Naruto had most definitely not been expecting what he found on the other side of the door.
He'd been expecting some kind of dark, dingy dungeon, full of dangerous Grimm and ruined cadavers.
This was most definitely not that. In fact, this was considerably opposite his expectations entirely.
"A… bedroom?"
Specifically, a bedroom that would seem lavish to even Schnee standards. An immense four-poster bed lay in one corner, red silk draped over it and the softest-looking bedding Naruto had ever laid his eyes on deliberately laid haphazardly across the surface. An elegant mahogany vanity lay nearby, seeming to have been used rather recently.
The room also seemed to be merged with a large, ornate pool and a stunningly luxurious bathroom as well, though devoid of any walls, including a shower full of steam, yet only one glass panel separating it from the rest of the chamber.
Speaking of which, Naruto could just about make out a figure inside the shower, gently humming a tune over the sound of running water.
"What the…" He looked to his side, seeing Blake and Ilia staring in wide-eyed amazement, both their gazes directed at the figure in the shower.
"Hello?" He threw out, hand reaching for the back of his head slowly.
The figure seemed momentarily startled, even as distorted as they were by the steam. Naruto had a wide variety of thoughts running through his head, and one of the many was his surprise that there even was hot water down here. He couldn't even fathom at how that was possible, unless it was a joint Water Dust/Fire Dust mechanism. Or magic, that was also a distinct possibility.
A voice startled him out of his inner musings. "Oh, visitors? What a surprise!"
The voice was distinctively female, and it was practically crooning. Naruto also realised that the figure was distinctively female too, when it, or rather, she, stepped out from behind the steam-coated glass, devoid of any clothing.
Naruto quickly tried to avert his gaze, but his sense of propriety was waging war with his sense of danger. They were in the twentieth floor of the Hallowed Bay, there was no possible way this would be so easy.
Unless they were here to rescue this woman?
"Please, I would love to know the names of the dashing, intrepid adventurers that would delve so deep as to reach me," The woman spoke, and it was clear there was an element of seduction in her voice. The longing was as clear as day, thick enough that Naruto could've bitten down and chewed on it.
The woman took a step closer, and Naruto had to keep his gaze focused on her, if only for security reasons. Blake and Ilia seemed far less concerned with propriety, unabashedly staring at her.
Black tattoos ran up and down her body, intricate woven lines sketched out, mapped out almost like a curved maze, from the beginning of her toes all the way up, curving in and out past the thighs and up under her breasts, running up to her neck and all the way down her arms, until they ended on the tips of her middle fingers.
Eyes the color of stunning red gems stared at Naruto, Blake and Ilia, diverting to look at them individually, scanning them up and down. "Won't you tell me your names?"
"I'm Blake," Blake said quickly, almost nervously.
"Ilia," Ilia said alongside her, equally nervous. Naruto was a bundle of nerves, too, but he was starting to suspect it wasn't for the same reason.
Even if this was technically the closest proximity he'd ever had to a naked woman. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."
The woman's eyes widened slightly, but whatever reason she'd had for that seemed to pass in but an instant. "I see. What strong, beautiful names. I am Seiren. It is a true pleasure to meet you."
Her voice was low, seductive and powerful, and she was getting closer, close enough that Naruto tensed. She noticed, how could she not, but she did not halt, instead holding up one hand. "Do not feel threatened, Naruto Uzumaki. I am, clearly, unarmed."
There was a smirk on her face as she said it, but Naruto did not laugh at the joke, though his response was no less witty. "It's not you, it's me."
The woman, Seiren, seemed to find that funny, her giggling like gentle chimes. "You are remarkably quick-witted, Naruto Uzumaki. I like that."
Her attention strayed away from the blond and over to Ilia, one hand gently straying to push a strand of brown hair out of her face, tucking it back behind an ear. "And you, Ilia, what a beautiful name.
The hand trailed back across the cheek, until it lightly left Ilia's chin, the chameleon faunus finding herself leaning into it gently. "You seem stressed, my dear. Please, relax. I mean no harm."
Naruto knew he'd lost control of the situation the moment he'd walked in, but he wasn't going to give in so easily. "Who are you really, why are you here?"
Seiren ignored his questions, though she did look at him, responding with a slight smirk. "I should ask you those questions as well. You did catch me by surprise."
She walked past Naruto, letting one hand nearly trail against his chest, but he took a slight half-step back to prevent it from doing so. She didn't seem concerned by that, though, her attention already focused on Blake.
"Blake, another stunning name, and a stunning figure to go with it. You could do with some relaxation as well, my beautiful, that complexion cannot maintain itself."
Seiren's hand came to rest on Blake's shoulder, before running down to her hip.
Naruto knew something was off the moment Blake didn't reject the contact, instead leaning into it, and seeming disappointed the moment the physical connection was broken.
"What have you done to them?" He asked, unsheathing Crocea Mors, holding the blade at the ready.
Seiren shook her head. "I haven't done anything to them, handsome. Everything they're experiencing is of their own accord."
She snapped her fingers, and both Blake and Ilia crept forwards, both headed towards the bed. "If you wish, my darling, you may join them as well, but I feel like you have your intentions set towards another target."
There were so many things wrong with that sentence that Naruto decided it would be best if he started treating this woman as a hostile target. "Let them go. Whatever you've done to them, stop it. If you don't, I'll treat you as my enemy."
There was a slight frown on Seiren's face. "You surprise me, Naruto Uzumaki. I would have thought you would have been the easiest to convince that I was only giving them the space to do as they truly wished. You are being remarkably close-minded. Who is to say two women cannot love each other?"
Naruto leveled the end of Crocea Mors at the nude woman, his frown deepening. "Don't try to bullshit me here. You haven't given me a straight answer on anything yet."
In the corner of his vision Naruto watched as Blake's lips locked with Ilia's, the two falling onto the rich red silk and velvet covers.
A single pale finger came to rest on the side of his blade, pushing it gently to the side. "You can feel it too, can't you… your resistance is impressive, but you will succumb to your inner desires. Your type always try to play the hero, but I can see what you really want, Naruto Uzumaki. Would you like me to give you what you truly wish for?" Her voice was low, more of a whisper than anything else, and Naruto nearly startled as he found it coming in his ear close. She'd moved without him noticing, her arms wrapped around his torso from behind, hands locking against his chest.
"There is nothing I want that you could give me," He tried to reason, finding himself unwilling to break free of her grasp.
"Nothing? Really, Naruto?"
Naruto's eyes widened, finding himself lost for words, all except one. "Ruby?"
Smaller arms were wrapped around him. He could feel Ruby in every detail, pressed against his back. Her voice was the same, her eyes those same bright silver. He could see her as clear as day as she twisted around him, now clutching tightly to his front, fingers interlaced just above his tailbone.
"No…" His voice came out more like a strangled gasp than anything else. He was struggling to even breath now, his entire body tensing up.
"No?" Ruby's voice asked, the words rolling from her lips with far more innocence than her appearance dictated.
The thing that looked and sounded exactly like Ruby stepped around him once more, and he felt larger hands wrap around his other side, coming to rest on his thighs. The voice was deeper, but undeniably familiar.
"Maybe you were just using her to get to me, then?" Yang asked, but it couldn't have really been Yang for the same reason it couldn't have been Ruby. "No, you're way too naive to do that, but…"
A second pair of hands wrapped around his shoulders. "Both of us, though…"
Ruby's voice, in harmony with Yang's, both saying things Naruto would never have expected, and all the while he was unable to break free of whatever it was that was holding his body hostage. The only thing he could do was think, his mind free even if his body wasn't.
"I'd really rather you just try and kill me…" Naruto groaned, every single muscle straining against whatever was holding them in place. "It'd be easier on both of us."
Seiren stepped forward from nothingness, placing one hand against his chest, fingers pointed downwards. Ruby and Yang, or their copies, which was Naruto's current theory, rotated around, each clutching to one side. "Naruto, please, give in. You know it's what you want. Or is there something more you desire?"
The woman closed her eyes, and Naruto thought hard about his current deepest desire.
She opened her eyes, a wide grin on her face, revealing rapidly sharpening teeth. "Ooh, you've got some bite, I see. Trying to make me believe that your deepest desire is my death? How… delicious. You've made your point, Naruto Uzumaki."
As suddenly as they'd appeared, Ruby and Yang disappeared, and Blake and Ilia immediately sprung up from the bedding, disheveled and eyes blank.
"Now, Blake, Ilia, if you would be so kind as to come here. I think you've enjoyed yourselves for long enough. It's truly a shame you couldn't get any further, that would have been a true delight to taste, but as it is, your friend here seems to be objecting to my treatment. Would you help him understand?"
Ilia and Blake approached him, and for a second Naruto was worried he was going to have a lot of explaining to do once he'd fed this woman the end of Crocea Mors.
For once he wasn't even joking, or making a euphemism. She'd gone for the throat, and he was going to do the same, just in a much more literal fashion. If only he could actually move his body!
Thankfully, or not, depending on situational perspective, Blake and Ilia did not reach out to grab him, instead stopping just in front of Seiren, eyes staring blankly without seeing. Seiren reached out, placing a hand on each of their foreheads, her own eyes glowing incredibly bright, leaving trails of red through the air as her tattoos pulsed with black energy.
Naruto had been struggling to break free of the control the entire time, but it was when both Blake and Ilia began screaming and writhing in what was clearly abject terror that really made him triple-down on his efforts.
And it was agony. Physical agony, of course, but mental agony as well. Something was in his head, holding his very nerves hostage, but if there was one thing Naruto was, it was stubborn.
[System Mind has activated, ridding you of any negative mental effects!]
He moved with blistering speed, the moment he could move he was swinging Crocea Mors in a wide Uzumaki, blade cleanly cutting through Seiren and leaving only a cloud of wafting black smoke.
Seiren's figure instead seemed to reappear only a few inches away, leaping backwards, and Naruto could see what had once been smooth skin now revealed coiled muscles, the woman landing against the nearby wall and sliding down it. "Well, you are packing a few surprises. The moment I met you I knew something about you was different, but to so easily break free of that control is… impressive."
Her tattoos flickered with energy once more, and Naruto quickly moved, grabbing both Blake and Ilia as they fell, no longer screaming, but definitely still in whatever trance it was that held them hostage.
"You value your friends quite highly. I've not seen many who would throw their lives away like you seem willing to. Not since the last Uzumaki I met, at least."
What? Naruto looked towards Seiren, pointing his sword at her. "What are you talking about?"
Seiren just smiled. "I may look the picture of perfect youth, but I'm older than you'd think. Much, much older. The first Uzumaki I ever met was a very long time ago. A beautiful specimen, delightfully sarcastic and very easy on the eyes. She mustered the ability to break free of my control on her own, unlike yourself, but it did take her much longer. I was able to enjoy her company for quite a while before she escaped it. And what a gift that company was. For a woman of such high standing, her desires were quite… feral."
Naruto decided he didn't want to know what Seiren meant by that, instead focusing elsewhere. "Who?"
Seiren took a step forward, her tattoos flickering once more, a thin red line running through the center of the black tattoos. "I suppose you'll have to ask me when I'm feeling a bit more… charitable. I'm going to break you down, Naruto, just like I did her, and when you're begging at my feet, maybe then we'll see about me answering your questions."
She shot forward, fingernails sharpening into claws, her hands swiping towards Naruto.
He ducked backwards, parrying a second slash with his own weapon, before slamming his fist into Seiren's bare stomach, Mana coating the entire limb as it impacted.
Seiren seemed unaffected by the punch, though, already latching both her arms onto Naruto''s own extended limb, tattoos flickering.
Naruto nearly vomited as he felt his strength get sapped, feeling weak at the knees, even as he broke off the contact with a weak slash, gaining some distance as he stumbled backwards.
Seiren, on the other hand, seemed even more revitalized. "Mmm…" She moaned, hands roaming her body. "You have such a delicious taste. Powerful. I wish I'd feasted on you before…"
Naruto could already feel his SP regenerating, bringing him back to near full strength. "Come on, then. I can do this all day."
Seiren smiled the most predatory grin he'd ever laid eyes on. "Many a man has promised me such, only to turn out to be… disappointments. I do hope you are the outlier."
Okay, poor choice of words. He was literally fighting what was pretty much every teenager's dream girl, except for the feasting on people part. That was more than he'd bargained for, and probably more than what a lot of people had expected.
He placed his sheath on his other arm, deploying the shield. He got it halfway extended before Seiren was on him again, claws slashing as he tried desperately to block or avoid the oncoming assault, each razor-sharp claw-fingernail gouging chunks of rock from whenever they missed. If it weren't for the sturdy construction of Crocea Mors he'd have been shredded by now. Not a particularly great way to go.
Despite his incessant desire to not be turned into mincemeat, which didn't seem to be coming true through whatever means that Seiren used, he did still have some options. Options like, for example, creating a Mana Shield between him and Seiren, using the momentary delay caused by her claw-hands shattering the Mana to Flash Step out of reach. It was only a moment's reprieve, though, she'd be on him again in just a moment.
He only needed a moment of space, though, trying what he was going to dub 'Plan A'.
He first Observed Seiren. Any information would be good, and he realized now that he definitely should have done this the moment he'd walked in. A rookie mistake on his part. He only hoped he wouldn't have to pay for it.
[Seiren, The Lustful]
[Level 85]
Okay, that didn't answer as many questions as Naruto had hoped. All he had was the name, which he'd already known, a title, which he definitely could've guessed, considering everything that had happened, and a level, which he hadn't known, but was just generally quite scary to see.
He was only Level 71, she was a full fourteen levels ahead of him!
Naruto ducked sideways, rolling and bringing his shield up to block an axe-kick that gave him far more of a view than he'd appreciated. He reached his hand out and cast Mindbend, step two of Plan A.
[Mindbend has failed! Mindbend cannot be used on Grimm or other non-sentient targets!]
Naruto swore under his breath as he withstood a crippling attack that nearly ripped his shield from his grasp. As Seiren's hand gripped his shield and pulled, Naruto found himself sailing over her head, landing with a surprisingly not-quite-as-painful-as-expected crash into the bed, pulling red silk down on top of him as the wooden supports gave way, letting the bedding hit the stone floor.
Seiren leaped up next to him, a grin on her face. "I always knew I'd break that bed one of these days. Not quite how I'd expected, but I'm certainly not complaining."
Naruto rolled off the side, standing up, still tied up in red fabric. He pushed the majority of it out of his face and off his arms, but it wasn't a pressing concern right now.
His blade wasn't helping him, Seiren could dodge it quite easily, but the same couldn't be said about bullets.
He sheathed Crocea Mors, though he kept the shield out, and one hand drew Predator. The handgun was slowly but surely becoming one of his most trusted pieces of equipment, for good reason. He snapped it up to aim and pulled the trigger, watching in abject horror as the round hit.
Seiren looked at her shoulder, the bullet having actually managed to crack the bone armor that had sprouted from her tattoos the moment Naruto had drawn his weapon. "Tsk tsk, Naruto. I like foreplay just as much as the next girl, but this is a little much."
Naruto fired again, but Seiren was already moving, flowing in and out of the path of Naruto's projectiles like nothing Naruto had seen before. He didn't even have time to elaborate on his hastily constructed Plan B before she reached him again, pushing his shield aside and tackling him.
He landed in a slide, grunting as Seiren's weight landed atop his chest. She bent down low, running a tongue along his neck. "Mmm…"
He went to throw her off, but her other hand landed on his neck, his Aura straining underneath her impossibly sharp nails.
"It's your first time, so I'll be gentle, but if you struggle…" She let the rest of the threat hang, her other hand creeping lower and lower on his body.
He resisted anyway, grabbing at her wrist and trying to pull it away from his throat, but it was slow going. Her other hand barely even stalled, reaching under his shirt and sitting comfortably on his navel, and he could feel his stamina being sapped, his strength leaving his body in slow throbs.
She was even draining his Mana, which was a cause for concern. It had been the first to go, and she seemed to already be healing from the combined influx of SP, MP and AP, the crack in her bone plating mending, before the entire bit of Grimmbone receded back inside her tattoos. She leaned down. "You taste so good~" She whispered in his ear, before leaning back up, back arching.
The moment she did, he bucked his hips, quickly turning to the side. She seemed caught off guard but not displeased as she toppled to the side, and Naruto scrambled backwards, firing a quick shot with Predator just to dissuade her from approaching rapidly, as he took any moment he could to regenerate any amount of his meters.
The bullet seemed to actually catch her by surprise, and she was unable to create the armor plating in time, instead taking the round to the collarbone and moaning under her breath.
"Stupid sadomasochist," Naruto grumbled, Flashstepping backwards the moment he could, throwing a Mana Grenade out more as a distraction than anything else.
He spared a gaze to Blake and Ilia, who were still entranced, laid out on the floor where he'd left them, eyes as blank and unseeing as before. He was worried about them, significantly so, but there was nothing he could do right now, seeing as he was a little busy preventing himself from being eviscerated by a sexy Grimm woman thing.
Speaking of which.
Mana Field proved to be a mild inconvenience at best, which was just great, but at least she hadn't managed to drain him of any more of whatever meters he could actually manage to regenerate. She hadn't given up on trying, though, which was a little frustrating. This would have been over already if Seiren had just let Naruto kill her. That would've been much easier.
As it was, Naruto was starting to run out of ideas. Seiren had practically shrugged off or plain avoided anything he'd thrown her way, and it hadn't delayed her even slightly.
He rolled backwards, claws cutting through the air just where he'd been, and he maintained his momentum with a slide, bare hand brushing against the floor as he activated Terrakinesis, spikes of stone bursting from the ground.
It pinned Seiren for only a moment, but it was enough for Naruto to hit her in the chest with the point of Crocea Mors, using his own body as leverage to push it in deep, puncturing through the bone and cutting through the flesh underneath.
This seemed to actually cause real pain, and he could see that Seiren disliked it severely, arms breaking free of the improvised stone prison, and he blocked the retaliatory slash, expecting the next few to arrive in mere moments.
When they didn't, he peered over the top of his shield, staring at his opponent.
She placed a hand against the wound on her chest, black ichor pouring free. One finger brushed against the liquid, and she brought it up to her mouth, tongue running against it. Her eyes flicked up to stare at Naruto. "You're no longer worth teasing."
The bone plating that up until now had been remarkably sparse suddenly sprouted over her entire body, encasing her in what was basically a suit of thin bone armor, composed of a near-uncountable amount of bone micro-plates arranged almost like scales, or chainmail. It was hard to say, considering she moved before he even had enough time to comprehend the amount of danger this posed.
His arm nearly broke when she impacted against his shield, but this time when she grabbed it, he had no choice but to release his only defense, watching as she tossed it away nonchalantly, the plate of metal spinning up until it impacted against the wall, digging in.
Crocea Mors was the only thing he could use to parry the rapid slashing claws of bone and death, grabbing the end of his blade with his other hand and using it to prevent a lot of the attacks from landing.
Seiren was no longer playing around, nor was she trying to pin him down and drain him of his inherent life force. This was plain, unadulterated killing intent, and he was doing his absolute best to prevent his head from being summarily removed from his shoulders.
Or other parts of his body becoming no longer parts of his body. He could regenerate, but he didn't much like the idea of being a torso left on the ground to writhe in pain until Seiren took mercy on him.
Considering how close he was to nearly being gutted, he didn't expect much mercy.
Naruto was barely able to dodge or parry these attacks, and Seiren was getting faster and faster. He needed to be faster too.
He hit himself with a quick cast of Haste, feeling the buff push his Agility up, but it still wasn't enough. He needed every little bit of movement he could. He'd need a bit of space to start working on that, though.
He quickly cast a Lightning Infused Mana Calamity, watching as sparks of lightning flickered about in the air, latching onto the bone plating and causing Seiren to stall, if only for a moment.
It was enough for Naruto to reach into his inventory and rapidly equip his Abominae Mask. If Seiren was going to armor up with terrifying Grimm stuff, Naruto wasn't going to go without. Plus, with it formed into the Beowolf skull form that he had infused in it, it gave a buff to Agility. The more the better, especially in his current predicament.
He could feel it, now, the increased Agility finally reaching a point where he felt a little faster, a little more able to parry and dodge the attacks, even with Seiren ramping up the intensity. Each strike still rocked him to his core, sending shudders down his spine as his blade reverberated from every impact, but there was no sneaking a strike through his guard without significant trickery.
Unfortunately for Naruto, trickery seemed to be Seiren's specialty. A flicker of movement in the corner of his eye was enough to alert him that something was wrong, and even despite his newly-buffed Agility, he couldn't defend from both Seiren or his new attackers.
Though 'new attackers' was a slight misnomer. With Blake on one side, Ilia on the other, and Seiren continuing her frontal assault on his defenses, Naruto was in one hell of a tight spot.
At least, up until Callisto wrapped Blake up in a bear hug, holding tight against the writhing faunus' escape attempts. Naruto didn't have as decisive a measure as Callisto to pin down Ilia, but at least the cavern was big enough for Shirdal to appear, pinning Ilia down underneath his foreclaws.
Naruto knew he should have called upon his summons much earlier. He knew they were invaluable in situations like this, but…
Naruto really didn't like risking his summons. He knew they couldn't die, of course, but they could feel pain. When Cadejo had gone up against the Bashenga deep within Dustcairn Mine Naruto had been worried he'd lost him. He hated that feeling.
It was irrational, Naruto knew. If he died, they'd die too, but still…
Of course, Naruto couldn't blame them for wanting to help. There was a joke to be made about Cadejo and the fervour of his attacks against the woman-Grimm covered in bone, but he was a little preoccupied.
It bought him time to reorganize his mind, though, and as Cadejo and his pack of clones darted in and out, Naruto backed up and withdrew Telum, nocking an arrow.
The moment Cadejo backed up Naruto let the arrow fly, and for a moment he thought he'd gotten lucky, only to watch as the broadhead skipped off the plating, though not without delivering at least some of the potential kinetic energy of the attack.
One of Cadejo's clones jumped in to regain Seiren's attention, but she ignored it, letting the jaws of the large wolf-clone latch onto her arm, where her other hand turned it to smoke. More clones jumped at her, but she kept at her approach, unflinching.
Okay, so Naruto was a little scared of that. So what if the terrifying figure, with eyes glowing bright red, peering at him from behind pale bone, approaching without care for the onslaught she was dealing with, was set on destroying him? He still had things he could do!
Like Tranquility! Naruto unleashed a blast of buckshot.
Okay, buckshot hadn't been his greatest idea. Pockmarks littered her armor, but she had barely even stalled. Slugs, maybe, would have been a good choice, but he didn't exactly have any of those.
He kept backing up, summoning Platinus to hopefully at least stall Seiren.
It worked, remarkably well. At stalling her, that was. The metallic elemental was great at taking hits without so much as flinching, an unyielding wall of pure defensive capability, but it was much too slow for actually landing attacks, despite how sharp it was.
Unfortunate for Naruto, but that wasn't anything he could change on such a whim.
He'd never gone up against an opponent quite like this before. Technically, he'd faced down Cinder, but that had been a draw at best, and a loss at a more basic level.
Now was not the time for those thoughts. Those thoughts were best left in the back of his mind, ignored up until they became relevant.
Which was definitely not now. What was relevant now was figuring out a way to stop Seiren, who had now made it past Platinus, and was still walking towards him, no matter what methods Naruto tried to implement to change that.
Every spike of ground was turned to dust, every projectile splashing against her armor, every attack could land was nigh-ineffective.
He sidestepped a slash and tried a Mana Punch to the torso, only to be avoided at the last second, her body contorting out of the way of his attack, only to meet the edge of Crocea Mors. She didn't worry about being struck by the sword, though, as without Naruto able to provide enough leverage, it wouldn't dig into her plating. Instead, she allowed the blade to hit her chest, wrapping one arm around it and holding firm, her other hand coming to grab Naruto by the throat.
Or trying to, at least. He Phaseshifted to break her grip, but it cost him Crocea Mors. A small price to pay for his life, but now he was without a true means to actually do any damage. Even Mana Cannon had splashed without significant damage on her armor, it was that powerful.
There had to be something. Anything. Naruto was being backed into a corner, both literally and metaphorically. The only thing behind him was the pool of water. Would it lead to safety? Maybe. Would it mean leaving Blake and Ilia to be devoured? Definitely.
So that wasn't a great choice. Not that he had many others. Or any others. His mind was empty, devoid of any kind of plan.
Naruto was staring down death, without anything to do but wait for its delivery.
Except one hell of a long-shot. But when weren't any of his plans a long-shot?