So you guessed right! Dear missus Tanya Von Degurechaff will be the future member of Naruto's guild, not NOW, now her 'joining' of the group won't be exactly her own choice, but she will come around XD.
To be clear: I "Estimated" the Level of Power "End-of-Manga Naruto" has and tried directly translating that into "RPG Numbers" and "Stats", and he WILL improve further as the story progresses.
At the moment Naruto has just evolved into a Hobgoblin, a Super-rare 'Variation' of one to be precise.
Pairing: Naru/ Mi (From Re: Monster) / Albedo (from Overlord) and third (AND LAST): Demon Queen Alice (from Monster Girl Quest) here "Princess Alice".
Sister figures: Jibril (from no game no life) and Mana (Who is she? But Dark Magician Girl from Yu-gi-oh of course!) and another right guess, Shantae: half-genie, Total badass.
I changed Demon Queen Alice and Albedo's back-story to fit my fanfic. Like that, just because I can.
" You bastard" - demon talking / jutsu
"Let's finish this" - dialogue
" Can it get any worse? " - during flashback/thoughts
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or whatever I will use here in this fic.
A certain blond in an RPG World Chap 4: When somebody that is not a 'Chosen One' is forced to join the scene you shouldn't immediately think the intruder is the culprit, sometimes the culprit is who forced-in the intruder!
Road to Serena City – a burned patch of forest -
The group was silently watching as the blond loli soldier kept hovering ten feet above them with her Magi-Riffe pointing directly in the area between Naruto's eyes without even the smallest shaking of her tiny hands, even if the weapon had been not modified to be wielded by a kid like her but left "adultly sized".
"Why do you want the Princess?" the reborn shinobi asked with narrowed eyes.
"Direct orders, they ask and I simply deliver what they want where they want. But I guess there will be no better leverage than having the ruling king's beloved daughter as a hostage to be sure what we want in Barad-se will be heard." the girl answered with a chilling smile.
"And assure me a straight-vertical raise in prestige and importance! Showing great productivity and rapidly deliver the desired results to the people in charge is the first step towards success! In the Army like in any office!" she mentally added to herself.
"I saw bold moves before, but this is out-right a declaration of war! Have you people any idea what you are doing!? And how did you know she was even out of the Castle?... Just how far in are your spies?" the Captain of the Church guards (the only survivor of his whole group) hissed angrily in an answer.
"I am just following orders, but if we can act so openly to get the Princess, wouldn't that mean we do want Devan's attention? Even though the war between the two of us?" the girl answered shrugging disinterested.
"And you think the other Crowns won't act as well?" Naruto asked.
"You do not know how things work, do you? The Crowns hate each other! The whole Status-quo they bring is one where nobody is stronger than the others, not one based on Peace! If one of them gets removed the others rejoice as it will mean they'll have one less neighbor to worry about. We just want to have our might recognized, if we do not step on other feet except Devan's, the others will happily look elsewhere until we are done and simply keep track of the winner, ready to pounce and give the finishing blow if the winner does not stay put until they recover." she answered chuckling.
"Nobody would intervene in the 'War' between Barad-se and Devan in fear of themselves being weakened enough for yet another to pounce and start a World War, it's so much like home it's actually sickening," Kurama commented bitterly.
"I remember you...Devil of the Rhine." the Captain said looking sick at his own memories.
"And I remember you, Thundering Spear." the kid hissed in an answer.
"Old acquaintance of yours?" Albedo asked as her hands closed tightly around her weapon until the knuckles turned white.
"She is Second Lieutenant Tanya Von Degurechaff of the 'Red Valkyrie' Flight Mages Squadron of Barad-se, she is also the one that took away my eye last time we met in retaliation of my taking away her liver. I still curse that Magic shield of hers for deflecting my attack." he answered growling while passing a finger on his eye-patch.
"I was promoted to First Lieutenant after that battle, Captain Lars Bluelette! And it has been a pain having an artificial liver being sewed in place of my old one, so feel satisfied with this tiny result as I was by taking your eye away." Tanya answered sneering.
"So do you have any suggestion to give me about fighting her?" Naruto whispered without moving away from his eyes from her.
"Normally the area right above the medallion is where the Magic Shield she can summon is the more unstable as it's where it comes from and where it still has to stabilize into a proper defense, but last time it still resisted my strongest attack when we fought, and even if I pierced her barrier my spear still got deflected by the flow of Magic away from her heart, so it won't be easy to break through it...What's worse is that this medallion looks way more powerful than the one she was using that time, so I have no idea how much more power you will need to break it down now." Lars answered still glaring at the girl.
"Anything else?"
"Damn good accuracy, she hardly stands in the same place and if threatened she charges forward at high speed to use her Mage Blade for close combat, and she is just too damn tiny to easily follow her, meaning that if you lose track of her, you are dead. She seems to have gained a very powerful Fire Affinity and she is still not afraid of collateral damages. I can offer some cover but unless we force her down and stop her from flying away, we won't have much to work with or any chance to defeat her." the Captain answered.
"Capture or kill?" the reborn shinobi asked.
"...Capture, we'll bring her to my father so we will have her told us what she knows about Barad-se." Alice answered.
"If we manage to, I think we should kill her instead, just in case," Albedo added.
"I'll go for capture first then, I still feel uneasy about killing a kid," Naruto answered as a bullet drilled a sizable hole next to his feet.
"I suggest you forget that I am a kid and ignore the issue, otherwise this fight won't last long," Tanya answered aiming back at the hobgoblin's head.
"Make room," Naruto muttered as Lars, Albedo, and Alice moved slightly back while dragging Mi with them by force.
"I help!" the young goblin girl said in distress only to have her mouth covered by Olaf's hand.
"You help by shooting arrows, but not with that, with this," Olaf whispered taking from behind himself a heavy-looking and complex-built crossbow.
"The arrows are extremely-powerful explosives and the recoil enough to break an adult human man's shoulder, be careful and give it back to me, I feel naked without it." the dwarf explained as Mi struggled a little to cork a dart back once reloaded the weapon.
"Mi will be good." the girl answered nodding.
"She and I will help him with arrows, we need to not be seen by Tanya as we take a position," Lars muttered taking from one of his dead men a giant great-bow seemingly made of stone almost as tall as he was.
"...I'll use it well, Jeffrey. Then I will be sure your father will get your family heirloom [Medusa Great Bow] back. It's a promise." the Captain muttered to the young dead soldier.
"Follow me." he then ordered to Mi as he hurried away.
"Be careful," Mi muttered surprising Naruto by kissing his cheek before following Lars away.
"Albedo?" Naruto asked.
"Yes?"
"Can you do that wall trick again? To protect the merchants."
"I don't know how much it will last against her bullets...But yes. [Walls of Jericho]!" the succubus answered as the tall wall of black rocks sprout from underground right in front of Olaf's convoy to protect them.
"Thank you." the reborn shinobi answered with a grateful tone and gasping when he felt himself become lighter.
"[Quick Step]" Alice intoned as the cyan-colored aura around Naruto died-down.
"It will make you move slightly faster." the Echidna Princess explained.
"Thank you!" the Hobgoblin answered as he dodged just in time the first bullet aimed at his head as he ran towards the flying mage at high speed.
"That spell did wonders." Albedo said pleased.
"...That was not me…At my level it only increases of a 10% the target's speed...that is mostly him." Alice answered faintly.
"Oh." the other muttered in mild surprise.
"[Body of Effulgent Beryl]!" the buff made the madly dodging Hobgoblin shine briefly in emerald light.
"Albedo?" Alice muttered in surprise.
"I may not know many buffing spells as YOU are the Healer/buffer between us, but raising his evasiveness should still suffice." the succubus answered with a small smile.
"Then...Together?" Alice said plunging her staff on the ground in front of herself.
"Together." Albedo answered smirking.
"[Bless of Magic Caster]"
"[Infinity Wall]"
"[Magic Ward, Fire]"
"[Life Essence]"
"[Greater Full Potential]"
"[Freedom]"
"[False Data, MP]"
"[See Through]"
Both girls intoned a buff each making various auras of different colors and patterns flash around Naruto's body, making his movements faster, his dodging nimbler, his physical attacks more accurate, his spells cover a wider area and his counter-attacks and spells hit harder rattling the translucent dome of golden light around Tanya's body making it ripple harder at each hit, even making her own shots miss because of the rare after-images the Hobgoblin could leave behind once every several dodges.
"[Paranormal Intuition]" from Olaf's cart a shy voice intoned.
"Thea?" Olaf asked in surprise.
"It will help him see when she is about to attack." the young mage answered with a tiny smile.
"Good girl." the Dwarf answered proudly.
"[Greater Resistance]...He is not your friend only, guys." Shin added smirking.
"[Mantle of Chaos]" Albedo said, by now falling on her knees because low on MP.
"[Indomitability]" Alice intoned with shaking voice as she clung to her staff to stay upright, she too magically exhausted.
"[Sensor Boost] [Greater Luck] [Magic Boost] [Dragonic Power]...I learned those just to defeat you, Degurechaff, I will have my revenge today." Lars muttered from his hiding spot as he cast the same buffs on himself and then Naruto.
"[Greater Hardening]" Shin muttered with heavy beads of sweat falling from his forehead.
"[Heavenly Aura]" Thea added before gasping for air in fatigue.
With Naruto -
"HOLY SHIT!" Kurama gasped in shock as the buffs kept piling up.
[Absorption] [Penetrate Up] [Greater Magic Shield] [Mana Essence]
"Is that why I feel like I am about to catch fire?" Naruto asked as he could somehow tell where some of the bullets would fly towards and dodge them even BEFORE they could actually leave the front of Tanya's musket.
"They are buffing the shit out of you, we'll have a lot of people to thank once done here, now focus and capture this loli psycho bitch!" the Fox turned Blessing answered as the flow of buffs finally died-down as the casters were too tired to use more.
"I got it!" Naruto answered as he jumped high towards Tanya.
"[Graviga]!" the Hobgoblin intoned forcing the young kid to once again lose altitude for him to reach and attack.
With Tanya -
"Warning! Warning! Warning! Attack incoming!" the metallic voice of the pendant rang inside the girl's head.
"I KNOW I KNOW!" she roared as she flew back at high speed making the short sword the shinobi was using scratch against the outer layer of her barrier.
"DIE!" She yelled as she readied her rifle and shooting in less than a second, sacrificing accuracy just to shot him back in a shorter time.
CRACKLE! The bullet went intercepted by the sword's blade that got broken to thousands of pieces by the Magic-Empowered bullet that only lightly grazed the Hobgoblin's cheek.
"Damn you! Since when people help Hobgoblins? And since when they are this good at fightin-BOOOOM!" Tanya's question went cut short when two arrows hit her shield causing twin powerful explosions and engulfing her in a thick cloud of smoke making her lose track of Naruto.
With Mi -
"Whenever you see him at that distance from Degurechaff you can attack, be quick and aim for her pendant. Got it?!" Lars instructed as he corked back a new arrow in the great bow.
"Mi gets it!" Mi answered as she reloaded the crossbow to shot a new explosive dart at Tanya as soon as the smoke cleared gaining a muffled and short shriek of surprise from the child soldier.
"Good! Follow me, a good archer moves a lot when hiding." the Captain said with a pleased nod as the two changed zone as bullets started blindly falling around them.
Back with Naruto -
The reborn shinobi was running and tree-jumping at top speed with Tanya doing her best to keep up with him while at the same time shooting him, having been forced to fly low as the trees were making aiming difficult from above them.
"Why can't I detect him normally unless I fly down? Why is he that good at hiding?! What skill is that, even?!" the loli soldier hissed furious as her target kept giving the middle finger to the laws of physics (even more than the new world she had found herself in already was doing normally) by jumping from a tree branch to the other while upside-down as if gravity was just something someone could simply decide to not be bothered with.
"Skill detected [Tree-walking]." her medallion answered dully as Naruto seemingly disappeared behind a tree nowhere to be seen, forcing Tanya to drop even lower in altitude, all for her ire.
"Give me more info, dammit!" the young kid growled as she scanned her surroundings and snapping her head towards every noise coming from all around her.
"Error, no Skill [Tree-walking] found in memory. Do you wish to register the newly-discovered skill?"
"So it's one we didn't know about up until now...Tch! Record everything may as well be ready should I meet it again once done here." Tanya ordered as the snapping of a tree branch made her turn around.
"OVER HERE!" Naruto screamed from behind her as his punch bounced away from the girl's barrier, although making it deform heavily on impact.
"GAH!" Tanya yelled in surprise as she spun around to let loose a thick spray of flames.
"[Fire Burst]!" she yelled making her riffle act as a flamethrower for a couple of seconds.
"Where is he?" she muttered to herself as once the fire disappeared the hobgoblin was once again nowhere to be seen.
"This thing has a stealth stat too high to be normal...To hell with this! [Magi Scan]!" Tanya ordered with narrowed eyes as her barrier went covered by circles of runes helping her eyes scan in great detail the woods around herself.
"NOW!" Lars screamed as he and Mi shoot a new duo of arrows at the same time while aiming at her face.
WHAAAAAAAAAM! Instead of exploding through the two projectiles produced a blinding light and an ear-piercing explosion of sound upon impact with the golden dome of light surrounding Tanya.
"KYAAAH!" the child soldier shrieked while covering her face with her hands as the augmented sensibility of her eyes reacted badly with those [Stunning Arrows] making her almost turn blind.
"GO GET HER, NARUTO!" the Captain ordered while he and the goblin girl moved away stealthily.
"DIE! DIE! DIE!" growling madly Tanya managed to crack open one of her heavily-tearing eyes to take aim in the general direction of the two archers.
"Target locked-on!" she cackled madly as she barely saw Mi's silhouette is highlighted by the targeting assisting ability of her locket.
Clang-BANG! Just as she was pulling the trigger Naruto's broken sword went thrown towards Tanya with ludicrous force to hit the muzzle of her rifle, moving the weapon aside so that the bullet could tear in half a tree instead of catching Mi's head.
"YOU!" the young girl hissed furiously as her sight finally recovered enough to see the approaching Naruto.
"Focus on me! You damn brat!" the Hobgoblin yelled as a throwing knife of his bounced away from Tanya's shield.
"AH!" moving fast the girl covered her hand in a thick flame-like aura to slash horizontally and behead Naruto in an instant, only to see a small log appear in his place to be cut in half in his place.
"WHAT THE?! A LOG?!" she yelled with wide eyes.
"Warning! Unknown Skill!"
"A little Substitution pulled-out at the last moment, it's the basics," Naruto answered smirking as he jumped on a near tree so to match Tanya's position and lock eyes with her.
"A Substitution...You switched place with a log to dodge my [Mage Blade]..." she muttered growling.
"I pulled a fast one, yes."
"Compared to any other Hobgoblin you are too fast, too strong, too different...There are too many variables here. You are not a normal Hobgoblin, your skin color should have been a clear signal you were not the usual monster I am used to seeing, but you are exceeding even the wildest variations I saw and studied up until now..." Tanya said as the two stood looking at each other in the eyes each trying to drill a hole in the other's head through their glare.
"I see no other solution here. [Libra]." the girl ordered making a red highlight surround Naruto's body from her point of view.
"She is trying to Appraise us!" Kurama warned him.
"She is distracted then! NOW!" the Hobgoblin ordered making five shadows rain on Tanya from behind her.
"W-What the-[Fire Burst]!" acting quickly at the unseen menace the young girl spun around and turned to ashes the incoming attack her medallion warned her about with a short burst of flames.
Unfortunately doing this meant leaving her back defenseless, a thing Naruto took advantage of as he decided to try using a whole (albeit pretty small) tree as a club to hit her, shooting her out of the patch of trees still unharmed thanks to her Barrier but still shaken from the surprise attack as she crash landed a dozen or so feet away before she could react and gain altitude.
"A damn tree?! How?!" she hissed confused as she saw the broken stump still held in both arms of Naruto he then left fall to the ground with a dull Wham! Sound.
"So cutting and blunt force are useless against your defensive spell. Okay! Time to see if Dad's masterpiece can drill a hole in that barrier of yours then!" the reborn shinobi said smirking savagely.
"The Medallion she uses summons the shield by itself, so taking her by surprise too won't work, that thing has a proximity sense too damn sharp for you to fool yet, so yes, we'll have to break through it," Kurama confirmed growling.
"Danger! Danger! Mana Levels reaching critical levels! Continue use of [Barrier Defense] requires extra MP to compensate enemy attack if surpassing normal damage threshold of the Barrier, do you wish to keep setting on 'Automatic'?" the pendant asked.
"YES! YES! I am not going to let a Hobgoblin kill me! Now give me the damn results of the Appraisal!" Tanya muttered with a low voice to her pendant as the progress bar of her Appraisal finally filled completely.
"Danger! Danger! [Libra] Spell results ready. Enemy stats exceeding Hobgoblin Species standards by...A lot!" the mental echo of the pendant said just as Naruto started his charge, running in a straight line towards her without even trying to avoid her bullets but barely moving left and right to dodge her salvos until one finally managed to pierce through his head.
"Display," Tanya ordered before yelping in surprise since the Hobgoblin she had just shot through the head decided to burst into smoke.
"WHAT?! HOW?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE NOW!?"
"Rasengan!" the same voice of the disappeared monster rang behind her giving her barely enough time to turn around and quickly raise her shield once again.
SKRIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEH!
The sound was LOUD, making the ones too close cover their ears in agony as the blue sphere of chakra impacted with Tanya's golden barrier in an explosion of light soon followed by a humongous cascade of sparks as Naruto kept trying to drill a hole through the magical defense.
"AAAARGH!" the young girl yelled in anger as the sound was literally making her ears bleed as she felt something faintly drip down from them.
"DANGER! DANGER! MANA LEVELS BELOW 10%! DANGER! DA-DA-DA-DA-DANGER!" unknown to her the glass case of her medallion had just gained an X-shaped crack as thin as a single human hair, but with her focus on stopping the attack from hitting her she could not differentiate that specific warning of the medallion from any other she had been hearing since the beginning of the fight.
"Libra result ready! Displaying: Named Monster..." Tanya finally saw a copy of the same Appraisal of Naruto the others saw thanks to Cardinal Mazarin, making her eyes go wide at the absurd stats the Hobgoblin possessed.
"[Teleport]! [Teleport]!" the girl ordered in shock as cracks started appearing on the dome making her body fade away to reappear few feet away.
"[Teleport]: [High-tier support Magic, it moves the Target away from any attack to aid evasion.] It costs a shit-load of MP compared to how far it can move yourself or the Target, but in this case, it saved her life." Kurama explained as a new duo of explosive arrows covered Naruto's landing back on the ground.
"Tch!" the reborn shinobi hissed angrily.
"Wa-wa-warning! Ma-Mana levels are at 5%! Suggestion: C-Cease fighting to avoid lost of con-consciousness from MP de-de-de-depletion!" The Medallion transmitted with a tone ravaged by statics Tanya unconsciously ignored in favor of glaring at Naruto in pure hatred.
"Who are you!? WHAT ARE YOU?! You can't be a fucking Hobgoblin! WHO ARE YOU!?" Tanya yelled furiously.
"You are about to die, child! Remember that should your death being not a natural one or happen before your Redemption, then your soul will cease to exist! Though should you repent and accept God's gift and Blessing your soul will instead be saved! So pray! Pray and teach to these children to not believe in false gods but accept the true Faith you have been chosen to champion!" A thundering voice boomed inside Tanya's head making her grit her teeth at the smug smile she simply KNEW was on 'Being X' face as he said that.
"ME? Praying to YOU!? NEVER!" the girl thought in blind fury as she snarled in the general direction of Mi and Lars.
"I am Naruto Namikaze, future greatest Mercenary ever! And the one that is going to kick your ass for attacking my friends." Naruto answered moving a fist in front of himself with a confident smile and tone.
"Friends?" Albedo asked amused.
"Fuck yes, you are! I just decided so!" he answered smirking and making her and Alice chuckle.
"At least this mess was not for nothing then! We apparently got ourselves a friend." the Princess commented laughing.
"You..." Tanya hissed furious as while the two girls were smiling in hope for the results of the ongoing battle, the child soldier was instead seething in barely-controlled rage.
"My future! My perfect score in the Army! The wonderful career that will take me away from the front-lines! ALL IN RUINS! EVERYTHING I WORKED SO HARD TO ACHIEVE CRUMBLING TO DUST! ALL BECAUSE OF HIM!" the girl's brain almost came undone out of her blind rage as she finally acknowledged the HUGE obstacle between herself and her completing her Mission with a perfect 'Score' she knew would have been the next step towards a job far from the battlefield like she had planned.
"Pray and atone for your sins, child! Accept thy Lord blessing and spread the words of the True God!" her own mental health was also not helped by Being X deciding to further nag her to use the full power of the pendant she knew HE helped Barad-se develop as a 'Miracle' of sort and that HE made sure only Tanya could use.
"Degurechaff!" Lars yelled as he boldly walked out of his hiding spot to openly aim at her head with his bow.
"Pray and Believe, Child!" Being X added.
"You can't win, surrender!" Alice ordered.
"It's over, Tanya-san," Naruto said with a calm tone.
"SILENCE!"
"It's over?...Surrender?...PRAY?! ENOUGH!" Tanya screamed with bestial fury as she moved her rifle towards Albedo and Alice.
"DIE!" Tanya yelled as a circle of golden light appeared in front of her rifle and then dividing into four.
"[Quad-Shot]! [Magic Bullet, Fire]! [Magi Mine]!" the girl intoned with a deranged smile making the four magic circles turn into fire-made versions of themselves.
"She is going to shoot them with four wide-area fire bombs!" Kurama said with wide eyes.
"Warning! Mana Levels too low for-"
"SHUT UP!" the girl bellowed angrily.
"ALICE!" Albedo yelled as she moved to shield her friend with her body.
"KYAAAAAH!"
"STOOOP! [Graviga]!" Naruto yelled as he tried to pull her down using the gravitational spell.
"GOT YOU!" Tanya answered with a diabolic smile at seeing her ruse work, without resisting the pull she left the spell to drag her down while turning around to aim at Naruto's body, pulling the trigger once gently shoved the tip of her rifle on his chest before she could get slammed on the floor.
KRATABOOOOOM! The explosion of the four powerful fire spells being shot at the same time engulfed a wide area in a dense sea of flames soon forming a small mushroom cloud.
"NARUTOOOOOO!" Mi's scream of anguish cut through earth and sky as she ran out of her hiding spot to see if her beloved friend somehow survived the point-blank attack.
"Wa-wa-wa-warning...Mana Levels...1%..." The Pendant, now showing deeper and more numerous cracks on the frontal glass panel thanks the explosion backlash, warned weakly.
"One down, three still to go." Tanya, slightly panting in Magic exhaustion, muttered pleased as she looked at the goblin girl with a maniacal grin lacking any form of mercy.
"You die now," Mi growled as she aimed the crossbow between the girl's eyes.
"How cute...Oh?" Tanya answered smirking as she raised her Magical Barrier one last time and moved to take aim and shoot Mi, only for her rifle to not bulge of a millimeter.
"...I got you." the voice had her eyes fly wide open in abject horror because as soon as the smoke finished dissipating she saw a dark-grey hand holding her rifle by the muzzle soon followed by a heavily-burned arm and then the rest of the Hobgoblin she thought she had vaporized.
"Between Thermal Fluctuation, my own Fire Resistance and the others' buffs, I managed to cut the damages down a lot...But for fuck sake, it still hurts." Naruto said panting as half his face was covered in blood forcing his right eye closed while most of his clothes had been burden away showing some serious burning marks covering the majority of his body.
But the worst part, for Tanya, was that his hand holding the rifle was INSIDE her Barrier because of his holding her weapon when she did cast it, meaning that he could ideally drag the rest of his body inside her Barrier if he so wished…
And he did.
"YAAAH!" the right punch of the Hobgoblin (subconsciously pumped to maximum attack power thanks to his [Vigor] Skill) slammed on Tanya's face fully and with the same power and 'weight' of a speeding truck momentarily flattening her skull, making her eyes roll up on the back of her head and dislodging several of her teeth in a thick spurt of blood as her tiny body went shot far away in an unintended fly while her rifle remained in his hand.
"No more shooting for you," Naruto growled as he threw the musket aside just as Tanya shakily rose to her feet.
"I-I-I am not done yet!" the girl answered panting as she took out a small gun from a hidden holster on her left leg.
"The accuracy of this gun is abysmal and the damage dealt simply disgusting, but it's always better than fighting barehanded..." Tanya muttered in disdain as she tried to fly again only for her to drop down after rising of barely few centimeters from the ground.
"W-W-What?"
"D-D-D-D-GER!…F-F-FL-Flight abilities are not work-work-work-work-work-"
"Just work, you piece of junk!" the girl yelled punching the front of her medallion adding more cracks to the ones already covering the glass case almost completely.
"IT'S OVER! [OODAMA RASENGAN]!" Naruto yelled as he and a Shadow Clone ran towards Tanya while holding between them a Rasengan the size of beach-ball.
"NO! NO! STAY AWAY!" Unable to simply fly away the child soldier raised her gun to shoot him, only for Lars' final arrow finally piercing her shoulder turning weapon and arm to stone.
"Here! The secret ability of the [Medusa Great Bow], [Petrifying Arrow]!" the Captain said with a vindicated tone.
"AAAH!" with a short scream the two Narutos reached their target and shoved the huge Rasengan right on Tanya's chest.
"GYAAAAAAAAAAH!" the scream of agony was blood-curdling, but it lasted for barely few seconds before the glass panel of her medallion finally gave-in and shattered.
"DANGER! MANA LEVELS AT 0%! Err-" Crack!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion was terrifying, blowing away everything on its path and sending the observing party to fly away and even upturning Olaf's cart and the rest of his convoy.
When the smoke finally settled a hole so deep the bottom could not be seen was left in the epicenter of the explosion thanks to the uncontrolled Magic of Tanya's broken pendant lashing around wildly, leaving the group of shaken survivors desperately looking everywhere for both Tanya and Naruto that had been shot away and high in the sky, nowhere to be seen.
Somewhere – time and position unknown -
When Tanya Von Degurechaff finally opened her eyes she found herself in a familiar position, frozen in place in the middle of a fall, only this time she was surrounded by complete whiteness and her body and soul hurting to the point she couldn't even scream.
"I see that you are awake." a gentle voice asked with otherworldly calm.
"...Being X..." Tanya exhaled tiredly, but still managing to convey her hatred.
"No, that Interloper has not arrived yet...Daichi Takamura." the voice answered conversationally making Tanya's eye widen in surprise.
"It has been a while since you heard your name from your previous life, doesn't it?"
"Who are you?" the girl finally asked.
"I guess introductions are in order. I am Ifrion, and the stone you are wearing in your pendant happens to be the Heart of Pyros, the Guardian of Fire, and more importantly, one of my children." Ifrion answered as he appeared in front of Tanya.
Ifrion was a titanic Phoenix easily as tall as a skyscraper if not even bigger, dark-red plumage with gold lining, a long tail of pure fire on his back and extremely-long talons looking like being even too sharp for the girl's comfort; contrary to normal mythology she was used to though, Ifrion possessed four wings.
His feathers looked metallic in appearances and his beak and head were lacking the proper opening for a mouth, being instead of a solid block of metal decorated with spiral patterns making the whole ensemble looking like an iron mask with flaming red eyes.
"So you are here for revenge?" Tanya asked sounding almost resigned.
"None of that, to be Honest, I am here to make you an offer. I have been observing you ever since your 'Being X' forcefully annexed you to our world...And to be sure you understand why I am here...Let's say that I am part of an Executive recruitment agency that is tracking qualified personnel during their work life, and can quickly and precisely locate a suitable candidate for a specific job requirement...My partners Varudora and Malvas have found their candidates, now it's your turn." the Titan answered amused.
"So you are a Head-Hunter?" She asked with a weak smile.
"Pretty much. As for now, I can't openly trust you with my Core as I and the Malvas are the only ones holding the Seal intact and working since we need Varudora awake, but I can trust you with my child's Core to aid you. Should I give you my blessing you won't need Interlopers' 'Miracles' for it to work. This if you promise to not abuse it." Ifrion answered spatting Miracles like something tasting bitter in his mouth.
"And why should I switch a Megalomaniac for another? You too believe to be a God?" Tanya asked sarcastically.
"If I was a real God, I would really help my beloved children and the people of Elrune. Me and my brothers are at best Martyrs, condemned to endless sleep and cursed with powerlessness in truly fixing a mistake protracting for centuries unresolved. Contrary to your Being X, me and the others used to listen to the prayers and intervene, people never had doubts about our existence because we actually 'Managed' our world instead of sitting aside and simply watch."
"Eh! That already sounds like you are a bit better than X..." the girl replied unconvinced.
"I am honestly unsure if I should take that as a compliment or not. Then, what about this: You help me and my brothers...And I will personally see to it that neither Being X or his cohorts will ever bother you, they will be gone, Forever. This and personally making sure you will have a very peaceful life ahead of you to live as you wish...This if you do not turn into the next Dark Lord, because if you do then I will personally hunt you down and burn even your soul to ashes and erase you completely."
"It doesn't sound different from the deal I already have ongoing with my current employer."
"You sure? I am not forcing you to pray for us or Mother Elrune like someone else has openly done more than once ever since you came here! And neither I am forcing you to accept my offer. I am merely taking a few minutes of your time to inform you there would be a nice cozy place open for you."
"..."
"...So?"
"You are holding information back," Tanya said managing a smirk.
"Hohoho! Guilty as charged" Ifrion admitted with his voice turning way darker as he leaned forward his giant head (that alone ten times the size of Tanya's whole body) until the tip of his beak lightly touched her chest.
"Your Being X was not very clever in choosing our world to put you into, there are things in motion he failed to notice...Like MANY OTHERS he missed in his own world if I saw your memories well..." the giant phoenix whispered with a low voice carrying dark omens.
"Such as?" she asked with just a smudge of uncertainty in her tone.
"The man that is hunting us down for the cores of me and my two brothers, along with the ones of our children, has way darker plans than what even his men know about. Plans that will spell doom for everything around us. I would like to tell you, you to have no choice in helping us but it is not my style to force people to do my bidding. But if your precious Barad-Se manages to fulfill your King's ambition, EVERYTHING will cease to exist. Even Heaven and Hell."
"Eh?" Tanya asked with her eyes going slightly wide.
"Why do you think me, Malvas and Varudora used to sleep? Why do you think the 'Lesser Titans' never let themselves be awakened? Our dreams are unified, our sleep creates the prison of a being of Destruction! Should all of us awake, or worse die, the fake world that Shadow eternally feeds on will disappear and that Monster will be free to devour this world, then the next one, then the next one...And when there will be nothing else in the material world to eat, it will move its eyes elsewhere, like the world of spirits...And neither gods of devils can escape its hunger."
"So even if I manage to win my 'bet' with Being X...I will lose all the same?" Tanya asked.
"It would be just a temporary victory, Miss Tanya. Sooner or later the Shadow would reach the Heavens and consume everything there as well, that if your X will manage to force you to go there, he has no power in our world no matter if his ego makes him believe to be some 'True God' and so Omnipotent. No amount of stolen prayers will make him usurp the gods already in power here, they are not the kind to let the first coming by stealing their job." Ifrion answered.
"And considering you seem to actually do a better job than what he was doing in my world, I wouldn't blame them."
"Thank you, we don't consider ourselves Gods...More like 'Employers' of our land; we get paid in prayers and we make little concessions: this or that incurable illness miraculously healed, good catches of fishes for the fishermen or good crops for the farmers, healthy children and good luck during travels for merchants and so on...Considering that we DO have the power to help and we get paid well, I can't honestly tell why we shouldn't actually listen. The more we 'answer' the more people believe we exist and have faith in us, thus the more prayers we get."
"Do Ut Des," Tanya said chuckling.
"'I give to you so that I may get something back from you ', quite the fitting analogy."
"Be as it may, you are not exactly giving me a choice here."
"I am merely asking you to give a hand to Malvas' Champion Naruto and Varudora's Champion Rimuru, contrary to them you have the option to refuse. Should you refuse I will look elsewhere for a Champion and let you be. The only incentive I can give you is about me killing Being X NOW and then promise me and my brothers will exterminate his friends once you have helped us stop the King of Barad-se and his plans." Ifrion answered.
"And you will leave me to walk away knowing all this?" the child soldier asked smirking.
"I can erase your memories of this little meeting of use quite easily,"
"Tch! Should have imagined it. And I guess simply killing the King or even completely erasing Barad-se from the face of the planet won't help."
"That man has already abandoned his Castle a long time ago.
He has left behind a decoy his beloved Elf wife created and can control from distance, the two of them are somewhere escaping even the eyes of me and my brothers, otherwise, I would have burned the fool down myself. No, with the excuse of the Guild I would need you and the other Champions to search left and right for that man's hideout and finally stop him. Should you accept, that is."
"..."
"What I am offering you is freedom, Miss Tanya...You yourself noticed how somehow your plans to avoid conflicts and deadly situations fail miserably, to the point you are forced to use the full power of that pendant and start spouting prayers to X...and how you started doing that even without using that Power. Help us in our time of need and no other deity will EVER bother you again, I promise this on my own life." Ifrion said sighing.
"You would risk your life on this?"
"My life in exchange for the safety of my brothers, the dead and the living of my world and every other planet? Yes, I will gladly pay the price, it is my duty to protect the mortals, no matter the cost!" the Titan said immediately as he raised to his full height to proudly answer in full honesty, a thing that deep-down surprised the young girl a little.
"...Can you let me think about this? Two days, by then I will have the answer either positive or negative." Tanya answered after a long silence.
"I can accept that, just know that should your answer be no, as soon as you deny your help your memories of all this will be erased, same going if you try to alert Barad-se or other people before the two days expire."
"I accept the terms."
"Good. As a sign of good faith, I will now remove Being X from the equation! It is high time the Interloper to be gone, especially since by his actions of bringing you here and helping Barad-se locate the Titan of Fire the whole plan had been set in motion!" Ifrion answered with a booming voice as his body went enveloped by a thick aura of fire fully displaying his rage.
"COME HERE, YOU SPOILED CHILD!" the giant phoenix bellowed as chains of pure fire burst from his tail to pierce the whiteness surrounding him and Tanya, soon tensing as they latched on something.
"Got you." Tanya had to admit that even her shivered a little at the dark tone Ifrion used at feeling his prey try to squirm away from his hold.
"I SAID COME HERE!" the giant bird bellowed as the bearded human Tanya knew as Being X went unceremoniously dragged in front of Ifrion and slammed at the feet of the titanic phoenix that stood towering over the way smaller 'deity'.
"Hello, little child. Welcome to your judgment day." the tone was jovial, but only an idiot would have missed the acidic scorn right under it.
"What is the meaning of this?! Free me this instant!" the other deity growled as he futilely tried to break free.
"Hello there, Being X. Fancy meeting you here," Tanya said with a dark smile as she FINALLY saw the thorn to her side quivering on his knees helpless.
"YOU! What have you done!? Have you fell so much to rely on false gods!?" the bearded man yelled theatrically.
"Aah! Quit yer yapping, ya two-bits good for nothin'!" mildly surprising Tanya with the...inflection of his tone, Ifrion pulled on the chain making X slam his face HARD on the floor making few of his teeth fly off.
"Ah-Hem! As I was saying! Be quiet and do not make a fool of yourself, child!" the Phoenix tried again.
"Release me this instant and repent for you pagan ways! Then maybe I will show you my-GUEH!" the new round of holier-than-thou attitude stopped abruptly when Being X went lift from the floor to be brought in front of Ifrion's beak that then opened to show that he DID have a mouth, only in the form of a bottomless gaping fissure of intense flames hot enough to make Hell look like a winter resort.
"So?" he asked as a wisp of flames flew up to slightly burn the end of X long beard.
"...I believe I can offer you five minutes of my time to hear you out, so speak fast as I am a busy God."
"Eat him and I switch side right this instant." Tanya offered immediately with her most ravenous smirk.
"NO! DON'T EAT ME! IT WOULD BE BLASPHEMY!" X countered.
"No, it would be 'food Poisoning' as I would eat something rotten. Now sit down and listen!" Ifrion said slamming the deity down in a chorus of breaking bones.
"GAH!"
"As you may have noticed, you have entered a world where you have no power, straining yourself to even add Miss Tanya so to convert our children to your Faith...Did you plan to abandon her world and move in ours?" he asked.
"..." X stood stubbornly silent as he avoided to even look at the Phoenix.
"You will talk," Ifrion answered groaning in annoyance as the chains shined briefly in a purple light making the trapped man's eyes bulge out.
"Yes!" he blurted in an answer without control.
"I see! So you were going for a hostile acquisition! You forced me here to strengthen your powers so to cross over here and take over!" Tanya hissed furiously.
"And what about your original world?"
"Those lambs are lost! They do not believe! They are greedy, war-mongering fools that no longer fear and respect the gods! They no longer pray to us nor they offer their whole being to us!"
"Have you tried answering to their prayers? Have you tried to listen? To act? Sending a saint or a Martyr every once in a while means nothing if you then turn blind and deaf. Do you want their prayers? Then show them there is somebody to pray to! Do not pretend the humans to teach each new generation to believe in you implicitly, you have to give them proof!"
"Why should we?!"
"Faith is built, not a fancy gadget you get with your position. Do you mean to tell me that helping more often is outside your abilities? If I saw correctly in Miss Tanya's memories, you were always ready to go posturing about being 'The Almighty'...Was it all propaganda then?" Ifrion asked curiously.
"They have to help themselves! Like that they will grow! They can't pretend to have us always help them!" Being X answered.
"Should they help themselves? Yes! It helps them grow? Yes! But even the Will of the Humans, of the Elves, of the Orcs, of the Centaurs, of the Merfolk or even of the Undead SOMETIMES find an obstacle simply too big to surpass either alone or in group, so giving them a push like a father would and tell them: "Here is where you need to act" and then gently push them ONCE in that direction, is not spoiling them, is putting them on the right path! THEN you can sit back and watch them learn.
Nobody learned to walk by themselves, we all had somebody holding our hands the first time; true talent is understanding when to act and when not, and then give small nudges. You instead, you and your friends abandoned your people while pretending to be fed off their prayers while doing nothing! And instead of admitting your mistakes once the situation got out of hand, you looked elsewhere for greener pastures! YOU ARE SICKENING ME!" Ifrion answered as he started lazily flapping his four wings, generating a terrifying blast of hot air apparently burning only X while leaving Tanya unscathed.
"You only had to remember them that they were not 'fighting alone'! That even in their darkest moments of despair you were there! But you were too damn lazy and prideful to lower yourself to that! You left the elderly do all the work by spinning around great tales of power and generosity while you sat back! And NOW you are trying to start anew in MY world?! Your actions have set in motion the absolute destruction of everything just to appease your Ego! AND I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!" the wind was now howling deafeningly while Being X wheezed and coughed while his skin slowly burned to ashes until muscles and then bones started being visible.
"I-I-I can stop...The evil...I am...God…"
"YOU FOOL! YOU COULD NOT BE BOTHERED TO HELP PEOPLE SURVIVE FAMINES AND ILLNESSES AND YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP THE MONSTROSITY WE ARE TRAPPING IN OUR DREAMS AND TRIED TO DESTROY WITHOUT PAUSE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS!? THAT'S IT! YOU INSOLENCE SHALL NO LONGER BE TOLERATED!" Ifrion, by now almost foaming at the mouth in rage, gave a mighty flap of his wings that reduced Being X' body to ashes in an instant.
"My child...Help meeee…" by now reduced to a wisp of smoke, X soul tried moving towards Tanya.
"Nothing of my concern, Being X. You are just reaping what you sew." the girl answered in pure glee.
"Noooo!"
"GET OVER HERE!" Ifrion bellowed as his maw closed tightly around the deity's soul, swallowing it whole.
"AAAAAAAAAH!" Silence soon followed as even Being X soul went destroyed until of him nothing else remained.
He was no more, completely erased with no chances of ever returning.
"My part of the deal is done, that deity has been forever erased...Not a big lost in my opinion, if your world is lucky this idiot's son should be more than able to run things in his place now that he will finally able to be in charge, he looked like somebody with Heart and Head in the right place, so I can hope he will do a better job."
"So I have two days to decide?" Tanya asked sighing tiredly.
"Yes, but please, at least consider the idea of lending us a hand," Ifrion answered.
"I'll think about it," she answered uncertainly.
"Thank you, it's all I ask. Now rest, you earned it." the Phoenix said with a gentle tone as everything faded away and Tanya fell in deep sleep.
An unknown time later – Inn Room – With Naruto -
The reborn shinobi groaned as he finally managed to crack open one eye to see a ceiling he didn't recognize and feel the comfort of a fluffy mattress under his body, along a damn good pillow holding his head and kinda-too-tight moist bandages covering most of is body and half his face (along his right eye) smelling faintly of spices mixed with what he guessed were medical herbs with a strong minty scent.
"Good morning! Slept well?" a familiar voice asked gently as a glass of water was presented to him while a pair of strong arms helped him sit up on the bed.
"Where am I?" Naruto asked yawning and emptying the glass in record time.
"In one of Serena City's best Inns! 'Maiden's Heart', we were all damn worried about you, you know?" Olaf answered sighing as he filled a new glass.
"What about the others? And that kid?" the shinobi asked.
"That soldier is staying in the room next to this with a couple of guards there to stop her from leaving, but ever since she woke-up yesterday she has yet to speak or move, she just sits there thinking.
Princess Alice and her friend instead are okay, they went ahead to talk with the King about what happened, the others are in the meantime answering a few questions about us and that soldier of Barad-se, lucking Captain Lars' words and his vouching for you and Mi smoothed things considerably, we entered here with very little trouble." the dwarf answered relaxing a bit more on his chair.
"Mi must have been worried sick."
"She was a wreck, Naruto. Three days you have been out and almost dead and she never slept a wink to protect you, and let me tell you this, the [War Bears] we encountered were damn angry this time of year and would have loved to use you as a snack...That girl tore through them like mad," the other answered sounding both really amused and really proud.
"But she is okay?" Naruto asked again.
"Oh! She is more than okay! Watch..." Olaf answered walking towards the window to open it and then.
"HEY! MI! GUESS WHO WOKE UP!?" he yelled down on the road with a wide smile.
The answer was a LOUD stampede going from outside, to inside with annexed demolition of the entrance door and then the kicking open of the bedroom door all in the short span of few seconds before a blurry of motion dived for the bed slamming the poor Hobgoblin deep in it from the momentum.
"Gah!"
"You are alive!" Mi yelled happily as she seemingly tried to turn Naruto's bones to dust with how hard she was hugging him.
"Not for long if you hug me like this!" Naruto begged to tap her back.
"DON'T EVEN TRY AGAIN TO MAKE ME WORRY LIKE THAT!" the girl bellowed furiously as she grabbed his shoulders to shook him wildly.
"OKAY! OKAY!...Hey! You look different..."
"Yup! I evolved! So we are both Hobgoblins now!" Mi answered cheerfully.
She did look different in fact, while the wild style of her hair remained, her features had softened a great deal, shaving away most of the 'monster' side of her in favour of a more human-like appearance, with smoother skin and softer facial features, leaving only the slightly protruding canines and ears (along her emerald-green skin) being the only things differentiating her from a normal teenage human girl, she even got taller, almost matching Naruto and coming only few inches shorter than him.
"...You look damn pretty, you know?" he was forced to admit making her blush dark-red.
"Thank you...D-D-Darling," she muttered very shyly and taking the reborn shinobi by surprise with a lightning-fast peck on his lips.
"Ooooh! That is what you are talking about!" Olaf said in realization.
"What?" Naruto asked confused, for more than one reason to be honest.
"I heard the other girls of the convoy talk about it...Apparently, she is stating her claim on you." the dwarf answered VERY amusedly.
"Eh? Her claim?" Naruto asked as he watched Mi the Hobgoblin sigh contently as she hugged him and buried her face on the crook of his neck to let-out a very purr-like sound.
"I think he means that Mi-san arbitrarily decided you will be her boyfriend and that you will be forced to accept it." Kurama tried explaining.
"...Meh! Could have gone worse." after a long pause of thought Naruto shrugged and returned the hug making Mi give a quiet squeal of satisfaction.
"You are taking this well," Olaf said chuckling.
"Hey, she is a fun girl, she is pretty and smart...Sniiiff! And she smells damn nice." he answered smirking.
"Uuuhm...Naruto smells nice too." Mi answered burying her face just a tiny bit more in his neck.
"Do you want me to leave you alone?" Olaf asked wiggling his eyebrows.
"No/yes." Naruto and me answered at the same time.
"Why no?" Mi asked confused.
"I am hurt," he answered simply.
"Then M will do most of the work," she answered nonplussed and with a feral smile.
"What do you meAAAN-WOOZA!" the reborn shinobi started saying before the pretty hand of the hobgoblin girl closed with a firm grip around his privates.
"At least let me get out first!" the dwarf merchant said whining as he covered his eyes.
"I fear the...Celebrations...Will have to wait." A new voice said from the door.
"KING LEODAS!" Olaf shrieked in surprise as he jumped to his feet to bow to the King.
"Relax, relax. I am not here officially, so we can put aside etiquette and get straight to the point." the old King said gently as his old companions walked outside to stand at both sides of the door.
"Nice to meet you, Leodas-san, I am-"
"Mister Namikaze and Mi, the hobgoblins, I know of you. My daughter and her friend told me everything." Leodas interrupted him just as Alice and Albedo too entered the room.
"How are you?" the succubus asked.
"Feeling a lot better, the Regeneration Skill I have already healed most of the damages," Naruto asked smiling wide.
"That is an understatement, by all means, you should have been dead," Alice answered sighing.
"I am not new to that, truth be told," he said snorting amused.
"Yeah, WAY TOO MUCH EXPERIENCE ON THAT, actually," Kurama added sighing frustratedly.
"What I fail to understand is...Why? I get it you said you did it just because you thought they needed help...But I don't get the reason behind your risking your life like this. Any other Goblin or Hobgoblin would have turned tail as soon as the situation worsened, and yet, you pushed through...It can't only be confidence in your skills, no matter how absurd your stats are. Then...Why?" Leodas asked honestly confused.
"In a Goblin tribe you don't get help, you either survive on your own or you die and I don't like that attitude, I like to help my friends, even the ones I just met. I decided that I would never run away and that I would never go back on my word as my personal Rule of Life, so I decided to follow it, becoming strong so to protect my precious people. I said I would have helped Alice-san and Albedo-san to get back home here, and nobody would have stopped me from doing that." the reborn shinobi answered.
"Damn it, he sounds like a nice boy." Leodas thought to grimace as he saw, to his displeasure, that both his daughter and her friend looked particularly pleased by his answer.
"I was told you wanted to create a Guild of your own and become a Mercenary, quite the goal for a Monster." the King asked sighing.
"I want to show that I am not a moron or a savage like the other Goblins, I think I can actually become the greatest Mercenary ever!" Naruto answered smirking.
"Yes, Alice mentioned that. What about this, as a thank you for saving my beloved daughter, I will endorse this myself and help you… DO NOT make me regret this." Leodas said nailing the young man with a terrifying glare.
"I don't intend to," Naruto answered nodding.
"You sure, your Highness?" Olaf asked shocked.
"Following the reports and what the people of your own convoy told me, he seems like knowing what he is doing and getting himself into, so I guess I can give him the benefit of the doubt for now. But other than himself and Mi he will need to find AT LEAST other four members for the bare minimum 'Active Roster' plus other four 'reserves' just in case somebody gets wounded so to keep the Guild able to take Missions." Leodas answered.
"So a minimum of ten people is necessary to create a Guild?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"Not exactly, the minimum is six, the other four are a precaution just to not go on a Mission with a member less in your party." the King answered.
"We will join him, so he only lacks two other members," Alice said smirking.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Leodas screamed in outrage.
"I WANT TO GO, DADDY!" the snake girl yelled back.
"NO! I FORBID YOU!"
"ALBEDO WILL COME WITH ME!" the girl replied whining.
"THEN IS EVEN WORSE! I WON'T HEAR THE END OF IT IF SHE TOO GOES!"
"This is going to take a while..." Naruto muttered sighing in defeat as daughter and father kept arguing.
"Then we will wait," Mi answered as she happily cuddled with him on the bed.
"I wonder where we could look for the missing members for your Guild...We also need to find that guy to turn the huge fang you have into a weapon that won't break in two swings like the others AND that other 'Chosen One' the booming voice talked about." Kurama said grumbling annoyed.
"We will deal with it as soon as we have done here." the reborn shinobi answered shrugging as he settled back down on the very comfy bed.
"I hope it won't take too much at least."
Meanwhile – outside -
A Young silver-haired pre-teen boy with very feminine features and eyes the color of pure-gold was slowly walking through the great mass of merchants and citizens filling the streets towards the Inn Naruto was using, he was wearing a black fur coat and scarf and under it a kimono and wide pants.
"You sure he is around here?" he muttered unsurely.
"Confirmed: the other Chosen One is resting in the Inn right in front of us." a robotic-like voice replied immediately.
"I would trust your Skill [Great Sage] if I were you, it still has to fail us." another voice, this one booming with a hissing undertone, added.
"Then I guess I have no choice but to meet him...I hope he is a nice guy at least." the androgynous guy muttered sighing.
"Malvas had always had good eyes for people, if he chooses him, it means we can be sure we won't deal with a moron or a stuck-up fool...But I am more concerned about him knowing the full ramifications of his being moved here at his death." the dragon resting deep inside the boy's body sighed tiredly.
"What do you mean?" he asked faltering a little in his steps.
"That while good in a lot of things, my brother had always being dramatically over-cautious in a lot of things, and considering he once turned a whole mountain range to dust just by poking it lightly, I can't honestly blame him. So, just in case this guy has not been completely briefed 'To not aggravate him too much with the burden' as I fear it may be the case...Please be GENTLE in explaining to him why you two have been chosen...I hope Ifrion instead will make a more proper job should he find the third and final Chosen."
Sigh! "Okay, I'll see what I can do, Varudora."
"Thank you, my friend."
Yep, apparently Naruto was the only one not fully in the know about WHY he had found himself on Elrune as a Goblin upon death, but luckily he was just as good at adapting as he had been in his old life as a shinobi.
"NO FUCKING WAY! YOU ARE NARUTO!? I HAVE THE FULL MANGA COLLECTION! I LOVE YOUR ANIME!"
"Manga? Anime?"
There, that will be harder to explain instead.
SO! new chapter done finally! WOOO! I decided to have them have a faint clue about WHY they have been reborn in a new world, as a way to distract myself from the usual Light Novel cliche of "Chance", I guess I dug my own grave then! XD
Time-Line Speaking: Rimuru is basically right after consuming the Orc Lord, but he never founded the city Tempest, he has met and befriended the Oni group though.
Tanya: ideally right after she became First Lieutenant and obtained the 'Von' in her name.
So we have Rimuru and Naruto having been strong-armed into being Chosen Ones while Tanya has been given the choice (I don't think Tanya's old name has ever been revealed so I am giving her one myself, sorry if I missed it).
The final part with Rimuru was just me fooling around XD.
The Guild: here are few details (please help me fix/cover the holes in it):
Name: Monster Star Guild (since made mostly by Non-Human members)
Ruler (or Master of the Guild)/ Front-line fighter/ spy/ infiltrator: Naruto. since he is the founder.
Second in Command: Rimuru Tempest.
Strategist/spokesman: Tanya Von Degurechaf (Also doubling as Sniper)
Support (Long Distance): Mi Namikaze. (She insisted on the surname…)
Support (Healer and Buffer)/Guild Representative in Human-ruled Lands: Alipheese Fateburn "Alice"
Support (Heavy attacker Healer)/ Guild Representative in Monster-ruled Lands: Albedo Ooal Gown.
Support (Long Distance and a heavy attacker with Magic)/ Researcher, Linguist and historian: Jibril.
Support (Buffer and Healer)/ errand girl: Shantae.
Support (short distance and a heavy hitter with Magic)/ Researcher: Mana
Support (De-buffer, also known as 'Saboteur')/ Guild merchant and the one taking care of Supplies: Olaf.
Support (Heavy hitter with physical attacks) / Spymaster and the one training the Guild Members: Lars.