Chapter 9 Clash of the Beasts

Takeo's Main Theme: Getting Away with Murder

Two lightning-fast silhouettes exited a forest area and rushed towards a large clearing. In this open field, their grand battle would finally take place.

A calm breeze passed as the two stared each other down.

Naruto vs Takeo.

Only one goal reigned supreme in their minds:

To beat the other and show the other who truly was the strongest. This was not a battle between men, but instead something far different.

A clash between beasts.

A clash between titans.

Dragon against Panther.

Knight against Warrior.

Naruto and Takeo had their eyes scanning each other every as they stood on opposite sides of each other just waiting for the other to make the first move.

The Dragon Knight drew out Gram instead of Balmung. He had a calm look on his face, but his eyes displayed a silent fury towards his opponent.

"I only have a little over 40% of my mana right now… I have to be careful and end this quickly."

The Warrior Panther tossed his katana aside having it disappear into sparks of mana before he flexed his fingers in order for his claws to come out. He would have to be careful as he hadn't made a full recovery quite yet and his armor was on the verge of breaking apart.

The Knight and Warrior kept waiting for one another to make the first move as both were being careful. Maybe too careful, but they had good reasons why.

Amidst the silence, Takeo sighed. "Let's be honest here, kid… we're kindred spirits, we are the kind of men who fight, drink, and sleep with beautiful women. Hell! We even fight beautiful women! We know what it means to be alive!" he proclaimed proudly.

"I am not like you," Naruto put it bluntly.

"So you say but it seems different from what I gather and—

Takeo began to speak but he was cut off when Naruto made the first move. The Dragon Knight sprinted towards the panther and punched him right in the face with his right fist while the left hand held his blade. Takeo stood his ground, not moving an inch but he still felt a great deal of pain which caused him to glare at the knight with pure hatred in mind.

Takeo let out a panther-like roar whilst a light blue aura burst outwards causing Naruto to back off. However, the animalistic killer was relentless. Takeo dashed towards the knight with his claws out. Sensing the immediate danger, Naruto quickly gripped his sword and swung downwards at the upcoming attacker. The Warrior Panther used his claws to block the sword, their contact causing the winds to blow outwards from the point of impact.

Takeo pushed Naruto off and again started to attack.

The Dragon Knight was still hovering in the air when he saw Takeo jump after him. The Warrior Panther got in close and swung his claws at his target in a downward motion causing the knight to raise his sword to block the attack. The momentum alone launched Naruto back to the ground.

A crater forms on impact as Naruto landed on his feet and immediately darted at Takeo as he descended. Blue lightning from his Mana Burst now enveloped the Dragon Knight increasing his speed. Likewise, Takeo landed on the ground and lunged forward like a panther with his claws out towards the knight.

Takeo the claws on his feet to strike, but Naruto blocked them with Gram and countered by using his boosted speed to slash away at Takeo. His attacks nonetheless missed their mark as the agile panther danced around his moves.

Regardless the knight had a plan. He delivered one last strike hoping Takeo would block it, which he did. This slash, in particular, was covered in lightning which and bounced off and hit the left side of Takeo's face. The Warrior Panther's regeneration tried to fix this but it did not work. Takeo was shocked as he found out that the lightning seemingly canceled out his healing factor by cauterizing the wound.

"It's been a while since I couldn't heal my wounds… this is getting interesting. Don't disappoint me, kid!" Takeo shouted as he rushed forward towards the Dragon Knight.

"En garde," Naruto said as he brought up Gram, blue mana covering the blade.

The mana and energy blasting around the two shook the area with torrential winds and powerful earthquakes. It was truly something out of mythological conflicts.

In the nearby forest around the edges of the battlefield, two different groups felt the battle's effects. On one side were Night Raid and the Heroic Servants. They allowed Naruto to fight by his lonesome but were there if things took a turn for the worse. On the other side, a small group of soldiers and their leader watched the battle from beneath the natural veil of darkness. The Soldiers wore light armor that was black as night, hooded cloaks that covered them, and some of them even wore white skull masks or warpaints giving them a look not too distant from that of a grim reaper.

Their leader was a young man who wore the same cloak as his troopers, but he had a custom silver mask with red eyes. He watched the battle between the Dragon Knight and Warrior Panther with great interest.

The battle had taken its toll on both fighters. Naruto now coughed out blood and Takeo's chest had a large cut with blood dripping down, his armor was cracked even further showing wounded skin, and the claws on his hands were close of breaking apart.

Naruto's Main Theme: Theme of Infinite

The Dragon Knight lowered his sword, making it look as if he was now wide open and weakened due to low mana reserves — which was true to a degree — but this was a trap and the panther was running right at it.

Takeo's bloodlust clouded his mind and that would be his undoing. Gram was now covered in blue mana energy and shined brightly as it changed into a double-sword with one end longer than the other. This was Gram's upper-class form that Naruto had mastered.

Naruto swung his enhanced sword upwards as his target approached. The blade immediately destroyed the panther's claws. He grunted in pain and jumped backward with nothing but pure bloodlust in his eyes.

Takeo breathed heavily, he was exhausted, but he still managed to call forth his katana into existence by reaching out and having it materialize within his grasp almost it was a Noble Phantasm.

Once again he howled like a mad beast as the sapphire blue aura he embodied grew tenfold in strength

"Enough of this! I have tasted the finest wine the Empire has to offer… I have crushed the strongest men in the Empire… but none of it… none of it… gets me more excited than using my blade! This is where it ends, Dragon Knight!" Takeo shouted out as he unsheathed his blade and held it high above his head — energy flowing along its length.

In one swift motion, Takeo swung the blade downward; thus unleashing enough pressure to split open the earth and skies. Naruto narrowly managed to sidestep out of the way when the ground split leaving a small abyss in the middle. Likewise, the clouds above were perfectly split down the middle for what seemed like hundreds upon hundreds of kilometers. Even a large mountain in the distant horizon had now become two neighboring mountains.

"This is why we exist, Naruto! To challenge each other in ways only we can! But all good things must come to an end," Takeo spouted in pure excitement. Suddenly Takeo's blade became fully imbued with an intense blue glow and grew twice the size becoming in a way quite similar to an odachi.

"You… you're not human are you?" Naruto questioned in a shocked tone.

"This is where real men belong! In the fight!" Takeo shouted ignoring the question before immediately charging right at Naruto.

The Dragon Knight did his best to keep up, but all he managed to accomplish was stopping a few of Takeo's slashes before being sent flying like a weightless doll only to ultimately crash on the cold hard ground.

Naruto grunted in pain as forced himself back up on his feet. The Dragon Knight had to fight through the pain and stay focused on gathering up the little mana he had left.

"This is the end!" Takeo screamed as he swung down at his kneeling opponent.

Time seemed to stand still as death approached the Dragon Knight.

"…it's not over yet… brother Karna… give me strength!"

Flames suddenly began to swirl around Naruto as if he was possessed by the sun itself. The knight's eyes flared up like stars as he turned his gaze toward Takeo just as the Warrior Panther's descended at him.

"Brahmastra!"

Without as much as a warning — an excessively powerful beam of flaming energy fired from Naruto's eyes hitting Takeo head-on.

"GAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Takeo screamed in pain. The katana that was his pride and joy melted alongside his armor as he was blasted back. He tried to hold himself in place by planting his feet firmly on the ground, but that only meant he was now wide open for the Dragon Knight's one last attack.

Naruto gripped Gram one last time. The sword broke apart and turned into a series of daggers which the young knight then propelled directly at Takeo impaling his limbs.

Naruto was surrounded in green and blue mana, the last of what he left in the tank infused itself into Gram and expanded outwards.

Only 10% of his mana remained… this would be the end.

"Preparing deployment! Preparing the finishing move. O'Demonic Sword of the Sun, With the blade, give rise to destruction!"

"BASTARD!"

"This is for Bulat, you son of a bitch! Bölverk Gram!" the knight shouted as he slammed his fists into the hilt of Gram and unleash a powerful beam of destruction.

Takeo couldn't do a damn thing as he was eaten by the energy and the large explosion that followed. What was left afterward was a shell of who he was before, but the Dragon Knight made sure he would still be left alive to pay for his crimes.

Victorious… Naruto fell to his knees and brought his hands together in a final prayer for a friend:

"In your hands, O Lord,

we humbly entrust our brother… Bulat

In this life you embraced them with your tender love;

deliver him now from every evil

and bid him eternal rest.

The old order has passed away:

welcome him into paradise,

where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain,

but fullness of peace and joy

with your Son and the Holy Spirit

forever and ever…

Amen"

Naruto closed his eyes as he collapsed forward onto the scorched ground, finally unconscious due to a lack of mana.

Mere moments afterward enough the mysterious troopers that were hiding in the shadows came out of the woods and surrounded both Naruto and Takeo.

"Take the victor…leave the kitten to Night Raid," the reaper with the silver mask ordered whilst his men grabbed the knight.

"Yes, my lord," The troopers responded as they carried out the unconscious Naruto.

Takeo looked at the Silver Reaper while still down on the ground. He still had a shred of consciousness left.

"You're letting him live? That wasn't a part of the plan, Nox…" Takeo muttered using the light will power he had left to just talk.

Nox…

That name rang into the Silver Reaper's ears.

"Wayward though you may be, Takeo, that was still a victory for you — little kitten. Thus I'll forgive you for using my name this one time," the dark, husky voice of that killer echoed out of his mask.

"Fuck you! You won't win without me!" Takeo shot back.

"You? Please… you're a worthless child playing with the tools I have given to you by me. Know that all you have ever achieved for yourself is being my puppet to the end…"

Nox looked back to see Night Raid and a handful of heroic spirits coming towards them. A good number of them were present, but it was too late to stop them.

"Too slow, children … but I'm sure we'll see each other again. After all, we're in the endgame now," The reaper remarked as he walked back into the shadows alongside his troopers and seemingly disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Nox — the mysterious figure behind Takeo's existence and the mastermind behind the plan to capture Naruto Sieghart. What is his greater purpose? How dangerous is he? These and many other questions came to the members of Night Raid and the servants themselves as they approached the scene only to meet a bloody and beaten Takeo. Naruto, of course, was long gone.

But yet… there was someone beside Takeo still there. A young visitor from a land far, far away watched the events unfolding while safely floating above the clouds. This visitor was a youthful girl with jet black hair tied in a ponytail and one large magenta red bang draping over the left side of her face. Moreover, she wore a red dress with a dangerously short-cut skirt that revealed much of her voluptuous legs. She also wore a large black cloak over her shoulders. More notably however she had vampire-like fangs and pointy ears.

"Hmmm, it seems Nox-sama finally managed to capture Naruto Onii-chan… kakaka! what a treat!" the girl giggled softly to herself. She proceeded to gaze down upon the members of Night Raid and the legendary heroes below… from this high up they were almost like ants to her.

"Consider yourselves lucky, the beautiful Mito Uzumaki will be keeping a very close eye on you lot so you don't bother Nox-sama! Kaka!" she laughed out loud.

The truth behind the Uzumaki and Namikaze families begins to unravel.

AN: Season 1 of Dragon Knight is entering its endgame. More to come soon!