Castiel get's Uchiha'ed
Looking at fucking Uchiha Madara standing tall opposite him, Castiel shuddered in both dread and eager anticipation as he clenched his shaking fists. He could only imagine how bad things could and would turn out. Uchiha Madara was one of the prime antagonists in the naruto series, and since Zelretch was someone who traveled between worlds it would not surprise him that he found this guy on one of them. The multiverse was a large thing after all. Even so, Zelretch had clearly went and done it this time, bringing a living legend like this guy from the Ninja world over here to fight him in this Trial. Castiel knew that Madara had took on an entire army of allied shinobi forces on his own, literally decimating them and would have finished the job if the bullshit protagonist Naruto with his talk no jutsu hadn't stopped him.
Unfortunately for Castiel, he was NOWHERE near that strong or had as much reserves as that guy did, and even then Naruto had his heritage and Jinchuriki status to go on. Therefore, his best option would likely have to be to try and overwhelm him as fast and as hard as he possibly could. No other way about it, this fight NEEDED to be as quick as possible or this hardcore badass would be prepared for all of the Heir's techniques soon enough.
With that in mind, Castiel gave a war cry as he launched himself at him at the best speed he could without much enhancement from his Magic, if at all. His hands had two weapons, one Kupriotes in one hand and Clarent in the other, having drawn them the moment that they started moving. However, Madara didn't seem to mind what he was doing at all as he simply looked down at Castiel as if he were simply a clown with two sticks.
Part of him bristled at being looked down on, the part of Castiel who saw himself as a king who should be looked up to and not underestimated like this, but he pushed that side down for the time being. It wasn't really like he would take the Heir seriously anyway, even in the anime he had a serious case of gloating and a holier-than-thou attitude going on.
When the two of us were close enough, Castiel flipped through the air and crossed blades for the first time with him, Kupriotes being the weapon Castiel had chosen to collide with his battle fan. Something he had drawn in the instant before his sword could have sliced through his flesh... well, not like it could have, his Armour was built to resist such strikes, and this guy was OP enough to endure a slash from a Noble Phantasm like this sword anyways.
"Hooh, this is not a bad level of arm-strength." Madara casually noted. his eyes locking onto the trembling form of their weapons with a slight calculating gaze whilst he held his battle-fan against my Kupriotes. "At least you seem to somewhat know your way around a blade, however that alone will not save you." he stated, something which Castiel refused to show his reaction to. That strike just now showed him that Madara wasn't taking this seriously, but the moment he did the Castiel would be royally fucked.
The two then broke away, pulling their weapons back and away from each other. Castiel then followed this motion by twisting his body using the momentum and moving his right arm holding Clarent in a reverse upward slash at him, which he saw coming and moved just enough to avoid the blade.
Well, that would be true if it wasn't for the fact that when Castiel had been centimeters away from him, he had used some light manipulation combined with Clarent and Airgetlain to release an instantaneous Judgment Bullet when he had been close enough to the older man's body. Not that it worked though to my hidden frustration, Madara's eyes were just too good, honed through countless battles on a scale of which Castiel could only dream of. He simply moved his head to the side slightly as a small cut was made on his cheek.
Even so, the man simply glanced down at the cut, as if he had not expected something like that to happen and had mitigated his emotional response to it. "Interesting." He remarked with curiosity, before lifting his right leg and entering a roundhouse kick, kicking Castiel in the stomach with immense force that any normal person would have had their spines broken.
"Ghaa!"
As Castiel got sent flying away, he barely managed to ope his eyes in time, for the male soon saw him going through many hand signs with his hands before inhaling lots of air.
Castiel's thought process: oh fuck, he's going to blow!
"Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku! (Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation)"
With that, he launched a veritable wall of flames right at the heir's face. remembering that move he used in the Anime, Castiel couldn't help the heart-pounding his said organ was going through. Wonder if the shinobi in that world felt the same thing he just did. There was nowhere to run or hide, so he simply took it head on by concentrating light energy on Airgetlain and then using Clarent's amplification to launch a wave of holy energy to cut open a way for Castiel to pass through the fire.
Even so, the teen couldn't help but grimace as he felt the flames pass by his sides. Indeed, they had the 'hot' factor down pat, seriously even if the fire wasn't touching him and he had already garnered an obscenely high resistance to fire, it had still been quite hot, enough for him to feel it. Guess that was to be expected however.
As soon as Castiel got out of the flames, he saw Madara's fist almost nearing his face from the right side. With a quick curse inside his mind, Castiel managed to avoid it by the skin of his teeth by ducking underneath it, but it still surprised him as Castiel's reaction wasn't that much slower than his own.
"Impressive." He mused, before his fan got swung in a follow up attack and with a THWACK, hit the Heir from the left side. Unlike before however, his reaction speed had not the same effects, thus it succeeded in launching him away again. "Is your left side weaker?" He asked, eyes focused intently on his opponent whilst a range of theories cycled through his mind. "Perhaps your eyes are capable of different things, interesting."
At this, Castiel could only gape at him after digging his swords into the ground and sliding to a halt. 'Is this for real, he already is getting close to figuring out what my right eye can do? The fuck?' he thought in shock, dread and slight fear. This felt WAY worse than dealing with Kokabiel, this felt worser than anything that crow could have done to him.
"Now, try again." He advised, no commanded while readying his battle fan. "I am guarding this trial, if you want to pass you must force me to go at least forty percent serious. If you manage to actually wound me for more than just a pathetic scratch you will even get a bonus."
'Oh, so it is not like I have to KILL him (not that I would manage that, considering what I know about him if he truly is Madara as I think). If what I am seeing, feeling, and know about him is anything to go by this is a HUGE relief on my part.' the Heir thought to himself, almost losing the urge to show the emotions welling up inside of him from that revelation. 'Even so, however, I must make this fight be at my top condition to deal with him, but considering everything my first move now is the most important. First, let's put Clarent away for now.' he thought to himself as he dismissed the mighty weapon, much to Madara's confusion whilst readying himself for an impending attack. 'This is a great sword, possibly my best one, but what I need now isn't simply power, but mastery over my sword. His eyes are just too good, I need to bring out my best swordplay that I possibly can and it was only recently that I started being able to wield Clarent more freely. I still have ways to go with it, but when it comes down to the blade I can bring out my best techniques in swordplay there is no doubt that Kurpiotes works the best for me even if it is a weaker blade.'
With those thoughts in mind, Castiel got into a better stance than one with duel wielding. "Fuuuhhhh," he sighed, exhaling the air from his lungs whilst calming his pounding heart to a steady rhythm. Castiel's energy began circulating back through his own body as he focused in strengthening his body to the absolute limit. Every single cell must be strengthened to the breaking point, he had to focus on bringing himself to the point where he would be at his fastest as well as his strongest. Nothing would be left un-enhanced, nothing would be untouched. everything had to be maxed out to its fullest capacity right now.
Everything else, such as outside battle thoughts like his worry over his comrades, his grievances towards HER, everything else would be classed as unnecessary. Castiel had to erase any other thought from his mind, forming a clean slate that any swordsman would need so he could simply connect himself with his blade and attack.
Something which obviously Madara would notice, if the slight arching of his brow was any indication. "Hoho, I did not expect one so young to be able to reach this level of focus. If you were on my world you probably would already be famous by now," He said, still not showing the slightest worry even as his eyes continued focused on myself.
'Where is it, where is the limit of my body right now? I must be at my strongest but this is taking far too long!' Castiel thought to himself as he began sensing an attack coming.
Something which would prove to be correct, as Madara moved his hands in a chain of movements (his hands being like blurs) before inhaling deeply.
"Katon: Haijingakure no Jutsu (Fire Style: Hiding in Ash Jutsu)"
With that, a wave of ash left his mouth. It quickly enough covered the entire area, but Castiel urged himself forwards and continued steadfastly. 'I can deal with the heat of this Jutsu well enough and I must hone my instincts and skill if I am to ever hope to beat this challenge.' he thought to himself.
TWITCH
Just by simply twitching, he turned quickly to the side and slashed at the flaming kunai that tried to pierce him from his left flank.
STEP
He had not time to recover, and so the Heir put weight onto his right leg and jumped to the side, using his sword to attack the place he had been mere seconds ago.
CLANG
Castiel's sword hit the scythe that was trying to reach where he had been previously. However, as soon as he felt the strength in that blade, the male suddenly felt it go light. That wasn't good, not at all. Spinning in mid-air, Castiel quickly resorted to using his wings as shields as a fan came to hit him right where I was a millisecond ago. However, it wouldn't be enough as thanks to physics Castiel found himself launched away from that place, which in hindsight had been what he had wanted but before he flew too far, the male kicked the ground to launch himself higher so as to avoid any traps. Which, by the way, turned out to be a great call as seconds later, a pack of flame spears hit where he had once been, nearly touching him with their sharp tips.
However, Castiel knew that this position he currently found himself in was far from ideal. Staying in the air meant that he was an easy target, and so the Heir dived back to the ground by using not only a mana burst, but also by launching a chain of holy energy and pulling himself closer.
He, however, was already completing a whole new set of seals before launching about 100 shurikens that he put fire on. Those shurikens all had a tracking capacity as they launched against Castiel, and when he touched the floor they already were upon his body.
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG
Instantly, he had to raise Kupriotes and managed to parry away every single one of them, using his right eye to detect their movements with as much precision as he could take even as his body couldn't follow the speed to the level his mind could calculate. 'I guess what I lack now is mostly general speed and flexibility, but that is something I should think about when I am not with this guy, nor anyone else this close to me for that matter with a sword aiming right at my face.'
Even so, Madara might have mostly be covered in smoke and would normally be hard to see when he made that offensive, especially since he was coming from Castiel's left side, but it was actually a mistake of his to come from this side. After all, Castie's left eye was still his original one, the Mystic eye that could detect and see the amount of good and evil on others, and no matter how much smoke there was concealing him, on this line of sight Castiel still could easily enough see his presence approaching.
In that moment Castiel turned his body, already moving his sword towards that direction even as he moved, resulting in him parring ,Madara's attack with a straining CLANG!
"Oh, so your left eye is also unique. It seems it is similar to a sensor ability, and it also is capable of discovering the real me." He remarked analytically, before Castiel felt a chill running through him, not liking what those words meant. Without bothering with him seeing through some of my tricks, the Heir released an omnidirectional wave of energy to feel up his surroundings (a small trick he had learned while on the first trial of fire, it worked similarly to a bat's sonar and it felt quite practical).
As he felt two other versions of him approaching from his blind spot, Castiel kicked the real Madara away. Unfortunately, this wouldn't be enough for him to even truly feel much of anything from that attack, but it ought to be enough for now because Castiel still had to focus on eliminating those two.
While the real one was sent away, Castiel turned towards the to that were close at hand. The first one came with a punch and the other was launching a fireball, he divided his attention between the two things by using Kupriotes to cut down the fire attack with his right hand while using his left one to kill the clone coming from up close. His left arm looked basically boneless as Castiel moved it like a snake around the punch the clone delivered, redirecting the attack just enough for it to not be a threat anymore and then reinforced the tip of his fingers for them to work as the tip of a spear that cut away at the clone's neck.
As the clone was defeated, it dissolved in flames, proving it is some sort of fire clone. Castiel then avoided the real Madara that launched more flaming kunais at him from his left side, just barely managing to avoid them. One even managed to touch his skin, but thanks to his newfound stronger skin it was incapable of wounding him in the slightest. Before he had the chance of doing anything else and joining up with the clone. Castiel moved in closer to the remaining clone, a wild, animalistic yet trained ferocity in his eyes as he fought him up close using a swordplay reminiscent of one of the sword users his father recorded from his reality marble to help his son train on the sword. Castiel used the manslaughterer style of Okada Izo, the killer from the Edo period and a heroic spirit with one of the best skills with the sword when it comes to cutting down people.
Personally though, Castiel didn't like using this one very much. It was just too brutal and its intention of killing everything is too strong, but right now it is a good one to use. The clone of Madara might be strong, but right now Castiel's speed wasn't that much different from his and, considering the close distance, the fight was centered in pure skills, and for as great as he can be when it comes down to simply fighting one on one, at this close a distance this swordplay simply beats his.
When the Heir cut down this clone, he to exploded in flames that tried to cover him, however Castiel's resistance to fire now became simply too strong for him to be injured by this level of flames. He then turned to the original, looking straight at his eyes as he tried to put the Heir under a genjutsu, or at least this is what Castiel figured he had just tried to do, because he just now felt some energy try to enter his head, even as it failed miserably.
"Hoho, high reflexes, good movements, dexterous, good strength, impressive swordplay, daringness to face me but attentive enough to know how to properly guard yourself and good physical and mental defenses. I guess beating you will be hard if I don't take this at least until my 40% margin, be honored as you will be facing me slightly seriously." He said. "And one more thing, you already can pass this trial now if you want, but the more of my power you force me to draw out the better your reward will be, so make sure to entertain me to the best you can."
With that his eyes changed into the Mangekyo Sharingan, a Susanoo appearing around him to protect him fully. Madara Uchiha's Susanoo was dark blue in color, just like the version in the anime. Also like back in that show, his Susanoo was made up of two entirely different sides that were conjoined along their spine, both of which had distinct faces: The front face had these elongated canine teeth within its lower jaw bracket and two tusks growing from that very said jaw, while the back face also had similarly elongated canine teeth in its upper jaw bracket alongside a single horn protruding from its forehead. It's four arms each had distinct, undulating blades that resemble krises, held in each of the four hands.
For one side, this meant that Castiel had at least passed the test and now that he is a much larger target, the Heir could start using his more destructive abilities.
On the other side, as he could feel his powers rising exponentially with his Susanoo formation Castiel realized one thing alongside the rapidly draining color on his face.
He was SO FUCKED!
'Hmmm, it looks like we've made some good progress...'
That was what Nico thought to himself as he sat on the ground, cross legged and consume with meditation like those Buddhist monks he sometimes met during missions in Leanbox and Planeptune. The teen sat in the middle of the Colosseum, drenched with sweat born from intense training. Thanks to the time dilation of his inner world being an hour for every second, Nico had achieved quite a bit on his training, enough for Biko to warrant him being allowed a small respite before they resume training.
Thing is, he had started to train with the Archdevil Arms he had in his possession so far. Those two being Erebus and Ouranos, but when he had done so, an interesting little fact had become clear to them. Thanks to their transformations, each of them gained a small little world to call their own, which merged with his own Inner World, kind of like installing a new room in a house. As such, if he wanted to train in the usage of an Archdevil Arm, he would have to go to that 'World' in order to properly manifest its weapon form, then its manifestation would be able to appear before him to help him train. Nico had to figure this out the hard way though, as despite his vast amount of knowledge on the procedure, Biko largely remained clueless on how they worked afterwards. Aside from their benefits and that they would need to devour the souls of other beings to regain their original powers, thus becoming weapons capable of destroying planets, Biko knew little else about them.
Ouranos had been 'okay' during their training, with Biko helping out... but when EREBUS manifested...
Well, lets just say that Lucy herself would be given a run for her money in the flirting and seduction attempt department, even worse knowing that she could literally trap him in her world, and he nearly did until Biko managed to get him out safely, therefore protecting his chastity. Nico SWORE he heard his Demon Persona pull out his Soul Edge and yell out 'Begone, THOT!', but meh perhaps he'd been hearing things. He couldn't help but wonder if Erebus would even try to steal his Ghoul Persona and pull him back into that world, as it had been shown that they could leave their little homes, but not for long.
Aside from training with Erebus and Ouranos, his Hellfire and finally managing to master the basic forms of Sonido, Pesquisa, Resureccion and Hierro for later development, Nico had devoted a LOT of time for his training in his Inner World towards learning the Star Gods Broken Shadow technique. According to the Tome he had read, once the Skill is put to use, the user's speed will instantaneously explode and become so fast that even their afterimage wouldn't have enough time to fade away. There were up to 9 stages of it, and the more stages one reached for the technique, the more Afterimages they could leave behind. For example, for the first stage one could only use this movement ability once thanks to only being able to make one afterimage. However, one who was at the 5th stage could use this Skill 5 times in repeat succession, and wouldn't even have to wait very long, like a couple seconds or so, to be able to use that technique again. Thanks to Nico having his Warping ability, he could have something else to use during those seconds, making hitting him a HIGHLY difficult task.
Sometimes, he wished he had this technique when he fought against Mundus way back when, cause tat guy moved like this but with much greater ease.
With the instructions from the Tome on how to use the technique, Nico had spent a large time frame, easily more than an entire months' worth of time in the Inner World and as a result Nico had learned not only the first stage of the technique, but had advanced it to the fifth stage so he could use this technique up to five times in a row in rapid succession. He had used this Skill to dodge attacks from monsters that this Inner World possessed, he used it to dodge the Kagune strikes his Ghoul Persona used (geez, that Rinkaku had been fast as fuck, and it had been plainly obvious that the guy held back too), and countless other speed-based exercises like trying to escape a quicksand pit with the pull of a planet's gravity at the centre which COULD have crushed him if he made one mistake, he ran through a section of the Inner World which got slowed even more than normal, he'd even ran against the roaring flames of Biko's Hellfire, using his own to shield him from the winds generated by them.
After that, Nico had spent a similar portion of time in developing the Great Way of the Buddha. The Great Way of the Buddha (also known as the "Forbidden Heavenly Tome") apparently had been what was called a "forbidden Divine Art", and it belonged to a "True God from the Primordial Era" back on the world this tome came from. Unfortunately, normal humans cannot cultivate The Great Way of the Buddha without exploding since it puts a heavy strain on their bodies; but thanks to Nico's body having inherited the power of Sparda when he turned into a DPU, becoming his champion practically, he had fit the bill. In addition, the Great Way of the Buddha was an arduous art to practice, due to its extremely harsh requirements on the cultivator's comprehension abilities. The Great Way of the Buddha affected one's blood, meridians, muscles, skin, and hair since it relied on the strength of the soul and nature instead. Its development was absolutely not from battle, but from comprehension. In addition, the Great Way of the Buddha materialized as a Silver Pagoda upon the comprehension which then embeds itself into the recipient's forehead, and the Pagoda transitions in color and shines in later stages of its cultivation.
That wasn't all there was to this art however, as Nico soon found out when reading the Tome. The restoration power that Great Way of the Buddha enables is a powerful concentration of the power of Heaven and Earth. Upon entering the Intermediate stage of The Great Way of the Buddha, not only was it capable of healing the cultivator, but it also allows one to heal others absurdly fast, albeit much more slowly than healing one's self. Thanks to Nico having his Ghoul side and DPU abilities though, that slow healing could be sped up further, so it wasn't that big of an issue. However, one must be incredibly familiar with the human body, the knowledge of the location of every muscle, bone, tendon, meridian, orifices, organs and more coupled with medical experience to be able to successfully and explosively heal both external and internal damage of another person. If the cultivator of The Great Way of the Buddha attempted to heal someone via injecting the power of Heaven and Earth without prior knowledge and familiarity of the body, including the necessity of medical experience, the intense concentration of power will not only destroy the internal organs of the person getting healed, they may also die due to bodily explosion.
According to it's Tome, the 'Great Way of the Buddha' had a total of twelve stages. The purpose of the first stage of The Great Way of the Buddha was to absorb the vitality of the world; to allow the world's vitality to fill, refine, and transform the body. Including the flesh, hair, blood, bones, organs, and marrow. Allowing the body to be born anew. Every following elevation of the realms in each stage will also result in a new reformation of the body, and every new reformation of the body signified a slight separation from the mortal realm. One's lifespan would also increase exponentially. The first three realms could be considered the initial stage, but from the fourth realm onward, it becomes the intermediate stage.
For Nico, this one could be considered a bit harder for him to do, especially since this art revolved around the mind and not the body, even though its effects applied to his body and soul. However, the teen also understood something else about it. That if he were his previous self, then developing this art would have been nigh impossible. The Trials of Samsara however, indeed changed him in many ways, allowing his mind to 'open up' to newer possibilities. Thus, Nico managed to complete the first stage of this Art, and boy did he feel the effects from it.
It appeared that even in his Inner World, his main body got affected whilst training in this art, for his form quickly got the strength of up to 1500 Kilos as promised by the Tome itself. Absorbing the Vitality of the World through his Inner World, well, it took a lot longer than he had expected it to, but he figured that to be due to the time dilation effects messing with the process. It hadn't been easy, and more than once Nico felt like dying over and over again. This process essentially killed and revived him at the same time, his organs having felt like they were being melted and turned into acid within him, then being remade with pins and needles constantly burying themselves into them with the sharpness of finely honed blades. By the time that process finished, Nico felt like he had gone through a human sized shredder then got reformed from scratch...
Although he got the power boost, so that was something to be celebrated. He'd completed the first stage.
As for the second and third stages, they weren't so much tricky as they were painful once he broke into those stages. Meditation and comprehension had been key there, but Nico relied on what he had learned and his own understanding to pull it off. Nico remembered what he learned from every trial he had taken so far, not to mention all his past experiences, taking out the feelings behind them for they weren't necessary and focusing solely on the facts. It honestly felt like trying to go through those trials of Samsara once more, but not at the same time. The teen however, did ask for Biko to help him study what they knew from the library from the Fragmented Memories, so as to better help his comprehension of the way things were. That resulted in clearing the second and third stages, and turning the Pagoda he got from the first stage from silver into a faint gold color.
Unfortunately though, soon enough after he completed the fourth stage (His Pagoda becoming a dull gold in color and the shine becoming more pure and radiant, along with a gild tint entering his blood), did Nico's comprehension abilities no longer help him progress any further. If he wanted to know more, Nico would likely have to learn more, to understand bigger subjects and to also comprehend them. Even so however, Nico didn't feel mad or frustrated by his halting of progress, for this training allowed him to progress to these stages. The fourth stage even upped his physical strength to that of over 4000 freaking kilos, that just boggled his freaking mind! Not to mention that he now had a body that was as strong as pure steel, and a healing capability that no ordinary person could possibly understand anymore. If he thought it had been good before, it certainly paled in comparison to now, that poison he got hit by before would have ZERO chance of hurting him now.
All in all, he had spent a HUGE amount of time in the arts of cultivation... and he didn't regret it one single bit.
This progress would serve him well, and Nico couldn't wait till he mastered both of those.
Heck, he DEFINITELY felt like he'd be more of a companion in these trials now!
"Heh, so the kid's started them, has he?"
Up in his living room, after finishing the last of the first season of the Good Place (he'd re-watched the first season more than 10 times already for the laughs), Zelretch had decided to switch channels over to the boys to see how they were doing. Castiel seemed to be coming along nicely, what with his understanding of fire now growing at a massive rate, he'd definitely be fit for those Vermilion Bird flames once they completely merge with him. Not to mention the witty smugness that he used on Astaroth there, that was definitely worth a few laughs.
Then, he had switched over to Nico's side, and... wow.
Whelp, he had to give the emo kid credit, he certainly had the drive and the talent once he actually opened his mind to the possibilities. The vampire recalled meeting the original user of those things he got, how it took him a good month to learn how to use Star God's Broken Shadow like that, though to be fair he did have other things to worry about as well. Same with the Great Way of the Buddha. Still, to progress to the fifth and fourth stages of those respectively showed a strong sense of determination, and his understanding seems to have swollen thanks to the Trials of Samsara. He didn't even use any of those fancy toys he has, just that broken Inner World in his opinion (though compared to his power it seemed like an ant in comparison, since he'd reached the pinnacle). Guess the kid had more of a mental strength than previously thought. 'Still an emo, though. But I foresee that changing soon, especially once my godson is nearly done with his tests.'
Zelretch gave himself a pat on the back, creating this trial had to be one of his best experiments so far, since it did WONDERS for the emo kid's character. He may not notice it just yet, but these trials were a MAJOR positive plus for his personality, who knows perhaps he could wind up getting even more popular back in his home world as long as he doesn't let it get to his head. 'Although I bet my student wouldn't let that happen...' he thought in self amusement.
'Whelp, since Castiel isn't done yet, back to the Good Place!'
Castiel POV
The Susanoo is a hack, there is no two ways about it, this thing has got to be some sort of cheat!
How else could anyone explain Facing Madara using the Susanoo was a nightmare. His defenses were rock solid, he barely had to avoid any of my attacks and his attacks were heavy as fuck.
It was a miracle for me to survive this long against him, but I was doing my best to do it anyway.
Thanks to the amplification effect from Clarent I was even faster and stronger than when I was using Kupriotes, and while my technique suffered due to how I still am not fully used to using Clarent (especially since she isn't responding that well right now [what a diva]) I could not move nearly as dextrouriously as I would have liked to. But, with such a big target, technique isn't a necessity.
"Take THIS!" I yelled as I used my sword in a way similar to how a barbarian would use an axe. As Madara was thrown away from me I already was preparing for what he would do next. Right now I am using a style similar to the one used by the original owner of Clarent, the knight of betrayal Mordred. It is a rough and wild stille that mostly depends on simply overpowering the opponent with brute force.
As he finally stopped Madara took a good look at me, I simply stared back as he gave a slight smile.
"Your physical powers, while not as strong as Hashirama's, are still decently close enough. While I will defeat you if we keep this up it is not my style to keep doing the same thing over and over again. Let's see how you deal with 60%." He said before he extended one hand. "Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu (Wood Style: Giant Forest Jutsu)."
And just like that from his arm, a pack of trees started sprouting at high speeds. The trees advanced towards me in such a way that avoiding them was hard, so I simply didn't avoid them from the start.
Putting my right-hand's finger pointing forward I focused a high amount of light energy pointing straight at its tip.
"Judgment Arrow!" and with that, I launched a large amount of pure light energy towards the trees that were coming towards me.
The trees were still coming, but the ones ahead of me were gone with that one move of mine. I don't need to worry about them right now as much as I do with the man who created them.
I think I must put an end to this, keeping doing this here isn't going to work and I must end this right now before my strength starts falling due to tiredness. My vitality isn't that outstanding and keeping this level of combat for long isn't on my side.
This guy is playing around, my limit in strength is close but he still is far from this. It is better to do this in one fell swap.
"Madara, I will launch my strongest attack now! Try and take it if you can!" I yelled as I put Clarent above my head before a bean of pure energy starts overwhelming from it.
He looks at it with slight interest before he says.
"Sure, I want to see how far you can go. Now COME!" He yells at the end before his Susanoo got in a defensive position and most of the trees around started surrounding him.
No matter, what I need to do remains the same. Purring my energy to the limit of what I could I combined the energy from Argetain, the light aspect of the star power I stole from Kokabiel, and the power from Clarent, generating my strongest attack possible.
As I was swinging the blade the light was so strong that even I was momentarily blinded by it, but I did not care as I simply continued.
"True Holy Salvation!" I yelled in a moment of emotion, naming this as an independent attack.
BBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
I fell to my knees as I ended this movement. I was beyond tired and my energy was nearly empty, but when I looked to see the result of what I did I did not see Madara just standing there.
What I see now is him, in all his glory, on the head of a giant as FUCK Susanoo. His complete Susanoo, and it was terrifying as all hells combined and in steroids.
Seriously, this thing is made of an energy similar to flames, but the sheer basic power of him is enough for him to compete against most Leader-class guys back in my world.
As he saw me kneeling on the floor Madara looked at me and gave a VERY tiny small smile.
"You passed with flying colors. You actually managed to force me to use 90% of my total power for once there. This attack of yours is very strong, but you should work on faster moves in the future." He said, almost as if a teacher. He then took out a scroll from the inner parts of his armor before he said. "The things inside here are your rewards, normally it would only be one but you did enough to deserve more." And just as he threw the scroll to me he stated. "Now I got to get going, the vampire did capture me and Hashirama and both of us have a fight that should be starting about now. What an interesting and unique afterlife."
Did uncle Zelretch somehow got their souls in here and reincarnated his favorite characters from anime as some sort of pseudo heroic spirits? I think I should be surprised if it was so, but I honestly can't anymore.
As Madara left I opened the scroll. There were some weird symbols on it so I tried purring some energy on it.
POOF
Three different things came out of it. One was a small jar that I could feel some powerful energy from, the second was a copy from some scriptures that I cannot quite understand as the words are just too mangles up together but I think its title is Alchemy God's Grand Canon, and the third one is three equal herbs; they are a seemingly common white flowers, palm-sized, a bit like a tree peony, without leaves, the stalk connecting to a pitch black big rock that had an astonishing weight. On that white flower are a few flecks of red, scarlet red like blood, and looking at it all I instantly recognized as a Yearning Heartbroken Red, a herb that may as well be called a divine treasure.
The most interesting thing is that I simply cannot use those Yearning Heartbroken Red no matter how much I might desire them. The effect of this herb is quite overbearing in the sense that as I still didn't finish absorbing the Eight Petal Immortal Orchid it is possible for the effects of the two fight inside my body and I end up not enjoying either herbs. Besides, this plant can only be taken by someone who is capable of putting all their love in just a single person and wholeheartedly think only of this one person, and I do not fill the bill for that one. Its effect was to raise the level of the one who eats it at least to twice the current amount, sometimes even more depending on how much its energy can be retained in the body. It also remodels the body internally, making the one who eats it to have a body that will ensure that one will not have any sort of problems growing stronger and suffering problems due to lack of talent. It is like this one herb can make a normal person a world renowned genius instantly, that is how amazing this herb is.
From the other two this Alchemy God's Grand Canon must be quite amazing, but I see that it is still a damaged thing as the tablet it is on is obviously broken, but if even so it still is considered equal to the others it must be quite amazing stuff I can learn some stuff out of it, and if it isn't suitable for me I can just give it to the Tower to let them try and figure this one out.
Now, for the last thing. The small jar is actually absurdly heavy now that I take it in my hand, it weighs almost 40 pounds while only being as big as three fingers put together. I slowly opened the bottle, and I felt a wave of power oozing out of this with extreme power and wildness.
The thing inside was blood, white and crystal-like blood that I could recognize quite easily. This is blood from the White Tiger, the Divine Beast that represents Metal and is known for its immense bodily strength and unparalleled speed on the ground. There was even a rumor that said that one such White Tiger once fought against Great Red, and while it obviously lost it managed to wound that great dragon slightly. That is how powerful that thing was, and right now I have its blood in my hand.
I quickly set-up the Time Dilator Field, focused my mind for a while before starting the same ritual to inherit the blood that I did previously. This time, however, things were a bit more complicated. This blood was much harder to refine and fuse with myself, almost as if it refused to fuse with me. I kept having flashes of visions from the White Tiger's life, the battles it did and the pride and bloodlust that could cover the sky and frighten everything away at any moment it so desired. These feelings and actions were the most pure inheritance this sort of creature had, it means this blood wasn't from a descendant that got the techniques from the White Tiger passed down but from the true White Tiger. Not only that, but this also means that this that I am going through right now is an absurdly rare lucky chance.
It is the chance to feel what it is like to have power close to beyond Leader-class, this will help guide me during my training after I reach Leader-class! So, even if I feel like my body is being devoured from the inside out, I still will preserve and try to perceive whatever I can from it.
"Heh, so he managed to get all three? Good job." Zelretch said while looking at how Castiel was doing (he was waiting for Netflix to charge, he still cannot understand how it is malfunctioning when he literally has the best net from the multiverse). "But, I gotta say that he is lucky to have that left arm spirit bone I gave him or he might have died already."
The truth was that this White Tiger in question was personally killed by Zelretch. Before it died it managed to put all his instincts and slaughter intent inside his own body, making it nearly impossible for anyone to use his body after he died. It didn't really matter all that much for Zelretch, he could wipe this last struggle from the White Tiger in a matter of a few minutes no problem, but it was too boring of a process.
The Divine Blood Castiel was fusing with had the accumulated experience and carnage from the White Tiger, most people would lose their minds when they take this much negative energy and rage, but things were different for Castiel.
Thanks to his spirit bone he automatically Devoured the energy and information inside the blood and turned all of it in something useful. Now, the last struggle from the White Tiger has turned into a benefit for Castiel, he doesn't even need to try much as all the information, battles, instincts, and most techniques were all engraved inside Castiel's brain. Understanding them properly would take a LOT of time, no two ways about it as this was the life experience from someone who lived for tens of thousands of years, integrating all of that would be a long process, but when he did manage to do that he would be tens of times stronger than he is right now even if he were on the same level of power he is right now.
THAT is just how great his instincts would be like, almost like that Super Instinct thing from Dragon Ball Super.
"...Let's watch Dragon Ball Super next. I want to see Goku kick some ass." Zelretch said to himself as he turned to his intergalactic super TV with all the content available of the multiverse (and there still wasn't an end of One Piece in sight).
Back with Nico, the teen just woke up after finalizing his training with the two tomes.
The results had been quite fortunate for him, as whilst he didn't break into any other stages for each of them, the Star God's Broken Shadow and the Great Way of the Buddha would definitely serve him well in facing future to mention that his physical ability, his vitality, all of it felt greater than he had ever felt before in his lifetime. He almost felt like a brand new person.
In addition, training with Erebus and Ouranos helped too, especially in learning how to harness their powers and the effects they had on his own skillset. Ouranos would DEFINITELY be quite useful with what it was capable of, as well as Erebus. He hoped to one day restore their souls to their original power levels though, cause right now they would be well up the power spectrum of his world. Nico didn't know exactly where yet though as he wanted to do some more tests first, but they potentially could level large cities with their powers individually.
He could only DREAM of what it would be like to use two Archdevil Arms at once...
Returning to the inner world, the male opened his eyes and stood up, sensing that Castiel had FINALLY finished his trials. He wouldn't deny that he wanted to see what kind of beast would await them as the fire trial's final boss, it made him hop up and down in eager anticipation. Anticipation largely born from his Ghoul side, as well as his warrior-like mentality... though, he would not mind to opening his mind to newer horizons.
'Maybe if me and Castiel had a rematch in the future, I'd stand a better chance...' he thought to himself, just as he sensed Castiel's power approaching the teen's position.
However...
'I would advise holding off on fighting him as of this moment, Nico.'
'Huh? Why?'
'I sense powerful divinity coming from him now. If I were to guess, some of the rewards he got would be something related to divine entities, entities that our CPUs wouldn't even dream of being able to defeat. If I were to gauge our chances of winning, in DDD or in human we'd likely have about 75% chance to lose... horribly.'
Narrowing his eyes at that, Nico nodded his head as he curbed his Ghoulish instincts that told him to fight Castiel for the time being. If Biko said something like that, then he'd listen to him. Nico would definitely improve himself if the odds that he would lose to him were that big, to be sure. Perhaps maybe he could master the tomes first in his Inner World... and he had ideas for how to do so. But for the time being, he should probably greet Castiel.
Looking towards where he appeared, the male raised a hand in greeting. "Sup, you good?"
Castiel snickered and said.
"Better than in a FUCKING long time, still can't believe I got that blood."
Nico lookd confused at this words. He have never even heard of such thing as a blood that can make someone stronger, if it was from birth it could be understood but in the way he was saying it it was clear that it was something completely different.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked.
Castiel looked just as confused at Nico as he answered.
"Dude, I got blood from a White Tiger and a Vermilion Bird! Three drops each, isn't this lucky as hell?" Seeing the lack of reaction Castiel felt like facepalming in pure frustration, how was it possible for someone of Nico's strength to not know even such a basic knowledge?
Was his world that late on this sort of matters or did Nico simply never searched for knowledge before?
"*Sigh* If you don't know what I am talking about thinking about it this way, imagine a creature that is born with the power to destroy entire planets if they so desire, now multiply that by a factor of 10, THAT is how strong those two creatures I told you about are." Castiel explained, making Nico think of someone simply being born as strong as the DPU of death and it came to him how utterly terrifying those creatures are and how lucky he is to never have met one before. "The reason for the strength of these creatures is their blood and body itself, even a single drop of their blood can be used to make miracle medicines, make a weapon many dozens of times stronger, or, if correctly transplanted, give the user some unusual powers they normally shouldn't have.
"For instance, the power of the White Tiger that I managed to analyze is to make me capable of helping me reinforce things one step further making my attack and speed higher, this is an example of what I mean." As Castiel finished saying that he activated the power of the White Tiger's bloodline, disappearing from where he was so fast that even Nico's trained eyes lost him for an instant.
Turning around, Nico's instincts suddenly SCREECHED, and he barely had time to reflexively bring his Bikaku out to block the attack coming at him, but with sheer brute strength, Castiel almost crushed it completely with just one single punch.
As the enormous pain coursed through his system, realization dawned on him in the form of Nico's eyes shrinking into dot's. How utterly terrifying this speed and power was, and it also solidified that he should REALLY send some time learning new things or he might get caught unprepared by someone that truly wanted to kill him by using something he didn't yet know."And as for the Vermilion Bird, well it is capable of letting me use the vermilion flames of the Vermilion Bird. Here it is."Castiel said as he released a small flame from his hand.
FEAR
Undoubted and unrestrained fear sprang from within Nico as he saw the flame, or to be more specific a fear originated from his DPU's powers and his devil and Archdevil Arms. Constant shrieking, frenzied shouting, and devilish screeches assaulted his mind and almost made him blue screen from the mental overdose. It was like how a rabbit fears a wolf even if they have never met one, an instinctive fear that almost overpowered his every sense as he felt the aura and energy of this fire.
"WHAT IS THAT?" Nico asked in pure instinctive terror, even if he tried to hide it which resulted in a very anxious look on his face. Within, Biko started trembling inside him as if he was seeing the most horrifying thing he has ever seen, and he had seen Mundus and his power over Death!
And yet, this flame was dozens of times more terrifying to him than even that.
Seeing Nico's overly exaggerated reaction (in Castiel's perspective) Castiel dispelled the fire, making Nico relax somewhat but every single consciousness inside him still trembled in the memory of that fear that suddenly overtook them. "This that I showed just now is the flame of the Vermilion Bird, it is the third hottest flame in existence and is the ultimate nemesis to all demons. This flame is a mix of divine and flame energy and can negate any demonic powers AND can purify them to the point that no matter how 'immortal' they may be, they can still be purified out of existence by it." Castiel explained, before commenting. "Quite handy, don't you think?"
He expected to hear some answer, but instead, all he saw was Nico showing even more shock than before.
Those flames that Castiel now possessed could potentially destroy his devil arms, something that he always believed to be impossible. Or rather, the male thought, that these flames would pretty much erase them from existence, multiple planes of existence or not. His weapons, even with their strong conditions for being destroyed, they feared these flames immensely. They were one of the few things that met the requirements to truly damage them... and he didn't like that thought at all.
It was then as well that Nico realized one thing, he was over-reliant on demonic energy and items. Don't get him wrong, those powers and items are extremely useful and powerful, but just as this flame existed who knows if there were other things that also could counter his demonic powers completely? And, if this did come to pass what was he supposed to do?
Roll over and die?
'Okay, you two. Serious talk here, we have come across a problem we need to rectify like, RIGHT the FUCK now. These bloodlines seem to have various advantages to them, not to mention they are extremely dangerous. I barely kept myself under control just then, and even THEN I wound up being all shy and anxious like a school boy!'
'You and me both, Nico. You may have felt it, but in reality it was I who bore all that fear, you just received a fragment of what our weapons and powers had going through them. If Emiya had left that flame out, or worse used it against us in our spar, then we would NOT have been able to survive it. It would have been like you dying with no chance of reforming thanks to their purification powers.'
'ALRIGHT YOU TWO, SIT THE FUCK DOWN! WE NEED TO HAVE A TALK ABOUT THIS, LIKE THE KING SAID, SO NO WUSSING OUT! OKAY, YOU ALL MARGINALLY CALM NOW? NOT GOING TO ACT LIKE BITCH PUSSIES FOR NOW? GOOD! NOW, THINK OF SOMETHING BEFORE I WHIP OUT MY KAGUNE AND WHIP YA'LL INTO SHAPE FROM LOSING YOUR SHITS JUST NOW!'
'...What that guys says is right, as much as it pains me to say it. He worded it badly but we do need to come up with a solution. Wait a minute, this guy was talking about Bloodlines as in plural, yes? Well then, do you think we can find something that could match up to those flames? He DID say that they were the third hottest flames, so if we somehow find a way to obtain the higher tier flames, we should be able to keel calm enough when around them.'
'I would agree with that statement, and according to the Devil Arms, Archdevil Arms and our power in general, it would seem that they too agree to this idea. Please do ask him, now that he feels marginally calmer compared to before, perhaps we can gain a huge amount of information from him. Information is power, after all.'
'Will do.'
"Emyia, do you know other types of strong bloodline out there? One that can help me obtain unique powers as well?" Nico asked, he did not like to admit but the more he talked to Castiel more he saw how his information about the world was lacking, how he still had so much to discover.
"Well, there are plenty of good ones out there. In this multiverse there are at least one or two dozen creatures that I know off that are around the same level as the White Tiger and the Vermilion Bird from birth, so you must be more specific. What is it that you would be looking for?" Castiel said, and it was true. In this entire Multiverse there were new miracles appearing at every instant and who knows how many creatures of that level there are out there? Even the World Devouring Wolf that was killed and had a spirit bone extracted could be seen as a similar existence to those Divine Beasts.
"...Well, considering my overall power set, I'd think that the strongest destructive flames would be right up my alley." Nico responded after thinking for just a few seconds. He had a certain degree of experience with fire so it wouldn't be nearly as bad to master than if he was to ask for thunder or something of the sort. Not to mention that 'destruction' was slowly becoming a greater part of his skill set whether he liked it or not. As long as he trained himself to control that destructive power, then he would have little problems in the long run.
"If it is that you must be looking for the Divine Blood of a Golden Crow. It is a bird that released flames so strong that many confused it for a sun and, if enraged, could create nine smaller suns to burn whoever is his enemy instantly. It is widely known as the number one flame when it comes down to destruction." Castiel explained, making Nico realize how utterly terrifying such creature could be.
If it were to ever create even a single sun then Gamindustri would be at risk of destruction, if it was to go all out with Nine Suns then his entire world would collapse.
Even so however, there were still many questions the teen had about this particular subject. Questions that he could ask and receive the answer to, now that Castiel was somewhat calmer than before. Not to mention that he was literally like a fountain of knowledge at this point, plus it made taking to people a bit easier for him the more he tried to speak. "But, how is it that just its blood can be used?" Nico asked.
"Because, these sort of creatures are born from the multiverse itself. Their own bodies represent some basic aspects or the more advanced levels of certain powers, I even dare say that these creatures are what inspired the creation of the different uses of magic. For instance, I heard that once a human saw a Phoenix fighting and getting inspiration from that managed to learn the very first fire magic. Of course, these are just conjectures and could be dead wrong, but the facts remain that these beasts are mighty enough to make these sort of rumors! And, this sort of creatures have these powers completely due to their bodies, so even if someone only has a single drop of its blood they can still use it to simulate the powers those beasts had." Castiel explained almost as if he was a teacher.
After that Nico and Castiel talked some more, Nico was getting more and more solid confirmation that he simply had to try and take more advantage of the chance of getting more diverse information from Castiel. The dude simply knew too may things from too many subjects.
Castiel, on the other hand, was discreetly trying to comprehend whatever he could from that Alchemy God's Grand Canon by using Structural Grasping magecraft (one of the very first things he learned so as to try and be more like his father, even if he never got on the same level of his father when it came down to this).
The more he analyzed and understood of this thing the more shocked he was. It was a type of alchemy that did not follow the same thing that the Tower studied, it was not about changing elements or breathing life in something that otherwise would be dead (A.K.A. the Homunculus the Tower have) but it focused on the creation of pills by extracting the purest essence of herbs and other things. These pills could help extend someone's life, make their body stronger, giving a quick boost of energy to resupply what is lost during the battle, making someone's energy raise, unlock Ki and other unique powers in those who normally would not have it, and even raising ones talent altogether!
But, it was incredibly hard to understand what was on this thing, there was just so much information here that Castiel doubted he even understood 0.00001% of what is in this thing and experimenting on it is even harder since it could take years before he was capable with it, but even so if he managed to create just a few such pills the results would be incredible.
Right now Castiel was more focused on the Spirit Fusion Pill. It is a pill that allows for someone to fully fuse himself and another spirit that is co-existing its body.
It was a dangerous pill, but if he managed to perfectly recreate it according to this recipe he could not only fully fuse himself with whatever remnants of Angra Mainyuu residing in his body but also completely dominate it and make it just a supplement and power for future use, thus eliminating the risk of he ever losing himself due to its power.
It was a gamble that Castiel was trying to do, instead of fearing the possibility of something go wrong in the future he would take the reins himself and use everything to make himself as strong as possible. To become another deterrent against those who might plan to act against the Tower and those he loved and loved him back.
He had decided to not look at the Chaos Stone as it simply was too hard to get ANYTHING out of it, understanding this one was a project that could span months before any effect could be noticed so he decided to hold on until he managed to make his mind as sharp as possible so as to make sure that he could understand it the best way possible and the fastest way possible.
