Unlike before, I was able to more or less immediately get started on this chapter. Here it comes, everyone, the battle between Naruto and Vidar!

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 44

Although focused entirely upon the Holy Knight's leader, Naruto was still immediately aware of his surroundings. Their clashes from barely a moment ago had broken Robotics Space and had dropped them into a thankfully deserted section of Vale.

Nonetheless, Naruto made the first move as they charged at one another, now with the intent on moving this fight elsewhere first. With a punch that could obliterate an entire large island down to the last bit of rock, he aimed for Vidar's left pectoral muscle, just over where his heart was at.

Vidar, with his vastly increased power, was able to block the blow, but the sheer strength of it still catapulted him through the air and well out of Vale. Naruto gave chase, careful not to run at lightspeed or beyond, knowing that doing so would have catastrophic consequences upon the environment immediately around him.

Landing well in the outskirts out of Vale, Vidar managed to stay on his feet and was therefore able to counter Naruto's follow up barrage just as the ultimate magus in question appeared before him. With practiced grace, Vidar was able to deflect Naruto's powerful punches and ending roundhouse kick, the attacks tearing up the land all around them with just the air pressure from it alone.

But Naruto was far from done.

With indignant rage, he raised his left hand to Vidar. "Da Capo Zero!"

Earlier during their brief clash in Robotics Space, the ultimate magus known as Fenrir had finally figured out just what it was about Vidar that had been messing with his senses. And the realization had filled him with anger.

The bastard before him had somehow managed to get his hands on biju chakra and took it into himself. That was why this man's power was great enough for him to almost fight him on even footing. But just like how his Da Capo Zero had been able to return Tatsuya to the moment before he became immortal, Naruto now intended to do something similar with Vidar here, hoping to return him to the moment before he did whatever he did to become this strong.

But as the familiar ocean blue rune of Da Capo Zero appeared and began to take effect, something incredible happened.

An odd looking ominous red rune briefly appeared before Vidar before simply dissipating, doing so just as Naruto's Da Capo Zero rune disappeared as well.

And Vidar still remained unchanged.

Naruto, for all of his centuries of battle experience and skill and discipline, was just barely able to keep himself from freezing up in astonishment. Somehow, this man had been able to remain seemingly unaffected by his virtually ultimate ability. The shock was so great that now he found himself on the defensive as Vidar then made his move.

Although by no means a specialist in taijutsu, Vidar had trained himself hard over the centuries to keep himself strong even amidst his research, knowing that when the time came he'd have to trade blows with Fenrir. So lashing out with a fierce kick to his foe's gut, he could only inwardly sigh as Naruto reacted in time and caught his foot and proceeded to flip him over. But Vidar managed to deal with this failure well by launching another blow at Naruto in mid spin, hoping to use the sudden whirlwind level momentum to strike Naruto in the side of the neck.

Naruto gracefully pulled back his head, enough for the very bottom of Vidar's boot to miss his nose by a mere millimeter. Then he moved forward and suddenly kneed Vidar right in the man's lower jaw just before he could even land.

The blow connected and Vidar ended up taking the full force of the knee strike. Had it been a normal person or a Grimm on the receiving end of this attack, they'd have literally exploded from the sheer force, perhaps even be outright liquefied by it. Average magi would have been felled by such a strike and even someone of the ancient magi's level would find themselves hard pressed to even remain conscious after such a blow.

But Vidar, in his current state, only went flying across the landscape at a speed that was easily seven times greater than a lightning bolt. Only after smashing through a hill did the man finally begin to slow and skid across the ground, carving open a small canyon from the sheer force of it.

Grunting in pain and tasting blood in his mouth, Vidar was quick to leap to his feet and look up in time to see Naruto about to deliver an axe kick from above him. He jumped out of the way in time for the blond to miss his mark and crack the area wide open.

Undeterred, Naruto turned towards Vidar's direction and took up his usual combat stance. He didn't immediately move, however. Instead, he took a moment to analyze the situation so far. "He shrugged off my Da Capo Zero… but just how?" he thought. "That mysterious rune must have had something to do with it, provided him some kind of defense to take the 'hit' in his place…"

Vidar was doing something similar, taking up a defensive stance in lieu of a more offensive one. "Surtur's ability just proved most helpful," he thought, trying hard to keep a smile off his face.

The way Surtur's Akashic Record ability works is by changing history itself, albeit on a small scale. By all rights, Da Capo Zero should have worked and rendered him powerless before Fenrir's might. But thanks to Surtur focusing on providing him protection from within, Akashic Record had been used to change history so that Da Capo Zero didn't hit its mark. In other words, with Akashic Record at Surtur's disposal, it could be used to essentially nullify and even outright overwrite anything thrown Vidar's way. But the downside to this was that Da Capo Zero was truly an all-powerful ability; had Surtur used Akashic Record even an instant too soon or too late, it would've been unable to stop Da Capo Zero in time to keep it from working on Vidar.

It had been a hell of a risk, but now Fenrir should be a bit more hesitant to use his trump card, if only for a while. If he started to use other magical abilities, then Surtur's spirit, from within Vidar could use Akashic Record much more liberally and with far less worry since the yoctosecond gap only applied to Da Capo Zero.

However, in spite of this hidden advantage…

Naruto then went on the move, crossing the distance between in an instant. Vidar threw up his guard just in time to deftly deflect Naruto's hands, having been about to go for a grapple. But Naruto pressed forward, turning his failed grapple into a shoulder charge that made Vidar go skidding back a hundred yards even when the man had been successful in blocking it.

Vidar tsked slightly.

As powerful as he'd become from his biju/Dust mixture, Fenrir still held a noticeable edge in pure physical ability. And Vidar would be also admit reluctantly that perhaps the same applied to their magical abilities as well.

However, this didn't bother him as much as it would've before. Pure physical ability is but one factor in the outcome of a battle. Same thing went for the potency of a magus' magical abilities as well, provided both combatants were close in strength. That, and from the very beginning, his Gjallerhorn wasn't a magical weapon meant for direct combat.

No, it was meant for more indiscreet actions.

And on that note… Gjallerhorn should be in position any second now. All he'd have to do is hold out against Fenrir until it was in place.

So without further thought on the matter, Vidar went on the offensive, partially to Naruto's surprise. Throughout their battle thus far, the Holy Knight leader had been fighting more defensively than offensively, so the sudden onslaught of mountain shattering blows came as a bit of a surprise to the ultimate magus.

But Naruto had fully come to terms with Vidar shrugging off his Da Capo Zero. His head was back in the game now and moreover, he'd started to grow used to Vidar's way of fighting. The man's way of fighting was somewhat different from how other people fought, the Holy Knight's leader moving with somewhat amateurish movements that created openings to be exploited. But that was really the trick behind it. Vidar does this deliberately so that he may lure opponents into attacking him. And since he himself is aware of the openings, he is therefore able to counter with impunity as long as he is able to take into account the speed of his enemies.

Now knowing this, Naruto had been able to adjust accordingly, easily shirking off each strike coming for his vitals while allowing a few blows to actually land on him. "Two can play at that game…" he thought. He figured that if he let himself appear to be overwhelmed, if only a little, then Vidar would slip up and create a genuine opening that he could attack through.

The multitude of attacks, coming in the form of various different punches and kicks, was great enough to rock the entire area, the ground beneath the two god-like magi shattering and forming a crater that was only getting wider and deeper as Vidar used the increasing slope to gain the high ground.

And that was when it happened.

Feeling through his connection to Gajllerhorn that it was just about to reach its target position, Vidar had slipped up, throwing a haymaker a few centimeters higher than he'd originally intended while drawing back his other arm for a massive punch by that same amount. Although this shift in attack position was incredibly small, Naruto's keen eyes didn't miss it and he countered with an extremely fierce palm strike that went right under Vidar's arm and struck the man right in his underarm.

His attack arm stopped just a centimeter short of Naruto's face, the blond magus' palm strike having hit Vidar so hard that the angle it had struck from had caused his arm to pop right out of the socket while crushing a part of Vidar's ribs along their side.

Vidar cried out this time, both from surprise and pain as he felt part of his broken ribs fragment within and tear through his muscle tissue and stomach. His attacking arm immediately fell into a slump and before his enhanced regeneration could kick in and pop the arm back into place, Naruto was already upon him.

With his remaining arm, the man tried to defend himself, lashing out at Naruto's lower gut with a sudden punch, but the ultimate magus had dodged it effortlessly by moving just to his left before responding in kind with a double palm strike that caved in Vidar's sternum and crushed his heart.

"Got him!" Naruto mentally cried as Vidar went sailing back, the shockwave of his concentrated attack having parted the night clouds above them in the process to fully reveal the moon. Said moon illuminated the entire area as Vidar went flying, making it even easier for Naruto to keep track of him.

Giving chase, Naruto hoped that the others were okay. The brief second he and Vidar had spent in Vale, he couldn't detect any sounds of fighting, which likely meant it was already over or had at least moved elsewhere, well out of range of his senses. Once he had defeated this man, though, he'd go to check on everyone immediately.

However, his thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he finally caught up with Vidar, who'd landed near a water stream, the double palm strike having blasted him further away from civilization and therefore away from others.

To his confusion, Vidar laughed hoarsely.

Having landed hard enough to make water splash all over from the sheer proximity of his landing, Vidar slowly stood up, completely unmindful of his now wet uniform and hair. His arm wriggled as his regeneration moved it back into the socket with an audible pop. Vidar's wheezing laugh, a result of his crushed ribs and sternum, ceased as those injuries healed as well.

"Finally," Vidar spoke, a smile now crossing his face.

"Finally, what?" Naruto demanded, taking up a combative stance, but held back. The smile his foe sported made him a little wary and kept him from moving, if only to see just what Vidar would do next. The last thing he wanted was to walk into another trap.

Vidar spread forth his arms. "It's finally time to show the world the power of magic."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? In case you've already forgotten, you had your little crony deliver a public message after taking over the news station. Not that it probably had much success; if your 'Holy Knights' took my friends into their own pocket dimensions to fight it out, then there's no way that any kind of magic was revealed to the public eye."

"Not yet, you mean," Vidar began. Oh, he knew that Fenrir was right. Just because Mercury delivered that message on a live feed didn't mean that the world watching it would immediately realize magic was real. Same thing went for the young man and his other pseudo-magi fighting teams RWBY and JNPR. Aside from Jaune, all of them merely had enhanced physical abilities and semblances. Even if the people of Vale personally bore witness to such battles, they'd hardly mistake it for magic.

But Vidar had been counting on the ancient magi to notice this since it would mean that they'd be unlikely to notice what was to follow.

"Did you really think that the little speech my helper gave was the only 'message?' That was merely to draw you and your fellow ancient magi out, as well as to help my magical weapon properly 'mark' the location," Vidar spoke.

"…What?" Naruto replied, his mind working a trillion miles a minute, trying to comprehend just what it was Vidar was saying. But the man's words had induced in him a level of disbelief that made it hard to think straight.

"Tell me, Fenrir… what could be a more fitting way to show the world the existence of magic than to use you and your comrades for it?" Vidar proclaimed in a low voice. "Gjallerhorn, transmit!"

Far above the world, Vidar's Gjallerhorn whirred to live, the modified magical weapon springing into action.

Originally, it had hovered near the Holy Knights' base, the abandoned military bunker, but over the course of this night, its wielder had silently ordered it to maneuver itself over Vale's news station from space. It had taken a good deal of time for it to do so, its travel speed reliant on Vidar's level of concentration, which had been focused on Naruto during their battle thus far, but now it was in place.

And now upon receiving Vidar's command, it activated.

Gjallerhorn was more than just a magical weapon that could teleport people or fire beams from above. It was also capable of recording things as well, much like a camera could, only in far greater detail. Having marked all of the Holy Knights long ago and thanks to Vidar's biju chakra/Dust mixture enhancing it greatly as well, the magical weapon had been able to peer into the Robotics Spaces of all the Holy Knights and record the battles that had taken place there tonight.

And thanks to having also marked Mercury prior to this night, it had used the now defeated man's 'signal' to mark the news station during its siege and break into its live feed, broadcasting on every single channel available.

And within the news station were almost all of the ancient magi now, save for Takehiko and Masami who remained at Beacon. Teams RWBY and JNPR were there as well now, after having transported the defeated Cinder and Celine there as well. Yuko, Hanako, and Mari had yet to arrive with Kalma in tow, but the four were on their way back at a steady speed when the transmission occurred.

As far as they all, along with the citizens of Vale and the world beyond, were concerned, all of the cameras and TVs in the news station and across the globe sprung to life, every single channel receiving and broadcasting for all to see what Gjallerhorn had recorded up until now.

And the ancient magi there at the news station, along with the teens, could only look at the screens in horror.

"N-No!" Miki, having been standing near the door to the broadcasting room, now exclaimed. She shakily walked up to the nearest screen and watched as a bird's eye view portrayed the battle she and Mari had had with Heracles, showcasing her using Tyrfing before the image flickered out briefly and switched to Masami's battle with Lugh, the former in the process of using Dansleif to try and cut Lugh down while the latter had used his Relic to ignite the trees around him, their mana clearly visible and showcasing the difference between it and aura.

In growing shock, everyone there and all around the world bore witness to the battles playing out on all possible TV outlets in complete silence. From the suburban city of Vale to the high class society of Atlas to the environmentally harsh plains of Vacuo to the farthest parts of Mistral, all saw the battles that had taken place tonight thus far.

Ryuichi and Indra activating their Turbulence modes to fight at speeds exceeding light. Surma using its All Dead ability to power up and fight Hanako and Yuko, the two fighting back bravely with clearly magical attacks. Lugh attempting to use his Relic to get past Masami's Brisingamen ability. Cinder unleashing Flame Haze Break, her Sharingan clearly visible while Daisuke teleported using his Field Changer orb. Morgan and Takehiko engaging in a battle of concept magic, the very space around them distorting and bending and breaking in impossible ways. Miki and Mari combing their magic to finally defeat Heracles.

All of these scenes and more played out on the screens before everyone across the globe in crystal clear detail, embedding themselves into the very minds and souls of everyone who watched, transfixed by the fantastical and terrifying sights that their hearts told them were completely real.

And with all of the ancient magi and teams RWBY and JNPR, all of them could only look upon the images playing out and silently despair.

For they had just been played like a fiddle into the enemy's hand.

Back with Naruto and Vidar, the latter had just explained a bit more about what he'd done. And as he'd hoped for, his explanation had been enough to shock the ultimate magus, enough to go as far as to suddenly look in the direction of Vale, his guard slack.

"Now hurry up and get him!" Surtur screamed from within Vidar.

And the man wasted no time in doing just that.

Gjallerhorn having fulfilled its task, Vidar used Naruto's current stupor to his advantage, concentrating as hard as he could upon his magical weapon. In turn, the weapon in question quickly changed positions, moving from far above the news station to the outskirts where the battle was taking place.

In the span of just a single femtosecond, Gjallerhorn had crossed the distance and maneuvered itself directly above Naruto.

And Vidar saw no point in putting this off anymore. "Fire! Maximum output!"

Gjallerhorn, from just out of orbit, responded to its wielder's command and an ocean's worth of mana was poured into the very tip of the weapon. Coalescing briefly, the magical beam was ready and it fired down upon the world below.

Naruto snapped out of his shock just as Vidar had spoken, but by then the beam had already accelerated to lightspeed, the very atmosphere around it distorting dangerously as this happened.

Naruto gritted his teeth. He could counter the beam easily enough, but to do so would require moving at a speed exceeding light, something that the world wouldn't be able to endure. So he had to settle for something else.

"Die Walkure!"

He spoke the two words just as the beam was little more than a foot above his head, now far too close for him to counter, the price he had to pay for choosing to focus on using Die Walkure.

But even as the beam struck him head on, with enough power to blow up the sun two times over, the real world remained unharmed.

For using Die Walkure, Naruto had been able to transport himself, Vidar, and the latter's magical weapon to another space, one that Vidar recognized from long ago when he'd been in Voluspa.

"Valhalla…?" he thought aloud, surprised.

That was where Naruto had transported them to, the purple colored space being more than tough enough to withstand the power of Gjallerhorn's attack upon Naruto just now.

To the man's surprise, it would seem as if his foe had done a little tinkering over the centuries with Valhalla. Before, from when he'd train in it, it was just a vast purple colored space. But now actual stars and what looked like a galaxy could be seen off in the unfathomable distance.

"Unbelievable…" Vidar thought as he took note of this. "Fenrir's power is great to even create solar systems, even galaxies!" For that was what he was looking up so far above them all, a swirling and unmistakable mass whose luminescence was so great that it could almost be mistaken for a sort of ultra massive sun in what should have been a noticeably dimmer space.

His rapt attention was broken when the smoke generated from the impact of Gjallerhorn's attack began to dissipate, revealing Naruto, who remained physically unharmed, with little more than slightly singed hair to show for it all and even that damage quickly disappeared as he healed immediately.

Naruto grimaced. That attack had hurt him a bit, not to mention that it destroy most of his button up shirt, revealing the long sleeve black shirt he always wore under it.

But his slight discomfort aside, he burned with an ever growing rage, his shock and disbelief from just a moment ago forgotten. Now all that mattered was finishing this battle as soon as possible so that he could go and see what would become of things.

Rearing back his right fist, ocean blue mana gathered within it and he looked upwards directly to Gjallerhorn. Although the magical weapon was too high up for even him to see with his heightened eyesight, he'd ascertained its location based on the beam's angle.

"First, to get rid of his support…" he thought.

Vidar, realizing immediately when Naruto was about to do, ran forward to stop him. Here within Valhalla, both of them could afford to go all out without fear of damaging the real world and it showed as Vidar ran forth at top speed, which exceeded the speed of light ten times over.

But even then, he still wasn't fast enough to get to Naruto in time. "Siegfried! 'No running allowed!'" he commanded, using the third absolute he gained from Tatsuya to create a new law for this space.

Immediately, it took effect and Vidar found himself suddenly reduced to a brisk walk against his will. "No!" he thought. "Surtur!"

From within, Surtur grunted in distaste, having anticipated something like this to happen. "Akashic Record!"

The law Naruto had just created was undone by Surtur's ability, which rewrote history so that it never happened. Vidar broke into a run yet again, but by then it was far too late.

Charging up his attack to its full power, Naruto aimed upwards and fired. "Fenris Wolf!"

Punching up, a huge blast of intense mana fired out at a dozen times the speed of light, a speed that Gjallerhorn could never begin to match, even as Vidar had silently commanded it to start moving away the instant he'd realized Naruto's intention.

But Naruto had also activated his Uroarbrunner rune, which allowed him to peer just a few seconds into the future and thanks to it, he'd become aware of Gjallerhorn's movements prior to just now and had adjusted his angle of fire accordingly.

His Fenris Wolf attack traveled high into the sky and struck its target, obliterating it in an explosion so great that it could destroy an entire solar system, if not for the fact that Naruto had adjusted it in such a way that it only affected its target.

Vidar swore aloud, his magical weapon destroyed just like that. But no matter, he intended to continue anyways. He'd just have to improvise.

He threw a punch at Naruto, aiming for his throat. But even though Naruto's attention was still visually directed skywards, his hearing and Uroarbrunner both alerted him to the attack. Without looking, he reached up and caught the attack by Vidar's wrist. Immediately, he squeezed hard with the intention of crushing said wrist, only for Vidar to easily rear back, sliding his entire hand out of Naruto's grip.

Leaping past Naruto, Vidar grabbed a hold of his entire arm and pulled downwards. He intended to break it off. Naruto shifted his footing the instant he felt himself being pulled and was able to remain standing and even proceeded to spin and slam his arm downwards into the ground of Valhalla with devastating force.

Alas, Vidar had let go and backed off the instant Naruto had countered the pulldown and circled behind him, unleashing one attack after another at him from behind.

Naruto ducked under the initial kick and took a step back, placing himself too close to Vidar for the man to properly attack, only for the man to have foreseen it and respond accordingly, taking a step back himself to launch a series of rapid punches. By then though, Naruto's Uroarbrunner allowed him to predict the entirety of Vidar's barrage and so with his back still turned to the man, he began to turn ever so slightly to his left, raising up his left elbow to deflect one blow before pivoting so that he was now face to face with his foe.

Launching an attack of his own, Naruto's right fist slipped in between Vidar's barrage and nearly struck the man in the gut. Instead, the blow only glanced him across the side as the target in question shifted his center of gravity just enough to easily slide right past while moving a bit forward.

Naruto, surprised somewhat, lashed out with a sudden kick that forced Vidar to block with his knee, otherwise his crotch would've been caved in. This in turn also had the secondary effect of forcing his assault to hastily end in addition to the kick being strong enough to knock him a hundred meters into the air at an angle.

Vidar spun in midflight so that he'd land on his feet.

Only for Naruto to do something about that. "Siegfried. 'gravity is suspended.'"

Vidar's falling halted with absolutely no warning and because of his spinning to ensure he'd land feet first, he was left ultimately looking like an idiot given that he now spun in place. With gravity no longer at work and with nothing to stop himself from spinning, he was completely open.

And Naruto took zero time in capitalizing on that. Affected by his own new rule as well, he all but levitated up into the air, having jumped just prior to the rule taking effect. As a result, he went smoothly flying towards Vidar's helpless form at his top speed, a dozen times the speed of light. As he neared, he decided that since the man seemed to be so knowledgeable on his ancestor, Tatsuya's, magical abilities, he might as well reacquaint the man with one of them.

"Gungnir!" Naruto yelled as an all too familiar sphere of crimson red mana appeared within his fist. The fourth and final absolute this his progenitor, once known as Odin, could use.

Striking Vidar right in the face with it, whatever scream of emotion and pain that the man might have been about to let out was cut off before it could truly begin and the blast had the result of blasting its target off into the far distance, easily more than six hundred kilometers and still going without stopping.

Until Surtur once more came to Vidar's rescue. "Akashic Record," he said from within.

Using it to undo both Naruto's law and his attack, Vidar went crashing to the ground at lightspeed, his face an absolute mess from the vicious attack. And yet he was still very much alive and conscious, his boosted regeneration immediately going to work.

Groaning marginally, Vidar skidded to a stop and began to stand, his face fully healed by the time he was back on his feet. He looked off into the distance from where he'd been launched, knowing that Fenrir was likely on his way right now.

He was right, but he'd gravely miscalculated the time it'd take the ultimate magus. Even with his top speed, it should've at least taken a yoctosecond, if only due to having to ascertain his crash location and then crossing the uncountable kilometers there.

But the distance proved little problem for Naruto.

"Die Walkure."

Using the absolute of space, Naruto simply shortened the distance vastly, enough so that with just a single step, he went from being where he was before to right up in Vidar's face.

The man hardly had the time to block the incoming punch, but he managed well enough to avoid having his face ruined a second time. Nonetheless, his hasty block was half-assed at best and so both of his hands, which he'd used to block, were fractured from the resulting impact.

"Fenris Wolf!" Naruto exclaimed, firing off his attack at half power at Vidar's exposed chest.

But a silent use of Akashic Record from Surtur got rid of the attack and allowed Vidar to stumble back without taking another hit.

Naruto inwardly groaned. He was coming to hate whatever trick it was Vidar was using to do this. And until he knew just what sort of ability he was dealing with here, he was hesitant to use Da Capo Zero directly on Vidar again, if only because having it blocked was something he didn't want to experience yet again.

That it was also capable of undoing his laws was another concern of his. But then again, none of the laws he's created so far directly affected it just yet…

"Siegfried: 'all magical abilities other than my own aren't allowed here!'" he commanded.

Immediately, he could feel the law take hold of Valhalla, becoming so integral a part of it that it was as if it's always been there since Valhalla's creation.

Vidar inwardly snickered as his hands healed. So Fenrir thought that would work, huh? From within him, he could feel Surtur's spirit share the bemusement.

"Akashic Record."

To Naruto's utter astonishment, he could literally feel his law disappear as the now familiar red rune from earlier appeared in front of Vidar, taking effect and undoing his Siegfried as if it was nothing.

His disbelief showed and it drew some pleasure out of Vidar and Surtur both. What Fenrir failed to understand was that Akashic Record, much like Fenrir's Da Capo Zero ability and Odin's Gungnir, was an ability that simply transcended all others, exclusive to the magus himself, not to some magical weapon. While it would still be possible for it to be trumped by other abilities, such as Da Capo Zero, against magical abilities such as Siegfried, it only worked if the gap in power between the users was large enough for the one being affected to not be able to overcome said gap.

And since the biju chakra/Dust mixture had vastly increased all of Vidar's and Surtur's abilities, the gap in power between him and Fenrir was now small enough that Akashic Record simply can't be constrained by something like simple concept magic. Not even the third absolute, Siegfried, could change this fact.

"Try all you want, Fenrir, you won't be able to restrain this ability," Vidar boasted, hoping to egg his foe on.

Naruto simply narrowed his eyes. "Maybe, maybe not… but I destroyed your magical weapon, so just what else can you do other than use that ability to save your own hide?" he retaliated easily.

Vidar suppressed a grimace at that, knowing that his opponent had a point. Although he'd trained long and hard for this night, he wasn't a fighter. Combined with the fact that Fenrir very much was and always will be a hardworking and experienced taijutsu genius in addition to said ultimate magus having an array of magical abilities to fall back on while he didn't, Vidar wasn't sure just what to do. The only thing he now had going for him aside from Surtur's Akashic Record was the fact that Fenrir couldn't use Da Capo Zero to return him to the state he was in prior to taking his biju chakra/Dust mixture. And even then, this was entirely reliant on Surtur using Akashic Record to counter Da Capo Zero, which in turn required extremely precise timing to negate.

In far fewer words, Vidar was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Just what other sort of options did he have at his disposal here?

"Let me take over, you dipshit," Surtur said from within. "It's clear that you can't win against him."

"And you think you'll do better?" Vidar thought. "You might've been affected by my mixture as well, but both you and I are about even in strength. How can you win when I can't?"

"For one thing, I actually know how to fucking fight. For another, I'm pretty damned determined to not die!" Surtur exclaimed to Vidar.

"You know, with how this battle is going," Naruto said, snapping Vidar out of his conversation with Surtur. "It kind of gives me the idea that maybe my friends aren't having as much of a problem with your Holy Knights as I originally thought. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if they didn't even have to use their most powerful abilities."

"…Just where are you going with this?" Vidar asked of Naruto, tensing up as Naruto calmly walked forward.

"Nowhere, really," Naruto admitted. It had just been a thought that occurred to him. For while his Da Capo Zero may be getting shut down by whatever Vidar's trick was, while his other magical abilities may not be of much use either against said same trick… it wasn't doing much to stop his physical assault, if his pummeling of Vidar so far was anything to by.

And although it wasn't perhaps right to compare his current situation with his friends', he knew them all well enough to know that if their opponents were equally underwhelming – in a sense, anyways – then they probably didn't have to use every single one of their abilities. Which in turn meant that they should all be alive and well still.

Vidar grimaced, picking up on his foe's current thoughts. He clenched his fists tightly, wanting to attack, but within Valhalla, he hesitated. It was literally enemy territory and he'd rather not rely on Akashic Record too often, otherwise Naruto would definitely start to catch on.

But then what was he to do?

Before he could continue to ponder this though, Naruto sighed. Reminding himself of the new circumstances arising, with the world now in the know on magic, he decided that he had to end this here and now. The sooner he beat Vidar, the sooner he could go back to Vale and see just what is going now.

"Da Capo Replication," he stated.

Using the very same rune he'd used against Roman, Naruto was summoned to Vidar's location, immediately crossing the rest of the distance between them in an instant.

Vidar, having not expected such a thing to occur, was ill prepared for Naruto's assault. A string of heavy blows, each aimed for his vitals, peppered him ruthlessly at full force. It took all he had to keep from screaming out in pain. From within him, he could even hear Surtur scream as well, but not from pain.

"God damn it, fight back!" Surtur roared at Vidar. Upon sensing no reply in the process, the man tsked. "Fine then."

Naruto landed one final hit on Vidar, a jab to his throat that sent him stumbling back. At the same time, he reared back his other fist and began to concentrate a great deal of mana within it.

Time to end this.

He forwent using Fenris Wolf and instead opted to use another move instead, one that was perhaps much more powerful than Fenris Wolf in every respect: Overlimit Gungnir, the very same move Tatsuya once used to all but decimate him during their battle centuries ago.

Surely, as he was now, the attack would be more than powerful enough to not be so easily stopped by whatever Vidar's ability was. And it also likely would be far too powerful and too fast for the man to stop in another way or dodge.

So with this thought staying in his mind, Naruto immediately fired the attack. "Overlimit Gungnir!"

And so the attack was launched with the swinging of his fist, an intense spear-like wave of crimson red mana, great enough to boil oceans and even kill the atmosphere.

It went sailing through the air towards Vidar at a speed that the man couldn't possibly hope to match, not in his current predicament, still coughing and wheezing and stumbling from Naruto's barrage.

The man's eyes could only widen in terror as he saw his death approach him…

…Only for his to never come.

"…Ah?!" Naruto looked on, genuinely stupefied as a flash of light so brief and so mild occurred that he almost mistook it as a trick that his own mind was playing on himself. But his shock only grew when he saw Overlimit Gungnir continue to go forward, not hitting anything as it went sailing off into the vast distance.

But Naruto's cry was done from more than just shock; it had been the result of some pain as well.

Reaching almost stiffly to his right shoulder, he pulled his left hand away just a second later and looked to it. Blood coated his fingers. Looking to his shoulder, he saw a large horizontal cut that wasn't on his shoulder an instant ago, the wound regenerating just as soon as he looked to it.

Then, as if on some sort of primitive instinct, he then turned around, sensing something there.

And he wasn't disappointed.

There, just little more than ten feet away, stood a man that hadn't been there before. Dressed in pitch black clerical-like clothing, modified for better movement, with a tattered crimson red cloak hanging over the man's form, he made for a rather intimidating figure. This was only made more so by the black gloves he sported, said items having an intricate design to them that matched the color of the cloak.

When the man turned, Naruto saw that he wore a mask of sorts that covered his face despite the cloak doing a good job of that already, dark eyeholes in the mask allowed Naruto to see the glowing blood red eyes that hid under it. A design similar to the ones on his gloves was also on the very front of the man's chest and it seemed to almost pulse with every movement he made.

And the sight of the design was enough to make Naruto's eyes widen. It was the exact same design as the mysterious red rune Vidar kept using.

"Heh, let your guard down there for a second, kid…" the masked man spoke, his voice deep and a little gruff. "To be expected whenever you do a big move like that. Shame I couldn't fully cut off your arm though."

The man then lifted his right hand to show the oddly shaped sword he held in it. Naruto's eyes then narrowed as he looked at the white colored blade, recognizing it as the one Yuko had mentioned Vidar wielding when he'd rescued Roman all that time ago.

"…Just who are you? Where's the other guy?" Naruto demanded as he fully turned to face the man.

"Oh, Vidar? He's resting right now. Serves the little bastard right though for trying to take you on like that; the shitbag never did know how to properly fight, not like you and I," the masked man spoke, chuckling a little. As he did so, Naruto noticed he wielded another sword in his left hand, this one being black in color, but was otherwise identical to the white one. "You'd think centuries of training and experimenting would've made him realize that fact."

"How about you answer my other question now. Who the fuck are you?" Naruto demanded, losing what little patience he had for this mysterious man.

His new foe tilted his head to the left, remaining silent for a moment. Combined with the wild look in his eyes and the ominous wave of mana trickling out of him, it certainly made for an unnerving sight, even for Naruto. Something felt serious off about this guy.

"Who I am, huh? Well, way back when I was young, my name was Iori. Nowadays, among the Holy Knights, I go by Surtur." The man then paused. Naruto could almost see the smirk hidden under the mask.

"But I'm sure you and the other 'ancient magi' know me by a different sort of name, courtesy of that bitch, Katsumi," he continued.

He then spread forth of his arms as he declared his name. "The Mage of Misfortune: Rogue Flame."

And that's that for now. Hope that was a good enough cliffhanger there for you guys.

And if you think that's the last big surprise, just you wait, I have at least 3 more in store for both you guys and the characters!

Until next time, everyone. Take care!