"CAO CAO!"
"BOOSTED GEAR: SONIC BOOST KNIGHT!"
The armor covering Issei's body disappeared, revealing a streamlined figure that seemed so weak a stiff breeze would blow it over. However, in exchange for having next to no protection, Issei's speed increased.
His body blurred as he practically disappeared from Cao Cao's sight. Despite this, Cao Cao didn't look too worried. He leapt back to avoid the swipe from Issei's clawed hand. After dodging, he tried to attack Issei with a swift thrust of his blade, but Issei had already disappeared again.
The world around Issei blurred as he appeared behind Cao Cao, hand already moving to stab him through the back, but things didn't work out as he planned. Cao Cao spun around as though he had predicted what Issei would do. The older man parried his claw attack with the blade of his Longinus, forcing Issei to back off.
Issei glanced at the steam rising from his clawed and grimaced. Pain seared into his hand from where he had touched the Longinus. His current armor didn't have the ability to protect him against something as powerful as the True Longinus spear, which was said to have been used to stab Jesus Christ when he had been crucified. Such a holy artifact was literally the bane of his existence.
"BOOSTED GEAR: WELSH DRACONIC ROOK!"
After using the speed of his Knight Mode to close the distance, Issei quickly shifted into his Rook Mode, which created layers of armor on top of his body. This did have the effect of slowing him down. However, now that his defenses were at their peak, he wouldn't be so easily injured by the True Longinus.
He raised his arm to block a swing from Cao Cao. The fierce clash resulted in a powerful backlash of cutting winds flying across the battlefield, gouging into the floor as though it were made of butter. Issei gritted his teeth and dug his heels into the ground. He refused to budge even one centimeter for this bastard.
Cao Cao's eyes were practically glowing.
"I see you've gotten even stronger now than you were before. What sort of training allows you to gain such incredible power in such a short amount of time?!"
"As if I would tell you!" Issei snapped as he used the strength of his Rook Mode to push Cao Cao back.
The power of his shove was enough to knock Cao Cao slightly off balance, which Issei tried to take advantage of by throwing his fist in a straight jab that contained all the power of his Balance Breaker. On a normal person, this attack probably would have caved in their skull. Cao Cao was not normal. He proved this by bending his body at an incredibly awkward angle, tapping his spear against the ground to keep him from falling, and then used the momentum from pushing against his spear to turn his dodge into a powerful slashing attack.
CLANG!
Issei winced only slightly as the True Longinus slammed into his raised arm. The attack was not strong enough to move him while in this form, but he could still feel the hit reverberating through his body. Despite this, he still threw a punch with his other hand. He hoped to deck Cao Cao right in his face.
Of course, it could never be that easy. Cao Cao realized the danger he was in and leapt backward. While the power of Issei's punch had sent a gust of wind at him, all it did was cause his hair to blow in a breeze. Cao Cao had already gained enough distance that Issei's attack couldn't reach him so easily.
"BOOSTED GEAR: SONIC BOOST KNIGHT!"
Issei once again transformed into his Knight Mode, but he took to the air instead of remaining on the ground this time. After ascending to the ceiling, he turned around, oriented himself toward Cao Cao, and shot forward at speeds that broke the sound barrier. His body turned into a brilliant streak of purple light as flames blasted from a set of exhaust ports on his back.
Cao Cao had already experienced this once. He clearly had no desire to experience it again. He spun his spear and unleashed several incredibly power blasts holy energy, which Issei spun and barrel rolled to dodge. He felt kind of like Star Fox. In either event, he continued pushing forward, dodging Cao Cao's energy blasts as the air friction from his incredible speed caused fire to burst around his body.
He was seconds away from reaching Cao Cao when the man in question completely disappeared.
Issei slammed into the ground. Because he had been expecting to crash into Cao Cao, he tumbled across the ground as it exploded around them. He managed to land on his feet, but then he had to dodge an attack that came in from his left. Turning, he found himself facing a warrior-like being that reminded him of Kiba's Balance Breaker, Glory Drag Trooper, which created an army of holy sword-wielding dragon knights.
"The hell is this?!" asked Issei.
"It's one of the abilities of my True Longinus's Balance Breaker," said Cao Cao, now standing several dozen meters away. "My Balance Breaker is called Polar Night Longinus Chakravartin. It creates Seven Treasures, each of which has a different ability. They normally look like simple orbs, but I can use each one at will. The one I'm using against you right now is called Kahabatei Ratana."
Issei carefully eyed the warrior standing before him. He soon realized it wasn't just one warrior. There were ten in total, and in the center of these ten warrior-like creations was a small orb. That orb was probably the one of those Seven Treasures that Cao Cao was talking about. If he destroyed it, the warriors would probably disappear.
While the theory was sound, it wasn't like destroying these warriors would be so easy. They soon attacked in tandem. Issei was forced to use the superior speed of his Knight Mode to avoid their attacks, but he knew this wouldn't work forever. If he really wanted to defeat Cao Cao, then he had to destroy these things first.
"BOOSTED GEAR: WELSH DRACONIC ROOK!"
He changed into his Rook Mode again and took a defensive stance. The warriors from the Kahabatei Ratana attacked him with all their might, but he withstood their attacks, then launched several of his own. These warriors were indeed strong. However, even they were pulverized after coming into contact with his fists, enhanced by the power of Promotion. Each warrior exploded.
His plan was to attack the orb next, but before he could search for it again, the orb touched his body.
"What the-!"
Issei suddenly felt his feet leaving the ground without his volition. His eyes widened as he flailed in the air to try and reach the ground again, but he couldn't seem to move, not even when he used his wings.
That was when Cao Cao attacked him, shoving the True Longinus at Issei's face. Issei was fortunately still in his Rook mode. He raised his arms and blocked the attack, but because he didn't have any traction to ground himself with, he was sent flying through the air. Cao Cao, still on the ground, launched numerous beams of powerful light energy at him.
"Damn it!"
"BOOSTED GEAR: WELSH BLASTER BISHOP!"
Issei had been hoping to avoid using the Blaster Bishop Mode due to its destructive powers. He didn't want his friends accidentally getting caught up in one of his attacks, but it seemed he had no choice now. Two massive cannons appeared on his shoulders as a glowing green gem broke through his chestplate.
Energy gathered within the cannons before being released in small bursts, creating bolts of brilliant energy that crashed into the light beams from Cao Cao. A number of explosions went off. Each explosion shook Issei inside of his armor, but it wasn't so much that he received any damage.
Taking aim again, Issei fired numerous powerful bolts at Cao Cao down on the ground. The man dodged his attacks with speed that was almost inhuman. It always shocked Issei to see how fast this man could move despite not being a supernatural creature like an Angel, Devil, or Vampire. However, all of those attacks were just distractions.
"BOOSTED GEAR: SONIC BOOST KNIGHT!"
Issei once again shifted into his Knight Mode. Flames appeared behind his back as he pushed himself through the air, accelerating so quickly this time that even Cao Cao was surprised. It helped that he had used the light from the explosions to mask his approach. He slammed into Cao Cao so fast that the man didn't have time to dodge. His attack was a headbutt.
"HYRRK!"
Cao Cao flew backward and crashed into the ground, rolling several meters before scrambling back to his feet. He pressed a hand against his stomach. Issei couldn't see anything past the man's clothing, but his attack had clearly caused damage. Blood was leaking down Cao Cao's mouth.
Issei felt tired by this point. Since his demonic power was being exhausted so quickly, he switched back into his normal balance breaker. His regular Scale Mail armor returned. He thought about attacking Cao Cao, but it was clear to him that doing so wouldn't grant him victory yet. Despite having been wounded, Cao Cao had returned to standing with his back straight. The blood was mysteriously gone.
Did he use Phoenix Tears?
"You've become so much more proficient at using that Balance Breaker of yours it's almost frightening," Cao Cao said. "However, you should know that you're also not the only one who has a Balance Breaker. I still haven't revealed all of the treasures that my Balance Breaker has to offer."
Issei remembered Cao Cao mentioning Seven Treasures, so there must have been more abilities that he hadn't used yet. Even though he tried to prepare for anything, when an orb suddenly slammed into his back, and he found himself standing right next to Cao Cao, he was in no way prepared for it.
Gritting his teeth hard, Issei was barely able to duck under Cao Cao's attack. He tried to launch an uppercut. However, Cao Cao leapt backward. This didn't deter Issei, who fired off a quick but powerful Dragon Shot, but just before his attack hit, another orb appeared before Cao Cao. It looked the same as the others. However, when his Dragon Shot slammed into it, the orb glowed brightly and the attack was suddenly redirected back toward him.
"What the tits?!"
Issei leapt out of the way as his own Dragon Shot flew toward him. The attack struck the wall several dozen meters away and exploded. As the fierce winds buffeted his hair, Issei pointed at Cao Cao.
"What the hell was that?! How did you reflect my own attack back at me?!"
"Can't you figure it out?" Cao Cao shrugged. "That's another one of my abilities, obviously. Mala Ratana grants me the ability to redirect any attack send toward me to another target. You're awfully lucky. I could have chosen to send that attack at one of your friends, but I knew it would give you an opportunity to attack me in turn. Plus, you seem to grow stronger when your friends are injured."
So that was another one of Cao Cao's abilities. So far Issei had seen three… no four. There was when Issei had been levitated, this new one to redirect attacks, the Kahabatei Ratana, and that teleporting ability. That meant there were three more. Sadly, he didn't know what these last three abilities entailed, so he would just have to plan for anything.
"By the way," Cao Cao began with a smile. "That isn't the only ability I have. Remember when you destroyed my eye? Well, I got it replaced with Medusa's eyes. You know Medusa, right? She was the daughter of Phorcys and Ceto, a gorgon whose hair is nothing but a head of snakes. One of her abilities was to turn people into stone. Guess what that means."
Issei realized what Cao Cao meant seconds after her spoke. He looked down at his left arm. The gauntlet covering his arm was gray and corroded, having turned into hard stone, though it looked like he was able to partially resist the effects.
"Now, let's begin round two," Cao Cao said as he threw himself into a sprint that took him toward Issei.
Gritting his teeth, Issei prepared himself for the next bout.
~Devil Ninja~
Rias flew through the air, her wings flapping as she dodged several attacks from the Anti-monsters. She fired off several powerful blasts of her Powers of Destruction, but the beams were negated when they struck a magical shield that absorbed them. She was fortunate that was all they did. If those shields had sent them back at her, she might have been in trouble.
This battle had been going on for a long time now. Rias had learned quite a bit from observing Leonardo and his Anti-monsters.
First off, there was a limit to how many Anti-monsters he could make at any one time. He could only produce about twenty-six in total. If she destroyed one, he could make another, but twenty-six was his limit. She assumed this was simply as much mental strain as he could handle right now.
Second off, while these creatures did have the ability to negate her Powers of Destruction, it was possible to overload those shields of theirs by pouring in more power than they could take. This wasn't the best way to defeat them, however. It drained too much of her demonic powers.
With another flap of her wings, Rias dove toward one of the Anti-monsters. The jewel on it began glowing a bright red before it fired a beam of brilliant energy. Rias barrel rolled. She could feel the energy shooting past her. The hairs on her arms were singed from merely being near it. However, after getting past its attack, she landed on the ground right next to it.
It blocked her Powers of Destruction sword with another magic circle, but Rias let it. While it was unable to move, she suddenly stopped using her Powers of Destruction and walked through the shield, which only blocked attacks of demonic nature. It did nothing against physical attacks. She grabbed the Anti-monster by the face and yanked it onto the incoming path of another attack, letting it take the hit for her. The Anti-monster was blown to smithereens, and Rias escaped before she could join it.
The third thing she learned was that the best way to kill these was to let them kill each other.
She retreated quickly after destroying the Anti-monster and watched as a new one took its place. She glanced over at Leonardo. His face was pale and drawn, sweat covered much of his body, and his breathing had become increasingly heavy. Even his shoulders had become hunched. In short, it looked like he was on his last leg.
This was the fourth thing she had learned.
Leonardo had a limit. He had a certain amount of power that he could use for his Sacred Gear, and when he ran out of power, he would no longer be able to use Annihilation Maker.
She didn't know how much power he had to spend, which was why she had Ravel hanging back and why she was fighting conservatively. Rias forced his Anti-monsters to annihilate each other instead of killing them herself. If she hadn't fought this way, she would have run out of demonic power a long time ago.
After ascending into the air, she flew over to Ravel, who was hovering on wings of fire. The blonde girl had been silently observing the battle up to this point. Rias was relying on her to come up with an adaptable plan they could use to win.
A little ways off, Gasper and Akeno were fighting Jeanne. They were doing very well. Akeno was attacking with holy lightning and Gasper would halt Jeanne's movements with Forbidden Balor View. This made it nearly impossible for Jeanne to counterattack. She would freeze seconds before Akeno launched a powerful attack, either with bolts or spears. Jeanne would break out of the attacks and counter Akeno's with a holy sword, but that only meant she could defend herself. It looked like it was taking everything she had just to stay alive. However, the fact that she hadn't been defeated yet was a testament to her skills as a Sacred Gear user and a swordswoman.
"Have you figured out a way to beat him?" asked Rias.
"The obvious weakness of a Sacred Gear like this is the Sacred Gear user," Ravel said. "Fighting against his monsters is only going to cost us more demonic power. Even if we fought conservatively like you have been, I believe we would still lose in a war of attrition, which means we should take out Leonardo."
"I would have already done that, but he has two of those Anti-monsters protecting him," Rias pointed out.
"I know, which is why we're going to attack him together," Rave said with a smile. "If you can take out or distract his Anti-monsters, I can take out Leonardo."
"That's as good a plan as any. Let's do it."
Rias and Ravel dove toward Leonardo at the same time. The Anti-monsters all tracked them, firing beams of destruction from the glowing jewel in the center of their "faces." They swerved apart, dodging the blasts, then performed a series of intense aerial acrobatics by weaving around each other to create even harder to hit targets.
Down below, Leonardo's face became furrowed as more sweat dripped from his brow. He was concentrating hard on controlling these creatures, but he had a limit, and the amount of power he was using plus the mental strain was obviously taking its toll. Rias could even see the veins on his forehead popping.
Narrowing her eyes, Rias fired off several intense waves of demonic red energy. Her Powers of Destruction slammed into a shield created by one of the Anti-monsters guarding Leonardo. Another shield appeared when she sent a condensed flame toward Leonardo himself. Now with both Anti-monsters distracted, Rias dropped to the ground and rushed forward.
While Rias was not a frontline fighter like Koneko, she was still a high-class Devil whose physical strength was greater than the average reincarnated Devil. Running past the shield, she launched a kick into the Anti-monsters torso, sending it flying away from her. She only flinched a little as a sharp pain reverberated up her leg.
Rias dropped to the ground as a beam passed over her head. Standing up, she scrambled to keep this other Anti-monster locked in combat. The Anti-monsters that were further away all aimed at her, but they couldn't fire because they risked getting Leonardo caught in the crossfire.
While Rias engaged the Anti-monsters in combat, Ravel suddenly fell from the sky, her body spinning around as her foot ignited with fire. It looked like the friction from her spin had caused her foot to combust. However, Rias understood that Ravel was using her powers as a Phenex to create this amazingly hot blaze, which caused the very air around her to distort.
"Take this!"
Ravel's intent to perform a heel drop on Leonardo's head was an odd choice, considering she was a Bishop, but Rias assumed Koneko was being a bad influence. It wasn't like it mattered. With the incredible heat billowing from Ravel's foot, there was no way Leonardo, a human, could hope to defeat her.
However, she never expected what happened next.
"Kya!"
Ravel was blown away as something emerged from Leonardo's shadow. Whatever it was, it was huge, had a long neck with a strange face that looked like a fish with donkey teeth. Wings sprouted from its back. The scales covering its body seemed dull and rusted, but the four massive claws attached to its long fingers looked sharp enough to slice through steel. A long tail jutted from its hind end, and bird-like legs with dinosaur feet finished the creature's appearance. This was…
"What the heck is this?" asked Rias.
"It's called the Jabberwocky," Leonardo said, his breathing coming out in great gulps.
"Jabberwocky?" Rias blinked. She'd heard that word before. "Isn't the Jabberwocky a creature from the eponymous poem found in Alice in Wonderland written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson? I believe the poem describes a creature called the Jabberwocky and how it was killed. It's considered one of the greatest nonsense poems written in English."
"You certainly know your history," Leonardo grumbled. "I did base this off the Jabberwocky from that poem. Of course, this is just my interpretation of it. That said, even if it is only my interpretation, it's a lot more powerful than you are. You know you're pretty lucky. This Balance Breaker is incomplete. I should have been able to create twelve Bandersnatches as well, but I can't do it with so little power."
Rias clicked her tongue as she and Ravel regrouped. The Jabberwocky released an odd sound that reminded her of a dying parrot. It was an unnatural sound, something that she would not expect to hear from this dragon-like creature.
"I don't have a plan to deal with that," Ravel told her. "I hope you do?"
"There is something I can try… but it's not complete yet," Rias admitted, grimacing. "This spell I've been working on should have the power to defeat this Jabberwocky… I think, but I don't know if I can do it."
"Well, we have nothing to lose, so you might as well give it a try," Ravel said. "I'll play the decoy this time."
After saying this, Ravel shot forward on wings of fire and sent an unearthly hot blaze that seemed to ignite the very atmosphere. It struck the Jabberwocky in the face. This caused the creature to seem enraged, though Rias knew that was just in her mind. All the creatures created from Annihilation Maker were simply beings brought about and controlled by the will of its user. They didn't have emotions… at least, she didn't think they did.
As the Jabberwocky tried to kill Ravel, who kept it from attacking Rias by launching attacks at Leonardo and forcing it to block, Rias held her hands together and gathered her Powers of Destruction between them. A small red sphere appeared. Black energy swirled within the red sphere. It soon grew larger as she added more demonic power to it, but then it shrank as she willed it to compress.
Sweat soon gathered on her forehead as she repeated this process. She added power, which caused the sphere to grow, and then compressed it, which caused the sphere to shrink. The more power she added, the harder it was to keep it from leaking out. Rias gritted her teeth as arcs of dark red energy burst from her hands like lightning. Red burns appeared on her skin. While she did her best to ignore the pain, the slow burning was making it harder for her to concentrate.
Rias blinked as her vision grew fuzzy, a sign that she was running low on power. It looked like this was her limit. The sphere that she had compressed had now taken on the shape of an enormous orb that contained a mixture of crimson and black demonic power swirling around like a nebula. Dark miasma radiated outward from it, as though the power was so strong this sphere couldn't contain it all.
"Why don't you try this on for size?!" Rias shouted as she hurled the red and black sphere at the Jabberwocky.
Ravel quickly moved away from the attack as it sailed at a slow velocity toward the Jabberwocky. While it was slow, a strange force locked onto the Jabberwocky and began pulling it in, which made the creature dig its heels into the ground. Its long neck stretched taut as though someone was attempting to pull its head off. Before long, the ground underneath it was also being ripped apart.
The Jabberwocky was soon lifted off its feet. Several chunks of the ground were pulled into the sphere, completely disintegrating. This sphere was annihilating everything that came close. The Jabberwocky was no exception. As it came closer, its body started to disintegrate. First its head, then its neck, and then finally its body. Even after the last bit of the Jabberwocky was annihilated, the sphere continued sucking up everything near it in until it finally ran out of power.
Rias gasped as her body slowly descended to the ground. Her knees jarred as she lost all strength in her legs and pitched forward, but Ravel was luckily there to catch her.
"Are you okay?" asked the blonde.
"Yes… I'm just tired." Rias smiled at Ravel. "How is Leonardo?"
"It looks like he's alive, but I think he's unconscious." Ravel gestured toward Leonardo, lying on his face a few meters away. "My guess is that the backlash from your attack rendered him unconscious, or maybe he was struck by a stray brick."
"Good. I don't think I could fight another round right now." Rias looked over at where Akeno was tying up a thrashing Jeanne. The blonde woman was spewing expletives, but Akeno didn't seem to mind. In fact, she looked like the woman's anger was making her horny. "It looks like they finished their fight. Let's tie up Leonardo, join forces with Akeno and Gasper, and then help the others."
"Yes."
With Ravel's help, Rias made her way to the unconscious Leonardo and began tying him up. They still had work to do after this.
~Devil Ninja~
The destruction caused by Issei and Cao Cao had reached a climax. Explosions rocked the artificial space, creating flames and bursts of wind that knocked the two back every time they clashed.
"DRAGON BLASTER!"
The cannons on Issei's shoulders glowed with a bright light before an incredible power exploded forth, shooting at Cao Cao, who gritted his teeth and released a battle cry as he swung the True Longinus. True Longinus and incredible blast of demonic energy fought against each other. Cao Cao struggled as he slid backwards, the overwhelming might of the dragon blaster forcing his muscles to strain and the veins on his arms and neck to bulge.
"HHHHAAAAAAAAAA!"
Issei was surprised Cao Cao didn't use Atsusa Ratana to teleport or Mala Ratana to reflected his attack, but he had learned there were limitations to how often this man could use his Balance Breaker's special abilities. The man had probably reached the limit of his powers awhile ago and no longer had the strength needed to use them. It could also be that he was saving his abilities as a trump card.
Either way, Cao Cao still managed to slice through Issei's Dragon Blaster. The massive attack split in half and struck the ground a couple hundred meters out. A brilliant and blinding light went up as a noise so loud it caused Issei's eardrums to burst echoed across the battlefield. When the light vanished, the area behind Cao Cao was gone, having been annihilated by Issei's attack.
"I still can't get over how powerful you've become," Cao Cao said as he impaled his spear into the ground and leaned against it, his shoulders heaving as sweat dripped from his forehead. "You know, I really did believe that Vali was the only person I had to look out for, and then you came along. It really threw me for a loop."
"Tch! Aren't you forgetting about Naruto-sensei?" asked Issei.
"I haven't forgotten about Naruto, but that freak is abnormal." Cao Cao scowled as though he had tasted something incredibly unpleasant. "You at least have power that is within the boundaries of human comprehension. Naruto is like Ophis or Great Red… completely inexplicable. Of course, his power isn't what it once was, is it?"
"You know about, then? About the other Naruto?"
"If you mean Yami, then I only found out recently." A conflicted expression crossed Cao Cao's face. "I'm honestly not sure what to think. Knowing that one of the people responsible for the Khaos Brigade is the dark half of the man I fought in Kyoto doesn't make me feel very good, but I've already made my bed by this point, so I've no choice but to lie in it."
Issei flexed his hands as he listened to Cao Cao talk. He had stopped fighting because he was honestly getting tired and needed to recover, but he was also certain Cao Cao was in the same boat. If things kept up as they were, then victory wouldn't be decided by superior skills or power, but by luck.
Naruto-sensei had once told him that luck was an important factor in battle, something that many people underestimated. In a battle between two people who were about equal, the one who made a mistake first, the one who tripped up first, would be the loser.
He and Cao Cao seemed about equal right now. Their battle had been going on for some time and neither of them had landed a decisive blow. This fight would probably also come down to who made the first mistake. These thoughts and more flitted through his head when the artificial world they were fighting in suddenly vanished, reverting back to the gray walls of the Hero Faction's main base.
"What the-?!" Issei looked around.
"Looks like they found Georg," Cao Cao said with a grimace. "I had been hoping we could fight a little more before it happened, but I guess everyone else has already lost."
"Really? Wait. Now that you mention it…"
Issei finally noticed that his and Cao Cao's battle was the only one still going on. All the other battles had stopped. Sona and her peerage had beaten Perseus and Marsilio unconscious, Seigfried was nowhere to be found, and both Jeanne and Leonardo were unconscious and tied up. All of them were being guarded by members of the Sitri and Gremory peerages. Meanwhile, Rias Gremory was walking toward him and Cao Cao. Being dragged behind her was an unconscious Georg.
"It looks like this is the end of the battle for you, Cao Cao," Rias said. "Surrender now. I'd hate to have to kill you and your group."
"It looks like I don't have much of a choice." Cao Cao dropped his True Longinus on the ground and raised his hands. "I give up."
With Cao Cao's surrender, the battle concluded quickly. Le Fay Pendragon had discovered where Vali and his group were being kept and unsealed the prison for them. They ended up joining with Rias and the others. As Issei was tying up Cao Cao and confiscating his spear, Vali had walked up to him.
"I didn't expect to see you here, Hyoudo." Vali smirked.
"The last thing I wanted was to rescue the guy who stalks me obsessively," Issei grumbled.
"That's a good one," Vali laughed as if Issei had just said a funny joke. Issei wished he could grumble some more. "Since I owe for helping us out, I guess I can do you this one favor and not fight you right now. It looks like you've been in a tough battle already anyway." He glanced at Cao Cao, now bound by Vitra's line. "I really wanted to fight this douchewad, but he ambushed me with those Norse gods. I was so surprised I got knocked out before I could escape."
"That so…"
Issei honestly didn't really care about what Vali was telling him. He only listened because everyone else was busy.
After Team Vali was rescued and the Hero Faction members were secured, Rias decided they should head top side and stop the battle happening outside of the base. Her belief was that everyone would stop fighting when they saw their leaders in custody.
However, as they were going outside, Cao Cao began speaking with Rias.
"I heard Ophis has gone missing."
Rias stopped walking, forcing everyone to stop with her. They were on the fourth basement floor right now, in the stairwell. No one knew where Naruto and the others were, whether they were still fighting the Norse gods or had completed their goal and were waiting for everyone outside, but that hardly mattered. Rias turned to Cao Cao with a hard look in her eyes.
"You know something, I take it?" she asked.
"Of course I do." Cao Cao gave Rias an infuriating smirk. "She's currently receiving the hospitality of Rizevim Lucifer-Vali's grandpa. He's planning to use Samael to absorb all of Ophis's power and give it to that little doll he created. Of course, Rizevim also wants Vali and Issei to try and rescue her so he can inject them with Samael's poison."
"But I thought Samael was supposed to be sealed away in the deepest part of the Underworld," Rias defended. "He should be in Cocytus!"
"Hades summoned him from the underworld and temporarily gave it to Rizevim as a symbol of their alliance." Cao Cao shrugged. "Originally, Hades was going to give Samael to me, but Rizevim intervened and somehow convinced Hades to give him Samael instead."
"What is a Samael?" asked Issei.
"Samael is a Dragon/Fallen Angel hybrid being known as the Dragon Eater," Irina answered, her brow furrowed in worry. "According to scripture, Samael was the perpetrator that influenced Adam and Eve, the first humans, into eating the Fruit of Knowledge. As a result, he was cursed by God. This event is actually what caused God to hate Dragons and snakes so much. Anyway, after being cursed, he was sealed in Cocytus and never released again… well, until now, I guess."
"Because of Samael's incredible hatred for Dragons, he has a powerful curse that is extremely deadly to both Dragons and Dragon possessors alike," Xenovia added. "I hear it can also affect snakes and snake-related beings."
This was all new information to Issei and a few of the others, but Rias seemed to know about Samael and his incredible abilities. She didn't look surprised. Neither did Ravel. He supposed as pureblood Devils, they probably knew more about Samael and his curse than anyone else there.
"While Samael's curse is strong, it's not a guarantee that he can absorb Ophis's power," Rias said.
"No, he can," Cao Cao corrected her. "We already have evidence that Samael can absorb Ophis's power. We wouldn't have asked Hades do undo the seal and give Samael to us if we weren't one hundred percent positive that it would work."
"There's always a chance it could still fail," Rias countered.
"There is, but the chance of it succeeding are greater."
Rias frowned at Cao Cao as if she couldn't tell whether or not he was lying, but even if he wasn't, it didn't change the fact that Rizevim somehow managed to kidnap Ophis.
Issei didn't know how such a thing was possible. Wasn't Ophis supposed to be a dragon god? She was the most powerful being in existence after Great Red, so the idea of an Ultimate-Class Devil like Rizevim being able to kidnap her seemed kind of ridiculous. At the same time, Cao Cao really didn't have any reason to lie right now. He wouldn't gain anything by it.
"Personally," Cao Cao continued, "I am hoping you manage to rescue Ophis and that little tagalong they kidnapped. My Hero Faction has been used as sacrificial pawns by those bastards. You guys are Devils and my enemy, but so are they."
"Then you are hoping we manage to mutually destroy each other?" asked Rias.
"Something like that," Cao Cao admitted.
Issei felt his hands clench at what this guy admitted, but he knew decking the douchenozzle in the face wouldn't do him any good. Cao Cao would probably take his anger as a personal victory.
"If Ophis really has been kidnapped, then we need to do everything in our power to save her," Vali said, sounding oddly compassionate. Issei wondered what that was about.
"That goes without saying," Rias informed him. "Ophis has been a guest at our house for a long time now. She is also one of Naruto's girlfriends. I'm not about to let some greedy bastard like Rizevim steal her powers." She turned to Cao Cao. "You mentioned something about a tagalong. What did you mean?"
"They kidnapped a little fox girl alongside Ophis," Cao Cao answered.
"He must be talking about Kunou," Ravel said. "She went missing at the same time as Ophis. It makes sense that they were both kidnapped. If Rizevim has been keeping Kunou prisoner, then she's likely being used as a leash to stop Ophis from outright destroying him."
"That's all the more reason we go and rescue them," Rias said. "Let's keep moving. It looks like we won't be able to rest after this operation, after all."
With Cao Cao, Georg, Jeanne, Leonardo, Perseus, and Marsilio in the middle and tied up, the group continued marching up the stairs. In the quiet atmosphere, Issei wondered if Naruto-sensei and his companions managed to defeat the Norse Gods.
~Devil Ninja~
Naruto thrust a palm at Tyr's face, but the man was quite adept at combat. He twisted his torso and bent his body at an angle, allowing the palm to pass by his head, then spun around on the balls of his feet and launched a reverse heel kick. While Naruto was able to bring up his arm in time to block, the strike reverberated through his entire body. It was a good hit. A solid hit that would have shaken even a high-class Devil.
"Hmm… I guess you really are a god," Naruto muttered.
He wasn't able to say anything more as Tyr thrust the spear in his hand at Naruto's chest, but Naruto slapped the weapon away with the open palm of his right hand, stepped forward, and tried to return the favor with a Rasengan to the chest. It was too bad Tyr was so blasted quick on his feet. Not only did he move back in time to avoid his attack, but he created a magic shield that blocked the attack from hitting him. Naruto shattered the shield, of course, but Tyr was already out of reach by then.
If only I didn't have to worry about silly issues like keeping them alive…
If they were just enemies, Naruto would have already hit these gods with a Rasenshuriken to the face, but since they were being controlled, he didn't want to injure them too badly, which left hand to hand combat and minor ninjutsu as his only option.
Several meters from where he stood, Koneko was launching toki-enhanced fists at Sif. Every time Koneko threw a punch, it would be met with either an axe or a hammer. Miniature shock waves reverberated from the clashing of fist and weapon.
The two seemed pretty evenly matched-at least in terms of strength. In terms of physical appearance, they couldn't have been more mismatched. Koneko was a tiny slip of a girl, while Sif was a busty woman with incredible muscles and thighs that could crush a man's head like it was a grape.
Koneko took a step back after their latest clash, then took two steps forward, raised her left leg, and planted a powerful kick on Sif's hammer. BOOM! The force behind the attack caused an explosive noise to echo around them, but Sif didn't budge even a centimeter. In fact, the woman merely used the moment from the kick to spin around and swing her ax at Koneko, who used her small body to her advantage and dodged the attack.
Naruto turned his attention back to Tyr as the man came at him with several quick jabs of his spear. He wove around the attacks, bobbing in and out of range like a professional boxer. Watching and waiting for a moment, Naruto soon took a step forward, then replaced himself with a log. Tyr's spear impaled the log, which remained stuck there. As Tyr tried to shake the log off his weapon, Naruto manipulated his fingers to form a hand seal.
Several strands of ninja wire suddenly exploded out from a seal tag that had been placed on the log, wrapping around Tyr and the log. Ninja wire wouldn't do much against a god. However, Naruto used the single second the man was bound to kick him in the back. There was a loud crunching sound as the attack hit, sending Tyr flying forward.
Because he was still bound, Tyr slammed face first into the ground. Sadly, this man was still a god. He exerted his strength and snapped the wires like they were plastic. Standing to his feet, he pulled his spear back like an Olympian doing the javelin toss. A magic circle appeared in front of him. When he threw the spear, the magic circle increased the speed and caused it to catch fire.
"That's a pretty neat trick!"
"Now isn't the time to be impressed!"
Naruto didn't dodge the attack, but that was because he didn't need to since Koneko had nearly maneuvered Sif into Tyr's line of fire. Of course, Sif had no intention of letting herself just be struck down. She smacked the spear away with her hammer. However, doing so distracted her for a split second.
A split second was all Koneko needed.
Ducking low, Koneko raced in toward Sif, and threw out a fist covered in Toki. The white glow surrounding her fist was chaotic like a powerful flame. Koneko struck Sif in the side, the sound echoing around them like an explosion or crackling thunder. Sif was blasted off her feet and sent flying.
As Koneko launched herself after the flying Sif, Naruto used the distraction to close the distance between him and Tyr.
His next attack was a powerful spinning kick to the face. Tyr spun around as Naruto's foot struck him, but he moved with his spin into a powerful backhand that hit Naruto-only for the Naruto in front of him to disappear in a puff of smoke, revealing it to have been a clone. The real Naruto appeared behind Tyr and struck the man in the back with a rasengan.
It was a low-powered rasengan-at least compared to the ones Naruto used with the intent to kill-but it was still powerful enough that Tyr's back arched seconds before he was launched forward like a bullet. He struck the ground several meters away, bounced once, and then slammed into the wall of the lab-a wall that crumbled completely from the attack.
Naruto wondered if this was enough to do his opponent in, but of course things wouldn't be that easy.
Sighing as a spear shot through the dust cloud, Naruto leapt out of the way, watched as the spear curved around and went back to the way it came, and grumbled when a man walked out of the dust and caught it. He knew it had been foolish to hope his opponent would be defeated that easily. However, fighting without being able to go all out was annoying.
"All right. Fine," Naruto grumbled. "Time to take this up a notch. Koneko!"
"I'm here!" Koneko appeared beside him like magic and adopted a fighting stance. "What's the plan?"
"We're going to combine," Naruto stated.
"Excuse me?"
"Combine? You know, like that Dragon Ball Z fusion stuff."
"What the fuck have you been smoking? We can't do that."
"We'll never know unless we try."
As the two bantered, Tyr and Sif rejoined each other and stared at the pair without blinking. Even though they were being controlled, it seemed they still had some sense of tactics, or they would have attacked without hesitation.
The two eventually appeared to grow impatient by Naruto and Koneko's lack of action, so they launched themselves forward and attacked while the two seemed distracted. It was a trap, of course. However, it only became obvious after Naruto and Koneko dodged Sif's attack and went after Tyr.
"DOUBLE LARIAT!"
Naruto used Shunshin to get behind Tyr, then he and Koneko raised their right arms, wrapped them around Tyr's chest and neck before swinging both legs forward and using the momentum to pull their opponent down. A successive boom resounded around them as the attack struck. It didn't decapitate their opponent like Kirabi's and A's Raiton: Daburu Rariatto, but Naruto and Koneko were using a highly powered down version of that attack.
Tyr was sent flying several meters into the air. He landed on his back with a harsh crack, his arms and legs twisted at an unusual angle. His eyes were open, but they were glazed over and staring at nothing.
As they took care of Tyr, Sif spun around and slammed her hammer into the ground, which exploded and sent dozens of rock fragments flying at the two. They avoided the fragments by splitting up. When they did, Sif chose to follow after Koneko, attacking her with a fierce double team from her ax and hammer.
Yet no matter how fierce and swift her attacks were, Koneko was rock steady as she defended against each other. A blow to the head was blocked with an arm. An attack to the chest was parried with a well-placed strike to the flat of the ax's blade. Furthermore, as she redirected the ax toward the floor, Koneko leapt over the woman and launched a kick to the back of Sif's head. This caused her opponent to stumble forward…
Right into Naruto's fist.
Sif's head snapped back as Naruto punched her in the face. As she stumbled back, Naruto grabbed her by the toga, pulled her forward, and then headbutted her hard enough that a loud cracking sound echoed around them. He let go of Sif after that. However, the woman had no time to dodge as Koneko dropped down from above. The nekousho's hands were clapsed together, high above her head, before she slammed them down on Sif's skull.
CRACK! SMASH!
The attack was powerful enough to drive Sif into the ground, the woman's legs giving out. A small crater formed underneath the woman. Naruto and Koneko looked down to see that, like Tyr, the goddess's eyes were still wide open. However, they were rolled in the back of her head. Naruto knelt before her and placed a hand over her mouth and nose to confirm that she was still breathing.
"She's alive and unconscious," he announced.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious. I couldn't tell from the way her eyes were rolled into the back of her head," Koneko muttered, rolling her eyes.
Naruto didn't let the sarcastic reply get to him. "Can you bring Tyr over here? I'm about to undo the seal on the Restraint Collar."
"Sure thing."
As Koneko left to grab Tyr by the leg and dragged him over, Naruto studied the blood seal, which was made from a complicated number of seals, on Sif's Restraint Collar. Several of them were fake seals. They had been designed to throw off whoever looked at them, making someone think they were important when they were likely a trap. Naruto imagined that Sif would probably die if he tried undoing those seals.
Getting some ink and a calligraphy brush out of a storage scroll, Naruto began carefully drawing the counter seal on a sheet of parchment. Each masterful stroke of his brush created the necessary kanji in the shape of a circle. There were about 120 kanji in total that he needed to use, and then link together with some squiggles. The squiggles weren't that important. The kanji was what mattered.
When he was done, he placed the scroll underneath Sif. He took a second to go over the seals in his mind. When he was ready, he slowly went through the necessary hand seals, causing his fingers to glow a light blue.
"Fuin: Kaunshiru (Sealing art: Counter Seal)!"
The seals on the scroll glowed a light blue as Naruto placed his hands on it. Then the seals on the collar also began glowing blue. The fake seals soon disappeared as if they were illusions, then the real sealing array was slowly sucked into the scroll. The seals used in the Restraint Collar found themselves sealed up inside of the circle, which was an Imprisonment Seal combined with a seal similar to his godfather's Fuka Hoin.
As he finished, Koneko dropped the still unconscious Tyr next to him, and Naruto removed the Restraint Collar from him as well.
"I see you've already finished saving Lord Tyr and lady Sif," Gondul said as she and Rossweisse walked up to him. She was carrying an unconscious Frigg in her arms. Unlike Koneko, who had basically dropped Tyr like a sack of bricks, she gently set the woman down. "Can I ask you to remove the Restraint Collar from Lady Frigg as well?"
"That is what we're here for," Naruto said.
He quickly removed the Restraint Collar from Frigg the same way he had for Tyr and Sif. Then he sealed all three of them inside of a transportation scroll. It normally wasn't a good idea to seal people in scrolls, but they were unconscious, so he figured they'd be okay.
"All right. Let's meet up with Rias and the others. I'm sure they are finished rescuing Team Vali by now," Naruto said.
No one had anything to say against his plan, so they all quickly vacated the lab and began making their way toward the stairs.
~Devil Ninja~
Everyone met up again outside of the base. Thanks to Cao Cao and the others being present, albeit tied up, they were able to release the barrier that had been set up around the base. It was apparently keyed into a device that Cao Cao had on hand. Once the barrier dropped, all of them people who had been fighting ceased.
Rias had made a statement to the members of the Hero Faction, about how Cao Cao and the other leaders had lost and were now their prisoners, and that if they continued fighting, she wouldn't hesitate to kill their leaders. It was a bluff. Naruto knew Rias wouldn't kill someone who had already surrendered, but a lot of people in the Hero Faction had been brainwashed to think Devils were inherently evil. They surrendered immediately after her announcement.
However, the situation was far from over.
The group returned home with Team Vali in tow. No one was quite sure what to do with them yet, but Vali himself said that he was going to be staying with them for the interminable future. At the very least, Naruto thought they should be present because of what their next goal was going to be.
Azazel, Sirzechs, Metatron, and Michael did not return home with Naruto and the others. They still had to sort out what they should do with Cao Cao and his group. Rias had decided it was okay to leave the matter of what to do with the Hero Faction up to the Three Faction Alliance leaders. Naruto agreed. Their job was already done, so there was no need to do more.
It was late at night, the group had finished eating a dinner-it was more like a feast because there had been so many people present-and the entire group, including the Sitri Peerage and Team Vali, had joined everyone on the couch for some late night television.
Of course, this had led to an argument erupting between Rias and Sona.
"I'm sorry, but I think I must have heard you wrong," Rias said with a bright smile.
"Oh, no. You didn't hear anything incorrectly." Sona pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I believe my statement was perfectly clear."
"We are not watching Discovery Japan."
"Discovery Japan is a lot more educational than your silly Japanese cartoons."
"They aren't cartoons!"
Rias and Sona were glaring daggers at each other, to the point where it looked like sparks might start flying if something wasn't done soon.
Standing with her hands on her hips, Rias had thrust out her superlative breasticles, which bounced like a pair of beach balls as they were barely constrained by the confines of her shirt. On the other hand, Sona was quite flat. She didn't have much in the way of a chest. However, her imposing demeanor and those glasses lent her a foreboding and intimidating heir that Rias simply lacked.
Everyone could feel the tension in the air, but no one was sure how to quell that tension. They also didn't want to get involved. Who knew what would happen if they intervened.
"Hmph! It seems we cannot resolve this through simple words alone," Sona proclaimed.
"Oh, yes we can. This is my house, so it's my rules," Rias argued.
"Actually, this is my house," Naruto mumbled. "Not that anyone is going to listen to me."
"I'm listening to you, Lord Naruto."
"I'm listening, Naruto-sama."
Ravel and Le Fey spoke at the same time, then turned to look at each other. They warily regarded the other person. It was like they expected their fellow blonde to attack them. During the course of their staring contest, Le Fey suddenly made the mistake of looking at Ravel's chest. The moment she saw those pneumatic knockers, she reared back as though she'd been struck, then curled up into a ball.
"How are they so big?" she mumbled.
"W-what? What's big?" asked a confused Ravel.
"She means your tits, Fried Chicken," Koneko mumbled, staring enviously at the large breasts Ravel was sporting. "They truly are obnoxious, those disgusting blobs of fat."
"Don't call them disgusting!" Ravel shouted, covering her chest with her hands.
As Koneko began teasing Ravel about her "disgusting blobs of fat", Naruto tuned the girls out and looked at the others. Issei was sitting on one couch with Asia, Raynare, Akeno, Xenovia, and Gondul-who had inexplicably joined them for some reason. Koneko, Ravel, Le Fay, Rossweisse, and Irina were sitting on Naruto's couch. He wouldn't say it was uncomfortable. In fact, he was quite comfortable. However, there were a lot of people being squeezed onto these two couches.
Team Vali and Sona's Peerage were also present. Vali, Kuroka, Arthur, Biko, and even Fenrir had spread themselves out across the room. Vali was actually sitting beside the frightened out of his wits Gasper. The poor kid looked like he was going to faint. On the other hand, Kiba and Fenrir were eying each other. The Sitri Peerage had spread themselves out among the two groups.
"So… how about we ignore those two-" Naruto pointed at the still arguing Rias and Sona "-and choose something to watch ourselves?"
"I want to watch the Church Channel!" Irina voted.
"Oh, that sounds like it would be lovely," said Asia.
"I agree," Xenovia added, clenching her hands into fists. "Even though I have become estranged from the Church, and even though I am no longer human, I would still like to worship God."
"The rest of us would like to not have a headache, thank you," Koneko stopped arguing with Ravel long enough to reply.
"I want to watch MMA," Vali said. "If we have to watch something, we should watch some good old fashioned violence."
"Lame," Issei replied. "If we're going to watch a TV series, then it should be something cool like Dragon Fighters the X."
"Hmph! We should just watch porn," Raynare snorted.
"Ara, ara." Akeno placed her hands on her cheeks. "For once, I think the disgusting Fallen Angel has a good idea."
"Don't call me disgusting when you're a Fallen Angel too!"
Naruto's words sparked another debate among everyone present, which soon devolved into a massive pillow fight. He wasn't sure who threw the first pillow. It might have been one of them, but it could have also been Rias or Sona. No one knew. What he did know was that the entire living room soon became a massive warzone.
Since it looked like no one was going to watch anything and just fight, Naruto used that moment to slip outside all ninja-like, heading down a short hallway before stepping onto the walkway between two gardens. This walkway could second as a porch. Naruto sat down with his legs hanging over the edge, feet firmly planted on the grass, and looked up at the stars. Finally, like this, his mind was able to settle-and it settled on one thought.
Kunou and Ophis had been kidnapped.
He knew the others were aware of this since Cao Cao had told them, but unlike the rest of his friends, he could not pretend everything was okay. Ophis was powerful. She was hailed as one of the strongest beings in existence, and even Kurama said a fight between them would come down to luck. However, Kunou was just a little girl. She was only 12 years old, and now she was in the hands of a sadistic freak like Rizevim.
Ophis was probably okay. They couldn't do anything to her. Kunou was not the same, though. Even if Rizevim didn't harm her, the mental damage and stress she must have been going through was bad enough.
He wanted to rescue them right now.
"There you are," a voice said to his left.
Naruto turned to look at Le Fay as she walked up and sat down beside him. Because of how elevated the walkway was, her feet did not quite reach the ground. Her cute little toes scraped against the grass as she swung her feet back and forth. She placed her hands on her lap as she stared at him.
"Did you need something?" asked Naruto.
"Not really. Well, sort of." Le Fay gave him an uncertain smile as a small blush spread across her pale cheeks. "I mostly came out here because I was worried when I noticed you slipping away. I wanted to make sure you were okay."
Naruto felt the tension in his shoulders ease at her words.
"I'm fine. I am just worried about Ophis and Kunou."
"I thought so. You're a really caring guy. You even helped rescue my brother and Vali."
"I just did what anyone else would have done." Naruto shrugged her words off. He was too embarrassed to take them to heart. "Anyway, there was something else, wasn't there? I have a feeling you didn't just come looking for me because of that."
"Well… you're not wrong. It's just hard to say…"
"It's okay. I don't mind waiting."
"Thank you."
A gentle silence grew between the two. Naruto found himself admiring Le Fay.
They hadn't gotten to see much of each other after he left the base where Team Vali had been staying, so this was his first chance to really see her.
Le Fay's blonde hair looked faintly luminescent. Bathed in the gentle glow of the moon, her pearly white skin possessed an effervescent sheen that made her seem somewhat ethereal. She was still wearing her witch clothing, which covered her body, but Naruto knew that she had a very cute figure. With her witches hat not sitting on her head like normal, her cute features were clear for him to admire.
"C-can you please not stare at me like that? It's embarrassing," Le Fay suddenly said.
"Sorry." Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head. "I was just stunned by how cute you are."
"C-cute he says." Le Fey released an oddly elegant sigh, then leaned back on her hands. She paused for a moment, then changed the subject. "I'm not sure if you're aware of how magic works in this world. Demonic power requires the power of imagination and the power to create. If you can imagine it, you can make it. However, I am a magician. A human who uses magic, which involves the knowledge to control equations by making calculations within my head. There is a distinct limitation to magic that Devils do not have."
Naruto actually didn't know much about magic. It sounded a lot more complicated than demonic spells and ninjutsu. Seriously. All he had to do was make some hand seals and his jutsu somehow worked. Sometimes he didn't even need hand seals like when he made a Rasengan.
"A-anway," Le Fey coughed into her hand, "I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to form a pact with me?"
"A pact?" Naruto tilted his head. "What's that?"
"It's… well, it's when a Magician makes a pact with a Devil." Le Fey bit her lip for a second before nodding several times and beginning an explanation. "There are a lot of reasons for a Magician to make a pact with a Devil. The first and most obvious is for protection. If the Magician ever finds herself in trouble, then having a powerful Devil behind their back will allow them to have the upper hand over their opponent. We also make pacts to attain information and knowledge of Devil techniques and magic. Of course, another great reason is for status. Great fortune and success are granted to Magicians who make a pact with a powerful Devil."
"Oh, that makes a lot of sense." Naruto nodded.
"Right. So… um…"
Le Fey seemed unable to ask the question that was burning in her heart, so Naruto decided to answer before she could ask it.
"Of course I'll make a pact with you." Naruto gave her the foxiest of foxy grins. "Why wouldn't I make a pact with such a cute girl?"
"T-there you go calling me cute again."
"I only call you that because it's true."
Le Fey reached up and twirled her hair between her fingers. "Do you really think I'm cute?"
"Obviously. I'm pretty sure I've said it multiple times."
"Tee-hee. I guess you did."
After she got Naruto to agree to form a pact with her, Le Fey relaxed and went back to being her normal, bubbly self. Naruto, on the other hand, though appearing relaxed and smiling as he spoke with Le Fey, still felt an obnoxious squirming in his gut.
He had a terrible feeling that he wouldn't be sleeping well that night.
~Devil Ninja~
Everyone slept in until later in the afternoon. The battle against the Hero Faction and Norse gods had taken its toll on everyone. Even Naruto didn't want to get out of bed when he woke up that morning and ended up dozing off again for several more hours.
When everyone finally did wake up and trudge their way down to the kitchen, it was to discover several people who were not only awake, but didn't actually live in their house, lounging around.
The members of Team Vali were sitting around in the kitchen. Vali, Kuroka, Biko, and Le Fey Pendragon were sitting at the table with Sirzechs, Metatron, Michael, and Azazel. Sirzechs and Azazel were drinking a cup of coffee while Metatron and Michael had tea in front of them. It didn't look like anyone was talking. In fact, Naruto thought he felt a distinctly nervous tension running through the two groups.
After studying the group sitting at the table, Naruto shifted his gaze to Arthur Pendragon, Le Fey's older brother and a man whose prowess with a blade made him one of the most fierce opponents a person could ask for.
Naruto snorted.
Arthur was cooking breakfast-eggs and bacon it looked like-in a frilly pink apron.
"Don't you start laughing at me!" Arthur snapped. "This was the only apron you people had!"
"I didn't say anything." Snort. Giggle. "But now that you mention it, you do look awfully comfortable wearing that. I guess you must have experience."
"He's a man of great taste and frills," Koneko added.
"T-that's my apron," Ravel complained, her face pale and her eyes wide.
"Oh, can it! All of you!" Arthur snapped as he continued to cook. He was scrambling the eggs and adding bacon bits, celery, and red peppers to his food. "Just sit your asses down and wait patiently for the food!"
"Okay. Okay." Naruto chuckled as he walked over to the table. "Homebody."
"I HEARD THAT!"
"Stop teasing the poor homebody," Rias said as she sat down next to her brother.
"Sorry. I couldn't help myself," Naruto replied as he sat between Koneko and Ravel.
"You two…" Arthur clenched his teeth as he stirred his food with much more vigor than before.
"I'm glad to see all of you are doing well," Sirzechs said after everyone settled down. "How are you feeling?"
"Impatient," Naruto admitted.
"For the food?" asked Azazel.
"If that was a joke, it was a poor one," Naruto replied.
"Sorry." Azazel hid his grin behind the steaming cup of coffee. "I know what you want to know. We'll tell everyone once you're all awake. Just be patient until then."
Naruto sighed, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice. Koneko, who sat on his left, reached over and patted him on the leg, as if to reassure him, though he didn't know what she was trying to reassure him about.
Arthur soon finished the first batch of eggs. As he set the food into a large bowl, then set the bowl on the table, the members of Tem Vali began scooping up the food so quickly it was almost like they were afraid it would disappear. Naruto wondered if the eggs were really that good. Maybe Arthur was a true egg connoisseur?
He waited until Kuroka, Vali, Biko, and Le Fey had gotten their fill, then scooped some onto his, Koneko's, and Ravel's plate. Since the eggs were scrambled, he used a fork instead of the traditional chopsticks. Placing the fork into his mouth, he bit down on the eggs and… nothing. They weren't bad, but they weren't amazing either. The taste was of standard scrambled eggs that had been lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, had bacon bits, green onions, and red peppers tossed in… and that was it.
I feel disappointed…
"Were you expecting something amazing?"
"I was expecting these eggs to be so good my clothes exploded off my body as I orgasmed from deliciousness."
"Hmph."
Naruto ate the eggs with far less enthusiasm than the others. He felt like his actions were almost mechanical now. Scoop, insert fork into mouth, chew eggs, swallow. He could hardly even taste the food now, such was how destitute he felt.
"Why do you look so disappointed?" asked Arthur, eyes narrowed in irritation.
"No reason," Naruto said with a heavy sigh.
"Then don't sigh like all of your hopes and dreams were just crushed!"
It wasn't long before the others came into the room and sat down. Of course, now that Team Vali and the three leaders of the Three Factions Alliance plus Gondul were present, they didn't have enough room at the table for everyone to sit. Several people like Irina, Xenovia, and Asia chose to sit on the couch in the living room and eat. Sona Sitri and her peerage were also present. They sat in the living room as well.
After breakfast, everyone gathered in the living room. They left a large pile of plates in the kitchen sink, which would be cleaned later. There were more important things to do right now.
Azazel, Micheal, and Sirzechs were standing in front of the television as everyone sat down. Their expressions were quite something. Even though hey had successfully rescued Team Vali and dealt an incredible blow to the Hero Faction, they did not look pleased. In fact, they looked worried.
Naruto sat next to Rias and Rossweisse-who managed to snatch the spot from Ravel before the blonde Phenex heiress realized what was happening-and reached out to place his hand in Rias's. He wouldn't say he needed emotional support right now. However, the worry he felt toward Ophis and Kunou was not something he could just brush off. Rias must have recognized this. She squeezed his hand.
"First, we'd like to tell all of you about what happened to the Hero Faction." Azazel stepped forward and placed his hands on his hips. "The Hero Faction has officially been dissolved. The Hero Faction leaders, Cao Cao, Jeanne, Georg, and Leonardo are currently under the custody of Indra-King of the Hindu Gods and Lord of Heaven. From what I understand, Cao Cao, Jeanne, Georg, and Leonardo have had their Sacred Gears confiscated and were sent to the Realm of the Dead by Indra."
Naruto didn't know squat about Indra, but he honestly didn't really care who this guy was. The most important thing to know was that Cao Cao and his Hero Faction were no more.
"This is concerning information," Sirzechs said. "We have reason to believe that Indra has been supporting the Khao Brigade, though we have no clear evidence. However, we've long suspected that Indra was in league with the Khaos Brigade because he wants to have powerful pawns he can use to wage war against Shiva, the Hindu God of Destruction. He's ranked as one of the most powerful gods in the entire world. Indra doesn't come even close to comparing with him, which is why he would need powerful pawns to weaken Shiva."
Sirzechs paused to let this information sink in. Naruto looked at the others. Everyone seemed fairly concerned, but to Naruto, who really didn't care about these other gods or what happened to the Khaos Brigade, he just wished they would move on and get to the main point. He wanted to know what they planned on doing about Ophis and Kunou.
"The second bit of information is what Gondul has told us," Michael began. "The three Norse gods who were kidnapped and had Restraint Collars placed on them have been returned to the fold of gods. They woke up a the other day and are currently recuperating in Hokkaido. We have Naruto to thank for their safe return."
"On behalf of the Norse people, thank you, Naruto Uzumaki," Gondul said with a polite bow in his direction.
"Eheheh, you're welcome."
Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he accepted this woman's thanks. Even now, he still had trouble accepting the thanks of other people, even though he was perfectly content to brag about himself.
"Now for the main reason we've all come over." Sirzechs stepped forward again, his expression turning grave. "While we managed to deal with the Hero Faction and rescue Team Vali, there is still the matter of Ophis and Kunou. We learned from Cao Cao that they have been kidnapped by the Khaos Brigade's Old Satan Faction, which is being led by Rizevim Lucifer. According to Cao Cao, they plan on summoning Samael and using his powers against dragons to absorb Ophis's power and put it inside of the vessel known as Lilith."
"Isn't Lilith also the name given to the woman who birthed all Devils?" asked Sona. "What an overbearing naming sense. This Rizevim has no taste."
"Taste or not, it doesn't change the fact that we are in a dangerous situation," Michael said. "If Rizevim really does manage to absorb Ophis's power, then he'll have more than enough strength to fight off the entire Three Factions Alliance. We have to rescue her before that happens."
Naruto tightened his grip on Rias, who returned his gesture by holding his hand just as tightly.
"We have a strong reason to believe this is also a trap," Azazel said after a short pause. "Samael's powers are incredibly deadly to dragons. Not only does he have the ability to absorb Ophis's powers, but he can also poison people who have a dragon inside of them… like Issei and Vali. Because Cao Cao was able to tell us the location where the ritual will take place, there is a good chance Rizevim intentionally leaked this information so he could deal a decisive blow to our forces by getting rid of Issei and Vali before they become an even bigger threat."
Naruto looked at Issei. The young man appeared shocked. However, the women around him appeared even more concerned. Asia was obvious, of course. She was clinging to his arm like nobody's business, squeezing it so hard Naruto thought she might cut off the circulation. However, even Raynare was clenching her teeth and looked like she was just barely suppressing herself from saying something.
"This next mission we have for you is going to be even more dangerous than before," Michael said. "What's more, we won't be able to provide aid this time. The Magician Faction of the Khaos Brigade, known as Nilrem, is attacking the Yokai Faction in Kyoto. They are overwhelmed and have requested aid. We cannot afford to ignore them, especially since it looks like several Evil Dragons have been summoned to wipe them out."
"You guys will have to go to the location where the ritual is going to take place and rescue Ophis and Kunou on your own," Azazel said. "It's going to be dangerous. Are you guys up to the task?"
"Azazel, don't ask stupid questions," Naruto said. "Ophis and Kunou are my friends. There's no way in hell I'm going to let them remain in that psycho's hands any longer. Just tell us where the ritual is taking place."
Naruto understood that he was being somewhat abrasive. Of course, abrasiveness was part of his charm. It was almost like his character trait. Anyway, regardless of how anyone took his attitude right now, Naruto didn't care. Two of his friends were in danger, and he'd be damned if he let them remain in danger for any longer.
"Do all of you feel the same way?" asked Azazel.
"I'm surprised you have to ask," Vali said with a smirk. "Team Vali was already planning to rescue Ophis, regardless of whether you helped us or not."
The others quickly gave their affirmatives, stating that they were prepared to rescue Ophis no matter the cost. Azazel chuckled a little.
"All right then. Since you all seem so determined, we'll leave rescuing Ophis to you." Azazel paused. "The location where the ritual to summon Samael is going to take place is…"
~Devil Ninja~
Naruto wondered if there was a trope that stated all important conversations had to happen naked and in the bath.
He was in the bath and naked, with an equally naked Rias, Koneko, Ravel, and Rossweisse. Naruto had asked Irina if she wanted to join them, but she had merely smiled and told him she didn't think it was a good idea yet. The fact that she said "yet" at the end made him hopeful for the future.
"Are you sure this mission is a good idea?" Rias asked Naruto. "I don't want to bring up the fact that this is a trap again, but… I'm really worried this task might be a bit more than we can handle."
"It doesn't really matter if it's a good idea or not, does it?" Naruto asked in return. "Ophis might be fine if she was by herself, but Kunou was also kidnapped. Rizevim has effectively blocked her from being able to escape-and I don't think I need to tell you why we can't leave Kunou in his tender care."
"No, you don't."
While Naruto, Rias, and Rossweisse were sitting in the bath, Koneko and Ravel were splashing around in the deeper area. It looked like they were having a water fight. Naruto admired their bare breasts. It was such a contrast. Koneko with her flat chest and Ravel with her jiggly jugs.
"We're going up against the Old Satan Faction, right?" Rossweisse shivered a little despite being in the hot water. "That means we're going to have to fight Euclid and Rizevim. Both of them are very powerful on their own, but on top of their own formidable might, Euclid can summon Grendel to fight for him."
"I actually believe I can take on Euclid," Rias said with furrowed brows. "The problem we're going to have is Grendel and Rizevim. I don't know how we're going to deal with that, especially since we won't have help from my brother like this last mission."
"And I won't be able to fight Rizevim at all." Naruto sighed and looked at the ceiling. Steam wafted through the air, blocking his vision a little. He took in a deep breath, inhaling the warm scent of the water and women beside him. "I bet Yami is going to be with them. He wants to absorb the rest of my chakra so he can take my place. I'm not really looking forward to fighting him."
Yami was currently stronger than he was, which meant a battle with him was not advisable unless Naruto had an ace up his sleeve. Currently, the only ace he had was Kurama. However, while Kurama was indeed way more powerful than Yami, there was a limit to how much power they could bring out unless they used the Reverse Summoning Technique-which they could only use if someone was able to stall Yami long enough for him and Kurama to create the necessary hand seals. Sadly, no one else was strong enough to hold Yami off.
In short, they couldn't use it.
Koneko paddled over to them with Ravel and promptly sat herself on Naruto's lap. Naruto flinched, but it wasn't because he didn't like having the girl on his lap. Her naked butt was rubbing against his erection. In most circumstance, he would have shoved his throbbing meat stick in her tight ass, but he didn't really feel like having sex just then.
He was gonna give him blue balls.
"I think I have an idea about that," Koneko said. "You know how when you enter Sage Mode, you take on the world's hatred?"
"Yes," Naruto said.
"Well, with you, what's happening is that Yami takes on the world's hatred, which is what allows him to absorb your chakra," Koneko continued. "But what if you did something that countered the world's hatred? Something that brought joy instead of hatred? Maybe if you did that, you could reclaim the chakra that was stolen?"
Naruto frowned as Koneko grabbed his hands and placed them on her sides. He began rubbing her sides, which caused the girl to emit a faint purring sound, and thought about what she was telling him.
"It might work… but we'll probably want to run it by someone who can confirm this for us before we do anything," Rias said, looking pensive.
"Then why don't you just ask me? Nya."
As a sultry voice echoed around them, everyone turned to look at a dark-haired beauty with large breasts and a split cat tail lounging in the bath beside them. None of them knew when she had entered. From the amused look in her narrowed yellow eyes, she had been waiting for them to notice her for quite some time now.
"Kuroka." Koneko shifted. "What do you want?"
"I want to take a bath, so I came in. You people were so busy talking that you didn't even notice me." Kuroka stretched her arms, eyes locked on Naruto, as if waiting to see his reaction to the way her nipples peeked out from the water's surface. She became disappointed when he didn't even look at her. "Anyway, there is a way for you to reclaim that lost chakra Yami stole from you-at least, partially."
"How?" asked Naruto.
"It's very simple." Kuroka licked her lips. "By filling up your own soul with enough happiness to counteract the negative energy Yami has gotten from Sage Mode."
Rias narrowed her eyes. "I get the feeling there's a caveat to your statement."
"There is indeed." Kuroka's smile widened. "The quickest way to fill your soul with happiness is quite obviously to have sex… because sex makes everybody happy. So if you want to take back some of the chakra Yami stole, all five of you should fuck from dusk till dawn tonight. Don't worry," she added with a lecherous grin, "your onee-sama here will help the five of you with this. After all, I am an expert when it comes to both sex and Sage Mode."