Here it is, everyone: the final battle! Can't believe this fic has come this far. It certainly took longer to complete than the prequel though, which is kind of a shame for me; I'd been hoping to take less time on this fic than I did on the God Slaying Wolf, but alas that's just how the cookie crumbles, I suppose.
Hope you enjoy! And as this will be the last chapter prior to Christmas, Merry Christmas!
P.S. The finales to Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry and One Punch-Man were simply amazing! Especially the latter; Madhouse truly outdid themselves!
Chapter 46
Back in the real world, everyone could only watch through the still fractured dimensional wall as Rogue Flame powered up. And the sight of this was enough to bring about horror in the ancient magi.
"Naruto!" Miki nearly screamed as she watched Rogue, empowered and emboldened, go on a vicious offensive that Naruto was unable to immediately defend against.
"…This guy got even stronger!" Ryuichi muttered through gritted teeth as he watched.
"W-We have to do something, right?!" Ruby, the closest one by Ryuichi, then exclaimed.
"We can't though… we have no way of getting into Valhalla unless Naruto summons us via Da Capo Zero," Yuko responded grimly, the red eyed woman frowning deeply.
Meanwhile, below them all, the shouts of the many people watching the battle as well rang out. Evidently, everyone else watching the battle taking place above were able to determine that Rogue was hardly a good person and therefore feared for Naruto, if only instinctively.
"Just how can everyone else even see what's going on?" Ren reluctantly spoke. He didn't wish to do so, for his thoughts currently dwelled on something, but alas he felt he had to bring it up. "On that note, just how can we even see what's going on? They're moving faster than light, aren't they?"
Indeed, the speed of both Naruto and Rogue Flame should be far beyond the ability of teams RWBY and JNPR to even remotely keep track of, much less view every action like this. Even the other ancient magi would have a great deal of trouble tracking such speed, even Ryuichi. However, it seemed like every single one of them, including the citizens of Vale and everyone else across the globe, could see what was going on, with Rogue viciously assaulting Naruto physically with a whirlwind of slashes with Chariowald.
"It's because of the dimensional wall," Hanako then explained softly. "Because time works at a slightly slower pace in Valhalla – thanks to master so that he can train a little longer there all the time – it's allowing us all to see everything since it's been 'slowed down' for us. Though the damage done to the 'wall' in between Valhalla and this world is the main cause for us seeing this so clearly…"
Hanako's fists tightened. It was clear that she wished to go to her master's side, but she couldn't. As Yuko pointed out, only Naruto could call forth any of them there via Da Capo Zero.
"That aside, there has to be something we can do," Blake then stated from her spot nearby.
"There's nothing that can be done; all we can do is just watch and wait until Naruto probably summons us," Miki admitted with great reluctance, pain etched into her beautiful features as she had no choice but to watch as her husband got pummeled. She grabbed the hem of her dress with both hands and clenched tightly, trying to keep herself from trying anything rash. She was succeeding, but only barely.
Ryuichi slowly placed a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder, willing her to remain strong.
But that was pretty hard to do when his closest friend, who he'd thought unbeatable, was now being beaten.
And so, all he and the others could do was just grit their teeth in silence. And wait.
Meanwhile, within Valhalla, Naruto found himself not fairing as well as before.
"Gah!" he cried out as Rogue jabbed him in the side with the hilt of Eins before being stabbed with Zwei. He tried to mount a proper counter, tried to raise his arms and deflect the next strike so that he could respond with his own attack, but was unable to. Thanks to using Forbes Blutgang to obtain Vidar's power, Rogue's speed was almost twice what it was before and was now much faster than Naruto was.
Laughing like a madman, Rogue continued his offensive. Pulling back both blades, he suddenly kicked Naruto harshly in the side, shattering his ribs with a precise knee strike before hitting him with his other knee, nailing him right in the chest. When the blow succeeded in knocking Naruto back several feet, Rogue then charged and grabbed hold of Naruto's left leg and suddenly pulled it upwards as he raised his lowered body.
The angle of Rogue's grab, combined with his momentum and increased strength, was simply too much for Naruto and he went sailing through the air at breakneck speeds, a speed that Rogue easily kept pace with now as he dashed in the direction he'd thrown Naruto in.
Naruto managed to shift his center of gravity, allowing him to control his fall now a bit and was about to use Die Walkure to help him chose a good landing spot. But he was denied the opportunity viciously.
With a thunderous roar, Rogue jumped into the sky of Valhalla and unleashed Midgard's Wolf at point blank range with Zwei. Said blade pulsating wildly with crimson red mana, Rogue slashed at a downwards angle as he unleashed the attack.
Naruto could only cry out, if only from shock; the power behind the magical attack was much greater than before as well and it showed as well, easily cutting his torso open as the blow sent him crashing to the ground at several times the speed of light.
The ground shuttered and broke apart under the force of the impact, even rumbling still as Naruto tried to get back to his feet. His regeneration was already working overtime as it tried to heal the damage, but it wasn't fast enough; blood still spilled onto the ground around him before the wound closed and vanished.
Then Rogue came in like a meteor at Naruto from above, both blades swung at the ultimate magus in an attempt to decapitate him. But for once so far, Naruto was able to do something about that.
"Die Walkure!" With it activated, he did two things. The first was to rapidly increase the distance between Rogue and himself to unfathomable lengths. The second thing he did was alter Rogue's direction, forcing the man to suddenly go backwards as said direction became his new 'forwards.'
Rogue merely snorted, clearly unbothered by this.
But Naruto wasn't done yet. "'Siegfried: reverse Rogue's gravity!'"
"Wha-?!" For the first time since using Forbes Blutgang, Rogue actually was taken aback as Naruto's new law took effect. Immediately, he began to fall upwards at lightning speed and therefore even further away from Naruto.
Rogue didn't like this one bit. Wishing to keep his momentum going, he decided it was high time to do away with Naruto's law; he'd already been moved up at least a mile. "Akashic Record!"
"Da Capo Zero!"
Just as Rogue's rune had appeared, Naruto had used Da Capo Zero at the exact same instant. And just as Rogue had done to Naruto earlier, Naruto now returned the favor by effectively using his main ability to cancel out Akashic Record.
"Son of a bitch!" Rogue swore, realizing this. His own trick had just been used against him. It kind of irked him. It also somewhat impressed him, since he hadn't been expecting on Naruto to counter like that.
And he was about to be impressed and irked even more.
Concentrating hard, Naruto used one move that he hadn't had to use in a long time. "Bolverkr!"
Bolverkr. His progenitor Tatsuya's ultimate destructive ability. In Tatsuya's hands, such an attack at full power would've wiped out the entire solar system. Now in Naruto's hands and thanks to many more centuries of training than Tatsuya, its power was at least three times greater.
The sphere of crimson red mana, of power and death and destruction, took form high in the sky just above Rogue. And thanks to Naruto's law still being intact, Rogue was about to go crashing into it just as it quickly finished forming.
"Fu-!" Was all Rogue was able to say before Bolverkr enveloped him and exploded into a massive torrent of light that rocked the dimension, enough for even Naruto to lose his footing a bit despite having prepared for the resulting shockwave.
Having altered Bolverkr so that it only damaged Rogue, Naruto was thankful to see that Valhalla remained intact still. But his good mood was dampened when the light from Bolverkr died down and something went crashing to the ground.
Or rather, someone.
"Oh, that's smart!" Rogue muttered as he hit the ground, his cloak gone as well as most of his body. His magical weapon destroyed and his arms obliterated as well, it was clear that as powerful as he'd become, he was still vulnerable.
But not quite enough for Naruto's liking. "Damn…" he thought. "He's still alive…" He'd been hoping that Bolverkr would've at least done more damage, but as Rogue managed to stand up, he saw that his attack had also destroyed a good portion of his torso and legs as well, his foe only standing thanks to sheer force of will. This made him feel only slightly better.
"Heh, better luck next time, kid," Rogue then remarked as his damaged body began to repair itself. Silently using Akashic Record to restore his clothing as well, he grinned under his mask, which had somehow remained intact. "Or better yet, better luck never."
"We'll see about that," Naruto retorted tersely, trying to remain calm. "I managed to put a stop to your offensive pretty abruptly, if you ask me. So don't get full of yourself."
Rogue huffed and placed his hands on his sides, as if he was a mother about to berate her child. "Only because I'd underestimated you; I'd thought you wouldn't be able to keep up with my increased speed. But I guess you proved me wrong on that front. I'll give you just that much."
Then, he leaned his head a bit forward and Naruto could almost literally see the man smirk under the mask. "But it's not going to happen again."
As if to prove his point, Rogue dashed forward at his newfound top speed, easily 19 times the speed of light, a speed that naturally left Naruto's dozen-times-the-speed-of-light speed in the dust. Forgoing using Akashic Record to restore his magical weapon for now, he instead lashed out with a vicious punch to Naruto's stomach at his full strength, which was now four times greater than Naruto's.
But to his amazement, Naruto barely budged.
Naruto grinned slightly.
Da Capo Enhalt. That is what he used just now. While it was true that he wasn't fast enough to keep pace with Rogue now, that didn't mean he couldn't prepare in advance. So having anticipated Rogue's attack just now, he'd silently activated Da Capo Enhalt to essentially make himself a being of the 'past,' and therefore out of Rogue's reach, if only figuratively.
"Fenris Wolf!" Naruto then called out as he charged up the attack and launched it at point blank range. This up close and somewhat stunned by Naruto's lack of reaction, Rogue was simply unable to dodge or block in time and Naruto watched as his ocean blue blast struck him hard in the chest.
Rogue grunted and went skidding back dozens of meters before coming to a halt. Just as he did, Naruto immediately used Da Capo Replication to teleport to him and punched him hard across the jaw, nicking the mask a little.
But to Rogue's credit, he shrugged off the hit and retaliated with a fierce backhand just as he stumbled. Only for it to miss Naruto entirely as the ultimate magus silently used Die Walkure to alter its direction.
"Das Rheingold!" Naruto then shouted, using the absolute of form to suddenly encase Rogue in more than thirty layers of ultra-thin, but ultra-dense magical barriers. He did this just in the nick of time, with Rogue's follow up punch colliding harmlessly against the first barrier.
Naruto wasn't done just yet though. "Siegfried: 'all magical barriers will compress themselves!'"
Immediately in response to his new law, the barriers surrounding Rogue shivered and began to do just as Naruto said, compressing themselves around Rogue in an attempt to crush him into a pulp.
But Rogue was going to have none of that. "Akashic Record!" he called out. Just before the first of the barriers could fully start to tighten around him, all of the barriers immediately disappeared, undone by Rogue's ability.
But that wasn't all he did either.
"Take this!" Rogue yelled as he swung Eins at Naruto, having simultaneously restored his magical weapon in the process of getting rid of the barriers.
Naruto, using Uroarbrunner, was able to avoid the initial swing, albeit barely. But the follow up swing with Zwei struck him across the chest horizontally. It was only because he still had Da Capo Enhalt activated that he suffered no damage from the attack.
This was something Rogue noticed immediately after Zwei struck its mark and pulled back just a bit. "Akashic Record!"
"Da Capo Zero!" Naruto countered instinctively now, managing to keep Rogue from undoubtedly undoing Da Capo Enhalt. He had no idea if Akashic Record was actually capable of such a thing, but he'd rather not risk it.
Now moving forward, Naruto struck at Rogue several times rapidly with a series of blows he'd practiced uncountable times. Each punch or palm strike aimed directly for a vital spot, each blow capable of killing any Grimm, human, or average magus should they connect.
Unfortunately for Naruto, Rogue long since ceased to be a normal magus and so the man simply let the strikes land and remained unfazed by them, even moving forward as well even as the strikes struck him. Naruto reared back just enough to avoid the short swing Rogue took at him with Zwei and countered with a fierce kick to Rogue's knee. The attack barely budged the Mage of Misfortune and did little to keep said magus from responding too, with Naruto having to hastily pull back his leg to keep Eins from hitting it. Da Capo Enhalt active or not, he didn't want to risk getting hit again.
This was a sentiment Rogue was aware of and didn't like.
"Midgard Wolf!" He lashed out with his main offensive ability, swinging Eins at Naruto's neck.
"Overlimit Gungnir!" Naruto responded, also using Das Rheingold in conjunction with the magical attack. Rather than use Das Rehingold to create a solid thing, he used it to create something else: eternity.
More specifically, an attack that could destroy anything with no chance of recovery for all of eternity.
Rogue could only watch with wide eyes as both attacks clashed and found his being overpowered almost immediately despite his attack being superior in sheer mana and destructive force. It wasn't until his attack was overcome and Eins was destroyed in the process that he used his speed to duck under Overlimit Gungnir, which continued onwards until it disappeared from the sights of both magi.
Undeterred by what had happened, Rogue rose up, already swinging Zwei in an uppercut at Naruto, only to find Naruto's fist about to make contact with his face. Naruto had used Uroarbrunner to predict his dodge just now and attack angle and had launched his punch just now during the brief femtosecond in which Rogue's attention would've waned marginally.
And it had worked; Naruto's fist met Rogue's mask head on with virtually no resistance, even as Rogue's attack struck Naruto in kind. Naruto simply shrugged off the hit though, Da Capo Enhalt ensuring his safety whereas his punch nearly made Rogue's head snap back comically.
Grunting, Rogue merely let the punch actually blow him back, performing a sudden back flip that result in his foot colliding with Naruto's chin. Said hit managed to lift the blond off his feet, unharmed, but still knocked back several yards while Rogue continued to flip back a few more times to put distance in between them.
Landing on their feet at the exact same time, Naruto wordlessly launched a normal Gungnir with his left fist before immediately firing Fenris Wolf with his other fist right after it.
Rogue swung Zwei at the first incoming attack, using Midgard Wolf to easily cut Gungnir down before silently using Akashic Record to restore Eins and then use Midgard Wolf again to deal with Fenris Wolf.
Immediately afterwards, Rogue disappeared from Naruto's sights by way of suddenly circling around the blond and attacking from behind. It was only thanks to his hearing and the sudden shift in the air that Naruto was able to react in time to Rogue's sudden kick, even with Uroarbrunner active.
Stepping forward to avoid having his knee bent in by Rogue's kick, Naruto pivoted on the spot and lashed out with a roundhouse that would've made contact with the man's neck had said person not raised his blade to block it.
Rogue took half a step forward, dragging the blade he'd used to block Naruto's kick along the blond magus' still raised leg, quickly approaching the man's torso. Had Naruto not had Da Capo Enhalt active and hadn't dodged, the resulting slash would've split him wide open as Rogue swung at close range.
Grimacing in growing annoyance, Rogue switched from a reverse grip to a normal grip with Zwei and swung upwards, aiming for Naruto's abdomen. All he succeeded in doing was cutting through the front of Naruto's shirt a bit.
"Hmph… punk-bitch," Rogue swore under his breath. A part of him wished to use Reading Steiner, but another part of him told him not to; why should he have to use something like that when he held the clear advantage in speed? It was only because Naruto kept using Uroarbrunner that he was now able to dodge so successfully, even then only barely.
"Da Capo Replication!" Naruto then said, using the move to get in close and headbutt Rogue, much to the man's surprise. He hadn't seen that coming.
But Rogue was barely knocked back by it and simply returned the headbutt with his own, smashing so hard into Naruto's head that his own mask nearly shattered from the force of it.
Unhurt, but staggered nonetheless, Naruto retreated several feet with just a minor leap.
Rogue gave chase though and promptly used Naruto's recoil to take advantage. "Akashic Record!"
Using his signature ability to undo Da Capo Enhalt, Rogue grinned viciously as Naruto felt the change occur. He then slashed Naruto at a downwards angle with both blades, creating an X-shaped wound on Naruto's chest before lunging forward with a powerful kick to the gut.
Naruto wheezed as the air was knocked out of him entirely even as he went sailing back across the ground, rubble flying everywhere in the process. He was able to roll to a stop and begin to stand a mere nanosecond later, but Rogue had anticipated this and had already closed the distance between them, even getting behind Naruto before the blond could even get halfway up.
Suddenly impaling Naruto through the back of his right forearm, Rogue hefted said arm up with such speed that it nearly dislocated the arm entirely. It even managed to make Naruto jerk upwards awkwardly. At least until Rogue lashed out with a knee strike aimed at the elbow joint.
A sickening crack resounded throughout Valhalla and out in the real world, causing everyone watching to look on in muted horror as Naruto's right arm bent forward at the elbow, the skin breaking and the broken bone slightly poking out.
Naruto merely grunted even as blood spewed out and littered the ground. His grunt turned to a genuine yet brief cry of pain when Rogue then stabbed him with his other blade through his back, piercing all the way through his heart and out of his chest.
Immediately pulling both blades free, Rogue silently activated Midgard Wolf with Eins, slashing upwards at Naruto's back.
A wave of crimson mana was unleashed upon Naruto and enveloped him almost completely as Rogue did this, said wave splitting open the ground below them and continuing onwards for a hundred miles before the wave dissipated.
At the end of the wave was Naruto, careening through the air and landing unceremoniously on the ground. He struck said ground with earthshaking force, his shirt in tatters from the sheer force of Midgard Wolf.
Hissing, Naruto got back on his feet in record time, using Da Capo Zero to fix up his clothes and also undo his wounds, which although had been healing rapidly, he couldn't afford to have for too long lest Rogue do something to make them worse.
By the time he did this, which only took a fraction of a femtosecond, Rogue had already dashed across the vast distance and was already a few yards away from Naruto.
The man laughed, his cloak billowing out behind him as he came to a stop. Crimson mana radiated from him with his laughter, creating a most devilish appearance for the man that did little to faze Naruto.
Rogue didn't seem to care about Naruto's lack of fear in the wake of this battle and instead spoke simply. "Face it, you blond fucker: you can't beat me now. Points for trying though."
Naruto merely scoffed as he stood to his full height. He almost audaciously dusted himself off, an action that irked Rogue. "We'll see about that; the battle isn't over yet, after all."
"Tch…" Rogue glared at him, his red eyes glowing ominously with mana. "Not only are you practically a physical carbon copy of Tatsuya, you even have that same damned 'try harder, amateur' look on your face…" His grip on both Eins and Zwei tightened audibly. "It really pisses me off."
"If it pisses you off so much, then why not kill me already? Or do you plan to play around a bit more?" Naruto goaded calmly.
Rogue's left eye twitched visibly. "I'm considering just that. Smacking you around is beginning to lose its amusement value now." Taking a deep breath and then releasing it, Rogue spoke again, sounding much calmer this time. "Oh well, I guess. Looks like you'll die alone here in this space of yours. Tell you what, though… once I'm done with you, I'll make sure to send your friends to the other world after you."
Naruto remained silent in the face of Rogue's boast. Then, to the man's surprise, the blond magus chuckled. "Kill me here? Alone?" He chuckled again. "You know, that actually reminded me of something."
"Oh yeah? Do share, fuckface," Rogue retorted.
"As powerful as I am, I'm never alone," Naruto stated simply. Then raising his right hand suddenly, he called out exactly three words. "Da Capo Zero!"
It had been such a sudden thing that Rogue, for all of his speed, was actually slow on the uptake and was unable to use Akashic Record in time to cancel out Naruto's magic.
For all of his cockiness, for all of his destructive tendencies, Rogue was still once a former shinobi that had trained long and hard to get as good as he'd become. So the instant Naruto's Da Capo Zero took effect, he instinctively tensed up and was prepared for anything.
However, in spite of this, Rogue found himself not quite ready for what Naruto had actually done.
"Master!"
Now by his side, having appeared in a flash of ocean blue light, was none other than Naruto's magical weapon, Hanako.
The blonde moved close to Naruto, all but pressing up against him as she personally inspected his being. "Are you alright?" Hanako asked, her voice full of concern.
"Nothing I can't sleep off," Naruto replied softly. He looked to Hanako, seemingly unmindful of Rogue's presence now.
Hanako returned her master's gaze and gave a microscopic nod a mere millisecond later. She knew exactly what it was her master wished to do.
Stepping away from him and towards Rogue Flame, Hanako glared fiercely at the Mage of Misfortune. Her Mimisbrunner kicked in simply by looking at him, her mind working like a supercomputer as it took stock of all the abilities he'd demonstrated thus far that she'd seen.
"…What?" Rogue asked as Hanako glared. "Don't tell me you actually plan to fight." He sounded as if he was in genuine disbelief. And he was; having obtained all of the knowledge Vidar had when he'd used Forbes Blutgang on the man's soul, Rogue had in turn gained an intimate knowledge of all the abilities all of the ancient magi possessed, including the humanoid tactical weapon standing before him.
In all the instances that Vidar had observed the ancient magi, not once had he witnessed Hanako demonstrate a level of power that would've warranted particularly more concern than the other magi.
So that Naruto would summon her of all people here was something of a confusing move. Even if she was the ultimate magus' magical weapon, just what did she think she could accomplish?
Hanako didn't respond to Rogue's words at all, she simply continued to stare instead. At least until Naruto spoke.
"I'm about to start, Hanako… be careful," Naruto said.
"Of course, master," Hanako firmly replied.
To Rogue's bewilderment, Naruto suddenly kneeled, placing his hands on the ground. An ocean blue rune, similar to the one that appeared when Da Capo Zero was used, appeared below him, enveloping his entire person.
"What the hell?!" Rogue thought.
Hanako inwardly smirked. For her master was going to activate his final trump card. However, it was a rather unwieldy one, requiring a few minutes for it to actually be activated. But that was why she'd been called here; to protect Naruto and let him focus on what he was doing.
As for Rogue, the man frowned under his mask. Not liking what feelings Naruto's strange action were evoking within him, the Mage of Misfortune decided it was high time to interrupt the ultimate magus.
He began to walk forward, intent on slicing Hanako down in the process. He clearly didn't think much of the magical weapon for him to take such a leisurely looking approach.
This proved to be a mistake.
Just as Rogue approached and began to raise Zwei up, Hanako closed her eyes momentarily before opening them, the irises glowing magnificently. "Seal, release!"
A bright pink light was unleashed from her and the sheer force of its rather explosive appearance was enough to force Rogue to leap back nearly five yards to avoid being knocked back onto the ground.
"W-What the-?!" Rogue had to shield his eyes with Chariowald lest he be blinded by the ever brighter glowing light that had now enveloped Hanako's form.
When the light died down merely seconds later, Rogue slowly lowered his blades to look at what had happened.
His eyes could only widen.
There, standing exactly where she was before, was Hanako. However, gone were the battle robes she'd worn before. Now in their place, Hanako wore a skin-tight white outfit, rather revealing in nature as part of her midriff was shown in addition to the top of her breasts and legs, though the latter were covered up by a white skirt that just went past her knees. She also wore matching sleeves that were much like Masami's Stringload, only white in color. Around the magical weapon floated metallic blades that formed wings, specifically around Hanako's shoulder blades. Completing Hanako's new look was a strange halo-like object floating just over her head.
Breathing deeply, when Hanako exhaled, pink mana all but exploded forth from her, making the ground rumble slightly.
"If you want to touch my master, you'll have to get past me first," she stated in a firm, commanding voice unlike anything she'd spoken in before.
For a second, Rogue was actually rendered speechless. Then he began to clap, slowly and mockingly. "Wow, just wow." He looked to Naruto, who remained focused on what he was doing, the rune beneath him now spinning counterclockwise. "Congrats, kid. You've managed to turn your own magical weapon into some glorified stripper. Be proud."
Then Rogue refocused on Hanako. "Flashy transformation. Wouldn't look out of place in a stupid cartoon. But it'll take more than that to change anything. Midgard Wolf!" Rogue then said at the end, unleashing the most powerful one to date, his normally crimson wave of mana taking on a darker shade as the wave of mana rushed at Hanako.
Hanako remained unfazed by the attack as it rocketed towards her at nearly thirteen times the speed of light. By all rights, she should be unable to dodge it, much less react to it in any fashion, according to Rogue's information.
However… Hanako had made it a point to conserve her strength for a reason.
Just when Midgard Wolf was less than six feet away from her, Hanako suddenly took aim with both hands. "Laeveteinn!"
The instant she spoke the word, a beam of mana was unleashed from her palms with impossible force. So intense was the beam of mana and so fast was it that it immediately crossed the distance to Midgard Wolf in half the time it'd taken Rogue's attack. And then, to further add to the man's newfound shock, Hanako's Laevateinn easily overpowered Midgard Wolf.
Lunging out of the way as Laevateinn now came barreling towards him, Rogue looked over his shoulder to see the pink beam continue onwards into the distance before it finally impacted against something and exploded.
When Laevateinn struck something and unleashed its full destructive power, all of Valhalla was violently rocked, far worse than anything else it'd been put through thus far in this battle. The very sky, filled with countless stars, began to crack and split as systems worth of stars vanished without a trace as the explosion devoured them.
Rogue, despite being far away from Laevateinn's point of impact, was rocketed off his feet and well past Hanako and Naruto, crashing ungracefully several dozen meters away whilst Hanako shielded Naruto.
"W-What…" Rogue gasped out in genuine shock as he immediately got back on his feet. He did this rather erratically, his legs shaking from his own mind-numbing astonishment and also partially from having lost feeling in them. Hanako's attack had been that powerful. "What the hell was that?! Seiji never once saw you demonstrate that kind of power before!"
Hanako glared at the man triumphantly. "It's not like he could watch us all the time, I guess. Or track us as we trained in other dimensions." She turned and walked until she had her back to Naruto, still staying in between her master and Rogue. "Though I'm surprised you're so shocked. Don't you know… that I'm my master's strongest sword and invincible shield? As powerful as Master has become, as superior he still is to me physically and as skilled and experienced as he is in frontline combat… he's still, at his core, a support type magus. I'm his vanguard," Hanako explained simply.
Rogue bristled as he absorbed what Hanako said. What Hanako was basically telling him that while Naruto was indeed a fearsome foe for anyone to have, for all of his power and brute strength and skill, his Da Capo Zero ability was still originally meant for support. In other words, when Naruto had defeated and absorbed all of Tatsuya's power, Hanako's destructive power had gradually increased to a level that even exceeded Naruto's. After all, as she had just said, she was the vanguard to Naruto's rearguard, so it's only natural she'd have such firepower in hindsight.
And this pissed Rogue off.
"So what?!" he roared before going on the offensive. Now knowing that Hanako wouldn't quite be as easy to take down as he'd thought, he immediately tried to circle around her and get to Naruto at full speed.
However, he was cut off by a hail of weaker magical blasts from the humanoid magical weapon, for a certain definition of 'weaker;' each blast contained enough power to destroy the moon.
Inwardly swearing, Rogue had to retreat hastily to avoid the brief barrage before trying to unleash Midgard Wolf again.
And again, Hanako had little trouble reacting to it. "Laevateinn!" she cried out as she shot off one of her most powerful attacks for the second time.
Just like before, her attack easily overcame Rogue's and once more the man had to evade, moving to his right at the last possible instant. "What the hell? How come she hadn't shown this kind of power earlier?!" he silently raged. While he could now understand why she possessed more destructive might than her master, he couldn't understand why she'd concealed it this long. For that matter, the mere fact that she was clearly able to react to his movements as he was now made him further question why she'd have any trouble fighting anyone else.
The reason why, however, was really quite simple. For as vast as Hanako's power was, she burns through her mana reserves quickly in her full powered state. While her mana reserves were leagues greater now than they were prior to Naruto's triumph over Tatsuya, they weren't infinite and her magical attacks required a lot of mana. As a result, she and Naruto had managed to find a way to literally seal her full power until a time comes when it was needed.
When the seal was undone, Hanako's full power had come bursting to the surface, allowing her to fully reveal the extent of her magic as well as showcasing the full extent of her own physical abilities. While still not the most agile of people, her reflexes had been increased to a point that she could follow her own master's movements easily enough. And while Rogue was much faster than Naruto in his current state now, she'd gotten a good enough read of the man to predict quite accurately how he'd move, making it much easier to target him.
Nonetheless, this was hardly something that made Hanako joyful. "I have to keep him at bay!" she thought. In her current state, she could continue to unleash the entirety of her power for another ten minutes or so, plenty of time for Naruto to fully prepare and activate his trump card, but that time limit could dwindle rapidly if she was careless in how much mana she expended.
Every shot needs to count.
And she made sure it did, counting on Rogue to make a low jump forward and fired a magical blast at the appropriate time. She was rewarded with the instant destruction of Eins, which Rogue had used to try and deflect her attack. It also managed to launch him back haphazardly as well and uncontrollably so, enough for Hanako to follow up with precisely two more blasts aimed for where Rogue would land.
But the man was a smart one. While me may not be able to physically react in time to guard against or dodge the attack, he still had time to react in general. "Akashic Record!"
Ah, there it was again, his own little trump card. The crimson red rune appeared and immediately did away with Hanako's two blasts, undoing history to make it so. This gave him just enough leeway to land on his feet and move back even more, clearly trying to figure out just what he should do.
Hanako didn't dare wish give him that time. Her metallic 'wings' flapped several times rapidly before glowing brightly, nearly blinding Rogue where he stood.
Time for Hanako to use her most powerful attack. Doing so would certainly sap her of a good deal of mana, but right now her target was pinned down from the brief flash of light and she knew her move would be too fast for him to dodge.
Placing her hands together and planting herself firmly in the ground, a bright coalescence of pink mana and ocean blue mana appeared, enrapturing all that were witnessing the battle from the real world, even the other ancient magi, who'd only heard of what she was about to do but had never actually witnessed it.
Fenris Laevateinn, the combination born of Naruto's Fenris Wolf and her Dual Laevateinn. Ever since Naruto had absorbed Tatsuya's power, Hanako's own abilities had gradually evolved over time. This included her bond with Naruto. While they may still not exactly have telepathy or anything of that sort, their innate connection had grown in strength so much that Hanako became able to sort of feed off of Naruto, more specifically, add some of his own power to her own attacks. This was how Fenris Laevateinn was born.
And one Rogue Flame was about to be on its receiving end.
As if realizing the danger he was about to be in, Rogue immediately tried to move, tried to do anything really…
… but it was far too late for him.
Fenris Laevateinn was by far Hanako's ultimate attack. However, for all of the power it contained, it had a terrifyingly low charge time, low enough to give anyone nightmares for weeks on end.
Said nightmare became a reality as Hanako then fired the attack, calling out its name. "Fenris Laevateinn!"
What erupted forth from her palms simply couldn't be called a 'magical beam.' For that matter, it couldn't really be called an 'attack' at all either.
No, what fired from Hanako's hands and made its way for Rogue was destruction incarnate as everything in between Rogue and Hanako was immediately annihilated. Not so much as an atom was left in its wake as it traveled forth at its victim.
So fast was Fenris Laevateinn that not even Rogue could visibly see it. All his eyes could pick up was the trail of devastation left in its wake. As it was, it took all of his concentration simply to react at all.
"Akashic Record!" he cried out just before Fenris Laevateinn reached him. But as the crimson red rune appeared and took effect, Rogue's heart almost literally tore forth from his chest and into his throat when Fenris Laevateinn kept coming.
It had shrugged off Akashic Record.
This was all Rogue was able to comprehend before it struck the red rune, said rune serving as a physical shield that actually managed to keep destruction at bay. Realizing instantly that it wouldn't hold for even a yoctosecond longer, Rogue planted himself as firmly into the ground as possible and poured forth as much mana as he could into the rune, hoping that he could outlast the duration of Fenris Laevateinn.
It was the most foolish hope he'd ever had in his life.
At the most, his makeshift shield lasted for a whole femtosecond before it was crushed under the force known as Fenris Laevateinn. And as soon as the hasty barrier was done away with, Rogue himself was struck head on by it, atomized instantly.
And as a pink-ocean blue light erupted and filled all of Valhalla, Rogue Flame's body simply ceased.
Back in the real world, teams RWBY and JNPR could only continue to watch this all play out alongside Yuko, Miki, and Ryuichi, everyone simply stunned at what had happened.
Never in their lives would they have imagined bearing witness to such power. Truly, Hanako's true power was on a whole other level as was the might of Naruto and Rogue.
But the silence that had seemed to fall over the entire world was broken by Ruby. "L-Look…" she squeaked out like a mouse. She pointed a shaky finger.
Following the direction of said finger, everyone bore witness to the red ethereal form from earlier appearing yet again. Then in a flash of crimson red light, Rogue used Akashic Record to restore his body, his Double Stock rune having allowed him to recover from Fenris Laevateinn.
"He survived even that?!" Ren gasped out, the normally stoic young man looking like he'd just swallowed a very sour lemon.
"What a monster," Blake could only mumble, stupefied by what she was seeing.
Miki's hands clenched even more tightly than ever before, drawing a little blood. She couldn't help but worry even more now after seeing Rogue restore himself like that. "Just how will they beat him?" she whispered.
"If my eyes don't deceive me, Naruto is trying to use his 'ultimate trump card' that he's mentioned a few times in the past," Yuko now spoke up, trying to sound reassuring. "That should turn the tides for good, right?"
Although Naruto hadn't really mentioned it to any of them within the past few months, his 'trump card' was something he'd invented himself just two years ago. She nor anyone else had ever really seen him demonstrate it and the ultimate magus had been vague in the details, so Yuko couldn't be sure how effective it'd be.
But surely Miki, Naruto's wife, would know, yes?
"Oh, it will," Miki replied without hesitation. Still, she bit her lip. "But the problem is that it takes a good few minutes for him to activate it. Not to mention the strain it puts on him…" She recalled when Naruto had first used his personally created trump card. Although she hadn't been around to see him actually use it, she certainly remembered the aftereffects; once it had worn off, Naruto's body had been wracked with such physical strain that she had to carry him to bed, where he'd remained for almost two whole days. In spite of his regeneration and all but limitless mana reserves, the strain it had placed on him afterwards had simply been that severe.
A sudden pitched gasp from Nora of all people grabbed everyone's attention. "Look!"
All eyes went to where she now pointed and everyone could only hold their breath in fear as Hanako could now be seen panting. Looks like Fenris Laevateinn had taken a toll on her as well.
Meanwhile, it looked as if Rogue still had plenty of fight left in him and this one fact made everyone's fear reach even greater heights.
"Come on, Naruto… please just summon us," Miki whispered, hoping that her husband would somehow hear her words.
But as she watched things continue to play out, it seemed that her hope had currently gone unanswered.
Back within Valhalla, Hanako had broken out in a bit of a sweat, her chest heaving a fair deal. Although she still had mana to spare, Fenris Laevateinn had taken quite a lot out of her, the sheer recoil great enough to nearly blow her back despite how firmly she'd planted herself in the ground.
"Damn," Hanako, surprisingly, swore. It was the only word that came to mind as Rogue had just restored himself physically with Akashic Record, magical weapon and all.
Rgoue himself heaved a little, more from adrenaline rather than fatigue. Fenris Laevateinn had very nearly overcame his Double Stock; he had literally felt it begin to wear down his very soul, the only thing in the face of Hanako's ultimate attack after his body had been destroyed.
He raised Chariowald, only to stop halfway through the motion when he realized his hands were shaking. "No, not just my hands…"
His entire body was shaking. Shaking from fear at what had just occurred.
He'd nearly died for real.
It took him a good ten seconds of just standing still now to comprehend that simple fact. And it was enough to spur him to action for good.
"No…" he whispered to himself. "I will not be done in by the likes of them! Not when my fucking freedom is on the line!"
Mana poured out from him as he appeared to kneel a little. His red eyes locked onto Hanako and Naruto, his gaze all but burning them in the process. Such was the intensity of his rage, ignited yet again.
"Master…!" Hanako muttered, tensing up as she sensed Rogue about to do something. While she still had enough mana to last for a few more minutes, enough to even use Fenris Laevateinn once or twice more, there was a sort of 'cooldown' period that always takes place after each use. The internal recoil from the attack was simply so great that Hanako had to take a moment just to recover enough before even thinking to fire it again.
And their foe didn't seem like waiting that long.
"I'll burn you both to cosmic ash!" Rogue roared as now pitch black mana encircled him. "Then I'll go and do the same to the rest of the world!"
He dismissed Chariowald, both Eins and Zwei disappearing. He dismissed them because he needed to fully dedicate all he had to his next move, his most powerful ability yet if only in terms of sheer mana amount and destructive power.
"Black Sun!" Rogue's voice then called out, said voice taking on an unnaturally deep tone as he spoke.
What happened next boggled Hanako's mind as well as the minds of everyone watching from the real world.
A black sphere forming around Rogue's entire form, said object suddenly shot up into the sky, about two miles up and at least four miles away from Rogue's previous location. As it did this, the black sphere rumbled and then grew at a rapid pace as it became encased in crimson red flames, which flickered all around it dangerously.
Like the name of it suggested, this new sphere looked exactly like a black version of the sun, generating heat so great that even with the distance between it and its two targets, the flames were almost great enough to start burning them.
"Let's see you try stopping this!" Rogue exclaimed from his spot within the sun, which was easily the size of a skyscraper in diameter, both height wise and width wise. "No more kiddie gloves for you two shits!"
"Master!" Hanako now exclaimed as the black sun now began to hurtle itself towards them.
"I know!" Naruto replied, still focusing on activating his trump card. The rune beneath was picking up in speed and it was generating a slight wind that ruffled his clothes and hair a little.
Still focusing on what he was doing, Naruto couldn't help but grimace. Rogue no longer cared about taking things easy anymore. Judging by the sheer amount of mana this attack was made of, Valhalla in its already battered state wouldn't be able to contain it should it impact. Moreover, the explosion of such a thing would carry over to the real world and flash fry the planet instantly too.
The only good thing was that in exchange for the immense power contained within Rogue's so called Black Sun, its speed was utterly laughable when compared to its creator, with the massive object hurtling towards them at perhaps Mach 40,000, a speed that was nowhere near lightspeed.
Nonetheless, neither he nor Hanako could afford to be lax just because of that.
"Backup?" he asked of his magical weapon.
"A little would be appreciated," Hanako responded, her gaze not leaving the black sun of death heading for her. She inwardly gulped a little; the sun was actually beginning to pick up in speed now.
"I know just who to call then…" Naruto somewhat joked. Careful not to fully break his concentration on his trump card, he maneuvered his left hand away from the rune below him and towards Hanako's location. "Da Capo Second Ignis!"
Da Capo Second Ignis. The name of yet another version of his main ability. Having long since found the ability to summon only one person or object at a time to him cumbersome, Naruto had dedicated several years to trying to overcome this limit. And Da Capo Second Ignis was the result.
In a flash of light, two people were summoned to Valhalla, standing directly by Hanako's sides. And both people were all too happy to finally be summoned.
"Naruto!" Miki cried out, looking immediately to her husband.
"I'm fine!" Naruto quickly replied before his wife could say anything more. "Sorry to bug you two, but think you can lend a hand?"
"It'd be our pleasure… you know that, right? After all, the three of us were a trio long before this era began," Ryuichi said with a light smirk as he stepped forward, happy to have been summoned. Having watched his friend's battle with Rogue Flame had been absolutely maddening.
Miki could only nod fiercely in agreement, the muscular and lovely brunette immediately whirling around to face Rogue's Black Sun. Gone was the gaze of immense concern she'd just shown; in its place now was the look of a warrior committed to battle.
Wordlessly both of them summoned their magical weapons, mana bursting forth from the two in the process. This simultaneous action drew a small smile from Hanako. "Glad to have you two here."
"Glad to be here," Miki said as she boldly stepped forward, unafraid of the object coming at them all. Despite Rogue's attack being of a scale that she nor Ryuichi couldn't match, it did little to intimidate her.
"…You're both a little low on mana," Naruto noted aloud, sensing their reserves. The disheveled state of their clothes did little to help matters too. Raising his left hand marginally again, he grunted. "Let me help with that."
"Da Capo Enhalt!"
Much to the shock of Rogue, watching this from within his Black Sun, both Miki and Ryuichi suddenly let forth a veritable wave of mana, Miki's golden-white as she immediately activated her SacredWaltz mode while Ryuichi's was a golden yellow as he entered Turbulence.
"What?! How did you accomplish that?!" he yelled from within his own attack.
Little did he know, Naruto had been able to refine Da Capo Enhalt more than anyone would've thought over the years. Long before, when he'd first created it, it could only turn him into a being of the past in the sense that he became invulnerable to all attacks, but at the cost of his mana being drained as long as he had it active. But now, he'd tuned his created rune to a point where he could now keep someone – in this case, both Miki and Ryuichi – at their full power indefinitely as long as he had it activated. The downside to this was that in exchange for keeping their mana reserves completely filled, they weren't immune to attacks, meaning that Rogue could still very well hurt and kill them if he so desired.
Another downside was that this was entirely dependent on how much mana the person or people Naruto wished to use this on had; while both his best friend and wife had mana reserves well above the average, it still paled in comparison to his own and Hanako's, so keeping the two of them at full power was virtually child's play. However, if he were to try and use it on either himself or Hanako, whose mana reserves far exceeded all magi, then the amount of effort he'd have to expend would simply be too great for him to maintain it for very long, not to mention it'd also take up enough of his concentration to undo his focus on his current task. This was why earlier when he'd used it, he was only able to use it to keep himself safe from Rogue's attacks.
Hanako knew this and merely chuckled, as she all but sensed her master's silent apology. Then her good humor died down instantly as she looked at Rogue's attack, which was only getting closer. "Let's not waste anymore time, guys! Let's try and stop that thing!"
Immediately in response to her words, Miki and Ryuichi both sprung into action.
All three combatants didn't have to exchange any words at all about what to do; having known each other for so long and having fought side by side all that time, the three were intimately aware of how one another thought. As a result, their 'plan' was silently created and put into action instantly.
Because of how powerful Black Sun was, there was simply no way that they'd be able to stop it individually or even collectively. Not even Laevateinn would be capable of much in the face of such an ungodly attack.
The only thing that could possibly match it was Fenris Laevateinn, an attack that Hanako wouldn't be able to use again for perhaps another minute, two minutes at the most.
Therefore, there was only one thing that could be done: stall until Hanako could fire it again.
To do that, their 'plan' was painfully simple: given the nature of Black Sun, it likely required Rogue to dedicate literally all of his attention to maintaining it. So all Ryuichi and Miki had to do was break his concentration.
Miki was the first to step forward, almost eager to partake in this strategy of theirs. Golden-white mana enveloped Svafrlami as she reared the magnificent blade back. Her dress, restored to its full undamaged state by Da Capo Enhalt as well, fluttered lightly about her as the muscles in her back and arms visibly tensed through the material.
The sight taking place was enough for everyone watching from the real world to be momentarily entranced; even to the most unobservant of people, Miki's attack stance was perfect, every ounce of her might and willpower dedicated solely to try and destroy Rogue. Combined with her own natural beauty, highlighted by the mana surrounding her, she truly lived up to her codename of Brynhildr, power and beauty made flesh.
"Overload Tyrfing!" Miki proclaimed as she then swung her sword.
A wave of mana more intense than anything she'd ever unleashed before erupted from Svafrlami and raced through the sky of Valhalla. Its target: Black Sun.
Focused within that wave of power was Miki's intent, the intent to cut through the sphere of destruction Rogue had created, an intent made all too real by the fact that it was, of course, a wave of conceptual magic.
But conceptual magic or not, in the face of Rogue's Black Sun, Miki's attack did all but nothing to overcome it, let alone slow it down. Her golden-white wave of unfettered power was snuffed out like a meager candlelight as it made contact with the Black Sun.
From within it, Rogue sneered, even laughed. He had to admire the girl's stubbornness, but all of her muscle and magic power was absolutely nothing to him as he was now.
However, this was what Miki wanted.
His attention on both maintaining his attack, still picking up in speed, and on Miki rendered Rogue all but blind to Ryuichi's actions.
The instant Miki had made the first move, Ryuichi had propelled himself into the sky at his top speed. Having sped around Rogue's Black Sun until he was behind it, the magus codenamed Thor had sped all around the area, observing the Black Sun from every angle possible. And now that Miki's attack had failed to do much, Ryuichi decided it was high time to do something as well.
"Nothung…" he whispered as he sped directly up higher into the sky, easily overtaking Black Sun. The moment he muttered that words, lightning great enough to rock the heavens themselves sprung into existence, nine spears of unfettered lightning power gathering around Mjolnir just as the magus reached the apex of his flight upwards.
Hitting his peak, Ryuichi flipped around so that he now dive-bombed towards the Black Sun. Rearing back his right fist, the lightning spears he'd generated audibly cocked back as well as if they themselves were sentient and eager to be fired.
And fire, Ryuichi did.
"Thor's Hammer: Full Access!"
His most powerful ability was unleashed in full, all nine lightning spears merging into one as they shot forth from his punch downwards and they hurtled towards Rogue's Black Sun at nine times the speed of light.
A speed that, to Rogue, was simply too slow, Black Sun's speed notwithstanding.
Hearing Ryuichi's yell and the crackling of the attack, Rogue turned slightly and glanced upwards, careful not to take his attention off Black Sun. He inwardly laughed as the attack came right at his own. "Dumbass," he thought. "All of them are, really…"
He'll admit that the abilities of both Ryuichi and Miki were quite deadly, but Nothing and Tyrfing respectively would do little when up against his Black Sun. Tyrfing had already failed to conceptually cut through his attack and Nothung would likely prove useless as well. Aware of how Nothung operated thanks to Vidar's knowledge of the ancient magi, Rogue calculated the possibility, no matter how small, of the attack actually piercing through Black Sun and getting to him.
He found such a possibility to be nonexistent. And with this thought, he turned away from Ryuichi's attack.
This was a mistake on his part.
Thor's Hammer: Full Access struck against the back of the Black Sun at approximately a 70 degree angle (from Ryuichi's perspective) at full force. And rather than immediately dissipate like Miki's Overload Tyrfing, the attack actually managed to pierce slightly through Black Sun, drilling slowly through it.
"W-What?!" Rogue couldn't believe it. Ryuichi's attack was actually still going!
But Ryuichi wasn't done just yet.
When he'd launched Thor's Access: Full Hammer, he'd simultaneously sped up, pushing himself so far past his limit that the muscles in his body nearly exploded from the extreme overexertion. In doing so, however, he ended up flying right through his own attack, the power of Thor's Hammer: Full Access partially entering him.
Immediately after that had occurred, just an instant prior to it striking Black Sun, Ryuichi shot downwards, closer to the ground but not quite landing there.
Instead, he flipped just before landing and bounced right back up, almost like a return strike made into human form. The lightning aura around his legs crackled far more intensely than ever before, the little bit of power he'd gathered from Full Access being channeled there. Now he approached the Black Sun from exactly the same angle he'd fired his initial attack from, only flipped.
And it was here, just a few dozen meters away from the sphere that Ryuichi unleashed his new attack. "Thor's Hammer: Cross-break!"
Thor's Hammer: Cross-break was a new, additional part of Thor's Hammer: Full Access, something he'd developed just in the past three centuries and had steadily mastered. By forcibly pushing his speed in Turbulence mode past its limits, he's able to temporarily rush forward into his own attack and, for all intents and purposes, merge with it for a brief instant. The 'lightning charge' he would gain from it would then be channeled into his legs and from there he'd unleash the charge with a kick, thereby generating a second Thor's Hammer that was only slightly inferior to Thor's Hammer: Full Access in destructive power.
It was, to put it simply, a direct follow up that couldn't possibly avoided!
And much like its predecessor, it too didn't dissipate upon impact. Instead, it began to drill slightly through Black Sun, but at a very slow rate.
Rogue could only goggle at this, his concentration wavering ever so slightly by the shock he now felt. This in turn allowed the form of his Black Sun to weaken enough for both of Ryuichi's attacks to drill through a little more, inching closer to Rogue himself. This grabbed his attention and made him fortify his focus on his attack. "How-!" he began to think, only to shake his head a little. "No, ignore it! Just focus on crushing the blond bastard first!" In response to this resolve, Black Sun sped up more, now reaching relativistic speeds.
Ryuichi crashed to the ground harshly, but landing on his feet. His legs wobbled, his muscles torn badly from the overexertion. Even with his regeneration as a magus, it'd take a moment or two to heal.
But even with that in mind, Ryuichi was satisfied with what he'd done and with reason; when he'd observed the Black Sun earlier, he'd noticed something slightly odd: its density near the back was less than the density up in front, where Rogue intended to crush Hanako and Naruto. And much like a skull, the upper back part of it was 'softer' than the rest of the sphere, acting like the back of a skull in that sense. As for the bottom angle that he'd fired Cross-break from, if he had to make a sort of comparison, it'd be like going for a precise chop to the back of someone's neck; it doesn't quite have to pack too much power since a blow there could prove fatal regardless. This was why his attacks were able to drill through those spots like they still were.
And that wasn't the end of it either.
Having anticipated Ryuichi's moves with her Hildskjalf, Miki had circled around the Black Sun until she was almost exactly by Ryuichi's side.
And she certainly wasted no time in firing. "Overload Tyrfing!" she cried out as she leapt up as high as she could, her great strength propelling her to almost even height with where Ryuichi had fired his initial attack. Swinging Svafrlami with every ounce of strength and mana she had available, her ultimate attack was unleashed and it soared just under Thor's Hammer: Full Access, striking at the exact same spot it had struck.
By the time this had happened, she'd already fallen enough to fire Overload Tyrfing again, aiming for the same spot Ryuichi's Cross-break was drilling into.
Landing next to Ryuichi now, both magi bore witness to their ultimate moves working in conjunction with another, the sheer power and concept-severing nature of Overload Tyrfing cutting deep into the Black Sun's 'soft spots' enough for Ryuichi's attacks to drill even more into it.
Within the orb, Rogue grunted as he took note of this. Under his mask, he bit his lip. He'd evidently underestimated the two and had in turn also overlooked the faults of his own attack as well, for it be pierced like this. But he'd come too far now for him to call things off. As impractical as Black Sun was turning out to be, it had more than enough power to wipe out Naruto and Hanako both for good.
But… just what was he to do? If he ignored Miki's and Ryuichi's actions and simply pressed onwards, then no matter how much more Black Sun accelerated, their attacks likely would've pierced all the way through and strike him. Even if they weren't powerful enough to warrant worry for his own being, Ryuichi's Nothung ability might allow the attacks to deal great damage to him by virtue of taking that possibility and making it happen.
On the other hand, if he took this moment to stop the attacks and the two magi, that'd risk having Black Sun lose its form and power.
In either case, he could very well be screwed, especially since even Akashic Record couldn't be used right now without Black Sun losing at least some of its power and speed.
Growling, Rogue then made his decision. Turning back to face the still focusing Naruto and Hanako, he decided to just risk it and press onwards.
Black Sun picked up in speed yet again, approaching light now. The flames surrounding whirled about even more thanks to the acceleration, enough to garner some concern from Hanako, who currently focused on gathering as much mana as she could into Fenris Laevateinn. However, while Ryuichi's and Miki's efforts had caused it to slow down a bit, it'd still be a little while longer before she could safely fire it again.
This was something both magi in question picked up on. Miki went first yet again. Hildskjalf still active, she was able to see into the future and predict the massive object's flight path as well as its time of impact.
Not about to let that come to be, Miki rushed back around to the front of it and fired Overload Tryfing yet again.
With hers and Ryuichi's attacks still drilling into it from behind, this time the frontal attack had a bit more success, doing away from some of the flames that made up the sphere, enough for there to be a noticeable drop in the heat.
But still, it just kept coming.
Ryuichi moved now, blasting right under Black Sun at maximum speed. Jumping lightly and twirling so that he directly faced the bottom of it, he roared viciously. "Nothung!" he said, immediately forming and firing a second Thor's Hammer: Full Access.
Due to his muscles still recovering, he was unable to pull off Cross-break again, but the second Full Access proved to sufficient enough as it drilled slightly into the bottom a bit. But rather than drill with the intention of getting to Rogue, Nothung instead kicked into effect, sifting through alternate worlds for the possibility where the flames were dispelled entirely.
And it found that possibility and brought it here.
The flames that coalesced around the black sphere suddenly sputtered and began to vanished, which had the bonus effect of causing the sphere to lose some momentum. But it still just kept coming. While the flames may now be gone, it was still a huge mass of dense mana; while Valhalla and the real world wouldn't be flash fried anymore, if Black Sun struck Naruto and detonated, the explosion would still be enough to wipe out Valhalla and the entire solar system earth was located in at least several times over.
"Not if we have anything to say about that," Miki muttered to herself. Her Overload Tyrfing, on its own, had proven ineffective mainly because the concept-severing effect of her attack only did away with the flames, but not the sphere itself, which was the real danger.
But with Ryuichi's Nothung having done away with the flames, if possibly only for a while, it was an entirely different story now.
Pushing herself beyond her limits much like Ryuichi had done, Miki screamed in indignant rage and pain as she swung, unleashing an Overload Tyrfing that was comprised of 18 swings rather than its normal 9, effectively doubling its effectiveness in every respect.
When it smashed into the Black Sun, everyone could only watch as the massive sphere actually slowed, almost outright halted in its flight path. Rogue snarled from within it and exerted more mana, trying to drive Black Sun forward again and his efforts were rewarded with Black Sun moving again.
But Miki's Overload Tyrfing stubbornly remained, pushing against it with such force that Rogue actually couldn't move his own attack as fast as it was originally. This was due to the fact that Miki's magical attacks could literally severe concepts. And right now that very same effect was focused on completely slicing through the very existence of the Black Sun itself. By pumping in more mana, all Rogue was really doing was repairing the damage done to the sphere, with only a small fraction of the mana he was using up being used to actually drive it forward again.
Realizing this, Miki immediately tried to attack yet again, hoping that a second attack of such a scale would actually overcome Black Sun for good. But she failed to even lift Svafrlami up to chest-height; much like how Ryuichi had damaged himself from doing Cross-break, Miki's attack had all but shredded her arm and back muscles, so much so that even for all of her stubbornness, the damage wouldn't heal fast enough for her to do anything again right away.
But as it turned out, she wouldn't have to worry about attacking anymore.
"Miki-chan…" Hanako suddenly spoke softly. "It's alright now. Move back a little." Taking just a few steps forward now carefully, a melding of both pink and ocean blue mana was visible within her open and outstretched palms.
Fenris Laevateinn was ready to go. The mere thought was enough to nearly make Hanako smile; it had taken less time than she'd expected for her to recover enough to fire. She supposed it was because she was finally getting used to the feedback after the times she'd tested it out and trained in secret.
"Ryuichi-kun, get back too!" the humanoid magical weapon then exclaimed.
Both of her longtime friends heeded her words immediately, falling back to where Naruto was at. Doing so, both took stock of the blond magus' state and were intrigued to see that his rune was spinning rapidly now, so much so that the rune even lifted off the ground a bit, enveloping Naruto's form at a steady rate.
Then Hanako's teeth grinded audibly from exertion, drawing their attention to her again.
She decided not to waste any more time. Taking aim at the Black Sun, where Miki's Overload Tyrfing was at, Hanako solidified her stance and then fired. "Fenris Laevateinn!"
To Rogue, once again the attack was all but invisible, the speed of Fenris Laevateinn simply too great for him to view it even when he was ready for it.
Nonetheless, he tried to brace for it, forcing as much mana into Black Sun as fast as he could to keep it dense.
But alas, it was no use; thanks to Miki's and Ryuichi's attacks still drilling into the sphere, his efforts to keep it unbreakable were wasted.
The force of death slammed into the Black Sun dead on, overlapping Miki's Overload Tyrfing and all but consuming it in its wake as if it wasn't even there in the first place. When Fenris Laevateinn slammed into the Black Sun, even the attacks Ryuichi had launched forcefully dissipated, the sheer clash between the two unmatched forces far too much for either version of Thor's Hammer to retain their shapes.
Time and space seemed to come to a grinding halt, Valhalla losing all of its color for a moment as it looked as if both Black Sun and Fenris Laevateinn were evenly matched. Stars off in the far distance fizzled out of existence from the mere shockwaves that were being unleashed from the clash, never to return again.
Not even the real world was spared, the entire planet being shaken as some of the power from the clash slipped through the dimensional wall and out into it. It was only by pure luck that the leakage was minute and therefore the violent shaking was minimal, with very few people being harmed at all.
Rogue gritted his teeth within the center of his Black Sun, his entire form being rocked back and forth against his will from the power struggle. He tried with all his might to keep pumping out as much mana as possible to overcome Hanako's attack.
But it was ultimately all for naught.
The Black Sun shuddered, as if about to take one final breath… and then it began to crack under the force known only as Fenris Laevateinn. Rogue could only scream in rage as those very cracks grew in size until part of his attack actually shattered like glass.
"No!" It was the only word he was able to get out just before his attack couldn't hold up anymore and broke apart, turning first to black dust before simply ceasing to exist entirely.
That was when Fenris Laevateinn shot forth and struck him head on, eradicating him instantly just like it had before.
What felt like minutes were in reality meager seconds as Hanako slowly lowered her arms, Fenris Laevateinn having now ended. She wobbled slightly on her face, partially disoriented from the strain of it. She mumbled to herself in slight distaste; she may have overestimated how ready she was for the attack's feedback.
Thankfully for her, before her stumbling could lead to a fall, both Miki and Ryuichi rushed forward and kept her hoisted up by her arms.
"Thanks…" she muttered in appreciation.
"You stopped it!" Ryuichi couldn't help but point out the obvious. He was just that glad to see Rogue's Black Sun dealt with.
"But not him just yet…" Miki then said in a fierce voice. She pointed forward, roughly a few dozen yards ahead.
Sure enough, the same form Rogue's soul always seemed to manifest as appeared. "Akashic Record!" His voice then called out from nowhere and immediately his body was restored.
Rogue, upon reforming, fell to a knee. Grunting, he tried to stand, but to no avail. Despite still having plenty of mana left, using Black Sun and its destruction had taken a physical toll on him. "Shit, shit, shit! How?!" he roared without care.
Anger unlike anything he's ever felt before surged through him and it was this that allowed him to stand up not even a few seconds later. Accomplishing this, he then directed his attention to the three responsible for his current state, nothing but hatred contained within his red eyes.
His cloak billowed wildly as mana erupted from him in expression of his rage. Silently summoning Chariowald to him, he flipped his instinctive reverse-grip on them so that he held them normally. He then pointed the two blades at Ryuichi and Miki, who had earned his ire the most within the past minute or so. If not for them, then Hanako wouldn't have been able to stop his Black Sun in time.
"You…" he growled out. "You both are going to die, right here, right no-!"
Just before he could finish his threat, someone interrupted him, a voice that honestly took everyone by surprise, if only because everyone's attention was entirely focused on what had just occurred.
"No, that's enough out of you…" Naruto now spoke, causing everyone to look to him. He pulsed a bright ocean blue as the rune he'd created earlier rapidly circled his entire form, working from his feet up to his head and back down again rhythmically.
His 'trump card' was finally ready.
"Time to end this for good, Rogue." Naruto went and declared this just like that, as if it was going to happen. And Naruto knew for a fact that this was going to end; he was going to make it happen.
"End this?" Rogue muttered, eyes narrowing. He crouched slightly, ready to pounce upon Naruto first now. "Just how do you plan to do th-?"
Naruto cut him off yet again and did so by activating his trump card. "Da Capo… Finale."
An ocean of mana was unleashed upon everyone, both in Valhalla and out in the real world, bathing them all in its magnificent ocean blue light.
Silence descended all across the globe, everyone rooted where they stood as their very souls took in the amount of power being summoned forth into existence. No one, not even the most mindless and uncaring of Grimm, dared to move, so much so that even their heartbeats slowed to a dangerous crawl. Their breaths hitched and their entire bodies broke out into a cold sweat that left their clothes soaked.
The ancient magi, being more keen towards mana than others, could only completely stop what they were doing, their attention drawn so completely to Naruto that everything else around them seemed to just lose their color. Even Takehiko, still recovering from his wounds, forced himself out of his bed to go peer out the nearest window, not wanting to miss what was about happen.
This was something only amplified for those much closer to the point of origin.
The trio of Miki, Ryuichi, and Hanako unconsciously stepped out of the way between Rogue and Naruto, their gazes fixed entirely on the blond magus in question.
As they moved, their bones creaked heavily as a visible pressure pressed down on them with unrelenting force, causing them to move at a snail's pace just to get out of the way.
Not even Rogue was spared from this. If anything, the Mage of Misfortune had it even worse, being the focus of Naruto. "W-What…?" he stuttered out a moment later, his instincts yelling at him to move, to run, to do anything that would put some sort of distance between him and the ultimate magus. And yet his body absolutely refused to budge, his limbs shaking erratically under the sheer pressure from the mana now pouring all over Valhalla.
And then… it all just disappeared.
There was no warning sign, no indication at all. The outflow of mana just stopped, causing everything to revert to how it was before.
Shakily, Rogue looked to the source of all that mana:
Naruto.
The blond magus took exactly one step forward.
Rogue, and even the other three there, took an unconscious step back. The latter three – Miki, Ryuichi, and Hanako – did so out of an overpowering sense of awe whereas the former did so out of a fear unlike anything he's ever felt before. Not even Tatsuya had been able to inspire such terror in him.
And yet… there was no reason for this fear.
From a purely physical perspective, Naruto was completely unchanged. No sudden changes to his clothes, nor were there any changes to his hair or skin tone. He didn't suddenly gain any extra appendages nor did his eyes change color or anything else of the sort. He looked exactly the same as he was before.
And yet the presence he now exuded was unreal. Mana of a quality and quantity so great that it threatened to consume all there is simply as a mere side effect.
"W-W-What…?" Rogue finally managed to find his voice and begin to ask the question that was flitting across the minds of everyone now, if only unconsciously. "Just what did you…?"
Naruto's blue eyes pierced Rogue's very soul, yet his gaze was free of anger or any other sort of negative emotion. He now appeared to regard the Mage of Misfortune as some one or something much less, hardly worth his notice.
"Da Capo Finale," Naruto then spoke, his voice sending shivers through everyone that heard it. Like the rest of him, it was unchanged superficially, but there was an undeniable sense of power to it that enraptured everyone. "That's the name of my trump card, which I thought up and created just several years ago. I've yet to fully master it, hence the long activation time… but as it is now, it's good enough."
Naruto paused, taking just a few more steps. The steps were small, but his demeanor and presence made it seem like he'd taken several great strides forward. Rogue, in turn, took several steps back. "It peers into the past and takes the 'past me' from an hour ago, 2 hours ago, 3 hours ago… all the way up until 24 hours ago, and temporarily merges all 24 of those 'past selves' with my current self… do you understand what that means, Rogue?"
Rogue did and what that meant chilled him to the very core of his soul. His shaking grew worse, enough for his blades to slip from his palms and clatter loudly to the ground. A cold sweat broke out all over his body, getting his clothes so quickly wet that not even his cloak was spared. His mask began to feel stuffy and made it hard for him to even breath.
What Naruto's created rune ultimately did, was this: increase all of his abilities via using others – in this case, his past selves. In an odd way, it was much like how Rogue had used Forbes Blutgang on Vidar to empower himself, albeit permanently while Naruto's power boost was temporary.
But whereas Rogue's power only nearly doubled since Vidar was almost on par with him in strength, Naruto's power had just been increased 24 times over in every respect.
Naruto watched in silence as this fact dawned fully on Rogue, a fact that also now sank into the minds of everyone else who listened to every word he spoke.
The ultimate magus then sighed. Time to end this. No more theatricalities, no more words, no more fighting in general. Considering that Da Capo Finale would only last for five minutes at the most right now, he couldn't afford to put things off.
He took up a stance, one similar to the one he usually takes when firing Fenris Wolf from a stationary position. But what he was preparing wasn't Fenris Wolf nor was it any other attack he'd used earlier in the battle.
What he was about to use was yet another self-created move that could only be used with Da Capo Finale activated.
Mana on a scale that surpassed imagination gathered at a hundred times the speed of light into Naruto's right fist, concentrating into something that would spell Rogue's demise. Even with Double Stock, Rogue had absolutely no chance of surviving this attack, one that reduces all it hits to complete nothingness. Not even Tatsuya back when Das Rheingold had passively rendered him 'eternal' would've been able to survive such a blow!
Rogue, realizing if only instinctively this fact, found himself suddenly overcome by a strange sense of calm, of peace even.
"…pfft." Rogue let out a soft laugh that was at odds with his usual personality. Resigned, Rogue slowly spread out his arms as if in surrender. "Ha, you're more of a monster than even Tatsuya… way more."
He closed his eyes for a second and then opened them, peering into Naruto's eyes without anger. "Do it."
And Naruto did just that.
Launching his fist and the coalescence of mana forth, he called out the name of his final blow.
"Gungnir Divine Zero."
And as the attack was unleashed, everything around them shuttered… and ceased to be.
Honestly, I kind of was expecting this chapter to be long, but not this long. I've surprised myself somewhat.
At any rate, just wow! Hard to believe that I just finished up the final battle! It's been a hell of a ride! That said, with this now done, the epilogue is up next, but not until after Christmas and HOPEFULLY – I stress that word greatly – before the New Year.
I'm sure I could pull this off; the epilogue will certainly be much shorter than this chapter, that much I know for sure.
Until next time, everyone! Take care and once again, Merry Christmas!