Chapter 16 Shadow and Void: Hope has come

War of Change by Thousand Foot Krutch

Kaito, Leone, Mine, and Ame gaze at the terrifying figure of a spearman cloaked in a spiral of fire and shadow. His overpowering presence alone was more than enough to make the quartet of would-be heroes quake in their boots. It was now absolutely clear that Kogane didn't plan on letting them run.

"GRAND CHARIOT!"

With a thunderous shout, Kaito donned his armor in a burst of sapphire blue light. He was astonished by Kogane's strength, but he nevertheless evoked great courage from his warrior's heart by cracking his neck and popping his shoulders back in place. Likewise, Leone, Mine, and Ame readied themselves for the fight of their lives.

In the meantime, Kogane merely grinned. "Grand Chariot huh? To think an aspect of the great Naruto Sieghart would be weak to the point where he has to use that tiny toy? You're deserving of pity, but I will give you none!"

Kogane mocked his other self before the spiral of flame and darkness swirling around him merged into his body. This power then expanded outward into an aura composed of the two energies used to make it.

The spearman launched forward like a missile.

He was fast — too fast. Kaito, Mine, and Leone were like statues frozen in time compared to him. However, Ame was different. By focusing ever so slightly she manifested a layer of ice under her two feet which allowed her to not only move fast like she normally does but further gain speed by sliding across the ice of her own making.

Before her comrades could be turned to subatomic dust, Ame weaved her fingers in a blur of motions that created what seemed like a flowing spider's web made of water. The liquid froze as it wrapped around the trio which allowed her to yank them out of the way.

As for Kogane's attack, he had built too much momentum to stop his blazing charge. Alas he collided with the trees in the distance creating a massive explosion that formed its own mushroom cloud. It would be no exaggeration to say that any and all animals, travelers, roads, or even towns around twenty-five kilometers north of the open battleground were incinerated in an instant. Not to mention the potential forest fire left in the wake of the blast.

Once again, Mine and Leone were disoriented by, what seemed to them like, a sudden change in position. One moment they were watching Kogane's charge and the next they were south of a massive explosion. Nonetheless, this was their one chance.

"I'm always stronger when in danger and this is the most I've ever been in! Let's go Pumpkin maximum power!"

Seeing an opening for herself — Mine brought out Pumpkin in Single-Fire mode, took aim, and in an instant unceremoniously pressed the trigger. Alas, a colossal energy beam that appeared to dwarf all of the mountains in the distant horizon was fired.

"I see," Kogane nonchalantly muttered to himself as he walked back into the battlefield only to see Mine's attack coming for him.

"A pointless effort," he remarked whilst lowering his guard only to take her ultimate move at full force. Kogane merely strolled through the blast like it was a light breeze.

"That's…" Mine was left speechless. She had given her absolute most and it still wasn't enough.

Using the burning woods as cover, Leone dashed around the open field only to leap into the air and attempt to strike Kogane's back. The Spearman appreciated such acts of bravery, but he could also not help but feel she was being foolish to attempt an attack like this against someone vastly more powerful than herself.

"Useless!"

In one swift motion — Kogane grabbed her by the neck and held her midair. His mere grasp being almost enough to snap her neck.

"Let Leone go!" Kaito shouted as he dashed towards Kogane. The armored warrior punched him square in the face which caused him to let go of Leone who was left on her knees coughing for air.

Despite his enhanced strength, Kaito's strike left no damage. That said, it did get Kogane's attention.

The flames around Kogane flared outwards which forced Kaito to use his arms to shield himself as he was propelled backward and blasted away. In much the same way, Leone was launched against a tree. She was out cold for the moment, but luckily not dead. The circumstances were still dreadful though.

By her lonesome Ame closed in on the Blazing Spearman. A layer of ice spikes formed around her blade as she swung it down on the dark warrior only for it to be met by an upward thrust of his spear. Their clash was so incredibly potent it went on to produce a shockwave that cracked the ground beneath their feet forcing Ame and Kogane to jump back.

"Hmmm… you are quite good for a traitor," Kogane noted whilst he and Ame landed about ten feet away from each other.

"Traitor? Kogane… I'd rather be a rogue that lives her life freely than a slave to another man's cause," Ame proudly proclaimed as her cyan gaze deadlocked against his blood-red hues.

From afar, Mine reached for her case and switched Pumpkin to sniper rifle mode in one quick motion. Afterward, she swiftly took aim at Kogane's head and prepared to pull the trigger. However, before the self-proclaimed genius sharpshooter could attack, a beastly shadow took from right in front of her and slashed her weapon away with ease using its claws.

Mine herself would soon groan in pain as she too was smacked into the ground by the beast. The shadow had red eyes and possessed the long form of a wolf that was connected to Kogane by his shadow.

"Dammit!" Mine screamed out loud as she rolled on the ground in hopes of grasping Pumpkin. But the moment she managed to open fire on the dark wolf — her bullets merely flowed right through it like the beast wasn't even there.

"BRAHMASTRA!" Kogane's mighty shout brought Mine back to reality.

"KOHRYU!" Ame's voice followed right after.

At the heart of the battlefield — a dense beam of fire was launched out of Kogane's eyes. At the same exact time, Ame gathered the humidity in the air and created water around herself. From that flow, a giant Chinese Dragon purely made out of ice formed and launched itself into the blazing hellfire. The result? A clash of fire and ice unlike any other.

Ame pushed herself to the limit, her eyes shedding tears of blood as she endlessly generated more and more ice dragons to push Kogane's blast back. The Red-Eyed Spearman, however, was unfazed as he kept his eye blast going without issue.

They would not last like this.

Ame could only fight someone like Kogane for so long. Mine faced a shadow wolf looming over her. Leone was near death. And Kaito… he gritted his teeth in anger.

"Am I really this pathetic? Am I going to let my companions die again? Am I really inferior to the version of myself that is nothing but strength with no humane restraint?"

He was lost.

Beaten again and again.

A weakling loathing his own frailty.

"I…—

" Raise your head, Dragon Knight."

"Huh?! That voice—

"Kogane is no more than the strength I had, my body without my mind or my soul. You on the other hand, you're my soul."

"Naru..to?"

"I am you and you are me, Kaito. I may have been broken, splintered, crushed because I saw myself as this invincible warrior who'd triumph over anything as long as I believed in myself… but that was my arrogance getting the better of me. That vanity was what made go to Nox without considering any other alternative, without seeking help from my family in the Throne. But you… you'll succeed."

"How? I don't stand a chance without your power."

"That's where you're wrong, Kaito. You now face my arrogance given flesh… but you are my soul. Transcend that which has bound you so far. Realize that you are the best of me and that you can rise to levels beyond anything I could ever dream."

"Naruto…"

"Kaito… a name that means sea. Will you now comprehend its vastness or will you drown like I did?"

"..."

His heart raced as he stood back up on his own two feet.

"If I don't… who will?!" Kaito shouted whilst reaching out with his right hand.

"Take form! Balmung!"

White flames engulfed his entire body as the legendary sword formed within his grasp, but more than that something had changed. Grand Chariot was flooded with the power evoked by the soul of Naruto Sieghart; thus making the impossible a tangible reality. The armor that was formerly unable to evolve due to already having reached a state of equilibrium had begun to morph, mutate into something far beyond what it was.

Overtaken by the light of Balmung, the armor of Fafnir, and the pure yet nigh-impossible existence of a soul without mind or body — Grand Chariot ceased being a mere Teigu. Taller, more imposing, the armor was heavier, with broader shoulders and a more muscular frame. Its plates were now pure white with golden ornaments across its length. Further, the excess power manifested as a long, bluish-white hair-like energy instead of a simple aura.

"This is my all… DRAGON ALMA!" Kaito's shout resonated like thunder in a lightning storm. All present could do little more than watch in awe.

In a flash of light, Kaito had warped over to Mine and blasted away the beast looming over her with a beam of bright golden energy unleashed from his fists.

"Thanks…" Mine muttered in surprise, but by the time she had finished his sentence, Kaito had already teleported over to Ame like a flash of light. Picking her up like a princess, Kaito merely turned his back to the oncoming Brahmastra beam letting his back take its full power.

"Woah… where did this upgrade come from?" she giggled.

"I needed a little pep talk from myself. Now let's finish this… I'm not sure how long I can keep this form."

Putting her down — both of them immediately turned and rushed at Kogane.

"So the weak soul finally awakens… very well! This time I'll amplify it a hundredfold! Take my Brahmastra!"

Once more the overpowering heat blast was unleashed but this time the pair facing it found themselves prepared to circumvent it.

"With me, Kaito!"

Calling forth another Chinese Dragon ice construct, Ame jumped on top of it alongside Kaito. The two swiftly surfed over the energy blast and when they got to Kogane—

"Here goes!" the two jumped simultaneously. Kogane tried to redirect the blast, but by the time he could do so, Kaito had already warped beside him.

"Balmung!"

Siegfried's legendary blade revealed itself in a new form when it sprung out its large blade out of Kaito's gauntlet. The godlike warrior then slashed away at Kogane without delay. But this was not the end.

"Got you!" Ame declared openly when her hand was placed on Kogane's back. The spearman had no time to react as in less than a femtosecond his whole body was covered in water and ice before being completely frozen.

Ame and Kaito sighed in relief before joining up.

"That won't be enough to stop him. Our attacks still can't get past his armor and even when we do the damage he seems to regenerate instantaneously." Kaito admitted knowing that Kogane's flames could burn the ice off with no problem.

"True… but it will give us time to escape. Can you carry Leone and Mine?" Ame asked.

"I can move, lover boy," Leone informed from the sidelines with a smirk as she got up with her wounds all healed up thanks to her Teigu.

"Good… now let's move fast," Kaito commented as he went over to Mine and picked her up in his arms. He flinched for a moment, and before he knew it the divine armor he wore had vanished leaving him only with Grand Chariot on his back. However, the Teigu seemed to now have Balmung's jewel inserted in its pommel which itself was now more akin to that of a classical knight's sword.

"I see… so I can only maintain it for about seven minutes," Kaito pondered.

"Perhaps mastery will allow me to use it for longer?"

The group then saw heat rising from the ice. They immediately turned around and observed the block of ice melting.

"Oh shit!" They cursed before trying to run away as fast as their feet would take them. Kogane burst free from the ice soon after with endless fury in his eyes. The monstrous lancer was now out to kill.

In no time at all a pillar of fire shot upwards out of the grass — its flames then splintered into a rain of deadly lava. Kaito and his companions widened their eyes and did the best they could in order to dodge or shield themselves but the exhaustion from the prior fight was taking its toll.

Leone and Ame were barely able to evade resulting in burnt marks over their clothes and skin. As for Kaito, he had used his body to shield Mine and was paying the price for it by feeling his skin and clothes burn. He grunted in pain but by taking deep breaths he managed to keep calm.

"Kaito!" Mine cried out seeing her lover hurt.

"It'll be alright Mine," he spoke reassuringly while forcing himself to smile. Mine could tell that he was lying. Despite his great feats against Kogane, it seemed that his body was now close to shutting down due to fatigue. Mine could only hold his hand to show her support.

Kaito felt at peace when holding her hand. The pair soon got up on their feet once the rain fire ceased. They might not make it out alive but they refused to give up.

The young knight bravely pointed his Grand Chariot blade at Kogane whilst the girl by his side readied Pumpkin for the next bout. Likewise, Ame and Leone joined his group once more.

Kogane seemed to be oozing hatred as shadow and flames merged as one and flowed around him. Soon he would lose all sense of reason.

"I vow to keep trying, but I won't be blinded by pride. I will surpass the man I once was and end Nox's regime… Kogane, I'll say this once; join our side… with someone like you, we can save the world and make things right," Kaito proposed.

"No! I don't care about this world… all I want is to kill that bastard! Our father, Minato! Nox, Mito and I plan to end him…"

"What?!" the Dragon Knight was shocked, "I thought that since Mito is with him… that Nox was on Minato's side."

Kogane laughed out loud at such a suggestion.

"You know nothing Kaito Sieghart! The reason Nox did all of this, to begin with, was so he could free you of restraint, to create a version of you that would crush Minato and the world of Ninja with no room for remorse or forgiveness. He erased the concept of Naruto across every world and used the splintered aspects to make the ultimate weapon… me.

Together with the almighty, multiverse eradicating power he and our sister Mito now possess — we'll destroy our father across all of time and space, in each and every fucking reality!"

"That's… insane. Why would Nox hate Minato so much?" Kaito asked as he clutched his fists to which Kogane laughed half-heartedly.

"Don't you fucking get it? Nox is just like Naruto was — a child born without chakra and left to die in the wild until he was saved by Alaya and the Counter Force. And let's just say that… Kushina wasn't our Minato's first bitch."

Kaito's heart sunk.

"Then Nox is my—

"Our older brother… correct," Kogane completed the sentence for the distraught knight.

"Kaito…" Mine and Leone looked over to their confused lover.

"But then why am I here if he only needed you?"

"You should know. One's existence is composed of Body, Mind, and Soul. By splitting them into more than one being you have to account for the others. Worry not though — I will end you here and now. There is no need for you and the other one."

"The other one? If he is the Body and I'm the Soul then the Mind must still be out there," Kaito noted mentally.

"Nothing to say? Then… let us end this!" Kogane prepared for another Brahmastra. However, before anything could happen the sound of a sword being drawn echoed in the wind.

In the middle of the two groups stood a man wearing armor that covered him from head to toe. The armor was a sleek, form-fitting and white on his head, shoulders, abdomen, upper legs, and feet. He also wore a traditional hakama and a black bodysuit. His helmet had two horns on it and long silver hair tied back into a ponytail.

"Stand down Nemesis… Kaito is my problem to deal with," The strange armored man pronounced. He veered his attention to the inexperienced knight right as a blue aura streamed around his metallic body.

"I am the white void… I am the cold steel… I am the perfect sword… with blade in hand, I shall reap the sins of this world and cleanse it in the fires of destruction. I shall kill you, Kaito and save everyone. I am Albion… your end has come!" he shouted before dashing towards his target.

"Is this the other one? No… I don't feel the same kind of connection with him as I do to Kogane," Kaito reckoned. Using whatever stamina he had left, the youthful swordsman met Albion's large blade.

Kaito swung from left to right in a horizontal motion whereas the so-called White Void attacked him from the opposite side. Sparks rose into the air as steel clashed against steel, the two pushings each other's blades as they were deadlocked in place.

"Hmm, you've grown quite strong after that odd mutation. However—

The untrained knight hardly had time to react before Albion swept him off his feet and slammed the blunt side of his blade against his chest sending him flying back first against a tree.

" Damn… he is just as strong as Kogane… maybe a bit stronger actually," Kaito speculated as he coughed up blood. Hardly a second would expire before Albion towered over him ready to seize his head.

However…—

"Wha— Dammit!" The White Void shouted in shock as his body was suddenly held in place by the manifestation of strange alchemical chains carved out of violet light. These ethereal bonds dragged Albion away from Kaito all the while he squirmed trying to escape.

"Damn you!" Albion shouted knowing full well who it was that stopped him.

"Albion, Kogane… that is quite enough for today," a soft yet well-spoken and confident feminine voice echoed as an adolescent female strolled out of the shadows and entered the battlefield. She seemed to be a young maiden with brunette hair. Her left eye was blue whereas her right eye was concealed by a large black eye-patch. Notably, she donned the ensemble of one of the generals from Nox's Dynasty which was analogous to Esdeath's outfit except black and more strict with the amount of skin shown. She moreover wore a pair of dark, thigh-high stockings.

"…Seiko…" Kogane called out to the female as he clutched his own chest. The anger and overflowing darkness appeared to finally be overcoming any sense of reason he had prior to the fight.

"Yes… Kogane it's me. It's over, for now. No more fighting," Seiko spoke kindly to calm the flames around the warrior. After that, she patted his head and held him close.

"Make sure to keep Nemesis on a hard leash, Commander," Albion ordered before sheathing his sword and walking up to them.

Seiko narrowed her eyes at the white warrior and voiced her thoughts. "His name is Kogane, Albion. You better remember that."

"I'm not afraid of you, Seiko Ubiquitous. Nemesis is the name Lord Nox provided him. All in the Dynasty call him that and I have been ordered to do the same," Albion announced before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Seiko sighed in relief before noticing her hand was close to Kogane's, but she yanked it back and turned her attention to the quartet of exhausted and wounded troublemakers staring at her.

"Defeating you four like this has no meaning. Heal your wounds, become stronger, and then come back to the Capital. Kogane and I will be waiting," Seiko openly challenged them despite being outnumbered and the fact that Kogane seemed to have lost much of his explosive power after calming down.

"That Albion said your name is Seiko Ubiquitous, correct? Are you by any chance related to Seryu Ubiquitous?" Mine inquired out of curiosity.

"Oh, so you're familiar with my little sister huh? That brat is something else I tell you…" Seiko sighed in annoyance, "I'm sure you'll be seeing her soon."

"What do you mean?" Kaito spoke up.

"He'll tell you…" Seiko remarked as if this little banter was a pointless waste of breath.

Alas, before any more questions could be asked a living lightning bolt rushed through the battlefield taking Kaito and his team somewhere far away.

...

Far to the north inside a reformed cave that once belonged to a powerful Danger Beast Dragon, Kaito and Ame found themselves sitting on a comfy leather couch while Mine and Leone were next to them on separate chairs. Kaito's back was covered in bandages. Ame, Leone and Mine had a few cuts but nothing that seemed major.

In the distance, they could see a set of various computer monitors attached to the cavern wall. The footage displayed seemed to be that of the outside areas surrounding the cave. Along the length of the oval cavern, there were various pieces of paper, boxes, and wires spread all over the place.

"Welcome all! This is the home of the last force that dares stand against the Nox Dynasty," a masculine voice announced itself. The stranger was a young man with messy blond hair, blue eyes, and an athletic build. He wore a black shirt, blue fingerless gloves, black jeans, and combat boots. Moreover, he used a stylish white and blue jacket over his shoulders like a cape.

"My name is Yousuke Tatsuo… but I'm sure you can already guess who I really am," he casually spoke.

"Yes…" Kaito nodded, "You're the other one that Kogane mentioned… the final aspect of Naruto Sieghart."

Yousuke concurred. Ame, Leone, and Mine appeared a bit confused but the new male of the group took the time to elaborate:

"Before this world came to be… another one existed and in the transition, the man named Naruto Sieghart has split apart. To explain:

Kaito Sieghart, the soul – is an embodiment of his humanity and willpower.

Kogane Amaya, the body – is an embodiment of strength and the instinct to survive.

And lastly, myself, Yousuke Tatsuo, the mind – is an embodiment of the raw skill and intellect that once belonged to the original Dragon Knight."

The explanation only partially cleared things up for Leone and Mine, but Ame managed to follow along perfectly.

"I see… so you're the one who has been building a resistance to take back the Empire," she added.

Yousuke let out a friendly smile. "That is true," he spoke whilst turning to look at a doorway next to his set of surveillance equipment.

"You guys should introduce yourselves… we have a lot of work to do," he remarked. Almost immediately afterward great happiness struck Kaito as Najenda emerged from the room beyond the doorway alongside the likes of Lubbock, Ieyasu, Sayo, Sheele, Chelsea, Susanoo, Luna, Air, Fal, Seryu, and Esdeath. Against all odds, his friends from another life had found their way back to him and that was more than enough to kickstart his old memories.

"Everyone!" he rushed over for a great reunion. Yousuke and Ame could only smile while it happened.

Night Raid was back — now with Esdeath, Seryu, and two versions of the Dragon Knight on their ranks.

Hope had alas been reignited.