And here we are again! Next chapter! I sure hope it lives up to your expectations because now the battle truly begins!
Not much else to say other than that I hoped you've enjoyed the fic up until this point. If not, then I'm sorry to hear that, but understand fully (random guest review, I'm looking at you). But regardless, I hope you'll see it through to the very end!
Chapter 45
For Naruto, everything around him seemed to just grind to a sudden halt. Valhalla, so vibrant a purple in color, complete with uncountable stars and solar systems far out of reach, seemed to just lose its color, leaving everything for Naruto a dull shade of grey.
Such was the magnitude of his shock.
Rogue Flame? Was this man before him truly Rogue Flame? How could such a thing be possible? These were but a meager few of the questions that assault Naruto's mind right now.
And Iori, better known as Rogue Flame, didn't dare to waste the opportunity now being presented to him.
Naruto's guard had completely dropped as a result of what he'd said, the ultimate magus looking so utterly lost and detached right now. While Vidar would've likely allowed Naruto the time needed to mentally recover so that he may rub it in some more, Rogue Flame wasn't of the same mindset.
With a speed just a step above Vidar's, he lunged forward and cut Naruto across his neck with the blade in his left hand – named Chariowald Eins. Then, completing this, he spun and swung the white sword he held in his right hand – Chariowald Zwei.
But Naruto's body responded on instinct now and the man unconsciously dodged the second strike, just pivoting in the nick of time to have the white blade merely graze his stomach.
Rogue Flame merely chuckled darkly as he stepped right after him and performed an X-shaped attack with both blades, stepping past Naruto in the process.
Naruto's mind, so lost within shock, now came back to focus on reality just as an X shaped wound appeared on his chest, the cuts deep and blood splattering everywhere from the sheer force of the man's attack.
Shock gave way to indignant determination. The many questions Naruto now had could wait until later. Deciding on this, he immediately spun and threw a punch at the back of Rogue's head, but the man simply leaned forward, dodging it with a grace that was at a stark contrast with the savage way he'd performed his attacks.
Holding both blades that made up his magical weapon Chariowald in a reverse grip, Rogue Flame simply backpedaled right into Naruto, stabbing back with both of his blades.
Naruto sensed it coming though and leapt over him, lashing out with a sudden axe-kick that struck Rogue right in the front of his mask just as he passed over him. But he'd tensed for the blow ahead of time and had only been staggered back rather than outright sent flying like Naruto had hoped for.
Regaining his balance far quicker than Naruto would've liked, Rogue suddenly dived low at Naruto, slashing with Eins at the blond magus' feet and succeeded in cutting his Achille's heel. Naruto suddenly found it rather hard for him to stay upright, but the wound healed quickly enough for him to roll forward and avoid the second sword swing Rogue performed.
Rogue Flame laughed now, liking how their battle was already going.
Just by having stated his identity from the get-go, he'd managed to disturb Naruto's normally steel-like discipline in battle, having made him just slow enough now for him to land some strikes so far. Truly, this is how people should fight, not so grandiosely and stupidly like Vidar had been doing beforehand.
"I could've figured something out!" Vidar said rather vehemently from within Rogue Flame, the two having swapped places thanks to Rogue's emergence.
"Quiet, you! Time to let me do my song and dance, asswipe!" Rogue mentally barked back at Vidar before going on the offensive again.
He ran forth and then leapt lightly at Naruto, spinning horizontally for an instant before lashing out with a fierce spin kick. However, Naruto had activated his Uroarbrunner again and saw the move coming for his stomach long before Rogue had gotten close enough.
Moving back a few steps soundlessly, Naruto suddenly punched forward and unleashed a small magical blast, not unlike when he'd went against Adam Taurus. Only difference was that this time around he wasn't bothering with holding back; the blast he just fired was just a few steps below the sort of power he packed in an uncharged Fenris Wolf.
But to his amazement, Rogue simply swung Zwei, the white blade pulsing with crimson red mana, and cut right through the blast as if it was nothing. Even having foreseen this with Uroarbrunner, actually seeing it happen left Naruto feeling a little stupefied.
Rogue spun as he moved forward, extending his arms outwards and swinging both blades simultaneously. Just as Naruto reared back enough to dodge one blade, Rogue's forward movements would nearly ensure the following blade to hit him. Precisely three failed swings in, Rogue then stopped spinning and took a firm step forward, delivering an uppercut. With him still holding his blade in a reverse grip, he nearly succeeded in cutting Naruto wide open with Zwei, the ultimate magus dodging to the side to avoid it.
Naruto countered with a fierce punch, but Rogue guarded by simply bringing in Eins and using the flat side of the black blade to stop Naruto's fist. He gritted his teeth under his mask, Naruto's physical strength and technique still great enough to overcome his guard slightly, pushing Eins back a little.
"Right. Time to kick things up a notch," Rogue Flame then thought. He knew that Naruto was using Uroarbrunner. He could tell because he'd sensed a subtle shift in Naruto's mana reserves, which he could detect to a considerably greater degree than other magi.
Time to respond in kind.
So he activated his own precognitive ability: Reading Steiner. Much like Uroarbrunner, it allows Rogue Flame to peer just a few seconds into the future, allowing him to become aware of whatever his enemy would try in such a timespan. And also like Naruto's Uroarbrunner, it also allows him to predict his own movements and therefore give him what he needed to know to better place them.
Which he now demonstrated by perfectly blocking a brief three punch combo from Naruto, each blow exceeding light even in this short distance between them. Using both blades to block the blows, Rogue went for another uppercut, forcing Naruto to move back and giving him the time needed to suddenly switch to a normal grip with Zwei and bring it down upon Naruto.
But Naruto saw it coming with Uroarbrunner and proceeded to catch the blade just before it could get too close to his skull. The ultimate magus grunted, however, under the sheer strength of the swing. While he still held the physical advantage, Rogue Flame was still noticeably stronger than Vidar in every respect: strength, speed, sheer toughness, experience, technique… in their brief exchanges thus far, Naruto could tell that Rogue Flame was going to be a far tougher adversary than Vidar was.
This was a fact made more obvious by what Rogue did next. Knowing that Naruto's next move would be to twist the blade to the left and rip it out of his hand, Rogue actually let go of the sword and suddenly kicked at Naruto. But Naruto flung the blade aside and blocked the kick with his knee, though the sheer strength and precision of the attack was enough to send him skidding back.
Rogue Flame inwardly scoffed. He was liking the challenge so far, but it was slightly beginning to reignite within him a feeling he'd long since buried:
Worry.
Having been beaten and – in a sense – killed by Tatsuya all those centuries ago, the shinobi-turned-magus had been consumed by a fear unlike any other until that point, one great enough to honestly make him almost reconsider some things he's done.
But centuries had passed since then and whatever lesson he'd been on the verge of learning was lost to the passage of time. And when Vidar had taken that biju chakra/Dust mixture of his and the mixture had extended to even Rogue himself within the confines of Vidar's soul, whatever worries that had been plaguing him had all but vanished as he'd gained a power that could very well have put him on par with Tatsuya.
And yet here he was exchanging blows with that very man's descendant and, for all intents and purposes, successor as the ultimate magus. Although the battle was off to a good start for him so far, it was beginning to stir some bad memories.
Naruto was completely unaware of Rogue Flame's internal conflict. He was merely concerned with his own. Although he'd told himself that questions could wait until afterwards, he still couldn't help but ponder just how it was possible for Rogue Flame to still be alive. Having been told by Katsumi that he'd been killed by Tatsuya, it should literally be impossible for this man to still be walking the earth.
But on that note… could it really be said that Rogue Flame was alive? What with Vidar no longer being around while Rogue Flame clearly was, Naruto was willing to bet that Rogue Flame's appearance here was the result of some sort of full body takeover, one that allowed the man to fully manifest and use all of his power. Just how else could Vidar now be gone while Rogue Flame was here?
Naruto's train of thought was then derailed and violently so when Rogue Flame decided to make his next move. Tired of his own thoughts weighing him down, Rogue Flame dashed forward with Zwei at a low angle, aiming for Naruto's lower body.
Uroarbrunner still active, the ultimate magus predicted Rogue's diagonal slash at his right kneecap and acted accordingly, moving back his right leg enough to avoid the move. This was something Rogue had predicted as well with his Reading Steiner.
So he decided to follow up his physical one with something a bit more magical. "Akashic Record!"
Using his own cheat level ability, Rogue changed history so that Naruto never moved at all. As a result, even the ultimate magus, with Uroarbrunner activated, was unable to dodge the sudden punch Rogue then lashed out with, impacting against the kneecap with island shattering force. Then he jumped upwards, slashing Naruto across the torso vertically with Zwei.
Only for the blond to merely hiss in response to the two hits and return the favor by way of hitting Rogue across the side of his face with a vicious haymaker, an attack that was unlike the more precise and powerful blows he favored.
But Naruto wasn't done just yet.
Grabbing hold of the cloak Rogue wore, he yanked the man back towards him and kicked him hard enough in the side to hear something rupture before landing a final blow in the form of a punch that struck him right in the side of the neck.
Skidding across the ground of Valhalla at tremendous speed, Rogue seemed almost unbothered by what'd happened and simply rolled to a stop, landing feet first and then looking up from the ground towards the direction Naruto lied in.
Only to see the blond in question merely feet away from him.
Having used Da Capo Replication to immediately teleport to Rogue, Naruto was already in the midst of launching a precise barrage of blows that would destroy the man's organs from internal damage alone.
But Rogue merely sneered maniacally and with Reading Steiner was able to repel each blow with a combination of Zwei and his own left hand. Then spotting an opening, he shoved Naruto back and used Akashic Record yet again.
Instead of using it on Naruto, however, Rogue Flame instead used it to call back Eins to him, just as he was in the midst of swinging his fist down at Naruto in a sword swinging motion. The blade reappeared in his hand just as it was well within range of Naruto too, so even with Uroarbrunner, it wasn't an attack that he could completely dodge.
But while dodging it was out of the question, that didn't mean he couldn't avoid it in some other way. Raising his right arm up at an angle, Naruto smacked the back of his right fist against the side of Eins just as it descended while he took a step forward so that the rest of his raised arm would pressed against Rogue's swinging arm. This result in Rogue's swing being deflected so powerfully that he not only ended up missing Naruto, but even overextended his reach, slashing at the ground when the end of his sword arc should've barely went past Naruto's waist.
Naruto then dashed past Rogue, kicking at the very back of his legs from behind in the process and was rewarded with the man slipping back and falling. But Rogue merely placed his hands on the ground and pushed off, performing an elegant back flip that left his cloak swishing about in the air as he narrowly avoided the follow up axe-kick Naruto had then performed.
Naruto's heel smashed into Valhalla's ground with tremendous force, enough to make a large part of the area to rumble violently. But Rogue was able to land smoothly on his feet without trouble and look at Naruto viciously.
From within him, Vidar grumbled. "So even you appear to be having some trouble… what shall be done now?" the man slightly griped.
Rogue inwardly hissed. "We're only barely getting started. Now stay quiet, because now shit is about to really go down!" he mentally yelled at the man, disliking his small interruption.
Said interruption was enough to stall Rogue long enough for Naruto to follow up on his failed attack. "Die Walkure!"
Using Die Walkure to manipulate space, he made the distance between the two of them much greater than it actually was, which would slow Rogue down a bit should he try something. But Naruto wasn't done just yet. His eyes flashing briefly, he then used Siegfried. "'Swords aren't allowed in this space!'"
Rogue Flame's attention was back on Naruto in a flash and he grimaced a bit as he could literally feel Chariowald grow heavy, if only in a figurative sense; he'd be unable to properly move, let alone fight with them with this new law. But he fixed this new problem instantly.
"Akashic Record!" he exclaimed.
Immediately, the new law ceased to be and Rogue felt the figurative weight upon his magical weapon disappear as well. But Naruto had simply done this to keep him a little busy.
"Fenris Wolf!" During the brief time Rogue had to deal with the law had been all the time Naruto himself had needed to power up his signature move to full power. He launched it forth the instant after Rogue Flame had used Akashic Record, leaving himself open just a bit.
With Die Walkure still in effect, it'd be next to impossible for Rogue to move out of the way in time to dodge the attack. Such was the extent of what Naruto had done.
But Rogue decided to up the ante now that Naruto was beginning to use magic again. Raising Eins high up, crimson red mana surged through the blade as Rogue prepared his own attack. And just before Fenris Wolf could strike him, he managed to fully charge up what he had in mind.
"Midgard Wolf!" The jewels embedded in Eins' hilt glowed ominously as the sword's wielder took a step forth, swinging the blade at a horizontal angle whilst stepping just a bit to his right. A wave of crimson mana was unleashed from the slashing motion and the magus was rewarded with the sight of his own magical attack actually cutting through Naruto's Fenris Wolf.
"What?!" Naruto's eyes went wide, not comprehending what he'd just seen. At full power, his Fenris Wolf could easily destroy a solar system and then some, yet Rogue's attack was able to cut through the magical blast as if it was a physical thing.
Rogue watched as the attack then dissipated after being sliced, sweating slightly under his mask for the two halves of Fenris Wolf had been about to strike him in the face just prior to its dissipation. Then he smirked.
Midgard Wolf. His main offensive magical ability. Much like how Naruto channeled vast amounts of mana into a fist and launched it forth to create Fenris Wolf, Rogue could do the same with either of his blades. However, unlike Fenris Wolf, where mana was compressed into a magical blast of god-like power, the mana he channels into Midgard Wolf is unleashed through the actual blade of his magical weapon, allowing for a much more focused effect. This is why, despite being weaker than Fenris Wolf, his Midgard Wolf was able to cut through the attack and ultimately cancel it out.
It also had another property to it that was also similar to what Naruto could do as well with his own attacks.
Rogue dashed forward, channeling mana into his other blade, Zwei. Naruto's eyebrows all but retreated into his hairline and with reason; the distance between them that he had expanded had now been returned to normal, meaning Rogue was getting awfully close faster than he'd liked.
But his surprise only lasted for the briefest of instances and he too dashed forward to meet Rogue's challenging gaze. Seeing Rogue about to perform his attack again, Naruto responded in kind…
…By preparing two attacks.
"Surtur! Retreat!" Vidar exclaimed loudly within Rogue's mind, calling him by his codename.
And for once, Rogue didn't have a fierce reply to Vidar's words. He even considered his advice.
For in Naruto's reared back right hand was a coalescing of ocean blue mana: Fenris Wolf. And in Naruto's left hand gathered rapidly crimson red mana that promised only destruction: Overlimit Gungnir.
But alas, the two of them were already about to literally crash into each other head on. The opportunity to pull back was long gone for Rogue and at their speed, it'd be impossible for him to use Akashic Record in time to change things.
As for Naruto, though, this didn't quite apply to him. Still holding the advantage in physical ability, his reflexes were likewise still superior to Rogue Flame and he demonstrated this by using yet another move.
"Das Rheingold!" Naruto yelled, using the absolute of form just as they both took another step forward.
In response to his action, a rock-like material formed in front of Rogue's right foot just as he'd taken the step forward with said foot. As a result, he ended up tripping right over the new object and his cloak nearly flew off of him as he stumbled forward.
Rogue's concentration broken and for sure with no way of guarding himself, Naruto took that last step forward and struck.
Both Overlimit Gungnir and Fenris Wolf struck Rogue Flame head on, the two different colored attacks, equal in power, striking their target in his chest.
The very space around the two shuddered and heaved under the force of the twin blows. A purple shockwave born from the excess mana of both magical attacks was generated and traveled all across Valhalla at nearly fifteen times the speed of light, collapsing stars and destroying vast portions of solar systems within the far off distance.
When the shockwave ceased and things began to return to a more normal state, Naruto could be seen standing alone in the spot where he'd struck Rogue Flame, his fists literally sizzling from the immense amount of mana he'd put into the attack.
Naruto's senses remained sharp, on the lookout for any sign of Rogue Flame, but discovered none. Had his double blow truly been able to kill the man? As he'd struck Rogue Flame, he could see and feel the man's entire body being completely enveloped by the attacks and being destroyed atom by atom in the process.
That in mind, there should be no way that he should be alive anymore. But likely this is what many thought long ago when he'd gone up against Tatsuya and yet Rogue somehow lived through that well enough, it had seemed. So there was no telling what could happen.
Still, sensing nothing, Naruto reluctantly looked up to the ruined space above and frowned slightly. It would seem that his double blow had caused significant damage to Valhalla. Anymore damage dealt like that and it'd definitely collapse.
"Da Capo Zero," Naruto then said as he raised his left hand upwards, the ocean blue rune appearing and taking effect, the destroyed stars being brought back while the ravaged solar systems became whole again.
However, little did the ultimate magus know, the damage he'd caused with Overlimit Gungnir and Fenris Wolf was much more extensive than he'd have thought.
For in the real world, everyone all across the world could only look up in complete silence and watch as Naruto had used Da Capo Zero.
"What…" Glynda began hesitantly, she and Ozpin looking out of the latter's office window and up into the sky. The normally stern faced woman wore an expression of both awe and terror, Naruto's double attack having shown through to the entirety of Remnant near the end just now, a wave of power having washed over everyone and letting catch just a glimpse of the power Naruto possessed.
Although the deputy headmistress' question had gone unfinished, Ozpin seemed to understand what she'd wanted to ask and answered in a low, almost reverent voice, the sight that had occurred just now having shocked him to his very core. "I believe that whatever Naruto had done had damaged some sort of dimensional wall between this world and the one he's in… it's the only way that we could be seeing something like this," he reasoned quietly.
Although he wasn't exactly the most knowledgeable person on magic and how things such as magical dimensions worked, Ozpin was more or less right; whenever a space such as Valhalla or Ai Space or Robotics Space is created, a sort of figurative 'wall' is placed in between it and the real world in order to keep the created space and the real world from literally overlapping one another. This is why any damage done to the environment within a created space is never carried over to the real world or vice versa, why people all across the world are never hurt or much less made aware of any battle occurring within the likes of Ai Space or Valhalla.
However, Naruto's twin attacks had been of such overwhelming power that it had damaged that 'wall' greatly. Not enough for anything done in Valhalla to affect Remnant, but enough for the battleground to become an almost visible thing in the sky above, looking almost like some kind of mirage playing out above everyone, only it was far too real to ever be considered that.
And this was something that had everyone in the news station worried. "He's okay…!" Miki whispered to herself happily, her hands clenching into fists as she tried to keep her cool. Given how powerful her husband was, she honestly couldn't fathom why she'd been so worried before, but now seeing Naruto as he is, she felt much better.
Still, the damaged space had her and the others feeling worried, especially when considering what had already happened; the revealing of their battles to the whole world. It was only thanks to this sudden sight of Naruto in the sky above that people most likely haven't started doing anything just yet; Naruto's strike had simply grabbed their attention that much.
"But just what happened?" Ruby asked quietly, sounding as if she had just woken up from some kind of dream. Her friends all sported similar looks. Thanks to their sixth sense being more attuned to magic now than normal people, they'd gotten a much better sense of the power Naruto had unleashed just now and it had left them all feeling extremely quiet.
"Don't know…" Ryuichi spoke up now, peering up at the sky.
All of them had moved to the rooftop as soon as they'd sensed Naruto's attack, save for Hanako and Mari, who both remained within the news station to watch over Celine, Cinder, Mercury and the others that they've rounded up since then. Jaune had remained inside as well, keeping an eye on his sister as well as having been rendered all but inert yet again when Mari, Hanako, and Yuko – who was also on the roof now quietly – had brought in Kalma, the sight of the girl having all but sent Jaune spiraling in a state of stillness that unnerved the Faunus girl.
Even with what was going on now, Jaune seemed to pay it no mind and Kalma was far too caught up in her own silent and now overbearing worries to focus on anything else other than Jaune.
Back on the rooftop, Yuko now spoke up. "From the looks of things, he'd been fighting someone; his dress shirt is gone," she commented softly, pointing up as if to draw attention to it.
Indeed, when everyone looked, Naruto's grey dress shirt was gone to reveal the black long sleeve shirt he always wore under it. Judging by the slight wear and tear of the shirt and his pants, it now became clear that someone had given him some trouble…
But just who could've possibly done that?
"Hey, something's happening!" Yang suddenly exclaimed, interrupting everyone's simultaneous train of thought.
Pointing upwards at what she saw, everyone followed her finger to the sight now taking place. They all held their breath as did everyone else watching what was going on all across the world.
The battle was far from over, it'd seem.
Back within Valhalla, this was something Naruto thought as well, the blond magus' eyes focused on something that most definitely hadn't been there just a moment ago.
Some sort of strange crimson red thing appeared just several feet away. Whatever it was, it wasn't quite a solid, let alone physical, thing. No, the enraptured Naruto thought it was much more ethereal in nature, something that couldn't actually physically be interacted with.
Yet nonetheless, he tried to do just that and violently so.
Rearing back his left fist, ocean blue mana gathered within it and he silently fired off Fenris Wolf at the strange sight before him.
But it was too late.
"Akashic Record!" called out a disembodied voice, one that Naruto had now familiarized himself with.
And what came next shook him to his core.
An all too familiar crimson red rune appeared and had exactly two effects. The first was to undo Fenris Wolf, altering history so that it never even happened. The second thing was to properly restore the strange sight to a much more physical and familiar one.
"God damn it…" Rogue Flame muttered as he took form yet again. "That'd been way too close!"
He'd nearly died again. The only reason why he was still alive was one of his final abilities, a passive one named Double Stock.
Call it what you will: a soul, a spirit, some strange remnant of the mind, an otherwise disembodied self… Double Stock would always keep it – in the shape of that strange red sight from just now – intact should his body ever be destroyed. No matter what sort of attack killed off his physical body, no matter how completely the destruction was, his disembodied self would survive. And from such a reduced state, he could use Akashic Record to simply undo the obliteration of his body, returning him to life so to speak.
It was this rune that had ultimately allowed him to survive against Tatsuya all that time ago. Tatsuya, having not known about Double Stock, had left the area in grief afterwards and so Rogue had been able to take his disembodied self to somewhere else in the immediate aftermath of the one-sided battle.
Truly, it was a most helpful rune, but it had its drawbacks. For one thing, it only kept his spirit, to use a very common term, intact for a certain amount of time. As the dead shouldn't logically remain in the world of the living, the world itself fights against the existence of his very spirit, forcing it to try and depart from it. As such, Rogue couldn't simply remain as a sort of ghost indefinitely. At the most, he could remain in such a state for a week before his disembodied self ceases to exist in the face of reality.
For another thing, even in such a state, he still needed the mana necessary to use Akashic Record, meaning that should he ever exhaust his mana reserves to an extent where Akashic Record couldn't be used, then he'd be stuck in that spirit-like state until he recovers enough power to use his main ability. Unfortunately for him, another drawback was that the more rundown he was prior to his physical death, the less time he could still exist as a spirit in the world.
And at the time of his 'battle' with Tatsuya, he'd already used up a good portion of his mana reserves during his rampage, his power high having eroded all senses of caution he'd had prior to his awakening as a magus. He'd fully depleted himself in his futile attempt to survive against Tatsuya and had Vidar not come by several hours later and had allowed his spirit to rest within him to regain his strength, then Rogue's spirit wouldn't have lasted until the end of that night all those centuries ago.
That had been, without a doubt, the closest he had ever come to dying and it had haunted him greatly. Even now, despite having more than enough mana at his disposal to keep fighting for days on ends, the destruction of his physical body had been equally enough to bring these unwanted memories to the forefront of Rogue's mind.
And it was all Rogue needed to reignite his temper. "You fucker…" he growled at the stunned Naruto. He stood up, his grip on his blades tightening. "You have any damn idea how painful it is to have your own body destroyed?!" he roared irrationally.
"Calm down!" Vidar exclaimed from within. He'd been shaken up as well by what had occurred, his spirit now being the one to reside within Rogue Flame, but even then he'd done his best to keep his calm. Something that his always fiery ally had trouble doing. "The instant you let your anger get the best of you, we'll both die for real. So fight smart."
Rogue's teeth gnashed violently, making the man look like some kind of rapid animal even with his mask still on. His crimson red eyes glowed brightly with mana as he glared at Naruto. For all of his bloodlust and love of battle, being near death like that was something that had always shook him up badly, rattled his emotions like no tomorrow.
And it must've shown through in his gaze or something, for Naruto seemed to finally snap out of his stupor and took a step forward, his guard now back up. For an entire minute, Naruto didn't seem to say anything and instead sized up Rogue without any visible emotion.
Then.
"I guess even you're afraid of dying," the blond commented almost dryly.
The obvious remark made Rogue seethe a little and he savagely took a swing at Naruto with Zwei at his top speed.
But Naruto reared his head back to avoid it and countered with a fierce punch that was then deflected by Eins. Rogue suddenly went on an extreme offensive, getting up in Naruto's face and swinging both of his blades at every little opening he spotted. Even in his clearly maddened state, his many years of training and experience never left the man, each swing as savage as it was paradoxically graceful.
Yet Naruto managed to avoid every swing masterfully, having finally gotten used to Rogue's way of fighting and using his more wild state of mind to predict the attacks without the use of Uroarbrunner.
Seeing this, Rogue then stopped and took a step before suddenly unleashing Midgard Wolf, swinging Zwei upwards at Naruto's neck.
Naruto leapt back a fair distance to avoid the swing and started firing relatively weak magical blasts at Rogue, but a silent usage of Akashic Record dealt with his attacks while allowing Rogue to immediately advance forward without issue.
Closing the distance instantly, Rogue swung Eins at Naruto's side, but Naruto then used Das Rheingold to create a shield to block the strike. It was a testament to Rogue's strength, however, as his vicious swing broke through the shield in spite of failing to hit Naruto.
"Die Walkure!" Naruto then said as Rogue launched another swing, this time aiming low, for Naruto's left foot. Rather than use Die Walkure to alter distance, he used it this time to immediately alter direction, making it so that Eins ended up pulling an impossible U-turn and stab its wielder in his upper calf muscle.
Rogue roared in surprise and slight pain, only for that to immediately change to rage. Now all of a sudden, Naruto was playing him and it only added to the metaphorical fire that his near death experience just now had ignited.
Using Akashic Record, he undid Naruto's use of Die Walkure just as he swung his other blade at Naruto's midsection. However, Naruto merely caught the blade in between his knee and right elbow, stopping the strike cold. Then he pushed back fiercely, forcing Rogue back and then struck him with a straight kick as soon as he let go of the blade.
The attack connected and it knocked the enraged magus back several meters, but he remained on his feet through practiced skill and sheer stubbornness.
Dashing around Naruto suddenly thereafter, Rogue circled the ultimate magus who in turn had taken up a more defensive stance in the process. He kept this up for roughly ten seconds before finally lashing out. "Midgard Wolf!" he yelled out as he suddenly broke his circle and charged at Naruto, Zwei glowing brightly with intense mana.
Only for his attack to be stopped cold in his tracks.
"Da Capo Zero," Naruto then muttered, activating his main magical ability for the first time in what felt like hours for him.
Having not expected the usage of Da Capo Zero, Rogue failed to use Akashic Record in time to counter it and so faster than his mind could comprehend, he was reverted to his starting position, his attack no longer in progress. This gave Naruto all the time he in turn needed to launch a normal Gungnir at Rogue, which the man was able to block with both of his blades.
However, the power of the magical strike proved to be too much for his blades to handle and they were destroyed barely a femtosecond after Gungnir hit its mark. Rogue roared as the attack then pushed its way past the microscopic fragments of Chariowald and hit Rogue dead on in his stomach.
Valhalla, in its weakened state, was violently rocked for miles on end as Rogue Flame was blown back an unfathomable distance, Naruto having to use Da Capo Replication to immediately teleport after him even as his foe rocketed onwards.
It wasn't until many miles later that Rogue Flame finally began to lose some momentum and he went crashing into the ground, skipping like a stone until he eventually stopped.
When Naruto teleported to his location, it was just in time to bear witness to the sight of Rogue trying to stand back up, but slowly and in obvious pain. Gungnir had destroy part of his clerical clothing to reveal the badly damaged area of his stomach, a burning wound there from where Gungnir had impacted.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Rogue swore over and over as he stood, his knees shaking in the process. While he still had plenty of mana left to continue fighting, the damage he'd taken just now was still taking its toll on him, even with his enhanced regeneration, which now kicked in and healed his wound to reveal an unblemished and well-muscled torso. He let out a tsk as he then silently used Akashic Record to repair his clothing, now making him look as if he'd been unhurt at all.
Of course, Naruto knew better and would've still known better even if he hadn't been standing here to witness this. "…It's over, Rogue Flame," he began. "You definitely put up a better fight than your buddy, whose body I'm assuming you're currently borrowing, but this is as far as it goes."
Rogue scoffed. "You think just because you're now the one landing the most hits that it's over? We've still got a lot more fighting to do!"
He raised his arms, about to use Akashic Record to restore his magical weapon and attack, but two sudden magical blasts from Naruto stopped him, the attacks striking his open palms and nearly blowing his arms back. "Gah!"
"…As much as I'd like to make sure you die for good, it'd be a hell of a lot better to actually bring you in," Naruto commented. "You going to come quietly?"
While such a statement would certainly sound stupid when taken out of context, it made a fair bit of sense. If the stories Katsumi had told him so long ago were completely true – and she definitely had no reason to lie or exaggerate – then Rogue Flame was a man who'd bring about death and destruction simply for the hell of it if given the chance. So to kill him would definitely be a good thing to do, something even those most opposed to killing would likely agree with even if only because he was far too powerful now to be locked up anywhere.
However, Naruto still didn't know just how the man had survived both Fenris Wolf and Overlimit Gungnir. To simply hit him again with such a magnitude of power and leave would risk the man recovering yet again and bringing ruin to all at the next best chance he got. In such a scenario, the death toll would likely reach an extreme high before anyone could properly bring him down.
Naruto would rather not take that risk. So for now, he'd have to bring the magus into custody and then try to figure out what else he may have up his sleeve before he could be properly 'disposed of.' That way, if or when came the time to kill him, he'd know for certain that Rogue wouldn't be able to survive the attempt.
Naruto did, however, suppose that his ultimate trump card could kill the man for good, but he'd rather not use it unless it was absolutely necessary…
His train of thought was interrupted by a harsh laugh from Rogue. "Come quietly? Like hell I will!" Rogue Flame now stood up to his full height, just standing an inch and half shorter than Naruto. "You want to bring me in, you're going to have to do it the hard way, you little shit."
Naruto stared at the man, his defiance all but smacking him in the face. "Just why are you so eager to keep fighting?" Naruto suddenly asked. He could understand the man's bloodlust; he and his friends have met more than a few people over the years who simply enjoy making everything and everyone around them burn… but Rogue's actions in this fight so far hinted at something a little deeper than that. His attacks were simply far too savage and filled with malice to be the result of mere battle lust.
"…Because you fucking exist," Rogue said a few seconds later in a much more mellow voice.
His four words were enough to take Naruto completely by surprise. "What?"
Rogue chuckled. "You know, back when I was just some grunt shinobi, everything had just been so… dull. Day after day, I was told to do a bit of this or a bit of that… same shit, different day. A lifetime of fucking monotony. Until we discovered the existence of magic at the time. Then the Fimbulvinter War took off.
Ha, can you imagine how things were like back then? I'd always felt like something big was missing in my life at that point, something that could break up the shitty repetitive nature of my life. And I was right, cause when the war started and I was being sent everywhere to fight magi, I learned for the first time… just how fucking fulfilling it was to fight something unknown. Before that, I was just sent to deal with bandits and other scum, no challenge whatsoever. Even the shinobi I was sent to deal with on missions never cut it. A little ninjutsu here and some more there… everything was all the same until magic came into the picture. And man, when I got my hands on one of those OOParts and discovered I was a magus too… I practically cried in joy," Rogue continued, rambling really, but Naruto couldn't find it in him to stop the man.
Rogue continued. "God, all of that fucking power I had… it felt fantastic. No longer did I have to bend over for others to keep doing the same shit over and over. Now, thanks to magic, I had the power to do what I want, when I wanted: to burn the whole shitty world to the ground. But then…" He grimaced here, angrily so. "Your damned progenitor came into the picture. I'd thought I was king of the world until he showed up and demonstrated to me just what 'power' truly was… it terrified me."
Naruto's eyes went a little wide at those last three words. Rogue Flame never struck him as the kind of person to ever admit something like that.
"Even now, after a good millennium, I still can't help but feel uneasy whenever I think of that bastard. What a fucking demon he was, to have so much power at his fingertips…" Rogue then pointed at Naruto. "And now here you are, here you fucking are, with even more power than him. And just like him, with you around… I can't just sit idly by when I know you'll be around to keep me pinned down…"
Naruto finally seemed to be catching onto what Rogue Flame was trying to say. "…You're telling me that Tatsuya ji-san and I… what? That we're somehow oppressing you? Suffocating you like your superiors did or something?"
"Heh… something like that. I was just some grunt for so long, just having to abide by the rules of everything… that when I finally gained freedom through magic, well… you really think I'd be willing to just let someone else try and contain me again?" Rogue finished.
Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Katsumi was right… you ARE a lunatic. A child too, not to mention irrational."
Rogue merely snorted. "Never said I was normal, right?" He said this a little jokingly, but then took on a much more serious tone. "You, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze," he began, spitting out Naruto's full name. "Are a threat to me, to my freedom. You also just so happen to be a symbol of my own fear, as much as I hate to admit it… so just like how my pal Vidar wants to achieve his own goal by getting rid of you guys, I want to achieve my own! I'm going to burn this entire world down however the hell I want to and you're not going to be getting in my way anymore! I'll be free of my fear and be free to do as I please!" Crimson red mana erupted from all around Rogue as he proclaimed this.
But Naruto remained unfazed. "In the end, you really are a psychopath, nothing but a walking mass of jumbled thoughts and self-justifications…" he muttered just loud enough for Rogue to hear. Naruto's fists clenched tightly, preparing to take the man down for good. "End of the line then… for you anyway."
Rogue sneered under his mask. "You really do think you have this won, don't you? Heh, I'd actually agree with you on that, but not so much under the current circumstances; I still have one final card left to play."
"Iori…" Vidar now spoke, using Rogue's true name to get his attention. Vidar sounded both confused and greatly worried, Rogue's emotions so strong right now that it was literally rubbing off on him a bit. A pity then, that Vidar hadn't realized this before; that Rogue's emotions had been influencing for much longer than just now. "You can't mean to use your final magical ability?"
"Oh, but I do…" Rogue mentally replied.
"On who? Fenrir is too powerful for it to be used on. And as you can clearly see, we're the only ones here…" Vidar continued, a sudden sense of dread filling him.
"…Seiji," Rogue then muttered aloud, catching both Vidar and Naruto off guard. The former more than the latter, since Rogue hadn't used Vidar's true name in a very long time.
Rogue then smirked without remorse. "It's been kind of fun… but it's time for you to go."
From within, Vidar – no, Seiji – gasped in horror. "Iori, don't do th-!"
But it was too late, for Rogue just went and did it.
His hands glowing a mixture of both crimson red and pitch black mana, Rogue slammed both hands onto his chest, making sure to nail his heart as he did so.
Forbes Blutgang. That is the name of Rogue Flame's final magical ability as well as the one that earned him his title. With this ability, the life force, knowledge, and power of whoever is on the receiving end is taken from them and is added to Rogue Flame. Then immediately after the drain has occurred, the victims' bodies are immediately lit aflame, their bodies burning nightmarishly into ashes.
It is this ability that he had used to ultimately burn down all of the villages he'd rampaged through more than a millennium ago.
And now, he was using it on himself. Or rather, on Seiji since it was his body that he was using as a medium.
Rogue Flame's entire form was enveloped in flames that seemed to come from the deepest pits of hell as Seiji screamed from within him. Within the span of just a femtosecond, all of Seiji's life force and power, vastly enhanced by the mixture he'd created, was drained from him and added directly to Rogue's own. Every last bit of knowledge he'd ever obtained throughout his long life became Rogue's own.
And as his very soul withered and died within, the body that had once been Seiji's own now permanently became Rogue's, his form becoming more pronounced and solid as it recognized Rogue's spirit as its own.
With a bloodcurdling roar of pained triumph, Rogue glared viciously at the utterly stunned Naruto, who could only watch slackly at what had just happened, not comprehending Rogue's action.
As all of Seiji's power and life force flowed through him, his veins all but pulsating now with unfettered mana, Rogue used Akashic Record to immediately restore his magical weapon.
Under his mask, he grinned maniacally and then laughed, his voice sounding inhumanly distorted. "Now then…" He began.
"Ready for the final round?"
Hope this chapter proved to be more suspenseful than the last. If not, then I can definitely guarantee that things will be even crazier in the next chapter.
On that note, the next chapter may very well be a long one… in all honesty, I'm not quite sure just how long it'd be, but the way I have things planned in my head, it'll likely be more lengthy than this one, if only due to how much content I want to stuff in it. Look forward to it!
Until next time, everyone! Take care!