Chapter 40 - ch 37 - battle on kyoto

After leaving the hotel, Naruto and his party hurried toward Kyoto Station. They planned on taking the next bus to Nijou Castle from there.

Naruto was no longer wearing his school uniform. The black pants he had donned rustled as he moved, while white bandages wrapped around his calves before disappearing into his custom made shinobi sandals. His sleeveless shirt was orange. The ninja pouch attached to a belt at his waist jingled as he moved swiftly in front of the others.

Issei, Saji, and Kiba were still in their school uniforms, unlike him, but that was likely because they didn't have any official battle attire. Asia was wearing her black and white habit from her days as a nun, while Irina was dressed in the skin tight black outfit of the Church. Rossweisse had likewise not changed out of her business suit, which she wore when teaching.

It didn't take more than fifteen minutes to reach the station. They stood by the bus stop, waiting for the bus to arrive, but just as Naruto began to grow impatient, someone suddenly collided with his back.

"Naruto-san! I am coming too!"

Turning around, Naruto found himself staring down into the determined eyes of Kunou, once again dressed in her priestess clothes.

After the battle on the Togetsukyo, Kunou had gone back to the inner capital. He had assumed she would be staying there until the situation blew over. However, it looked like the girl had other plans.

Naruto placed his hand on her head and rubbed it. "Are you sure you want to come with us? This is going to be incredibly dangerous."

Shaking her head, Kunou clung to him, her hold on his waist tightening. "I want to rescue my mother, too. I don't want to be the only one not doing something. I can't take the idea of just sitting around while everyone else does what they can to save her." Naruto squirmed in discomfort as the girl's chin ground against his ribs. "Please. I'm begging you. Take me with you."

While he wasn't sure how other people might respond to this girl, Naruto's first inclination was to tell her she could come. Kunou wanted to save her mom. Far be it from him to stop a girl determined to save her mother. That said, he also knew that all of the higher ups wanted Kunou to remain out of harm's way.

"What do you guys think?" he asked, looking at the members of his part. "Can we take her along?"

"Um… I think we should take her with us," Asia said, though her tone was uncertain.

"That girl wants to save her mother, right?" asked Irina. "I understand how she feels. We should let her help out."

Saji crossed his arms. "Don't look at me. I'm just following orders."

"I'll go with whatever you decide, sensei," Issei added.

"You're the leader here," Kiba said. "If you decide to take her with us, we'll of course comply with your request."

Naruto nodded at everyone's answers, which were about what he had expected, and then he looked at Rossweisse. She was a teacher, so she technically had some level of authority over him. However, he was the leader of this mission.

Rossweisse gazed at him for several seconds before sighing. "I do not believe bringing such a young girl is a good idea… but if that is what you want, then I'll do my best to help you keep her safe."

"Thank you." Smiling in gratitude, Naruto glanced back down at Kunou. "You heard them. You can come with us."

"R-really?" asked Kunou, her eyes wide and hopeful.

"Really. However, make sure you stay with me. Don't leave my side for even a second, okay?"

As Kunou nodded along, her head bobbing so emphatically she looked like those bobble heads on car dashboards, Naruto wondered if maybe he was too soft. Oh, well. It wasn't like it mattered. He wanted to respect Kunou's feelings and was willing to take full responsibility for her well-being. Everything would turn out fine. He was sure of it.

Just as Naruto made this decision, a light mist appeared from underneath their feet. In that same moment, a strange feeling permeated his entire body. He recognized what was happening.

"This is—" Issei's eyes widened.

"Dimension lost!" Kiba shouted.

A bright light enveloped everyone. Naruto thought he heard screaming, but all the noises seemed to have been drowned out. Unsure of what else to do, and wanting to protect the person near him, he held tightly onto Kunou.

When the light died down, Naruto opened his eyes to discover that he was no longer standing by the bus stop at Kyoto Station. He was inside of a room with blue carpet that had silver floral designs. The room was shaped kind of like a donut, with the outer wall being made almost entirely of glass. A glance out the glass revealed the skyline of Kyoto.

"W-what is—this is Kyoto Tower!" Kunou declared in shock.

"It certainly seems that way…"

Naruto, Irina, and Kiba had been planning to visit Kyoto Tower with Issei and the others on their last day. It looked like he was visiting a day early.

"However, I do not believe this is the real Kyoto Tower," Naruto declared. "I'm pretty sure we were just transferred to an alternate dimension with Dimension Lost."

Kunou was staring out the window. Her eyes were wider than he'd ever seen them. He could only imagine the kind of shock she must have been feeling right now.

"Then doesn't that mean that Sacred Gear user created an exact replica of Kyoto? How much power do those Hero Faction people have?"

Naruto glanced at the world created using Dimension Lost. It appeared Georg couldn't completely replicate all of Kyoto, as a thick layer of mist surrounded much of the city, blocking it from view. Even so, there was more than enough city to see. This dimension must have been at least several square kilometers in size.

"I guess that just goes to show you how dangerous Georg really is." As he said that, Naruto's smartphone rang, prompting him to look at it. The caller was Kiba. He accepted the call and held the phone to his ear. "Kiba? I'm guessing you were also transferred into this alternate dimension as well? Where are you right now?"

"I'm at the Kyoto Imperial Palace with Rossweisse and Saji. Where did you get sent?"

"Kunou and I are on top of Kyoto Tower."

"It seems this dimension has recreated a good portion of Kyoto with Nijou Castle at its center. I guess that goes to show you how powerful these people are. This dimension is about the same size as a Rating Game battleground."

"These people are definitely dangerous. Let's meet up at Nijou Castle. That's where the Hero Faction is anyway."

"I understand. Have you contacted Ise and the others?"

"Not yet. I'll do that right now."

After hanging up, Naruto called Issei first. It turned out Issei, Irina, and Asia were together, which was a huge relief. Those two would be able to protect Asia, who didn't have any combat capabilities. He told them that everyone was going to meet at Nijou Castle.

Rossweisse called him after he finished his call with Issei. She said that Kiba had tried getting in touch with Azazel, but they couldn't reach him. It appeared Azazel had not been summoned to this dimension. According to her, there was some kind of barrier or spell surrounding this dimension, which prevented any contact with the outside world. However, that was only for contact with people outside of the dimension. People inside could still communicate just fine.

Naruto explained all this to Kunou as they descended the Kyoto Tower. The elevators in this dimension worked just fine. He wondered if that was also thanks to Georg's power as a Sacred Gear user.

"I wonder why they are allowing us to communicate with each other inside of the barrier," she murmured.

"It could be they don't have a spell capable of interfering with communication inside of this dimension," Naruto said. "However, I think the more likely case is they don't have a spell that can discriminate between our communications and theirs. I suspect we'll run into several Sacred Gear users as we make our way to Nijou Castle. That being the case, Cao Cao will definitely want to keep a communication line open so he can track our progress."

"That does make sense," Kunou said with a frown as the elevator stopped moving and the door slid open.

As they stepped outside, Naruto turned to face Kunou and knelt so they were eye level.

"Kunou, I want you to stay by my side and don't leave no matter what. I am going to protect you and save your mother at the same time."

After he finished speaking, Kunou's face turned a burning shade of fire truck red. Daw! So cute! Naruto would have normally squealed and began petting Kunou's ears after seeing such an adorable display. It was too bad now wasn't the time.

They stepped outside and began walking down the street. Before they even got a dozen meters from Kyoto Tower, Naruto paused as he sensed a powerful hostile intent aimed at them. Kunou must have also felt it because she froze.

Granted only a moment to react, Naruto lifted Kunou into a princess carry and leapt back as several dozen spears nearly impaled them. The spears were black as night. Jutting from the ground, Naruto realized they were composed of shadows. It reminded him of Shikamaru's shadow jutsu.

"N-Naruto."

"Hold on to me and don't let go," Naruto ordered Kunou as he began leaping back again. Several more spears flew from the ground and tried to impale them, but he moved deftly across the street to avoid them.

He expected the spears to disappear at some point, but instead they wavered and writhed like living creatures before transforming into grotesque monsters. They had two legs and two arms, but their posture was stooped, and their arms were almost as long as their legs. Each arm also ended in a set of wicked looking claws.

What sort of Sacred Gear is this?

Naruto was not well-versed in Sacred Gears. He only knew of the Thirteen Longinus, which he had deemed the biggest threats. This clearly wasn't a Longinus.

With Kunou still in his arms, Naruto darted forward and channeled wind chakra into his legs. The swirling chakra was so thick it became visible. Spinning around, Naruto leapt into the air and sliced through the enemies with powerful kicks.

Or that was his intention.

"Hmm…"

A frown crossed his face as his attacks were absorbed by the shadow monsters. So these things could absorb attacks. It looked like even his chakra was being absorbed into these monsters.

Landing on the ground, Naruto sensed movement behind him and swerved to the side. Just then, a massive portal made of shadows opened behind him and the wind chakra he'd used to attack was launched back at him. It missed. That said, just seeing his own attack being reflected back at him was fairly shocking.

"It seems we've run into a troublesome opponent," Naruto murmured.

"What should we do?" asked Kunou.

"It looks like this Sacred Gear can absorb and reflect attacks as well as control shadows." Naruto leapt into the air as several more spears appeared out of the ground and tried to skewer them. Landing on a wall, he channeled chakra into his feet and hung there. "What's more, the wielder is hiding somewhere." He kicked off the wall as several shadow hands appeared and tried to grab him. "If we want to win, we have to find the user."

"How do we do that?"

Naruto grinned. "Simple. We force him to reveal himself. Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Even though he'd been losing power, Naruto still had plenty of chakra to spare, and so over one hundred Narutos quickly appeared in a large cloud of smoke. About half of those Narutos transformed themselves into Kunou. The Narutos who still looked like Naruto each picked up a K-clone and ran off. Meanwhile, the real Naruto went through another series of hand seals.

"Toton Jutsu."

A layer of chakra coated Naruto and Kunou from head to toe. While the girl in his arms shivered at the feeling, Naruto was used to it. He allowed the jutsu to do its thing. When he looked down, the girl in his arms, along with his arms, were completely invisible even to his own eyes.

"I-I can't see you," Kunou muttered in shock.

"This is a transparency jutsu that my sensei invented," Naruto said, speaking in a hushed whisper. "It makes the user completely invisible."

"That sounds useful," Kunou said, also lowering her voice to a whisper.

"It is. My sensei used to use this jutsu when he was spying." Naruto paused. "He also used it to peep on women."

"Your sensei sounds disgusting. I hope you don't peep on women with this technique." Naruto could actually hear Kunou's nose wrinkling.

Naruto shook his head even though he knew Kunou couldn't see it. "I don't. I have no need to peep on women."

While he let Kunou ponder those words, Naruto began creeping through the streets of Kyoto. All around him, his clones were leaping around and presenting nearly impossible to hit targets. Spears would shoot from the ground only to miss. Monsters would emerge from the shadows but find their enemies no longer within reach. Even if these clones only had a hundredth of his chakra, it was more than enough to help them keep from being immediately dispelled.

"What are we doing?" asked Kunou.

"We need to find the Sacred Gear user," Naruto said. "However, I can't do that if I'm busy dodging attacks. I'm using the clones to keep him distracted. Meanwhile, you and me are going to search for him under this invisibility jutsu."

"Oh. That's smart."

Naruto could not help but grin. "Right?"

While his clones kept the Sacred Gear user distracted, Naruto began his search. He didn't think the user was far. Sacred Gears like this normally had a limited range. Kiba could not create swords a certain distance from his body, though Naruto knew his friend was trying to extend that range. He was going under the assumption that this power was similar. That meant the Sacred Gear user had to be close.

Just as Naruto suspected, the person controlling the shadows was close; he was hiding inside of a souvenir shop that sold ⅙ scale models of the various national sites. Pondering whether or not he should set Kunou down for a moment, he ultimately decided not to. She would become visible again if he did.

Naruto used his stealth skills to sneak into the shop undetected. The person controlling the shadows was a young man with black hair tied into a bun who wore sunglasses and a gakuran—a black school uniform worn by boys during the fall. He was staring out the window with a frustrated look on his face. Naruto smiled. Undoubtedly, the numerous Naruto clones and his inability to kill them was frustrating him to no end.

Naruto snuck up behind the boy and launched a kick at his head. Perhaps the boy just had amazing perceptions, or maybe he sensed the ill-intent, but in either case, the Sacred Gear user quickly melted into the shadows and disappeared. Naruto's kick smashed apart the window instead.

As Naruto dropped the transparency jutsu, seeing no more point since he'd been discovered, his opponent appeared from another shadow several meters away.

"I see you managed to find me," he said with a frown. "I had been hoping to take you out quickly, but it is just as Lord Cao Cao said. You are not an opponent I can underestimate."

"And who the hell are you?" asked Naruto.

"My name is Connla," he answered readily enough. What an upstanding guy. "I am the wielder of Night Reflection. I believe you'll find my Sacred Gear to be most troublesome. It's great against opponents like you."

"Is that right?" asked Naruto before launching a wind blade from his foot. Once more, the man disappeared into a shadow at the floor, avoiding his attack. The wind blade continued on and sliced through several dozen shelves and even the wall of this building.

"He disappeared!" Kunou said in shock.

"It looks like he can walk between shadows. What an annoying ability."

Naruto leapt onto the ceiling as several shadows attacked him from below. A number had transformed into hands that tried to wrap around him, while others had become spears that tried to pierce straight through his body. He wove around the spears while keeping a tight grip on Kunou so she wouldn't fall. The young yokai, to her credit, did not utter a single scream as she clung to him.

"Tch! It seems you are quite nimble," Connla said.

"I'm so glad you noticed," Naruto shot back in a voice filled with mock cheer.

"However, it doesn't matter how nimble you are. No one can escape from my technique."

"Wrong." Naruto landed on the ground, holding Kunou with one arm, reached into his pouch and pulled out a flash bomb. "I've already figured out the weakness of your technique. Close your eyes, Kunou."

Naruto didn't wait for the man to reply as he closed his eyes and threw the flash bomb against the floor. An explosion of light filled the room. While his eyes were closed and therefore he couldn't see what was happening, Naruto knew the light was chasing the shadows away. It also seemed like Connla hadn't closed his eyes. A smile crossed his face as he listened to the man's screams.

Rushing toward the screams, Naruto leapt into the air and finally felt his foot connect with something solid. The dull impact reverberated along his leg. As Naruto landed on the ground, he opened his eyes to find Connla had flown several meters back and slammed into the wall. Despite being hit quite hard, the high schooler was still struggling to stand up.

"Damn… you…" Connla wiped some blood trickling down his mouth, which was set into an angry snarl. "How did you figure out that weakness?"

Naruto snorted. "Oh, please. It's obvious. Your power is to manipulate shadows. If there are no shadows for you to manipulate, then your powers are useless. Anyone with a brain would realize that."

Times like this made Naruto regret being a devil. Had he been an angel, he could have created a powerful light source using light magic and chased all the shadows away. He almost sighed. There was no use crying over spilt milk.

Connla clicked his tongue. "I didn't want to use this power yet, but it seems you've left me with no choice. Balance Break!"

A series of loud rustling sounds echoed around them as the man's presence filled the small shop. There was an almost physical pressure pushing down on Naruto. Well, he said it was a pressure, but it wasn't very strong. In either event, all of the shadows in the area, the ones under the man's feet, the ones near the shelves and racks, were squirming as they gathered beneath him.

Starting from his feet, the shadows crawled up the man's body, wrapping themselves around him before taking shape. Clawed boots clacked against the ground. Greaves and gauntlets appeared along his shin and arms. A chestplate covered his torso. Lastly, a sleek helmet appeared around the man's head, covering his entire face from view.

While Kunou stared at the shadow-clad figure in fright, Naruto tilted his head.

"So… this is your balance breaker?"

"That's right. This balance breaker was created after witnessing the power of the Sekiryuutei. I remember seeing his armor in the Rating Games that Lord Cao Cao made us watch, and I kept thinking about how it would be nice to have armor like that, to have defensive capabilities like that. This balance breaker was created from that desire."

The armor covering Connla squirmed and writhed as though it were alive. All of his face was covered except for a pair of thin slits that revealed the man's sharp eyes, which glared at him with a sense of arrogance.

Naruto took a step forward, but then he was forced to leap back when spears appeared out of the ground. Kunou screamed in shock. Perhaps she had expected Connla to be incapable of using more shadows once in his balance breaker.

Swerving to the left, Naruto avoided more spears as he changed direction, charging toward Connla. Left. Right. Left. Left. Naruto could almost sense the spears as they appeared all around him, trying to impale him and Kunou, but he deftly avoided everything thrown at him and reached his enemy in record time.

Fwoosh!

Naruto tried to launch a powerful kick at Connla's midsection. He blinked when his leg passed right through the man's body, which scattered like smoke. His foot hit the ground and he stumbled forward.

Quickly recovering, Naruto spun around and attacked again, but just like before, his attack went right through the man. He narrowed his eyes. Not only were his attacks phasing through Connla like his enemy wasn't there, but he couldn't feel any resistance. It was as if Connla himself had become a shadow.

Shikamaru would be jealous of this guy's power.

"I wouldn't bother attacking me," Connla mocked Naruto. "It's useless. This armor renders all attacks ineffective."

Leaping back, Naruto filled his lungs with oxygen and chakra, moulded it, and then spat out several balls of wind that hurtled through the air. The struck Connla, who made no move to dodge. The wind spheres disappeared into the man's body.

Barely a second later, the spheres that Naruto had launched at Connla were suddenly hurtling toward him from various shadows inside of the shop. He avoided them quickly. Swerving, ducking, dodging, and weaving, Naruto didn't let a single sphere hit him or Kunou.

"I see. That armor of yours has the same abilities as your regular Sacred Gear."

"That's right!" Connla crowed. "Physical attacks don't work on me, and I can absorb all of your spells and send them back at you. What's more, I can still control the shadows in the area."

As he spoke, several shadows emerged from the ground. The shadow monsters were bipedal, but their arms looked like blades instead of regular hands, and they quickly attacked Naruto, who was forced to move to avoid him and Kunou being skewered.

As Naruto did his best to avoid the shadow monsters, Kunou held out her hands and created a tiny fireball between her palms. She threw it at Connla. However, the man made no effort to dodge. He reached out and caught the fox fire in his hand, and then clenched it into a fist, smothering the fire.

"What was that, little fox princess? Were you trying to attack me with fox fire? Ha! This level of heat cannot work against me! It's not nearly hot enough!"

"Damn it," Kunou muttered in dejection.

Not hot enough?

As he continued evading the shadow monsters, Naruto thought about the man's words. It sounded like he could still feel heat despite wearing that armor. That meant he was susceptible to most forms of energy, aka heat and cold. Of course, Naruto did not have any attacks that generated heat or coldness. That said, it sounded like he was still affected in some manner by things outside of his armor.

Nodding, Naruto switched from carrying Kunou like a princess to carrying her with one arm. He held the girl close. As he continued evading attacks and monsters, he formed a series of seals with only one hand.

"Futon: Shinkū Kinko (Wind Release: Vacuum Vault)."

Having thought about what he wanted, Naruto created a new technique on the spot.

There was no visible different between before Naruto unleashed his technique and now. There was no distortion of the atmosphere, no strange singularities, or anything that would indicate a jutsu had been used—unless someone were to look at Connla.

The Sacred Gear user held his hands to his throat as though he was being strangled and tried to suck in oxygen, but nothing happened. Naruto watched with an impassive look as the man fell to the floor. Oddly enough, no sound could be heard. There was no dull thump as the man hit the ground, landing on his hands and knees. One second passed. Two seconds. Five. Thirty. When a full minute had passed in utter silence, Connla slumped forward and went still.

Naruto dispelled his technique.

"What just happened?" asked Kunou, still in his arms as Naruto walked up to the man.

"I realized as we were battling that even though my attacks go through him, he is still affected by things that happen outside of his armor. Heat and cold obviously affect him." Naruto flipped the man over with his foot. He was breathing, but it was very shallow. Either way, it looked like he would live. "I figured he would also be affected by a lack of oxygen. The jutsu I just used creates a vacuum that robs a specific area of oxygen."

Kunou's eyes widened. "I get it! You strangled him to unconsciousness by depriving him of oxygen."

"That's it exactly." Naruto nodded. "Anyway, hold on tight! We're going to save your mother now!"

"Yes!"

As Kunou wrapped her arms around his neck, Naruto left the souvenir shop and launched himself into an all-out sprint. His destination was Nijou Castle.

~Devil Ninja~

"Phew! I think that's the last of them."

Issei wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then looked back at Asia and Irina. The two of them were standing side by side. Irina had created a light sword that she had used to protect Asia, but upon seeing that all of their enemies had been defeated, she relaxed.

They had been ambushed on their way to Nijou Castle by two Sacred Gear users, Flame Shake and Freezing Archaeopteryx. Flame Shake had been fairly easy to deal with, but the wielder of Freezing Archaeopteryx had been trouble. The man had kept at a distance, hiding away, and using his Sacred Gear to create an army of ice golems. It had taken a lot longer than expected to defeat him.

"It doesn't look like there are anymore enemies," Irina said. "I think it's safe to move."

Issei nodded. "Right. Let's get going."

They moved at a quick trot, traveling through the subway station, which was where they had been dumped after being sent to this dimension. Issei probably could have gone faster, but he was likely being considerate toward Asia.

I may not have another chance.

Irina bit her lip as she jogged up to Issei, who was already in his Welsh Dragon Armor.

"Ise… um, can I ask a question?"

"Hm? What is it?"

Issei looked at her, and Irina took a deep breath before plowing forward. "Um, you—that is, is your dream still to become a Harem King?"

"That's right." Issei nodded without even the slightest hesitation, but then, a strange smile came over his face. "But I can't focus on that right now."

"Oh?" Irina blinked in surprise. "Why not?"

Issei didn't say anything for a moment. He stared straight ahead. Irina wondered if she might have said something wrong, but then, speaking slowly, he said, "It's because of… Akeno-sama."

"What about Akeno?"

"I couldn't stop her from leaving me and Asia, but I still love her." Issei's admittance was accompanied by a pained grimace. "I'm probably being selfish, but I want to convince her to come back to us. I haven't given up on her. And I don't think she's given up on us, either. That's why, until I can have a real and proper heart to heart with her, until I can make her realize that she still has a place here, I don't think it would be right if I tried to create a harem. I need to prove to Akeno-sama that I'm serious about her."

"U-um…" A soft voice interjected here, and Issei and Irina turned to Asia, who was running beside them. "I am also with Ise-san on this. I want Akeno-sama to come back to us. Ise-san and I promised to do our best."

Irina didn't let Issei know how shaken she was by his words. This wasn't quite like the young man she'd come to know after returning to Japan, the perverted boy who thought only about breasts. Hidden inside of him was a devotion and caring that bordered on fanatical. On the one hand, she was happy to see that, even though he was a pervert who loved breasts, he still remained devoted toward Akeno. On the other hand, if he didn't plan on letting anyone else join them…

What am I thinking?

A frown marred her face as she realized where her thoughts were going. She'd been thinking about joining them, about becoming a part of their polyamorous relationship. That went against her religion. It was wrong. Yet, at the same time, a part of her really had been hoping Issei would be receptive to the idea.

Until Akeno returns, Ise won't even try creating a harem…

She didn't know what to think, but part of her was beginning to realize that even if she joined Issei and Asia in their relationship, she would be playing second fiddle to Akeno—no, she would be playing third fiddle to Akeno and Asia. She wasn't going to be Issei's number one. Could she even feel welcome when it seemed like Asia and Issei were already so devoted to Akeno that they wouldn't allow another woman in without her? She didn't know. She didn't think she could.

A small place within her heart felt like it was slowly unraveling.

~Devil Ninja~

Naruto and Kunou didn't run into anymore enemies after defeating Connla. They traveled quickly through this fake Kyoto and made it to Nijou Castle, arriving at the massive front gate. Made of wood and coated with intricate motifs crafted from gold leaf, the main gate that led into Nijou Castle was something even Naruto, who'd seen plenty of structures like this in his old world, couldn't help but admire.

Kiba, Saji, and Rossweisse were already there. Kiba was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed as he relaxed. Saji was sitting on the ground. His legs were crossed and he seemed to be deep in thought. On the other hand, Rossweisse seemed tense as she shifted from one foot to the other, looking, not nervous, but more anxious, like she wanted to do something but had nothing to do.

"Asia, Ise, and Irina haven't arrived yet?" asked Naruto.

"Doesn't look like it," Kiba said.

Naruto sighed. "I guess we'll have to wait."

He set Kunou on her feet, pretended to not see the disappointment flashing across the girl's eyes, and stood next to Rossweisse.

"You feeling okay?" he asked.

"I am fine." She flashed him a nervous smile. "I just don't like the idea of waiting like this. We don't know what's going on up ahead, but the longer we remain here, the more time the Hero Faction has to finish whatever their plans for Yasaka are."

"Yeah…"

Naruto glanced at Kunou, who had obviously heard what Rossweisse said and was biting her lip. Rossweisse also realized it. She quickly made to reassure the young foxgirl.

"I-I don't mean anything bad is going to happen! We'll definitely make sure to stop them before they do anything to your mother."

Naruto decided to let Rossweisse keep trying to reassure Kunou—it was kind of amusing—and took a seat beside the two. He crossed his legs and entered the seal, though he kept one ear open for Asia, Issei, and Irina. Alongside Kurama, he practiced forming the hand seals for their new jutsu. He had a feeling they would need it.

"Sorry we're late!"

Hearing the voice, Naruto returned from the seal and looked up as Asia, Issei, and Irina ran up to the gate. He stood to his feet as Kiba uncrossed his arms and welcomed the trio with a smile.

"It's good to see you three are safe."

"We ran into some trouble, but it was nothing we couldn't handle," Issei said.

"I'm glad to hear that." Naruto clapped Issei on the shoulder. "You ready?"

"Of course!"

Nodding, Naruto looked at everyone. "Are all of you ready?"

"You know I am," Kiba said.

Rossweisse gained a serious look. "I am prepared."

"Me too." Irina, though a tad pale, wore a determined expression.

"Um…" Asia nodded with a determined expression. "I am ready too!"

"I'm also ready," Saji added. "Though I have to admit what we're about to do is crazy."

Kunou tugged on Naruto's pants. "Let's go rescue mother!"

"Right. Let's get this party started."

Leading everyone to the front gate, Naruto was prepared to open it when, with a loud crash, the gates gave off a heavy grating sound as they opened on their own. As the group watched the door open, Kiba gave a wry laugh.

"It looks like they were waiting for us."

Issei frowned. "It does seem like they are looking down at us."

The gates finished opening. With Naruto in the lead, they wandered through and found themselves standing in a large, flat space. Multiple separate buildings connected to each other by corridors marked this as the Ninomaru Palace, which Naruto, Irina, and Kiba had visited earlier that day.

"The assassin I defeated said that Cao Cao was waiting for us at Honmaru Palace," Kiba said as they studied the layout.

"Then let's not sit on our laurels here," Naruto said, leading the way.

They made their way to the Ninomaru Garden, a traditional Japanese landscape garden with a large pond, ornamental stones, and manicured pine trees. They didn't have time to admire the scene. The group quickly made their way through to the Honmaru, passing through a yaguramon gate, and entering the main circle of defense. There, an imperial residence stood.

As Naruto looked at the rows of ancient Japanese eaves, he scanned the area for their enemies. It wasn't hard to spot them. Illuminated by lights, Cao Cao stood in the garden with several other members of the Hero Faction. They wore the same uniform as before. At the front, Cao Cao rested the Longinus on his shoulder, a grin marring his face.

Among this group was a woman. Her beautiful kimono accentuated her mature figure, further enhanced by the golden hair surrounding her like a halo. A pair of fox ears sat on her head. Nine tails jutted out behind her. However, while the woman was undoubtedly a beauty of unfathomable depths, her expressionless face disturbed Naruto. She looked like a puppet.

"Mother!"

Kunou cried out as she also spotted the woman. However, not even the cry of her daughter made Yasaka respond. Her eyes remained dark, her face didn't so much as twitch, and her body was completely unresponsive.

Kunou bared her fangs at Cao Cao and his group.

"What have you done to my mother?!"

Cao Cao tilted his head. "Didn't I already explain this to you? We wanted your mother to cooperate with us on an experiment. Of course, she remained stubborn, so we were forced to use a more drastic means of securing her cooperation."

"No…" Kunou's horrified look sent ripples of anger through Naruto.

Cao Cao tapped his spear against the ground. Not even a moment later, Yasaka released a pained cry as though something was tearing her apart from the inside. Her body changed the next instant. It began glowing as though light was pouring out from inside of her, and her form gradually transformed, growing and expanding as her nine tails blew up in size.

"Well, what do you know. She actually does look like a proper Kyuubi."

"I'm not sure that's a good thing right now."

The giant beast stood at least ten meters tall, its golden fur bristling with every movement. Four powerful legs rippled with slender muscles. An elegant muzzle held an entrancing beauty that left an impression of power and grace in all who witnessed it. Nine tails waved behind her like writhing tentacles, but even those had a sort of charm and grace to them.

Naruto had seen Kurama plenty of times back when he was a nine-tailed fox, so this did not surprise him. However, the others were staring at the massive figure with bulging eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto calmed his anger and looked at Cao Cao.

The man was grinning. "It seems you are finally taking me seriously."

"What's the point of all this?" asked Naruto with a sweep of his hand. "What are you trying to accomplish here."

Tapping the shaft of his spear against his shoulder, Cao Cao answered in a casual voice. "Kyoto is actually a large-scale magical device surrounded by powerful leylines. The various famous and historical sites are actually places of incredible power. The ancient yin yang masters, the omnyoji, hoped to mould this city into a well-spring of power they could use against invaders. Well, it's precisely because of this that all sorts of existences like yokai have been attracted to this place."

Naruto was not as well-versed in theory as others, so even if he understood the basics, a lot of this flew over his head. He would admit it. Outside of knowing how to create jutsu, he'd never really tried to expand his knowledge further. So long as it worked, who cared about how it worked? That had been his motto.

I'm going to need to study more…

That was a depressing thought.

"Our current pseudo space is located in the dimensional gap, both infinitesimally close to and infinitely far away from Kyoto at the same time. We've set this place up so the power of the leylines is now flowing here. As the strongest existence among yokai, the nine-tailed fox is said to be on the level of the dragon kings in power, and the relationship between Kyoto and the nine-tailed fox is also intricately linked. That is the reason our plan must be carried out here."

As Cao Cao continued, Naruto kept an eye on both him and Yasaka, now a giant nine-tailed fox.

"Using Kyoto and the power of the nine-tailed fox, we are going to summon Great Red to this place. Summoning him would normally require a dragon gate and the power of multiple dragon kings, but gathering the dragon kings by force is impossible even for god and buddha. We're using Kyoto and the power of the Kyuubi as a substitute."

Naruto closed his eyes for a second. Something about this didn't make sense.

"Why do you want to summon Great Red? Ophis left you. She's with me now, in case you haven't realized it. You no longer have any reason to work for her."

"Didn't I tell you? This isn't for her. It's for us." Cao Cao was still grinning, and for the first time, it was Naruto who felt infuriated. "Ophis might not want anything to do with us anymore, but that doesn't mean we don't have need of her power. I refuse to let her remain with you. That is why I'm going to summon Great Red. I'll agitate this creature of impossible power, and then when its enraged, I'll retreat and let it kill you."

Naruto snorted. "So that's it. If I die, you can show Ophis that I don't have the power to help her. You'll say something like, 'only the Hero Faction can help you accomplish your goal.' That's your plan, right?"

"Something like that," Cao Cao admitted. "Of course, there are so many things about what we are doing that are unknown, and even Great Red is an existence that we barely understand. That's why this is an experiment. We wish to learn more, like what effect the Dragon Eater will have on the Apocalypse Dragon."

Naruto had never heard the term Dragon Eater before, and from the looks on everyone else's faces, they didn't know what he was talking about either.

"I don't understand any of this," Naruto admitted with a shrug. "And frankly, I don't really care. What I do know is this. You kidnapped that woman against her will, forced her daughter to suffer with worry, and now you're planning to summon a massive being of unknown power just to kill me. That's all I need to know." Naruto pointed at the man. "Cao Cao, I'm going to kick your ass from here to the Underworld."

"I'll admit, you are a serious threat," Cao Cao said, though he didn't sound worried. "On your own, you could probably kill me. However, I'm not alone, and I don't need to defeat you. I just need to keep you from interfering."

"It seems talking with them isn't going to get us anywhere," Kiba said. "I think we should do our best to eliminate them."

Issei nodded. "Most of this is beyond me, but I know these guys can't be allowed to complete their experiment or whatever. Let's kick their asses."

"I'm with you two." A light sword appeared in Irina's hand.

Saji sighed. "It seems like every time you Gremorys get involved, I find myself fighting a battle to the death. Fine. This is also for our fellow students and my friends anyway, so…"

A surge of power erupted around Saji as numerous black snakes appeared from his arms, legs, and shoulders. They entangled his body. Soon, his body was entirely covered in black serpents, and then a large serpent appeared under his feet. It presented itself to Saji and formed a coil, its body emitting black flames. Saji's left eye turned red and resembled a snake's eye.

"You guys probably don't know it, but after we all fought to rescue the Three Faction leaders in Greece, I asked Azazel to modify my body so I could access more power. Not only did I find the other parts of Vitra and combine them, but my body was upgraded so I could use my newly acquired power properly."

Naruto would admit that Saji's power had increased a lot since the battle in Greece. He felt like an entirely different person. If he had to place Saji on a power scale, he would be stronger than Kiba but weaker than Issei. His power was closer to Issei's than Kiba's, though, which just went to show Naruto how much stronger he was.

"Vitra, sorry, but I'd like to ask you to lend me your strength. Hyoudou, I'm going to need your help controlling him. Pull me back if I enter a berserker state."

"O-okay," Issei muttered, looking too shocked to do anything but agree.

As Saji spoke, black flames appeared all around him, and then the huge serpent next to him spoke in a deep, rumbling voice.

"Ah, my other self. Where is my prey? Is it that holy spear? Or is it the fox? I'm fine with either one. It's been so long since I was able to come out. Haha! I feel great right now. Perfect. Powerful. In fact, why don't I just consume everything here with my black flames."

Naruto glanced at Saji and frowned. When he had said that he entered a berserker state, Naruto had been expecting something like Heracles from that Unlimited Blade Works anime Rias had told him about. He had not been expecting the dragon to be capable of speech.

"You need to calm your ass down, dragon," Naruto said as he stepped forward. "Your opponent is going to be the nine-tailed fox. Your goal is to capture it, not kill it. If you do kill it, rest assured that I'll tear your body apart even more than God did when he turned you into a Sacred Gear."

The serpent hissed at Naruto. "Who the hell are—oh? What's this? I see. I seeeeee. You have a great power inside of you. I've never felt something like this before. Even I am aware that the being you're harboring in your body could kill me if you unleashed it. Very well. I'll go along with your plan. I don't want to die. I'm just happy getting to stretch my limbs and have some fun."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that."

Naruto took a calming breath. Breathe in. Breathe out. As he allowed his mind to think more logically than he liked to, he began issuing orders to everyone.

"Rossweisse? You see the big man over there? The one who is over two meters tall? He's your opponent. He's physically powerful and has a high resistance to magic. His Sacred Gear is called Variant Detonation. It's the ability to create explosions in time with his physical attacks. You'll have to overpower his magical resistance if you want to defeat him."

"I think I understand. Please leave him to me."

"You might also have to deal with Georg," Naruto added. "It looks like he's taking part in the ritual to summon Great Red, but don't let your guard down. He's a highly advanced magic user on top of being the wielder of Dimension Lost. Keep your eyes out for him as well."

"Okay."

"Kiba, your opponent is Siegfried. I believe you saw his abilities first hand. His Twice Critical is a sub-species that allows him to create a dragon arm on his back, and his Balance Breaker lets him create four dragon arms. He can wield all six blades in his possession when he's like that, so be careful."

"I've got it," Kiba said as he created a pair of swords. One of them was dark and released an ominous feeling, a demonic sword. The other weapon was light and pure, a holy sword. "I have to be honest, you telling me about his powers and abilities only makes me want to fight him more."

"Just don't underestimate him."

"I'd never do that."

"Ise," Naruto grabbed the boy's attention. "I hate to ask this of you, but I need you to protect me, Asia, and Kunou from Cao Cao and Jeanne. I'm going to use a jutsu that Kurama and I have been working on, but it will take time to activate. If you can give me just five minutes, that should be enough time for me to complete my jutsu."

Issei looked a bit shocked at hearing that he'd be fighting against two people at once, but perhaps owing to the confidence he'd gained through repeated training, the perverted high school student worked quickly regained his confidence.

"Just leave it to me!" He thumped his chest. "I won't let either of them harm you!"

Naruto nodded. "I'm counting on you."

"Um… Naruto?" Irina began as though to ask "what should I be doing?"

Glancing at her, Naruto smiled and said, "You already know what you need to do, right? Xenovia needs help. She's lost and unsure, and as her best friend and partner, you need to make her see reason. I'm leaving her to you."

In that moment, Irina's eyes sparkled like gemstones as a healthy blush spread across her face. A smile like a flower blooming underneath morning rays of sunlight caused her to look even more radiant than usual. She looked so happy that even the tense situation they were in appeared to be insignificant to her.

"Yes!" she said with more enthusiasm than he'd ever heard from her.

As Naruto laid out his battle plans to the Gremory Peerage and Saji, Cao Cao stood with other members of the Hero Faction and the still emotionless Yasaka.

"It seems I really did underestimate you," he was speaking to Naruto. "Ever since our first meeting, I had assumed you were just an abnormally powerful idiot, but that's not true at all, is it? You're also capable of acting like a real leader. You gathered information about our strengths and weaknesses and created a plan to deal with each of us. That Rias Gremory was certainly lucky when she found you. In a few years, you'll probably attain the rank of high-class devil and create your own peerage. The Old Maou and that idiot Loki were fools to think the Three Faction Leaders were the only threats."

"Are you flattering me?" asked Naruto.

"Not at all." Cao Cao shook his head. "I am merely stating the facts as I see them."

Naruto snorted.

"Cao Cao." Siegfried glanced at his leader. "How would you like to proceed?"

"Hmm. Well, I believe we should just start the experiment and see what happens." Cao Cao started tapping his spear against the ground, and the Kyuubi leader glowed even brighter than before. "Georg, it is time! Focus your power into the force nodes of the nine-tailed fox and prepare to summon Great Red!"

"I understand!"

The user of Dimension Lost reached out with a hand, and what seemed to be an endless number of magic circles appeared around him. They spun in a rapid circle around him. Naruto couldn't make heads or tails of the magical scripts, but Rossweisse could.

"This boy is quite something." Rossweisse narrowed her eyes. "Just at a glance, I can see Norse, Demonic, Fallen Angel, white magic, black magic, and even fairy magic spells. There is an incredibly diverse and wide array of scripts in there. It seems you were right, Naruto. That boy is an incredibly powerful sorcerer."

"He might be too busy to fight right now, but don't take your eyes off him," Naruto said.

"I promise to keep at least one eye on him at all times."

As she spoke, a magic circle appeared above her palm and a small eye suddenly materialized from within it. The eye quickly darted away. Naruto assumed it was somehow linked to Rossweisse and would let her keep an eye on Georg while she battled Heracles.

A magic circle far larger than anything else appeared on the ground around Yasaka. Naruto didn't know what it was. However, as the magic circle appeared, Yasaka's pupils became dilated. A dangerous light had entered her eyes, and her golden fur was standing on end.

"The magic circle and the sacrifice for summoning Great Red are ready. Now we just have to see if Great Red will take the bait and come here. We're actually quite lucky. We have both a Dragon King and a Heavenly Dragon present as a bonus. My apologies, Cao Co, but I'll likely be too occupied with operating the magic circles to fight," Georg said.

"It's fine. That is what you are here for." Cao Cao waved his hand in acknowledgement. "Leonardo and the others are battling against the allied forces outside. They won't be able to buy us much time, but I'm hoping it will be enough. Reports have stated that not only have Azazel and Serafall entered the fray, but members of the Seraphim have arrived."

"It seems like things have gotten interesting," Heracles said as he and Jeanne stepped forward.

"They have indeed." Cao Cao smiled as he directed his attention to Naruto. "Now let's see who among us will prove victorious. Us or them."

"Is everyone ready?" Naruto asked his companions. As he received a chorus of affirmatives, he took a deep breath and sat down, crossing his hands and getting ready to connect with Kurama. "In that case, you know what you have to do, so let's do it!"

"Right!"

Everyone shouted at the same time and rushed off toward their respective opponents. Only Issei stood back. He had Asia quickly promote him to Knight before he darted forward to take on both Cao Cao and Jeanne.

"Kunou, Asia, please stay behind me," Naruto instructed.

"Um, but…" Kunou began.

"Do not worry. We will rescue your mother." He smiled in her direction. "But I won't do it at the cost of your safety. Please stay behind me. Everything will be okay."

"O-okay."

Kunou nodded and moved behind him. Asia also moved behind him, though unlike the young kitsune, she was keeping an eye on the battle. As a healer, she'd be using her ranged healing, which had extended to several dozen meters, to heal their allies when they got injured.

"Are you ready, Kurama?"

"No. I still can't believe we're doing this."

"We're doing this. Believe it."

"Ugh, please don't say that ever again."

"… Sorry."

Naruto closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then extended his chakra into the seal. At the same time, Kurama's massively overwhelming chakra surged from the seal and latched onto his, creating something like a tunnel or even a vortex between them as they synchronized their chakras. The two beings from another dimension brought their hands together at the same time.

As the sounds of battle echoed all around them, the two quietly began forming hand seals.

~Devil Ninja~

"XENOVIA!"

Irina swooped down from the sky, a light sword in her hand. Xenovia raised Durandal to meet her attack. Their two weapons clashed together with a thunderous explosion of energy, causing the ground underneath Xenovia's feet to crack. Irina gritted her teeth as she pushed her weapon against the massive blade in her friend's hand. However, as expected of a holy sword on the same level as the original Excalibur, Durandal was more than able to fend her off.

"You should know… that sort of attack… won't work… on me!"

With a loud shout, Xenovia strained her muscles and cleaved right through the light sword in Irina's hand. An explosion of energy burst from the blade. It would have hit Irina, but she moved out of the way quickly.

Coming back in, Irina began swinging her blade in a series of slashes and thrusts at speeds that Xenovia couldn't match. All the other girl could do was use the flat end of her blade to block the attacks. Narrowing her eyes, Irina pushed her muscles to work harder and increased the speed of her thrusts. Over and over she attacked. Xenovia slowly lost ground. She stumbled backward as Irina swung.

"It seems I'm not the only one who's gotten stronger," Xenovia muttered as she took several steps back.

Irina smiled. "I've been training with Naruto and Kiba. They've helped polish my sword skills and increased my stamina."

"That so?" Xenovia shifted her shoulders a bit as she grabbed Durandal with both hands. "It seems you've become quite fond of Naruto. Back when I was in the Church, all you would ever talk about was Issei, but now you're talking about Naruto like he's all you care about."

Despite herself, Irina blushed. "That's because—"

"HA!"

Using her embarrassment as a distraction, Xenovia rushed in and began swinging Durandal at speeds a blade that size shouldn't normally be capable of moving. The sword was like a blur, a streak of light.

Despite being caught off guard, Irina responded to her opponent's attacks. She increased the potency of her light sword. Now condensed many times over, she met Xenovia's attacks, not head on, but with subtle deception. Durandal screamed down from overhead. Irina angled her blade so the massive holy sword slid along the edge and slammed into the ground. An explosion caused the ground to rumble, but she ignored that and spun around as Xenovia swung her blade from the ground into a vertical slash. Again. She angled her sword, let Durandal slide along it, and then brought the blade over her head so it would miss her.

Leaping back to gain some distance, Irina threw several light spears as a distraction. All of them were blocked by Durandal. That was fine.

Ascending back into the air, she created several halo-shaped projectiles, which she threw at Xenovia, peppering the girl over and over. Of course, this was Xenovia. Irina didn't expect her attacks to work, and just as she expected, the young woman with blue hair swung her blade, unleashing a powerful crescent wave of energy that destroyed all of her attacks in a single swing.

"Did you really think you would be able to defeat me like that, Irina?" asked Xenovia as she raised her blade over her head. "Don't make me laugh. You might have become an angel, but you aren't the only one who's become more powerful. Let me show you the power I gained while working with the Hero Faction."

Raising Durandal above her head, Xenovia furrowed her brows in concentration.

Irina felt a surge of energy come from Durandal. Her eyes widened as large streams of white energy leaked off the blade. However, the streamers, like plumes of steam rising from the surface of a boiling lake, soon gathered and became condensed. It engulfed the sword. Then, as though Xenovia had suddenly turned up the power, the energy grew upward.

As she stared at the massive weapon, which looked like a fifteen meter tall blade, Irina could only gulp.

"Let's see what you can do against this!"

With another loud shout, Xenovia brought Durandal down faster than Irina imagined possible. The air howled as it was rent.

Irina, desperate to get out of the way, moved quickly. She flapped her wings and swerved to the left. However, even though she managed to evade the massive sword, the force that weapon left as it cut the air pushed her back, and the excess power leaking from it singed her skin. Then the sword struck the ground.

A deafening sound not unlike the sonic boom of someone breaking the sound barrier rocked Irina's ears, forcing her to cover them. Light blasted out from where Durandal struck the Earth. Irina covered her face with her arms as the blinding light seared her vision. She would have closed her eyes, but the massive explosion had caused an updraft of energy that tried to knock her out of the sky. She had to put all her focus on flapping her wings, and she needed to at least see where she was going.

When the energy died down, Irina looked back at the ground. She gawked. The area she'd been floating near was now a large crater. It must have been at least fifteen meters across. What's more, the ground around the crater was cracked and split.

I didn't think Xenovia could get this powerful…

Xenovia was a power fighter, so of course that meant she was physically imposing and could unleash a lot of power. At the same time, she was still human. There were limitations that a human could not exceed.

"I see you dodged my attack," Xenovia murmured as she stuck Durandal's blade into the ground and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Irina narrowed her eyes. "You should have known I would dodge such an obvious attack. That attack looked like it cost you a lot of stamina."

"I've got stamina to spare." Having removed the sweat from her brow, Xenovia picked up her blade again and held it in a ready position. "Now, come at me!"

Irina didn't hesitate to rush forward. She traveled over the ground on fleet feet. It almost looked like she was flying, especially with her wings flapping, but she was actually using a technique called skimming. The flap of her wings was being used to accelerate the speed of her run, pushing her forward.

"HIYAAA!"

Slamming her light sword into Xenovia's Durandal, Irina tried her best to push the other girl back. Thanks to the speed she'd built up, momentum was on her side, and Xenovia skidded across the ground as Irina kept pushing against her. The blue-haired girl's teeth were gnashed together as she struggled against the light sword.

"Not… good enough! It's not enough!"

With a concerted effort, Xenovia pushed Irina back after several seconds of a stalemate, but rather than simply letting herself stumb backward, Irina sent several light spears at her opponent. Xenovia dispelled them with a swing of Durandal. However, as she did, Irina noticed something about her movements.

They're growing sluggish…

The longer they fought, the less energy Xenovia was able to put into her swings. When this battle had first started, Xenovia had been swinging her sword so fast it was only thanks to her powers as an angel that she could keep up. Durandal was still being swung quite fast. However, the difference between then and now was like the difference between an Olympic athlete and high school student.

"You're getting tired," Irina observed.

"S-shut up," Xenovia muttered. "I can do this all day."

Even though she said that, the more they fought, the less stamina Xenovia had. She also didn't unleash that massive attack again. Either that meant she was saving that attack for a time when she thought it would hit, or she couldn't use that attack anymore because it required too much power.

They shuffled their feet across the garden that was their battleground. A good portion of the garden had been destroyed. Craters and scars littered the ground. Given how rugged the terrain now was, Irina knew she would have to be careful to avoid tripping or getting her foot caught in a crater or trench.

A lull entered the battle after soon. Xenovia and Irina stood several meters from each other. While her breathing still remained light, her opponent was breathing a lot more heavily, shoulders heaving as she sucked in oxygen.

"Xenovia…" Irina began. "Do we… really have to keep fighting? Can't we just stop?"

Looking away from Irina, Xenovia grimaced. "I can't stop now. I've already decided to join the Khaos Brigade. I can't afford to let my resolve be so half-hearted." Taking a deep breath, Xenovia switched to a one-handed grip, and then pulled out another holy sword from a dimensional rift. It looked like a replica of Excalibur Destruction. Now gripping two massive blades in each hand, the blue-haired girl stared at Irina with a hard expression. "If you want me to stop, then you're going to have to stop me."

I see…

Irina finally realized what was going on here. Xenovia had always been a hard-headed and stubborn person. That was the entire reason she'd gotten into that massive argument with the Church, left, and joined the Khaos Brigade. Once she made a decision, she would always see it through to the end, even when that decision brought her nothing but pain.

Xenovia is… asking me to stop her. No, she is begging me to stop her.

As these thoughts crossed her mind, Xenovia rushed forward, Excalibur Destruction and Durandal scraping against the ground, creating sparks.

I understand now, Xenovia.

Irina readied her light sword as Xenovia's charge brought the other girl ever closer. Ten meters. Five meters. Two meters.

I'll definitely be the one to stop you.

When she reached the one meter mark, Xenovia raised both of her swords, prepared to bring them down on her former partner and friend.

Irina reacted quickly.

Dispelling her light sword, she shot forward before Xenovia could attack. She was already in Xenovia's guard. Even if the girl swung her swords, they would miss. Now face to face, Irina could see the surprise in Xenovia's eyes. However, she could also see the pain, the hurt, the sense of betrayal, and loss. Her friend was lost and hurt and didn't know what to do. The Khaos Brigade had likely capitalized on those emotions and convinced her to join them.

I won't let things stay like this.

Irina wrapped her arms around Xenovia and pulled the other girl into a tight embrace. Xenovia froze. The hands that had been raised to bring down her swords slowly lowered, and then a loud clank signified the two holy swords falling to the ground.

"I'm sorry for not being able to help you before," Irina apologized. "But I'm here now. I won't leave you to suffer alone."

"I… I was so lost," Xenovia's voice was choked.

"I know."

"I didn't know what to do."

"I know."

"Irina, I—"

"It's okay." Irina hugged her friend tighter. "Everything is going to be okay now. I'm not going to let you go through that again."

Several seconds passed before, with a slowness that made her seem reluctant, Xenovia wrapped her arms around Irina. She hugged the other girl tightly as several tears flowed down her cheeks. Irina felt the tears fall against her clothing, but she ignored how her clothes were getting wet and let her friend cry out all of the sorrow, frustration, and hopelessness that had been eating away at her since learning of God's death.

~Devil Ninja~

Kiba was not used to fighting with two swords. Dual-wielding was not a skill he had cultivated. That said, as he and Siegfried fought against each other, Kiba gripped a sword in each hand as he tried to withstand the overwhelming power of his opponent.

"What is this?!" Siegfried laughed as he slammed Gram into Kiba's demonic sword, shattering it and forcing him to make another one. "These swords are pathetic! Haha! Do you really think you can defeat me with such lousy weapons and shoddy swordsmanship?!"

Kiba said nothing, not because he had nothing to say, but because it took all of his concentration to avoid being killed. He dodged attacks that came in from the left and right, from above and below. Siegfried was not dual-wielding like him. He was tri-wielding. He gripped Gram tightly in his left hand, a light sword in his right, and Nothung—a demon sword that was sharp enough to cut through almost any known substance—in the dragon arm protruding from his back. With three blades to contend with, Kiba found himself on the defensive.

"This is utterly ridiculous," Siegfried spat as he slammed his light sword into Kiba's holy sword. It didn't shatter, but the strength behind the blow sent him skidding backward. "Given that you are the swordsman who defeated Freed Sellzen, I assumed you would be strong, but I guess Freed was just weak. You're not even a challenge."

Kiba gritted his teeth at the insult. Bending his knees, he pushed off the ground and used his speed, which was far superior to a normal humans, to turn his body into a literal streak. He ran around Siegfried, hoping to attack the man from his blind spot. Yet when he attacked, the dragon arm welding Nothung intercepted him. Kiba could only gnash his teeth together as Nothung sliced through his demonic sword with ease.

"A weak attack like that won't work on me." Siegfried spun around and swung Gram from overhead. Kiba dodged, but the destructive power sent him flying backwards. "I have no blind spots, you fool. My Twice Critical is a sub-species that let's me grow this dragon arm out of my back. Not only does it double my power, but this arm also acts as a sensor. After all, there is no point in having an arm growing out of my back if I can't sense attacks coming at me from behind."

Now that he had a bit of breathing room, Kiba was able to finally speak. "So you basically have no blind spots? Is that what you are telling me?"

"That is it exactly."

Grimacing, Kiba reassessed his strategy. If he couldn't defeat Siegfried from attacking his blind spots, then he would need to use the greatest advantage he had to attack from multiple directions at once.

"Sword Birth!"

Slamming a hand onto the ground, Kiba put power into his Sacred Gear, creating a large number of holy-demonic swords that sprung from the ground around Siegfried. His hope was the skewer the man. Sadly, that wasn't what happened.

Siegfried lept into the air. Once airborne, he swung Gram at the ground, sending a large crescent wave that obliterated the holy-demonic swords with ease.

Kiba didn't give up and created more swords, this time in the air, which she launched at Siegfried as a form of makeshift projectile. His hopes to somehow impale his opponent from afar were also met with failure. Siegfried used all three of his blades to bat his swords from the air as though they were nothing.

"Still not enough," Siegfried taunted.

I need something stronger… no, not stronger. I just need a sword that can counter Gram's power.

Sword Birth gave him the ability to create an infinite number of Demon Swords that could exhibit numerous properties. He even had one that devoured holy energy and other sources of light. If he could create a sword capable of devouring demonic energy, then…

It's worth a shot.

Getting rid of the holy sword he'd been using, Kiba reached out his hand and imagined a weapon that could devour demonic energy. He frowned. Since he was trying to create something that could devour demonic energy, that meant he couldn't use Sword Birth, which created Demon Swords. In that case…

"Blade Blacksmith."

Kiba didn't just have one Sacred Gear. After absorbing the spirits of his lost comrades, Kiba had gained the ability to create holy-demonic swords. However, Sword Birth only allowed the creation of demon swords, so how was he able to create swords with a holy attribute? Obviously because he had both Sword Birth and Blade Blacksmith.

Forming in midair was a blade of the purest silver. Untainted by anything, this pure blade had a straightedge and the general shape of a European broadsword. It wasn't very large. However, that was because he was condensing its power across a smaller mass in order to make it stronger.

Now using the demon sword, Holy Eraser, and the holy sword, Demon Eraser, Kiba rushed toward Siegfried once more.

"You don't honestly think those two swords will be able to defeat my swords, do you?" asked Siegfried as he swung his light sword down.

Kiba blocked the attack with Holy Eraser. The holy sword's bright glow, a symbol of the holy energy infusing it, flickered and dimmed before going out. Siegfried raised an eyebrow at that as he swung Gram at Kiba. Like when he'd blocked the light sword, Kiba brought up Demon Eraser to block and absorb the energy of this weapon.

It didn't work.

Demon Eraser shattered.

Out of desperation, Kiba created a wall out of his holy-demonic sword, Sword of the Betrayer, to protect himself. Gram slammed into the shield and shattered it with ease. It was like the weapon was cutting through paper instead of countless holy-demonic swords. Fortunately, Kiba had been able to leap back and avoid taking the brunt of the damage, but just the excess power from Siegfried's swing created a powerful repulsive force that shoved him back. Kiba stumbled across the ground before managing to right himself.

A sense of danger caused the hairs on his neck to prickle. He looked up. Siegfried was already in front of him.

Eyes widening, Kiba defended against Gram by creating another holy sword, but of course the powerful demon sword shattered it like it was nothing. Even so, that single second it took to destroy his blade allowed Kiba to move. Using his superior speed as a Knight, he avoided getting hit—not that it mattered. Siegfried spun around and attacked using Nothung.

Desperate to avoid taking any damage, Kiba created the Destruction Sword, a two-handed demonic sword that was over two meters long. He didn't intend to swing it. He used it as a shield. Nothung sliced into the weapon, which exploded with an incredible amount of power. Black energy howled. Siegfried stumbled back as his dragon arm was thrown wide. Kiba leapt several feet back to put some distance between them.

"I am very surprised you managed to last this long," Siegfried claimed. "Even if I'm not going all out, you still managed to survive longer than a lot of other people. For that, I'll grant you a special privilege and allow you to witness one of my strongest attacks."

Sheathing Nothung and the light sword, Siegfried grunted and, with a strange tearing sound, three more dragon arms emerged from his back. Not only did he grip Gram with both hands, but all four dragon arms reached around and grabbed the sword as well. A shiver ran down Kiba's spine as dark energy poured off the blade like smoke. He knew that if he let Siegfried hit him with whatever attack he had planned, it would be the end of him.

I can't let myself get hit by that!

Kiba was already certain he wouldn't be able to reach Siegfried in time, so he instead sent out hundreds of swords, both holy and demonic, to attack the man. They were fired off like bullets from an automatic rifle. However, despite being peppered with hundreds of swords, nothing happened. Perhaps it was the overwhelming energy leaking from Gram, but all the swords Kiba fired shattered before they could hit Siegfried.

This is not good!

"Here it is. Have a taste of the kind of power someone who wields a true demon sword has."

Siegfried raised Gram in the air, all six of his hands gripping it tight, and then he brought it down. A massive wave of black energy burst from the sword. It was like a black flame spreading across the ground, but instead of burning everything in its path, it destroyed it. The ground was ripped apart.

Kiba, in a last, desperate attempt to keep himself from being killed, poured all his energy into erecting several dozen walls between him and the massive tidal wave of energy. However, the tidal wave crashed through one wall after another. Kiba released all the demonic energy he had in one last gambit, and then the tidal wave of energy washed over him.

~Devil Ninja~

Their battlefield was the palace itself. Being a magic user, Rossweisse had immediately taken to the sky. Magic circles appeared all around her, glowing blue circles that rotated where they floated. From within those circles came blasts of lightning, gouts of fire, torrents of water, and a deluge of powerful cutting winds. All of it was aimed at Heracles, who stood on the ground several meters below her.

"Hahahaha! Do you really think magic like that will work on me?!"

A massive explosion went up as her attacks slammed into Heracles with enough power that the detonation could be felt for kilometers. The lightning sent arcs of energy across the ground. Massive plumes of fire rose into the air like a phoenix rising from the ashes. That fire was quickly doused by the water, which then solidified into ice, freezing everything within so the cutting winds could slice through her opponent.

Rossweisse narrowed her eyes as she stared into the destruction her attack had caused, waiting, watching to see if her enemy had survived.

He had.

Heracles stood exactly where he had been, his arms crossed and a confident smirk on his face. The gakuran and Greek armor he wore didn't have a single scratch on them, and Heracles himself also seemed completely unharmed. Rossweisse could only look at him with wide eyes as her bombardment failed.

"Did you really think your pathetic magic would be enough to overcome my defenses? Ha! I carry the spirit of the Greek hero, Heracles! A pathetic magic attack like that will never hurt me!"

Rossweisse narrowed her eyes further as she tried to figure out what she could do. It seemed bombarding him with multiple types of magic didn't work. He must have had a very high magical resistance, which meant it would take an overwhelming amount of power to break through. That, or…

Maybe I can break through if I condense my magic into a beam.

As a skilled practitioner of Norse magic, Rossweisse specialized in long-range and bombarding attacks. She was capable of using just about every element: ice, fire, water, lightning, wind, thunder, light, summoning, and even explosive-based magic. If she used her explosive magic to create a condensed beam, perhaps she could punch through Heracles' defenses.

It was worth a shot.

"I hope you don't think I'm going to just let you keep attacking me," Heracles said as Rossweisse came up with her plan. "It's time to show you how powerless you really are!"

As he finished speaking, Heracles' body started glowing with a bright aura that surrounded him. The aura then transformed into objects that resembled missiles.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, the missile-like objects blasted forward at speeds she could scarcely track. Rossweisse moved into a series of aerial maneuvers, but the missiles followed her, staying on her tail as even more missiles joined in. Realizing that she couldn't keep dodging, Rossweisse created over a hundred magic circles and launched lightning at the attacks. Her magic struck the missiles and caused them to detonate.

While the detonations pushed her around some, Rossweisse decided to use the bright light from the explosions as a distraction to launch her own attack. She soared above the many flaring explosions and locked onto Heracles. She held out her hands. A magic circle appeared in front of her, smaller than the others, but containing even more power. Concentrating hard, she incorporated hundreds of high-level magic symbols into her attack, causing the entire thing to become so dense it looked like a single object as opposed to a bunch of small symbols.

Once her attack was ready, she launched it at Heracles.

What erupted from her magic circle was a condensed beam of red energy. It moved far faster than anything else she'd launched thanks to an acceleration spell she'd added. Her inspiration had come from an anime Rias had watched in which a character named Misaka fired off a coin using electricity so fast it was like a railgun. The attack struck Heracles dead on, and the man, arrogant to the end, didn't even bother moving out of the way.

The attack pierced his shoulder.

"Hurk!"

Heracles went down onto a knee as the magic went straight through him and struck the ground, exploding with enough force to push the man forward. His hair blew every which way as he placed one hand against his shoulder and the other on the ground. He dug his fingers into the cement to keep himself from being sent flying.

When the attack was over, he stood up. There was a massive hole going through his left shoulder, so large even Rossweisse, several dozen meters in the air, could see through it. Blood leaked from the wound, drenching his clothes. He glared up at her. His eyes were filled with a murderous intent.

"You fucking bitch! You cock sucking little shit! I'm going to fucking kill you!"

Before Rossweisse could think of attacking again, nearly a hundred missile-like projectiles flew through the air, all sailing toward her. She already knew she couldn't dodge. They were surrounding her on all sides. In desperation, she created a shield made of nearly two hundred magic circles. Would it be enough to protect her?

A massive light flashed through the night sky as the missiles slammed into her shields with a relentless fury.

~Devil Ninja~

Issei stood before Cao Cao and Jeanne. The roar of combat echoed all around them.

Over a dozen meters away, black flames danced and surrounded Yasaka, writhing like tendrils. The kyuubi leader shook as her body released a powerful aura. It looked like she was in pain, but then she spat out several large balls of fire. They didn't look as powerful as Tannin's flames, but Issei could still feel the heat from where he stood.

Saji wasn't the only person battling. Irina had gone to fight Xenovia, Kiba was battling Siegfried, and Rossweisse was fighting Heracles, which meant Issei had to deal with these two. His job wasn't to win, however. He was aware of his own limitations. His job was merely to buy sensei time to activate his new technique—whatever that was.

Asia was currently doing her best to heal the others, but it was proving difficult because their battles were taking place further away. She and Kunou stood behind Naruto. So far the only person she'd been able to heal was Rossweisse, who was flying high above them as she fought. The woman had been caught in a massive explosion and injured, but Asia healed her from a distance and the battle had resumed.

"Isn't it great?" Cao Cao asked, causing Issei to look away from the battles. "It's like a Balance Breaker free for all. Well, without having a power like this, there is no way us humans can compete with you supernatural existences."

Cao Cao twirled the spear in his hand with a casual grace, causing Issei to distance himself. At that moment, his opponent had many openings, but Issei knew better. Even if those openings weren't traps, Cao Cao had Jeanne standing by his side. That said, he should be able to defeat her no problem.

I should beat her first.

Issei had already been promoted to Knight. He would make use of his speed to quickly defeat Jeanne.

"Breasts, reveal your thoughts to me! Bilingual!"

A strange space covered the area around the battlefield, visible only to him. With bilingual activated, Issei charged straight for Jeanne, extending his left hand as Ascalon shot from the jewel above his knuckles.

"Ooooh! Going after me first? You perv!"

"I'll show you who's a perv!"

With that shout, Issei quickly closed the distance.

"I'm going to move left and then attack from his blindspot!"

Jeanne's breasts spoke to him, telling him what she would do next, and Issei reacted accordingly. He turned around as Jeanne moved around his left to attack his blind spot. Her sword clashed against Ascalon. Despite having her attack defended against, she didn't seem shocked, and in fact, there was a large smile on her face.

Issei would have wondered about that smile, but then he felt a chill on his back. He disengaged from Jeanne. Spinning around, he moved aside as a spear pierced the place where he'd been standing. It was the Longinus. He knocked it away with Ascalon, and then tried to attack Cao Cao, but he was too slow. His opponent had already retreated.

"Did you know my companions and I came up with a theory on how to defeat you?" As Jeanne circled behind him (which Issei knew because her breasts told him), Cao Cao began talking. Our idea was to attack you with a time accelerating Sacred Gear. Doing so will shorten the time you can remain in Balance Breaker and release your armor prematurely. We even have one such Sacred Gear user. The problem is that it has no offensive capabilities."

Issei didn't let Cao Cao know that he knew what Jeanne was doing. He kept his eyes focused on the man in front of him.

"There's a problem with that, though," Issei said, deciding to make casual conversation. "If you accelerated my time, I could just release my Balance Break voluntarily and switch to using the normal ability of my Sacred Gear. With the accelerated time, I could infinitely double my power in minutes."

"Yes." Cao Cao smiled. "That is why we ultimately decided against it."

"I'm going to attack now!"

In that instant, Jeanne's breasts told Issei exactly what she was going to do. Issei used the speed he'd attained from his promotion to avoid her attack. She fell on the spot he'd been standing, her sword extended as it missed, and then she was sent flying when Issei kicked her. He'd actually wanted to place a magic circle on her clothes, but his arms couldn't reach that far, so a kick it was.

Cao Cao attacked Issei before he could recover, sending a slew of powerful thrusts with his spear, but Issei used both his speed and his precognitive abilities to avoid the attacks. Cao Cao was good. No, he was better than good. His attacks were precise, powerful, and fast. That said, Issei had been training with Naruto, who had helped him learn how to predict his opponents by looking at their torso instead of their hands. It just barely allowed him to keep up with the much faster Hero Faction leader.

"Since attacking from behind didn't work, I'll attack from above!"

The voice of Jeanne's breasts echoed in his ears. Issei leapt backward as Jeanne fell from the sky. Her sword slid into the ground with ease.

"Now I'll surprise him with my Sacred Gear!"

As her breasts spoke, a sword grew out from underneath Jeanne's foot. Issei recognized the holy sword for what it was and knew not to let it hit him. He leapt out of the way, but sadly, this brought him toward Cao Cao.

"Whoa!"

Cao Cao thrust out his spear. Issei ducked underneath the attack out of desperation, which allowed him to narrowly avoid death. Then he attacked with Ascalon. However, Cao Cao stepped back as he dexterously spun the Longinus in his hands, knocking the sword away from him.

"Asia! Promote me to Bishop!"

"Yes!"

As the feeling of speed faded from his mind, a surge of magic flooded his nerves. Issei took to the sky, avoiding Jeanne's attack. Now in the air, he concentrated on what he wanted, visualizing it in his mind.

"I don't know if this will work, but…"

As his wings flapped, two massive barrels suddenly appeared over his shoulder, gleaming red in the light. Issei channeled his magic into them, causing a bright glow to appear within each barrel.

"Take this, you bastard!"

With a thunderous roar, the twin cannons blasted condensed bullets of demonic power. Cao Cao and Jeanne were obviously smart enough not to take them head on. They both moved in opposite directions as the bullets exploded with an intense spray of demonic power. Even Issei felt himself being pushed back as the two sphere-shaped detonations expanded.

Dropping back to the ground, Issei quickly stood in front of sensei, Asia, and Kunou, erecting a shield to keep them from being caught in the blast. A quick glance back revealed that sensei hadn't moved from his spot. His eyes were still closed as though he was meditating.

Issei quickly focused back on attacking. He tracked Cao Cao and Jeanne with his cannons and began firing off multiple rounds. The two Hero Faction members quickly dodged his bullets, but then Issei switched targets. Instead of attacking them, he attacked their surroundings. Explosion after explosion slammed into the ground close to them. Neither Cao Cao nor Jeanne were the type to get knocked off balance, but he was able to corral them closer together.

"Boostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboost!"

While he forced the two to move where he wanted them, Issei continued boosting himself, doubling his power multiple times within several seconds. Once he had what he felt was enough power, Issei retracted his cannons, held out his hands, and created a single massive cannon from those.

"Take this, suckers! I'm gonna blow my load all over your faces!"

"What?"

Cao Cao actually paused upon hearing his words, but Issei didn't care. He fired off a beam of demonic energy so powerful the very air sizzled and the ground melted as it sped toward them. Not only was it powerful, but the size of the beam was easily several meters in diameter. There was no way they could dodge it.

"Asia, please promote me to Queen!"

"Okay!"

Issei took a calming breath as the promotion further increased his abilities. He still hadn't mastered the Queen promotion, but he would need it for this.

"Boostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboost!"

As he boosted himself, a pair jets appeared on his back, and Issei surged forward in the wake of his massive beam attack.

Just as he had expected, the beam was split in half. The two divergent halves slammed into the surrounding palace, detonating with a concussive force, but Issei ignored the blazing hot winds that slammed into him and charged at Cao Cao, who stood protectively in front of Jeanne.

"Hahahaha! So this is the power of the Sekiryuutei! Most impressive!"

"Boostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboost!"

Throwing a powerful straight punch at Cao Cao with his boosted fist, Issei waited until the man moved his spear to parry his punch, and then he stopped his fist just before the spear. Cao Cao's spear flew through the space between them. His parry had missed.

Now!

Surging forward, Issei thrust out his other hand and transferred his power into Ascalon. He emitted a powerful pulse that caused an aura shaped like a blade to shoot forward. A tearing noise echoed around the battlefield. Jeanne screamed in shock as Cao Cao's arm flew through the air.

Issei grinned as he saw the damage his attack had done, but then he blinked when an incredible pain shot through his stomach. He looked down. The Longinus had pierced his stomach.

"It seems we both landed a hit." Cao Cao chuckled. "Though my attack did a lot more damage."

As Cao Cao removed his spear from Issei's stomach and impaled it into the ground, Issei fell onto his hands and knees as smoke began pouring from the wound.

"Ise-san!" Asia screamed behind him.

"You're mine now!" Jeanne shouted as her breasts warned Issei of the danger. Yet Issei couldn't move. The pain was—he couldn't think. It was taking everything he had not to scream.

However, just before Jeanne could attack, several spears of light rained from the sky, forcing her to dodge to avoid them. At that moment, Irina fell from the ground and attacked the blonde beauty with a light sword.

"Twilight Healing!"

At that same moment, Issei felt the pain in his stomach lessen. He looked at his arms as a green aura engulfed him. Asia had used her Twilight Healing on him. However, while the pain wasn't as unbearable, the wound wasn't getting any smaller. With something of a grimace, he took out the Phoenix Tears he'd been given and used them on his wound.

"It seems we had the same idea," Cao Cao said. Issei looked up and felt his eyes bulge as Cao Cao poured what was obviously Phoenix Tears on his wound and then attached his lopped off arm to the spot where it had been severed. Steam hissed around the arm as it became reattached.

"How did you get those?!"

Cao Cao laughed. "The Black Market of course. People are willing to sell anything if it can make them some money, though it wasn't easy to acquire these. The Phenex House has been doing everything they can to restrict access to their tears. Well, it looks like we're both healed. Shall we get back to it?"

A few meters from them, Irina and Jeanne were battling against each other. It looked like Jeanne had the upper hand. Irina was already sporting several cuts and bruises, but the angel doggedly continued to battle. Asia was also healing her.

With Jeanne out of the way, I can focus more on fighting against Cao Cao.

"Ddraig, can you heal the hole in my armor?"

"Of course, partner. However, it's gonna take awhile. That Longinus is no joke."

"I understand."

He wondered how much time had passed since this battle began. It felt like a lot of time had gone by, but he knew that was adrenaline talking. In truth, it was more than likely that barely a minute or two had passed since this battle began. He grimaced.

At that moment, a massive explosion echoed around them, causing the ground to shake. About two or three dozen meters to his right came a sea of black flames engulfing the garden. That was where Kiba had taken Siegfried to battle.

As if proving that matters were even worse than he'd expected, a massive explosion overhead caused him to look up. A figure was falling from the sky. Issei recognized them. Rossweisse. She plummeted to the ground somewhat close to where Asia, Kunou, and sensei were, striking the hard ground head first. Her body was covered in blood. As she lay unmoving on the ground, a crimson pool spread out underneath her.

"Rossweisse!" Asia cried as she scrambled over to the woman and began trying to heal her wounds. Tears leaked from Asia's eyes.

Damn it…

"Boostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboostboost!"

Issei rushed at Cao Cao as he boosted himself, doubling his power more and more. He attacked Cao Cao with reckless abandon, but the man proved incredibly apt at fighting back. Issei gritted his teeth as his attacks all missed. The problem wasn't that his enemy was stronger than him. Cao Cao seemed well-aware that Issei had more raw power, but it was exactly for that reason that he was losing.

Cao Cao seemed adapt at fighting people with more power than him. He was using a method to avoid or deflect attacks with minimal energy on his part. Not only that, but after every attack Issei launched, Cao Cao would sliced off pieces of his armor, which forced Ddraig to divert more energy to repairing the damage done. It wasn't long before cuts started appearing on his body, and those cuts began emitting smoke. Even with his power boosted, his strength began flagging.

"Sorry, Sekiryuutei, but this is the end for you," Cao Cao said calmly. "You are strong. You're a lot stronger than I thought you'd be. However, even with the level of power you possess, it is not enough to win against people who contain the spirit of ancient heroes. Georg, how is the magic circle coming along."

"It's coming, but it will still take awhile to complete," George said. "Will this really call Great Red?"

"I certainly hope so," Cao Cao said. "I have no confidence in my ability to defeat that one in an even fight."

At the mention of "that one," Issei glanced briefly in the direction of Sensei, still seated on the ground. He had managed to keep Cao Cao's attention on him, but perhaps that was because the Longinus wielder was wary. That made sense given Sensei's unpredictable nature. Perhaps Cao Cao thought his actions were a feint to make him attack.

However, as he looked back at Naruto, he found several other people there as well. Kiba had been laid out on the ground, his body smoking from multiple wounds that Asia was now trying to heal. He was unconscious next to Rossweisse. Irina was still fighting against Jeanne, and it looked like Xenovia had joined the battle, but the two girls seemed exhausted from having fought each other and weren't doing too well.

At that exact moment, Heracles and Siegfried strolled over to Cao Cao. While their bodies were littered with wounds, neither of them looked terrible, and they appeared to have more than enough energy left to fight.

Kiba and Rossweisse both lost.

Not only had his friends lost, but he was definitely not winning right now. Sensei had asked him to buy time, but not even half the allotted time had passed, and he was clearly losing. His body was littered in cuts that hissed and smoked. Asia couldn't heal him because she was busy trying to save Kiba and Rossweisse, both of whom clearly had life threatening injuries. What's more…

A loud roar made Issei look at the battle between Saji and Yasaka. Saji—or rather, Vitra—had become entangled in the kyuubi's nine tails and was roaring in pain. It looked like even he had lost.

"Mother! Mother, please wake up! Don't do this!" Kunou was screaming as she tried to plead with her mother to stop, but the kyuubi leader wasn't even looking at her as she slowly crushed the life out of Saji.