symbiote?

Gwen – You know, one of my villains.

Allen – No, you know, I'm surprised there's still crime in New York. You know, with those rumors that I live there.

MJ – Well, that thing looked like an alien. Maybe it doesn't know about you.

Allen – I was just joking.

Leaving the chat aside, Allen approached Muscular—but the moment he did, the tentacles attacked him. Allen snorted and burned them using the Ace D. Portgas template, then knelt and removed Muscular's patch. As soon as he did, his Quirk deactivated.

"A fragment..." Allen said without surprise, holding a red, glowing crystal fragment. In this world, it had this appearance.

In every world, Lucifer wagered fractions of his power. But before it could fall into Allen's hands, Lucifer was free to use it to stop him—either by interrupting his progress or by "killing" him. Of course, for Allen, dying in a world wasn't true death—it would simply expel him from that world. He would lose the fragment forever and would never be able to return to that world again. The latter was what would truly be devastating.

Allen allowed the system to store the fragment of Lucifer's will along with the rest of that power. Only when Allen leaves this world can he absorb it as his own; until then, it remains within the system.

"Now..."

Allen disappeared from the place.

....

In a remote area away from where the devastation occurred, a small portion of the forest remained intact. Toru and Ochako were there—they had seen the massive explosions, but had received instructions from Mandalay not to approach.

"Will he be okay?" Ochako asked, holding her hands together.

Toru smiled, trying to lighten the mood, though her voice also revealed her worry.

"He'll be fine! Haha... ha..."

Himiko watched both girls silently before smiling faintly.

"You both care a lot about Allen, don't you?~"

Ochako and Toru were surprised before becoming nervous.

"How cute. I guess it's inevitable—Allen is very charming~"

Himiko also blushed, though her eyes carried a trace of loneliness.

Noticing this, Ochako widened her eyes. "Wait, how do you know him?!"

Toru gasped. "Now that I think about it, this girl said something during the fight about wanting to become us so that 'that person' would love her... were you talking about Allen?"

"Haha, heroes really are smart~" Himiko smiled perversely. "Of course I was. But don't get it wrong—I'm not just a fan. He's my..."

A gust of wind interrupted the girls. When they turned around, they saw Allen landing. The girls were pleasantly surprised, but when they noticed his injuries, their expressions froze.

Allen waved his hand dismissively and mocked lightly, "Ah... don't worry. It's nothing serious—just a few scratches and bruises."

Despite his words, both girls felt bad—they could only watch and wait for the outcome of the battle without being able to do anything.

Allen walked toward them and patted their heads, softening his smile.

"I know it's a bit frustrating to watch without being able to intervene in fights, but don't get discouraged. Grow, and over time you'll become stronger. It might sound unpleasant coming from someone like me, but I hope you don't use me as a standard to compare yourselves."

"Okay," Ochako said, grabbing Allen's hand.

Toru hugged Allen and trembled. "Someday I'll be strong enough to protect you."

Allen returned the hug.

"You're kind..." Himiko said from the tree.

Her gaze held clear envy and longing—but also a strange trace of relief. Perhaps deep down, Himiko had given up on herself and was happy that Allen would find other girls to be by his side.

"..." Allen gently patted Toru's shoulder. She understood and let go.

Allen walked toward Himiko under the confused gazes of both girls.

"You really are a troublesome girl, Himiko."

"Hehe, do you still want to capture me and tame me?❤️~"

"I already captured you."

"Tsk, that's cheating. It wasn't you."

"If Toru and Ochako did it, it's the same as if I did."

"Playboy..."

Allen and Himiko talked like old friends, leaving both girls speechless. No—the feeling they gave off was even closer than that of ordinary friends.

"What's going on? Who is she?" Toru asked with a worried look.

"Allen-san?" Ochako didn't know what to ask.

Allen looked at both girls without answering immediately. This was a delicate matter. If it became known that Allen had a close relationship with a villain, he wouldn't just risk losing his license—he could be judged both publicly and by the Commission. However, even knowing this, Allen trusted them and didn't want to lie to them.

Allen gave a sincere smile filled with helplessness.

"I'm sorry, girls... she's Himiko Toga, my childhood friend... and I don't want to abandon her to the abyss."

....

(Days later)

From a black Mercedes that stopped in the middle of the road, two people stepped out. One was a thin, almost skeletal blond man, and the other was a large white rat wearing a suit.

They were none other than Nezu and All Might. Both looked over the guardrail at what remained of the Pussycats' forested mountain—it now resembled a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

"This..." All Might had a worried expression. Of course, he knew everyone had survived, but seeing the result in person was shocking.

"It was a terrifying battle," Nezu murmured. "We should hurry."

Both got back into the vehicle and drove along the road until they reached an improvised camp filled with large tents.

As they got out, they could see in the distance the students training under Tiger's supervision.

Noticing their arrival, Aizawa approached them.

"Principal, All Might-san."

"Aizawa-kun, are you really going to continue the training?"

Aizawa shrugged.

"It's true we no longer have comfortable beds or a roof at night, but the goal of this camp was to make UA students stronger. If we have to sleep outdoors, then that's what we'll do."

Two days ago, this place was attacked by the League of Villains.

Once it was over, the Hero Commission and security forces arrived to take everyone to Tartarus.

This was a heavy blow to the villains, as among them were some of the most wanted criminals.

Magne, Spinner, Compress, Mustard, Moonfish, Dabi, Twice, and of course Muscular—all of them were handed over, including the corpse of the High-End Nomu. The latter caused a stir within the Commission; it was a highly disturbing experiment in anyone's eyes.

Nezu, informed of the situation, had expected Classes 1-A and 1-B to return—but instead, they stayed to finish the camp despite the circumstances.

"It must have affected them a lot."

Nezu knew Allen had caused this destruction in his fight. Seeing something like that, without having the ability to intervene, had to affect the students.

"Yeah," Aizawa scratched his head. "They all insisted they wanted to train even more."

All Might sighed as he looked at Deku in the distance, fighting Tiger—though it was more like he was getting beaten up.

"By the way, where's Allen?" Nezu asked, not seeing him anywhere.

"..." Aizawa looked away. "Who knows..."

....

In his private tent, Allen was lying on a bed while being surrounded by nurses.

"Say ah~" said Nurse Nemuri as she brought a spoonful of soup to Allen's mouth.

This nurse wore a pale pink uniform with a miniskirt and a neckline that revealed her black lace bra. As if that weren't provocative enough, she wore black fishnet stockings.

Allen obediently opened his mouth without resisting. However, the nurse blushed upon seeing this and froze. Only a second passed before Nemuri's mind clouded over—she took the spoonful herself and leaned in to feed him mouth-to-mouth.

"What are you doing?"

Mandalay grabbed Nemuri from behind.

Mandalay was also dressed as a sexy nurse, with a short skirt but without Nemuri's shameless neckline.

"Let me go! This is part of the treatment!" Nemuri shouted with the worst excuse imaginable.

"Who would believe that?!" Pixie-Bob snapped while huffing. She also wore a nurse uniform with a miniskirt, though hers was light blue, and the skirt was loose rather than tight.

"Nahaha, everyone's so fun!" Ragdoll said as she sat on the bed next to Allen and snuggled up against him. She too wore a sexy nurse uniform in light yellow.

"Hey, don't take advantage to get into bed!" Pixie grabbed Ragdoll by the collar and lifted her like a misbehaving cat.

"Ah!"

Meanwhile, Allen watched all of this with his arms behind his head as he lay back.

Esdeath – Well?

Allen – What?

Wednesday – How long are you going to keep pretending to be convalescent?

Allen – ... It's not my fault.

Two days ago, after defeating Muscular and resolving the situation with Himiko, Allen returned with the others while carrying Toru and Ochako as he flew. Upon landing, Midnight ran toward him with tears in her eyes and boundless concern.

Nemuri cried as she hugged Allen against her chest. This even alarmed the others, making them think Allen might be seriously injured—but that wasn't the case. In fact, Allen would recover just by standing under the sun for half an hour.

However, Nemuri's overprotective instincts activated at a plus ultra level. Without giving him a chance to refuse, she put Allen into a bed inside a large tent that Momo created and didn't let him stand up, taking care of all his needs herself.

At first, Allen decided to play along—but when she entered the tent with a catheter and heavy breathing, Allen knew he had to set boundaries. Even so, he remained under Nemuri's care. After her, Mandalay, Pixie-Bob, and Ragdoll joined in as thanks for saving them all.

Of course, Tiger was about to put on a nurse's uniform too—but Allen politely refused.

As for the students affected by the gas, Allen took out several detoxification and healing potions for them, so unlike the original timeline, the incident was kept relatively secret.

With help from UA and the Commission, camping equipment was obtained, and the camp continued.

Over these two days, the girls visited him after their training.

Momo made Allen a more comfortable pillow with her Quirk. Itsuka peeled apples for him by hand. Ochako brought flowers and placed them beside his bed. Tsuyu brought him a good luck charm.

Toru didn't bring anything, but she threw herself onto him while crying. She truly believed Allen was bedridden—only after many explanations did she understand he was just indulging Nemuri.

Both Mina and Setsuna were bolder than the others.

Mina arrived with a tray and a towel to "wash" him, but Nemuri—who had a sixth sense—caught her, took everything away, and washed Allen's sweat herself.

Allen, already used to bathing with Nemuri, didn't object, though Mina cried over the injustice.

As for Setsuna, she tried to sneak into his tent at night, but she didn't make it—Ragdoll caught her and took her back to her tent.

Ibara, Jiro, Reiko, and even the girl named Yui came to visit Allen.

From the boys' side came Deku, Kirishima, Kaminari, Tokoyami, Juzo, Todoroki, Iida—basically everyone in Class 1-A, except Aoyama, who apparently always had an excuse not to come.

"Alright, that's enough," Allen said as he stood up, interrupting the commotion. "I admit the attention these past two days has been very... pleasant, setting aside the insistence on wanting to change my clothes..."

All of them looked at Nemuri—but she was frowning, staring directly at Mandalay, who looked embarrassed.

"That's enough. It's time to return to normal..."

Nemuri sighed before starting to remove her nurse uniform. Allen didn't mind, but Ragdoll covered his eyes while Pixie-Bob and Mandalay scolded her.

....

After that incident, Allen left the tent for the first time in two days and went to meet Nezu and All Might, with whom he discussed what had happened in another tent.

"There really is a traitor, and they're among the students and teachers who came to this camp..." Nezu said with a somber expression.

All Might sighed. "It's unfortunate... I truly hoped it wouldn't be the case..."

It didn't make sense for the League of Villains to always know where they were. Now, with this incident, the list of suspects has been greatly reduced.

Allen remained silent. He had a secret—he was in contact with Himiko. Despite being a villain, Allen was willing to bend the rules a little, like letting her go this time. Of course, that was under the condition that she hadn't harmed anyone close to him—otherwise, he would be harsher with her. However, Allen wasn't an idiot either; he wouldn't endanger the students for Himiko.

"I can guarantee the traitor is not Nemuri, Itsuka, Ochako, Toru, Momo, Tsuyu, Ibara, Jiro, Mina, Setsuna, Reiko, or even Yui and Kinoko. I know them very well."

All Might had a drop of sweat on his cheek. Allen had only mentioned women, but he chose not to point it out.

"How certain are you?" Nezu asked with a serious, cold gaze. Many lives could be lost if they were wrong about the traitor.

Allen's gaze didn't waver. After so many months with these girls, both at school and in his personal life, he had no doubts about any of them.

"I'm willing to bet my life that none of them is the traitor."

Nezu nodded.

"Very well. I'll remove all of them from the list of suspects."

"Principal Nezu, I..." All Might stopped midway through his sentence. He wanted to name a few people, but his kind nature prevented him—it would be favoritism toward Deku and others he trusted.

"Don't worry, All Might. I'll handle it," Nezu said. Sometimes, people have to make difficult decisions. People like All Might are often bound by their own ethics, which prevents them from doing so—that's why Nezu would take care of this.

When the meeting ended, the three of them went out to see the rest of the students. Everyone was happy to see All Might there.

With that, two weeks passed in the blink of an eye, and the camp came to an end.

....

One night, already in his bed at Mirko's apartment, Allen received a private message from someone unexpected.

Lucifer – Hello, kid. How have you been?"

Since Mirko and Kaina were sleeping beside him, Allen chose to respond through telepathy in the private chat.

Allen – Fine. Which I'm sure you don't like hearing.

Lucifer – Wow, it seems you're not happy to hear my voice~

Allen – ...

Lucifer – Alright, grumpy kid, I'll get to the point... ahem... congratulations, you've passed the first stage of this world!

Allen opened his eyes upon hearing that. Due to his memory loss, both his progress and his goal were a mystery.

Allen – And what are you going to give me? I hope it's not a fruit basket.

Lucifer smiled from his bar as he played with a small sphere.

Lucifer – Of course not. I'll give you a good reward—I just hope you like it...

....

The next day, Allen woke up early before sunrise. He carefully got up so as not to wake the two women and walked to the window.

Once there, he remained silent. Then his phone appeared in his hand, and he looked at the message from All Might.

'So they really found the League of Villains' hideout?' Allen thought, slightly surprised. 'I heard Nemuri intentionally let Shigaraki go with a hidden tracker, but I didn't expect it to work...'

Since then, two weeks ago, they had known Shigaraki's hideout was in the Kamino district in Yokohama, but they hadn't acted yet. Shigaraki was still a small fish, and without confirming All For One's presence, they didn't plan to move.

'So that's where you are, All For One...'

Allen's gaze turned cold. Twice—All For One had managed to escape from him twice.

'There won't be a third time!'

[It seems the operation will be in three days. Will you take advantage of Lucifer's gift, or will you wait until you deal with All For One...]

Allen remained silent for a moment as he thought.

"I..."

====