And I'm back, everyone. And now I have finally graduated from college! Granted, I still have one class to do in the summer to get my last few units, but I'm done! With! School! Forever! Unless I decide to go back for a master's degree, which I currently can't see myself doing. 17 years of school with only summer vacation gaps is certainly exhausting. I tip my figurative hat off to those of you who are currently in college and plan to go straight to graduate school. Seriously, that takes some very serious motivation. To those of you who do plan to go to graduate school, best of luck to you.

Now regarding this fic, this chapter in particular will for sure be a turning point (which you will see why), so things will definitely be picking up in pacing a bit, save for some parts. That said, as I now march forth for my final class and getting a job, I once again can't say whether or not this fic will be updated in regular intervals, but ultimately it is my goal to finish this fic by sometime this year.

Just keeping you all informed.

Now onto the chapter.

Chapter 22

The sun was currently setting, making for a beautiful sunset as night approached. It was to the point where the people of Vale would take a few moments out of their usual routines to pause and admire the view that the setting sun created even as it lowered in the sky above.

However, Naruto was not one of these people.

No, the blond magus instead traversed the streets of Vale, utterly ignorant of anything around him save for the simple fact that night was about begin. Which in turn meant that Junior's little club would be opening up for the night in just several more minutes.

And so on this beautiful Friday afternoon/night, Naruto made his way towards the club with purpose in his step. For he had a number of questions for one Hei Xiong and he intended to get them no matter what.

And so it was with the same almost supernatural calmness he had felt long ago in his battle against Odin, that Naruto continued his trek through the streets of Vale to his ultimate destination.

At the club in particular, Junior could only shiver for what had felt like the umpteenth time today. "I better not be getting sick…" he muttered as he walked about the club, making sure everything was in place.

Seeing that it was, he slowly nodded towards several of his men, indicating that it was fine to start opening up for the night. No sooner than he had nodded, the men all but rushed into position, with one going to open the club doors while another went outside to greet the initial customers that had already been waiting. The others simply went to start up everything else, the bartender opening up the bar area as the customers immediately trickled in while another started up the music.

Within the span of minutes, the club had filled up considerably as people walked in and wasted no time in going about whatever their business was.

As this happened, Junior smirked, evidently pleased. "Another day in paradise," he thought, knowing that even after the fiasco a while back, people would still be coming in droves to this place. Hell, he'd even go as far as to say that even more people than usual were coming here, as if to make up for the days the club had to be closed, which in turn meant the club regained any and all lost profits.

However, his increasingly good mood came to a halt as a certain someone approached his current position. "Roman," Junior greeted.

"Junior… sure is nice to see the place up and running again," Roman commented. Holding Melodic Cudgel, he motioned it all across the room before tapping it lightly into the ground. "Hope you don't mind though if we just get down to business… and with a drink in tow too." The criminal smiled as he spoke.

Junior sighed, but still gestured towards the bartender nearby to get him and Roman some drinks. He then began to walk towards the counter chairs and Roman followed him. As soon as the two plopped down into the chairs, the bartender gave them their drinks before leaving to go serve the other customers. "Figured you'd get straight to that… though I'm a bit surprised you're already here. And on your own too."

"Ah, not quite, buddy," Roman replied as he took a sip of his drink, savoring it. "I did, in fact, come with some back up." He then pointed off into the distance.

Following Roman's thumb, Junior looked to the opposite side of the club and just barely make out a tall man dressed in black and red and wearing an intricate white mask – Adam Taurus. "Huh." Junior made a bit of a 'tsk' as he noticed the horns atop Adam's head. Right away, he could tell that the man was a member of the White Fang, what with his Faunus heritage and the white mask that members always wore. "A White Fang member, huh? What happened to chick of yours? She finally decided to run off on you or something?"

"Neo? Oh she's around. Just hidden is all. Can't always be too lax about things, you know?" Roman replied nonchalantly, waving Junior's snide remark off.

But in spite of his nonchalance, Roman was feeling a bit worried. As it was a Friday night, it wouldn't be too surprising if any of the magi from Beacon Academy decided to go out for a night on the town. Neo, currently using her enhanced semblance to hide herself, was serving as a lookout near the entrance of the club just in case she spotted anyone or anything off.

And although he hid his concern very well, Junior was still able to pick up on it. At best, Roman was an acquaintance that would only stop to chat whenever he needed something. Even then, he has had dealings with the criminal long enough to get a feel for how he and Neopolitan usually operated. The woman was usually by his side whenever she was around, only really leaving Roman's side if something around her caught her interest. But if she wasn't around at all, then that meant she was serving as a lookout for Roman.

And that only happened whenever Roman felt it was necessary. Which only made Junior wonder what Roman's reasoning for this action was now.

Nonetheless, Junior played it cool. "I see. Well, whatever. You wanted a list of Beacon's faculty."

"Plus their routines," Roman reminded Junior. "And whatever the council is up nowadays."

"Mhm, I know, I know." Junior gulped down his entire drink in one go and then called over the bartender to get another. "Well, sorry to disappoint you, but the council was a no go. Too much damn security around them for me to get me anything on them… at least not in this short a time span."

"I figured as much… but what about the list?" Roman inquired.

"Now that, I actually was able to pull off." Junior paused as his second drink arrived. He took a moment to savor its strong smell while also admiring the music that played in the background, courtesy of his DJ. "Not a complete list, but I was able to get about 93% of Beacon's entire staff, including even the cooks, but excluding its headmaster. Their routines were a bust though, so that shit is on you."

Roman chuckled. "I'll take what I can get. Can I have the list as promised?"

"As soon as I'm done with this drink, I'll have one of my boys go and fetch it," Junior replied a little gruffly. Roman normally waited a while before asking for the fruits of his labors. That the man would more or less ask right away for the list told Junior that Roman really needed it. So he decided to see what he could discover here. "If you're willing to wait, that is."

Roman hid it well, but he grimaced. "If that's what I gotta do…" Taking another sip, he had to hold back the urge to tell Junior to just fork it over now. The captain, Vidar, had made it quite clear to him earlier today to get the list and pretty much get the hell out of dodge ASAP. After hearing of everything that had occurred regarding Surma's failed hit and the death of Tyr, Roman agreed that it'd be in his best interest to be swift. But he could tell that Junior was stalling him a bit. And as much as he'd want to force Junior to hand it to him, that'd only come to bit him in the ass later. Good sources of info such as Junior were very hard to come by in the criminal underground.

And so as the two slowly drank away their beverages, the two spoke, one wishing to drag this out a bit while the other wished for the opposite.

Meanwhile, outside the club, Neo was leaning up against the wall of a building across the way from the club. The short and petite young woman wore a carefree smirk upon her face as people passed right by her, not even noticing her presence.

Such was the power of her improved semblance.

Before the operation, her semblance was that of illusions. With her aura, she could form simple illusions that operated more along the lines of false physical images than anything else; with something as simple as a punch, the images will literally shatter like glass.

But following the operation and her resulting empowerment upon becoming a pseudo-magus, her semblance has changed. No longer did she simply create false images, but rather her new and improved semblance allowed her to create actual matter. With this, she is able to – albeit to an extent – replicate conceptual magic by using her improved semblance to create 'space,' which she did in order to 'blanket' herself from view of other people. It was why she could lean against the wall and have no one see her, for there was a 'space' covering her up to the point where if someone leaned against it, it'd feel like an actual wall to them rather than them actually coming into contact with her.

That being said, her improved semblance still had limits. For one thing, she could only form matter to create 'space' or barrier or even actual physical objects that are capable of movement, like golems to an extent. But forming actual weapons was beyond her ability to do and her creations can still be destroyed. On that note, though, her creations' damage threshold was much higher compared to before. She doubted even Roman, enhanced as he is, could do much to destroy her creations.

So with this newfound power of hers, Neo was content to remain where she was, keeping an eye out for any sign of danger, which she honestly doubted would happen.

But a few minutes later, she was proven wrong.

She felt the 'danger' before actually seeing it. And how great a 'danger' it was; one moment, she had been about to pace around in boredom when suddenly, she felt this crushing pressure appear, stopping her in place. The air itself became noticeably heavier to her and it felt as if her bones, muscles, organs, and even her very sense of self was being crushed under the newfound 'weight.'

And yet, no one else that passed by seemed affected like she was. Indeed, although the people around her certainly looked unsettled, even scared, they were still able to move about without impairment.

And there was a reason for this; she was the only one among the crowd that could actually sense the carefully controlled magical pressure.

Neo's mouth opened into a silent gasp as she swiftly located the source of it: a tall and well-muscled blond man that was now approaching the club. Neo's eyes widened as she recognized the man's face, having been shown to her and the others by Vidar not long after they had become pseudo-magi.

Fenrir was on the scene.

Equipped with an earbud for tonight, Neo switched it on and tapped it several times rapidly, signaling Adam inside who had his own. After doing so, the petite woman rushed towards the club while trying to stay as quiet as possible.

For she seemed to know instinctively that if the true 'ultimate magus' noticed her, she wouldn't live long enough to regret her actions.

As for Naruto, the magus approached the entrance to the club with a completely neutral expression upon his face, which hid the almost triumphant emotions he was currently feeling. "Now isn't that a surprise…" he thought.

Although he didn't know who it was, he could sense Neo a ways away from him. Had she not been using her mana to generate a blanket of 'space' over her, he probably wouldn't have sensed her. But now that she had dropped the almost literal blanket and was now rushing over here, he'd have noticed her even without the need to sense for mana

He couldn't fathom who exactly Neo was, but the fact she could use mana that felt so artificial told him all he needed to know right now. And so he was content to let her come to him because regardless of her presence here, he still needed to speak with Junior.

Dressed in his usual clothes, consisting of grey pants, a long sleeve black shirt and an equally dark unbuttoned long sleeve dress shirt over it, Naruto strode towards the doors of the club, completely ignoring the line outside as well as the bouncer.

Having been radiated just enough mana for the one hiding across the area to sense, Naruto's lightly flaring mana still had some effect upon the civilians around him, for they made no compliant when he rather brazenly entered the club before any of them did. Not even the bouncer did anything to deter him, though that was mainly due to Naruto gazing at him just prior to entering, his eyes all but promising the bouncer pain if he tried anything.

And so, entering the club, Naruto reined in his mana and proceeded to look around while moving off to the corner for a moment. Ignoring the flirtatious and outright lustful stares a number of very curvaceous and scantily-clad women were sending his way, Naruto looked for the information broker Yang had told him all about a few days ago.

And within mere seconds of his search, he spotted the man he was looking for by the bar counter. But he wasn't just the only one he spotted either. "Torchwick!" Naruto muttered in surprise. Never would he have expected to find the criminal here of all places. It simply bordered on audacious that the criminal, associated with the Holy Knights, would show up here in downtown Vale.

But Naruto sure didn't plan to look a gift horse in the mouth. If anything, this was almost too good to be true. Almost.

As he now walked towards the bar area, gently shoving his way past everyone else, he seemed to remain unaware of anything else around him, the music seeming to just fade away.

And so it was he did so that Adam now spotted him. "I see him…" he said a little gruffly to Neo over his earpiece. Not even a moment ago, Neo's frantic usage of radio static had served as all the warning he needed to know something was up. And now seeing Naruto here in the flesh confirmed it for him.

Adam wouldn't be particularly ashamed to say that he felt afraid. Fear was just another part of life and in his particular 'lifestyle' as a member of the White Fang, fear for his own life and for his ellow Faunus was expected given their activities. But this fear he felt now was different from that kind of fear. Having been informed by Vidar as to Naruto's level of power, Adam knew that he was out of league here.

But no matter how powerful a person was, Adam always believed they could be felled if taken unaware. So with hardly any sound, he quickly made his way through the bustling crowd, walking across the dance floor unperturbed by the music and lively people.

Slowly, as he approached Naruto from behind, Adam reached into his coat and withdrew his weapon – Wilt and Blush –, having had to uncomfortably stash his blade and its sheath under his relatively thin coat. But now as he drew his weapon out and felt its coldness in his hands, Adam felt a wellspring of confidence as he slipped into a sort of 'battle mode,' his combat instincts and training taking over.

No one, not Junior, not Roman, or even Naruto himself apparently, seemed to notice as Adam fully withdrew his weapon from his coat. No one noticed the faint sound of steel that was made as he pulled his blade out from its customized sheath. And lastly… no one seemed to notice anything when Adam, now just a few feet behind Naruto, suddenly thrust his blade forth, aiming for the back of Naruto's neck.

Only to hit open air.

"What?!" Adam thought in shock, his target no longer there.

"So you're Junior, hmm?"

Adam started a bit as he heard Naruto speak up… from his new spot, on the seat right across from Junior and just a few feet away from Roman himself.

Both men at the bar were as startled as Adam was, for Naruto definitely hadn't been there a second ago. But now here sat the blond magus, his arms calmly placed on the bar counter as he looked from Junior to Roman.

"You know, I originally came here to talk to you about something," Naruto began, his voice sounding remarkably quiet yet still both men could hear him clearly in spite of all the background noise. With an intentional slowness, Naruto turned his seat a bit to look at Roman. "But this turned out much better than I'd have expected."

"The hell are you?!" Junior growled in shock and slight fright at Naruto, getting a bad vibe about all of this. His raised voice drew some attention from his men and from the customers, but that attention-drawer was nothing compared to what Roman ended up doing.

Jumping right out of his seat and away from Naruto, Roman stared at the blond magus with genuine horror. In spite of this, he still raised Melodic Cudgel towards Naruto, who remained where he was. "Neo! Neo, we have trouble!"

As he prepared to fire a magical blast at Naruto, the blond in question suddenly moved. Faster than the criminal could hope to ever react, Naruto shot out of his seat and closed the distance between them instantly, lashing out with a jab to Roman's stomach.

But rather than see Roman double over and fall unconscious, complete with the sounds of his organs squishing a bit under his fist, Naruto blinked mildly in surprise when instead he saw glass-like cracks appear in between him and Roman, complete with the sounds of shattering glass too.

The sound alone was overwhelmingly loud and the sheer force of Naruto's attack made a minor shockwave that blew everyone nearby back, including Junior who went flying back into the wall.

"Huh, that was close for you," Naruto commented, unperturbed by the chaos that now suddenly broke out, with people screaming and fleeing as glass all around the club shattered from the shockwave. Inwardly, he felt some regret for disrupting the calm evening for the customers, but seeing Roman here so suddenly had worked him up into a bit of a rage, a rage that he was trying to tame right now. "Your friend created a barrier of sorts between the two of us…"

Indeed, just as Roman had called out for Neo, the young woman had entered the club and used her enhanced semblance to block Naruto's blow in time.

But alas, that was all she managed to do. Roman had still been sent nearly flying back from the punch. "H-How the hell did you know I was here?!" the criminal exclaimed as he took several steps back.

"I didn't. Me being here was just a real lucky coincidence for me," Naruto explained, pausing in his walking to crack his knuckles. He smiled a bit. "Do my friends and I have a lot of questions for you…"

Just as he finished speaking, Adam made his move. Having held back during Naruto's attack on Roman, he now spotted what looked like a genuine opening and had waited among the running crowd of customers until now. Now he leapt forth as fast as he could, his status as a pseudo-magus now meaning he was much faster than he was before.

Having sheathed his sword again after his failed sneak attack, he now pulled the trigger on Blush to launch his blade, Wilt, at high speeds for him to draw it. With the blade's momentum combined with his own heightened speed and strength, he launched a perfect strike at Naruto's neck from behind the blond magus.

Unfortunately for him, thanks to centuries of training and experience, Naruto sensed the attack coming even without the aid of his heightened senses and calmly moved forward a full step to avoid the blade.

At the same time this happened, Roman and Neo sprung into action as well. Having fully considered who their foe is, they knew the chance of escape was essentially impossible and so decided on at least trying to blindside him. To this end, Roman dashed forward, twirling his cane in order to whack Naruto straight in the gut while Neo pulled out her umbrella to take aim at Naruto's legs with the umbrella's hidden gun function.

But ultimately, this proved futile.

With one perfect motion, Naruto spun forward, masterfully dodging Roman's attack while simultaneously elbowing him in the back of his head, almost hard enough to crack it. As for Neo, Naruto suddenly disappeared from sight before the petite criminal could even fire off a single shot and reappeared behind her, kicking her in the back of her left leg with his own left foot before delivering another kick with his right leg that knocked her across the room.

"Guh!" Roman grunted in pain as he tried to recover, stumbling forward almost completely in Adam, trying to stay conscious. But Naruto's one elbow had packed considerable power into it despite the blond not wanting to accidentally kill him and it showed.

As for Adam Taurus, the man tried not to let his second failed attempt get to him and instead kicked at the ground hard enough to launch himself like a missile towards Naruto's location, Wilt still drawn and at the ready.

"So you're with the Holy Knights too, huh?" Naruto muttered, loud enough for the bull-type Faunus to hear him, even as the man in question approached rapidly. Naruto could only shake his head. "Just why would you join up with them?"

"That's not for you to know," Adam finally spoke as he brought his blade down.

Only for Naruto to simply turn sideways to avoid the swing and take a step back before bending backwards in order to dodge the follow up, which came in the form of Adam turning the blade and swinging it horizontally.

Sheathing the blade as Naruto moved further back, Adam prepared to use Blush to shoot Wilt directly towards Naruto, but just as he pulled the trigger, Naruto's right foot suddenly smashed right into the bottom of Wilt's hilt, keeping the blade still in its rifle-like sheath. This had the effect of making Blush nearly overheat and break down, partially due to its failed attempt to launch Wilt and partially due to the force behind Naruto's action.

"Tch!' Adam spun, trying not to let Blush's overheating truly get to him as it burned slightly through his hand. Instead, he manually unsheathed his sword and swung it at Naruto. But just as it looked like the blade would cut into Naruto's side, Naruto jumped just high enough for the sword to miss him before unleashing a devastating spin kick that struck Adam right in the chest, nearly caving it in and sending the man skidding across the floor, from one end of the club to the other end.

"When you're joining people that would try to kill my friends and put the world at risk," Naruto spoke in a grim voice. "Then I think it is something I should know."

"Then try to get to know this!" Roman yelled, finally back on his feet. He pointed Melodic Cudgel at Naruto and fired the most powerful magical blast he could muster in the span of a nanosecond.

"Die Walkure," Naruto then spoke.

And just with those two words, Roman's attack failed. Or rather, it ended up hitting the wrong target. "Argh!" To his eyes, his own blast suddenly reversed direction, defying all laws of physics as it literally seemed to travel backwards towards him. It had been so sudden and mindboggling a thing that he had simply been unable to dodge or block. And now here he was getting blown back by his own attack. "H-How-?!"

Naruto calmly approached him, checking his surroundings for a moment. The customers had fully fled as well as Junior's henchmen, undoubtedly scared by what had happened. Junior himself seems to have nearly been knocked unconscious and a cursory glance in his general direction showed two young women – twins from the looks of it – grabbing Junior and slowly dragging him out of the place. As for Neo, the woman still seemed to be in the process of getting back up, and doing so with considerable difficulty as Naruto's attack had left her with a limp. Adam seemed down for the moment, but he seemed to be almost pulsing a bit with red mana. Naruto made it a point to keep an eye on that.

That said, he still made it a point to answer Roman's unfinished question. "Based on all that's happened so far, seems like the Holy Knights know of my abilities as well as my friends'. And I'm willing to bet they told you as well. But let me fill you in on something new: Die Walkure may mainly be used to create space and control what occurs there, but it can also partially affect the space directly around me in the real world as well. So something like changing the directions of things can be easily done."

Roman's eyes widened at that new bit of information. Then they narrowed in anger. "You overpowered bastard," he grumbled.

Naruto smiled a little. "You going to give up? Because I really, really prefer not to keep fighting in public like this; using my magical abilities for people to possibly see just doesn't sit well with me."

Much to his surprise, Roman chuckled a little as he tried to stand. "You know, my new buddies told me you'd be like this. Hiding your abilities in the shadows for so damn long. Even when it'd be much more of a damn hassle to do things without your magical abilities… seriously, just how long do you and the other ancient magi plan to hide from the rest of the world, hmm?"

Naruto stared at the criminal, his smile now gone and replaced with a much more emotionless expression. "You know what?" he then said. "Over the years, I've also picked up some other new tricks…" He held out his left hand, open to show his palm, and aimed at Roman. "Just like my friend, Hanako, I've learned how to shoot little magical blasts…"

Roman's eyes widened as he realized immediately what was about to happen. Vidar had told him of the sort of abilities Naruto had, including Gungnir and Fenris Wolf. But the ability to now shoot rather generic magical blasts much like him was definitely new. Even if the power of said blasts was drastically lower than his actual magical attacks…

"Neo! Some help here!" Roman yelled, realizing he'd most likely be unable to dodge in time.

He was right.

From Naruto's open left palm shot out a magical blast comprised entirely of ocean blue mana that traveled across the club towards Roman at roughly ten times the speed of a lightning bolt. Naruto watched patiently as it traveled, having adjusted it so that it only damages Roman and nothing else.

As this happened, Neo finally managed to get back up on both feet and just prior to Naruto firing, she'd used up a significant amount of her mana to form a dozen barriers created directly from the very fabric of reality itself to guard Roman.

She might as well have not bothered, as Naruto's magical blast shot through the barriers in extremely short order. The barriers shattered like glass, having hardly slowed the blast down at all.

This was something Naruto had expected and accounted for when he launched his attack.

However, he hadn't accounted for one Adam Taurus.

Much to the surprise of everyone there, Adam leapt to his feet, his body glowing with red bordering on outright crimson mana and moved towards Roman at a speed faster than even that of Naruto's magical blast, albeit only slightly faster.

Stepping in between Roman and Naruto's attack, Adam spread forth his arms and actually allowed the blast to strike him dead center in the chest despite holding Wilt in his right hand.

"What the?!" Naruto actually muttered in shock, having not expected Adam to do such a thing. After all, he could hardly imagine Roman being the kind of person that someone would willingly protect to such an extent.

But this wasn't the case at all. No, Adam did this because it was the only way he could actually stand a chance against Naruto. For his semblance was essentially a form of energy absorption. Just like back when he fought that Spider Tank so long ago on the Schnee family's train, he had absorbed the power from its energy cannon to temporarily empower his most powerful sword technique, only this time it was on a greater scale.

Before, he could only absorb energy after channeling his own aura inwardly and even then, it took time for him to be fully 'prepared' to absorb an energy attack. Furthermore, back then, the boost only lasted for all of one attack, just like what happened when he defeated the Spider Tank. But after having undergone the procedure to become a pseudo-magus, his semblance had been altered just like Neo's. Now he could absorb virtually any form of energy – aura or mana – to charge himself up and without having to prepare himself beforehand. And what's more… the temporary boost he obtains lasts noticeably longer.

With a vicious smile that didn't suit his normally stoic self, Adam watched Naruto's genuinely stunned expression appear as the magical blast was absorbed straight into him. The very second it was fully absorbed, Adam shouted to both Roman and Neo. "Get out of here now!"

His body all but glowing like a crimson sun now, Adam rushed towards Naruto without waiting for a reply, Wilt at the ready and pulsing with crimson mana as well.

So much greater was his power that when he ran forth, the very floor beneath him actually parted from the sheer speed. Approaching the shocked – nay, flabbergasted – Naruto, Adam lashed out with the fiercest of punches at the blond magus' face. Naruto, having never before really seen anyone directly absorb a magical attack – the likes of Ryuichi and Masami didn't count, since it was their magical weapons that did the actual absorption – he had actually been unable to snap himself out of his stupor in time to dodge or block, a surprise in and of itself given the fact his skill and battle experience were vastly superior to Adam's own.

As a result, Adam's fist struck true and it managed to make Naruto stumble back a tad bit, but nothing more than that. Adam grunted though, his inward elation now gone as his fist hurt a bit from striking the one called Fenrir; Naruto was just literally that tough a person. Nevertheless, he followed up his punch with a swing from Wilt, the blade now slicing through the air itself, even parting molecules in its wake.

But it was too late for Adam, for his punch had roused Naruto from his stupor. With the speed of light, Naruto recovered from the punch and proceeded to actually catch Adam's blade in between his elbow and knee, snapping down hard enough to completely stop the blade and nearly break it in two.

Not to be deterred, Adam let go of his blade and proceeded to unleash a series of punches and kicks. His unarmed combat skills may not be much compared to his swordplay, but he was still a much more skilled fighter than the average civilian and even hunters-in-training.

Unfortunately for him, Naruto far outstripped everyone in that field and he quickly found all of his attacks being skillfully deflected by the magus, even while still holding onto Adam's sword. Even as the shockwaves from Adam's furious assault destroyed virtually everything around him, Naruto was unaffected by the blows and ultimately threw aside Wilt in order to fully give Adam his attention, but only after noticing Roman and Neo slip out of the club.

"That's enough from you!" Naruto said, more than fed up. He had genuinely wanted to hold back in this situation lest he accidentally kill someone, but Adam's surprising ability to absorb magical blasts and empower himself proved to be quite the surprise. So he decided to take the Faunus just a bit more seriously than he would've done otherwise.

Slipping straight past all of the man's attacks, Naruto got right up in Adam's face and headbutted him hard enough to crack his mask almost wide open. It also had the natural benefit of stopping his assault dead cold, Adam now sent reeling. But Naruto wasn't done quite yet, following up the headbutt with a rapid four hit combo to Adam's solar plexus, liver, sternum, and face.

The four blows struck home and struck hard, with Adam being rendered unconscious by the second blow alone. The Faunus crumbled to the floor, his boost disappearing as he hit the floor with the most unceremonious of thuds.

Naruto looked to the downed man with a slight grimace, earnestly wishing he hadn't had to beat him down with such force. Alas, it had been necessary.

But just as quickly as this feeling of concern welled up within him for the considerably injured Faunus, it disappeared just as fast as he reminded himself of Roman and Neo, both of whom had run out of the club.

Dusting off his dress shirt, Naruto proceeded to pick up Adam and carry him over his shoulder not unlike a sack of potatoes before making his way towards the club's exit with eerie calmness.

"Hey!" Junior cried out suddenly, having just woken up a moment ago and rushing back from the backroom to see what had become of his club. Needless to say, upon seeing its horrifically battered state from Adam's ferocious assault, he was more than a little pissed. Said anger was great enough to even override his worry and fear of Naruto. Holding his hurt side, Junior shrugged off the two twins – Melanie and Militia – who tried to keep him from walking towards Naruto, and pointed at the blond magus. "I don't know just what the fuck is going on or what sort of beef you've got with Roman, but what are you going to do about my club?! It's rui-!"

"Da Capo Zero," Naruto spoke as he raised his left hand, the all too familiar rune appearing and taking effect. "Thank me later, man."

And so Naruto ultimately left the club, completely ignoring the stupefied expressions of Junior, Melanie, and Militia as the club was immediately restored to its previously undamaged state.

Once outside the club, he looked around to make sure no one was nearby. And once he was sure he was alone, Naruto spoke yet again. "Da Capo Replication…"

If anyone actually had been there to witness this, they'd have seen the magus disappear in a sudden flash of ocean blue light, disappearing entirely from the area.

At just a few minutes prior to this happening, Roman and Neo were making a run for it through the more sketchy parts of Vale. Having taken Adam's words to heart, the two of them had ran right out of the club the very second Adam had lunged at Naruto.

Calling for help was out of the question for them; Roman's scroll got broken when he had been knocked around and Neo never carried one. As such, neither could expect any sort of help to be coming for them right now.

"Damn it all!" Roman whispered as he and Neo continued to run, navigating the backstreets of the area as silently as possible at the expense of being unable to do so at full speed. "We had been right there!"

He had failed, no way two ways about it. He had been tasked with getting the info he had asked of Junior to gather and Naruto had come right along to ruin it all before the two of them could have even finished their drinks.

From beside him, Neo looked to Roman, her differently colored eyes looking at him in inquiry.

"I don't know, Neo," Roman responded. Although his longtime partner was incapable of speech, he had long since grown used to it and was therefore capable of 'translating' her expressions. "Chances are though, that Faunus guy will only keep him busy for maybe a minute longer, so let's just-."

"Let's just what?"

An ocean blue light appeared suddenly in front of the two of them, said flash of light being bright enough to nearly blind the two criminals. Covering up their eyes, both Roman and Neo ended up running straight into the 'light' and they were met with something hard, smashing right into it hard enough to stumble back.

When the light faded a half second later, they both saw what – or rather, who – they had crashed into.

There, now standing before them with a grim expression was Naruto, still hauling Adam over his shoulder. "You going to finish what you were saying?" Naruto spoke, having heard the man speak just a second ago before teleporting here.

"How did you-?!" Roman nearly stuttered out.

Naruto inwardly smirked.

Da Capo Replication. One of the few new variations he's created out of his Da Capo Zero over the centuries. Normally, Da Capo Zero is used to either rewind things to before they existed and to summon people/objects to Naruto's general location one at a time. In the case of Da Capo Replication, it inverted Da Capo Zero's second function, being capable of summoning Naruto to the location of anyone he has come into contact with.

In this case, Roman and Neo.

"The two of you and your pal here," Naruto began to say, motioning to the unconscious Faunus atop his shoulder. "Will be coming with me. And I expect a lot of answers to a lot of questions about your new… allies."

Roman and Neo stood almost as still as statues, realizing the predicament they were in. They were literally face to face with the most powerful magus alive, who now apparently has the ability to teleport to their location whenever he wanted. They have no way of calling for help and any attempts to fight back would only end in complete misery.

So it was with those facts in mind, that Roman decided to speak. "Think we can talk about this in a nice and comfortable manner?" he asked with the smallest of grins, trying to be funny.

"Nope," was Naruto's immediate and simple reply.

The next thing either criminal knew, they blacked out as Naruto lashed out with his right fist as he suddenly moved behind them, striking them in the back of their necks with a chop that immediately knocked the two of them out.

Watching as Roman and Neo both dropped to the ground like rocks, Naruto allowed himself an almost relieved. He may have ruined a perfectly good evening for the customers at that club, but ultimately he felt it had been worth the trouble.

Now it was time to get these three locked up for some serious questioning…

Elsewhere, Surtur stirred. Unlike his friend, Vidar, and the other Holy Knights, Surtur was more attuned to the going-ons of the world around him to an extent. This wasn't due to a magical weapon or some sort of special device, as is with Vidar, but rather done through instinct or perhaps intuition. Simply put, Surtur, for as long as he's been around, has always seemed to just know when things 'seriously go tits up in the water' as he'd vulgarly say in private.

And right now, that is exactly how he was feeling. Something had just gone wrong, perhaps even horribly so.

Muffling the string of colorful expletives that threatened to spill forth from him, Surtur could only hope that Vidar could figure out how best to deal with whatever had happened.

And if Vidar couldn't, then it was game over for all of them.

And we're done for now.

With the capture of Adam, Roman, and Neo, you can now genuinely expect things to pick up in pace. Although I won't say much on what exactly to expect now, what I can definitely say is that there is a damn good reason why Naruto didn't get involved in the action until now. The Holy Knights can't have things go too well for them for so long, you know? This simply isn't that kind of fic.

So that being said, get ready because I'll be bringing out more and more surprises for all of the characters in the fic now and for you guys as well. Now to just hope I can live up to my own expectations and write it all out as I have planned in my mind.

Until next time, everyone. Take care.