Right, sorry for the lack of updates… R.I.P. grandpa, let's put it that way… and I forgot to bring out the nearly finished draft when I left to the US, so I only restarted after I went back to my country to attend the funeral… yeah.
Chapter 40: Culling
As the three sides clashed, the power emitted by the collision sent waves of energy in concentric rings out, blowing away everything in the vicinity, including the Elven army. Nortrom and Sylvanas were sent tumbling back first as they were the closest, skidding almost a hundred feet before finally managing to stop.
"Just how much power are the putting out?" Sylvanas wondered as she watched the array of colors shifting as if in a kaleidoscope, before it detonated, and all six combatants were sent hurtling back, though none were visibly harmed.
"Sasuke, use it," Arthas grinned as he dashed forward, colliding with Horus, blade to spear, while Athaniar charged Sasuke intending on giving Darkterror the time to engage Naruto. And Naruto?
He was suddenly enveloped in a sphere of violet flames, roaring into the sky as flared were blasted out, only to recede as if it was a sun. Then, suddenly, there was a crack in the sphere-like structure, and from there, a pair of Rinnegan was seen. The flames began unfurling as Darkterror raised his wings and dashed forward, out of his stupor and intending on ending whatever Naruto was doing before he finished, but to no avail. The flames unfurled even further, and with a powerful roar from Naruto, the flames moved on their own accord, forming two pairs of wings.
(A/N: To imagine how it looks like, look at Wing Zero Custom's wings, only the feathers are replaced with violet, ethereal fire)
Without a word spoken, Naruto charged Darkterror as well, their blades singing in the precise middle of the two combatants.
Fast! Was the only thought of Darkterror before Naruto pushed him away, I need to step up my game.
With naught but a thought, Darkterror also transformed into his demon form, pulsing energy out to keep Naruto's flames at bay. Not going to get outdone, Naruto formed seals rapidly.
"Futon: Atsugai!" Naruto yelled as he sent the pulse of air at Darkterror, who retaliated with a blast of demonic energy that dispelled both. However, that was enough time for Naruto as a shroud of yellowish energy covered him, and the shadow around his eyes turned orange.
"You die today, Darkterror, I will see to that," Naruto declared to the stunned Darkterror, who barely had enough time to escape the first shot made by Naruto, the speed which Naruto achieved sending a shockwave that sent Darkterror tumbling back, before righting himself and sending his own bolt of energy at Naruto. Flaring some chakra, Naruto disappeared in a bright yellow flash, reappearing several feet away as the bolt flashed harmlessly away. At least, that was what everyone thought. No one realized that it was heading right towards the Elven encampment… until it smashed into the main armory, blowing a hole inside and setting it on fire.
The armory detonated in a gigantic explosion, sending fiery sparks flying everywhere, setting the camp on fire. As the six combatants watched the various groups struggling to put the wooden structures out, Naruto discreetly flared his chakra out, making sure to leak so little that not even Sasuke would be able to detect it… until it was too late. Without a single word Naruto disappeared in a loud flash, punting Arthas back dozens of feet before he disappeared once more, sending a Rasengan into Athaniar while a Chidori into the wing of Darkterror who moved by accident – a lucky save, but that slowed Darkterror down enough that Naruto was able to send a full-powered Bijuudama into Darkterror, blasting him back and tumbling into Arthas. Meanwhile, Sasuke managed to react just in time, getting somewhat out of Naruto's range before Naruto's katana sliced a bit of hair off him, before sending a blast of green energy that was deflected by a spear of light.
"That was fast, what did you use?" Horus asked as he twirled around his spear, the white glow dimming evidence that he was the one who casted the spell.
"One never reveals his trump card," Naruto only said before the place he was at was struck by a gigantic blast of lightning, smoke obscuring everything until it was blown away by a sweep of Darkterror's wings, revealing…
Nothing. Nothing except a flickering ball of lightning that suddenly pulsed forward, targeting Sasuke, who dodged and managed to maneuver himself such that Athaniar was right in the way of the ball lightning, which smashed into him, electrifying him and making him scream in pain even as Naruto smashed a chakra-powered fist into Athaniar, propelling him into Darkterror, substituted by Sasuke, who finally saw a clear shot.
"Chidori Eiso!" Sasuke called out as a beam of electricity, powered by the foul energies of the undead, pierced through the protective shielding provided by Kyubi's chakra, cancelling Sage Mode for a split second – a split second that Arthas took advantage of. As Naruto turned to confront Sasuke, the weak spot presented itself to Arthas, who fired a Death Coil at Naruto, smashing into him brutally and leaving a dark burn through the armor as he tumbled forward, groaning as his right arm dangled, the nerves fried temporarily. It would take a while for Naruto to heal, but right now that wasn't his primary concern.
"Hn… looks like Sage Mode isn't anything to be proud of after all," Sasuke mocked as Naruto looked up, a ghost of a smile just on his face as he punched the air. Sasuke didn't even bother dodging, thinking it was just a gesture, at least until he was send back dozens of feet, smashing into a boulder and cracking it, only for Sasuke to melt into a puddle of water, surging up into a frozen dragon ready to pounce Naruto, only for him to leap back and allow Horus to destroy it, the concentric ring of power radiating out and clashing with the foul energies released. Horus panted a little, the exertion taking a toll on his as-of-yet undeveloped power.
"Take them down now, commander! One aura I can handle, two I can handle, but anything more than that and I will have trouble… take them… down… now!" Horus yelled as he pushed back the combined assault of the four powers as Naruto roared, a shockwave of energy slamming into the four combatants and throwing them back, only for Darkterror to disperse. Naruto looked around.
"That's not good… is it?" Naruto asked as Horus shook his head.
"I do not know what Darkterror can do, only what Arthas is able to," Horus said, "Wait for the change."
"Change… is nulled," a disembodied voice spoke before Naruto leapt, narrowly avoiding a claw that smashed its way out the ice. Unfortunately, Horus was not nearly fast enough and was struck away, sliding across the ice and forcing him to roll several times to reduce the momentum on his body and sticking his spear into the ice to stop himself. Unfortunately, with the power exerting from everyone, the spear broke, sending him sliding a bit further than he expected as he rolled over a small hill, sinking into the snow.
"Ice sucks," Horus growled as he leapt and smashed through the ice with an Exorcism, blowing through the demonic claw with ease as Darkterror roared in pain and head butted the ice, his horns smashing into Arthas and throwing him into Naruto who was in the air, sending them tumbling down, at least until Naruto grabbed Arthas in a chokehold and quickly into a sledgehammer drop, sending both of them plummeting down head first into the ground, "There goes my weapon too."
At the same time, as Arthas and Naruto neared the ground, Naruto disappeared in a bright yellow flash, leaving Arthas to take the entire burden as he smashed right into the ice, where, at the same time, multiple blasts of lightning shot up from Sasuke, intending to hit Naruto, but missing and striking Arthas instead. Taking the advantage, Athaniar sent a pillar of flame right up at the stunned Sasuke, though it had no effect as Sasuke whirled around, his Mangekyou Sharingan suddenly exposed.
"You dare use my element against me?" Sasuke yelled furiously, "Then you shall perish!"
Without warning, Athaniar was engulfed by the black flames as his screams echoed around the temporary arena. Neither Naruto nor Sasuke moved to help as Naruto smashed his fist into Arthas' head, sending him tumbling back once more, though he managed to right himself, and right before Darkterror could strike him down from his advantageous position, Arthas swiped upwards, ignoring the blade Darkterror had cutting into his arm, slicing through the demonic energy that covered Darkterror and into flesh, tearing through until Arthas broke free from Darkterror's blades' hold. Darkterror roared in pain as he fell, crashing into the ice as Arthas quickly moved back, his wounds opening with each step.
"Cover me… I shall retrieve the Helm…" Arthas panted as he moved back, and Naruto and Horus moved forward to engage. Before they had a chance, however, Sasuke quickly created a gigantic wall of black fire, surrounded by the energies of Susanoo as they quickly departed. Naruto narrowed his eyes as Horus tried to pierce the barrier to no avail.
"Stop it, the chakra isn't tainted, just dark. He did not use his undead energies to create this barrier, so your abilities are at best insignificant to break it," Naruto said, "We would need to retreat to plan further. But before that…"
Naruto trailed off as he approached the downed forms of Athaniar and Darkterror. Athaniar coughed as he tried to get up, as Naruto extinguished the flames.
"You must understand what we've been through, Naruto… we had no choice but to ally ourselves… to Darkterror… it is… for the survival of our race," Athaniar spoke up feebly as he tried to crawl away, even as Naruto formed a throwing stave from chakra metal, coating it with wind chakra.
"Say that not to me, Athaniar, but to Prince Kael, or to Lina… indeed, say that to the surviving population of High Elves, and to the Alliance you betrayed," Naruto said as he activated an Exploding Tag, and cocked his hand back to throw, even as Athaniar's eyes widened, "Perhaps Lina-chan will never forgive me for this, but I shall do what I must."
"No! Naruto!" Athaniar tried to say but was cut off as Naruto threw the blade, cutting deep into Athaniar's back, piercing the armor, and detonating, throwing him up into the air even as Naruto created another out of his left hand and threw it once more, this time striking directly below the neck, cutting off Athaniar's voice, before exploding. Naruto panted as he watched the fireworks obliterating Athaniar, before a sinister chuckle was heard.
"That fool…" Darkterror cackled as he tried to stand, before Naruto picked up his blade, "What does he… intend to be…? Not trying to… conserve that power… At least his apprentice… is still here…"
As he struggled to talk, finally standing, Naruto looked at Horus, nodding. The gesture took Darkterror's notice as he growled at Naruto, "And you… who are you… compared to my power…? What are all of you, COMPARED TO MY POWER?"
"Time… to find out," Horus growled as he surged forward, catching the blade Naruto sent at him. Spinning around, Horus threw the blade, embedding it into Darkterror's stomach and kicked the other up with his feet, kicking it forward and catching it with his right arm as he leapt and landed on Darkterror's shoulder, and stabbed it through his back, channeling the energies of the Light directly through the blade and into Darkterror's heart and mana reserve.
Darkterror screamed as the Light burnt away at his reserves, the combustion made more painful by the demonic energies that was held within his veins as his heart literally combusted, incinerating away into nothingness as Naruto walked forward, picking up the twin blades, coated with his blood. Storing it away, Naruto turned around as he saw Sylvanas and Kael, and lowered his head. Walking away, he activated his Rinnegan, and bent down to pick something up, before moving back to Kael as they walked slowly back to the base camp.
"Prince Kael," Naruto murmured as he held up the object, "Athaniar's helmet."
"So you killed him," Kael said emotionlessly as Naruto nodded, "I see… I'm sorry to burden you with this task… I shall inform Lina of this event… but the fact that you killed him will never be let out."
"No. I shall tell Lina-chan myself," Naruto said, "I cannot shy away from such a thing. I promised her I will end Athaniar if I must, and I never fail my promise."
"Spoken like a true warrior," Horus added, "Honor-bound. I've made the right choice."
"Come, we must set up camp and wait for the energies to dissipate. Only then can you remove the black flames, am I correct?" Horus continued as Naruto nodded tiredly, "And you need to get your arm fixed by a Priest. I would do it myself if I weren't injured as well, and completely out of mana."
"I agree," Naruto said as he tried to move his arm, to no avail, "They said hindsight is 20-20. I wish I didn't use up Phoenix Mode anymore… at least that could heal me right back. As of now I can't summon anything at all… or can I…?"
Without warning two clouds of smoke popped up, and out came a figure that looked exactly like Naruto, and the other the Nidaime Hokage. Both had the Rinnegan eyes that Naruto now boasted, shocking the entire base they had just arrived in. Without further ado, they moved into the main Castle, where they were ushered into the medical wing.
"Well, at least they work. Not sure about the other ones," Naruto muttered as he directed his paths forward, sitting down as he did so, "While I rest, they'll do the work."
"I thought you said the eye thing was a bloodline? How come they have it too?" Kael asked as Naruto shrugged.
"There are many powers associated with this eye, some of which are forbidden. That is one of the more common ones but one which I do not like to use," Naruto replied, "Powerful as it is, the drawback lies in chakra output. Those are corpses… corpses that I control through my eyes. They are not alive in the sense of undeath, but through my eyes my consciousness is divided between anywhere from one body to seven, if needed, but I keep just six bodies including my own."
"That is… unsettling," Horus muttered, "Makes you think twice about whether such things are a blessing or a curse."
"Trust me Horus, it's never a blessing," Naruto answered, "You know the saying, in fact all of you should know the saying."
"Yeah, yeah, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely," Sylvanas replied offhandedly, "I've heard you say it dozens of times when describing this eye… why do you detest it so much?"
"Because one of my family, who also had this eye, was driven insane by it… it took a battle that destroyed my home to wake him up," Naruto replied quietly, "You've seen him before, Sylvanas-chan. He was the one that made me use up so much power and killed me."
"For lack of a better word," Sylvanas added as Naruto winced, the Priest finally starting to heal his arm, "Don't be a wimp, it's not going to hurt that much."
"Try getting it burnt off with a Death Coil and Chidori Eiso then," Naruto replied, "Even Kyubi's having trouble healing it, I can tell, and furball's great at this stuff."
"You call the demon which could rival Archimonde in power… a furball?" Sylvanas asked tentatively as Naruto nodded.
"He's a furball sealed into my gut, I have every right to call him that, especially since annoying him is a good pastime when I'm bored, and he owes me," Naruto added, "He doesn't appreciate it, but he respects the name… I have no idea why."
Didn't that Sakura woman say something about him nicknaming people as he go…? Sylvanas deadpanned in her mind, wow, he actually respects the Kyubi, or is he just annoyed by the Kyubi?
"In any case, is there a spare bunk that I can crash on? The last fight really took us out, I'm so glad Darkterror and Athaniar is gone… though I don't think their forces will be disorganized at all… far from it in fact," Naruto said as he thought back, "Does any one of you know who Athaniar took on as an apprentice?"
"Well… yes…" Kael said hesitantly, "But… I don't think we should talk about it…"
"And why not?" Sylvanas asked as Kael turned to her. A feeling of dread rose up within her, "You've got to be kidding me… Sylvos?"
"Yes, your dear cousin, Sylvos Windrunner," Kael replied grimly, "He was the top rookie in Dalaran when it fell, and Athaniar took him on as an apprentice during his own apprenticeship to me. Not knowing what will take place, I agreed. Having him teach Sylvos sounded like such a good idea at that time. I'm sorry, Sylvanas."
"He was always reckless…" Sylvanas sighed, "I don't see much of a choice for his future…"
"You're taking this better than Lina-chan did…" Naruto remarked as Sylvanas shook her head.
"I was never close to Sylvos, but Athaniar was all Lina had left of the Sunrider family. Sylvos was a maverick in our family, choosing to be a mage rather than a hunter," Sylvanas said, "Though he was actually named after my grandfather just as I was, Sylvos was never able to follow in his footsteps. From the beginning he had wanted to study the most destructive of magic, and had wanted to be apprenticed to Kingston at one point."
"I wonder where Kingston went though. He disappeared right after the assault on Dalaran. I assume he's alive though, he's not that easily killed… not without a fight," Kael remarked as well, "We need a counter strategy. Most likely Darkterror's forces know he's dead by now and have already reorganized. I remember that Naga Witch, uhh… Vashj, I believe, is the third overall in command. She's very dangerous to face alone, and still dangerous in a group."
"I do suggest we talk about this later," Sylvanas said as she watched Naruto sway a bit, obviously exhausted, "I'll take Naruto to my room."
"No funny business," a voice said outside as Fenix walked in, "It's good to see you once more, General."
"Fenix?" Naruto struggled to speak as his senses slowly failed, "I thought… you were with… Mei-chan?"
"I'm ordered to scout ahead while she takes on the bulk of the forces, after sensing the large amounts of energy being given off in this area I decided to investigate," Fenix replied, "And here I found you, completely weakened from the fight. I assume it's a free for all combat?"
"Essentially, yes, a team deathmatch is a really good way to call that melee," Horus said tiredly as well as he leaned against the wall, "Did you get Selena here? I need to talk to her for a bit, find out why my powers are still fluctuating."
"Indeed she is here, she insisted on coming along," Fenix said as Horus walked out, muttering a thanks as he left along with a mention of needing a temporary weapon,
"In any case, I know of your relationship, Commander, General, but please, if you are staying in her room, Commander, I do not suggest taking this time to… relax, so to speak. There is no need to leave here with a new life on the way," Fenix said, his voice filled with amusement as Sylvanas reddened quickly and Naruto struggled to stand a bit.
"I'll take it into consideration," Naruto said as Sylvanas nudged him.
"I think it's kind of late for that…?" Sylvanas replied as Naruto turned to look at her.
"What?"
"You didn't notice anything wrong with Jaina?"
"Well, I realized that she seemed more tired than usual, occasionally hungrier, and she almost seemed a bit sick, why?" Naruto replied, "And the fact that her father is completely pissed off at me isn't helping much."
"You are so dense Naruto," Sylvanas shook her head, "What can contribute to those symptoms?"
"Well, there's the flu, and there's…" Naruto trailed off as he counted something in his head, before it clicked into place, "Oh, crap, that's why her father's so angry at me… wait…"
"He's finally getting it," Sylvanas sighed as she turned around, only to hear a thud. Looking down, she saw Naruto, dead on the ground, "Naruto? What happened? Priest! I need a Priest here stat!"
"Hypocrite, she's just as dense," Fenix said as Kael chuckled briefly.
"Thanks for lightening the atmosphere, Fenix. I don't know what I'll do without you," Kael whispered to Fenix as he nodded.
"My pleasure, now I'll be going," Fenix said as he left the hall, "The battle back there is just getting started… I need a few troops to catch them in a pincer strike, that's the main reason I'm here."
"I'll send out some troops," Kael said as he looked to one of his lieutenants, who nodded, "A team of our best troops are ready to be called. They specialize in destroying spellcasters and engaging in melee combat."
"Perfect," Fenix said with satisfaction as he took out his blade, "Allow me."
And with that, he's gone as the lieutenant followed. Kael sighed as he looked at the impenetrable wall.
"When that thing comes down, I hope we're readied… and that they haven't gotten to the throne yet…"
"We can only hope Darkterror's forces have advanced further than Arthas has," Nortrom said as Kael nodded.
"Who will be replacing Darkteror as the leader, though…?" Kael wondered as Sylvanas excused herself so she could take Naruto back to the room to rest. Naruto was still out cold, but it was very apparent that it was not just from the shock of the news, but also from chakra exhaustion.
Meanwhile…
Some random place between the Blood Elf camp and primary strike force
"Just how big was that battle? Not only could I sense it from the site of our clash, his level is dangerously low – lower than mine in fact," Fenix said, referring to one of the situations they had gotten in as they soared over the valley.
"Hell if I know what happened, I guess those Mode things he got into depletes his chakra rather fast, and that's not even counting the chakra he expended with his spells – oops, jutsu," Horus replied as Fenix nodded.
"General Terumi has explained partially what those are, but to think, at his level of power, to be in such a state of exhaustion…" Fenix murmured as Horus turned.
"He was hit by Arthas' Death Coil," Horus said as Fenix turned, an eyebrow raised.
"And he survived?"
"Yes. Interesting indeed, I've never seen anyone surviving a Death Coil blast apart from one of those Dreadlords that still remained, and even then they were on the brink of death themselves. In any case, are your troops following up?"
"They'll catch up. We need to support the group as fast as possible. Same strategy?"
"I'll group them together. Wait for Lexia's signal," Horus said as he suddenly dropped down, leaving Fenix on Lexia as she growled, looking at the ground. Fenix patted her head.
"I know you want in on the battle too, Lexia, but we need to stay inconspicuous… for now," Fenix said, "Then you can have the honors."
The equivalent of a smile on a dragon was seriously freaky, Fenix decided that day as Lexia grinned demonically, before she blinked, and roared, sending a gout of flame crashing down onto the battlefield below even as Fenix took out an arrow from his thigh armor, fitting it onto his bow, and targeting. There was a pinkish glow on Fenix's arrow tip, before he fired. Lexia launched a fireball soon after, igniting the pink glow even as Fenix commanded the arrow to target a particularly large group of meat wagons – holding within it was what Fenix recognized as his own mana, extracted and liquefied so that the Necromancers could take it. It was also very volatile as Fenix smiled and silently commanded the arrow to detonate.
The liquefied mana detonated in a gigantic cloud of fire as it wiped out a large area of undead and reduced the snow around it to a steaming mass, drawing his blade, Lexia dived, and he leapt in, silently thanking Horus for letting him "borrow" Lexia when it mattered.
Diving into the fray, he quickly summoned his Frost Wyrm, having it hover where Lexia just was as he slashed forward, the Frost Wyrm's frost breath following him and chilling everything it touches, only to be shattered when Fenix's blade passed through their location. The next instant, Fenix had moved on, baiting – kiting, rather – an unusually large dreadlord away from the center of its army.
"You want to take me on alone?" the dreadlord said with amusement as Fenix cocked his head to one side.
"When did I ever say that?" Fenix said, "Of course, if you wish to dance… then let's dance…"
Without any further words, Fenix sent a Death Coil directly at the dreadlord, dissipating against his skin with a loud crack as the dreadlord snarled and launched itself at Fenix, who simply leapt back onto his Frost Wyrm and commanded it to take off, the dreadlord following as it jumped numerous times, getting rather close to the Frost Wyrm.
Wait for it… wait for it… Fenix chanted in his head as he saw the dreadlord approach a non-descript location, only marked by a smatter of dust, "Now!"
And suddenly the entire area around the dreadlord exploded in a shower of Light, the dreadlord screaming in pain as it tore away at his skin, before Fenix aimed at it, firing several arrows in quick succession, sticking and detonating mere seconds after launching. The first shot tore into its arm, sending the dreadlord spinning, followed by another shot to its right leg, sending its lower body spinning into the opposite direction forcing him into the ground. And the final shot tore into the exposed back, and exploded, incinerating the dreadlord even as a pillar of Light shot up, blinding everyone and disintegrating the dreadlord's remains. As the light dimmed, Fenix stood by passively as Horus jumped back down from where he was channeling the spell.
"Sorry, jumped the trigger on that last one," Horus apologized, "I forgot you're part undead."
"Thank the Light I'm just a user of the undead energies and not fully undead," Fenix sighed as he rubbed away at his chest, "That shot took out most of my energies, but it's worth it."
"We lost you. How's that worth it," Horus asked as Fenix turned.
"That dreadlord can't revive now," Fenix said, "And that makes the battle a lot less annoying."
"They take time to respawn though," Horus recalled as he narrowed his eyes at the field below, "Are you sure that last shot took out most of your reserves? There's nothing you or I can do?"
"Unless you're willing to use Redemption," Fenix said, "And we're reserving that for emergencies, so that's out."
"Well there's got to be something," Horus sighed in frustration, "How the hell did I miss?"
"Forget it," Fenix sighed as well, "Get back onto the field. I'm not your commander, but I hold a higher rank right now."
"You and your rank," Horus huffed as he disappeared, "Don't you have some sort of pills, or be able to use the Ghoul's ability to regenerate yourself?"
"Cannibalize?" Fenix asked in confusion as Horus teleported away before he could continued, "I suppose that would work, but on what…?"
On cue, a few Necromancers were thrown his way courtesy of Horus, who had evidently arrived on the same conclusion. Letting out a dark grin, Fenix took out his blade and descended upon the terrified Necromancers…
Their screams could be heard for miles before silencing abruptly, as Fenix took them down and sucked their mana out.
Barely half a minute later, and Horus was grinning at the single, flaring arrow in the sky. The entire regiment, seeing Horus, stopped, and watched the single arrow.
"Who wants a light show?" Horus joked as the arrow split, and the Elves realized what it was as they scattered for cover, "Fire in the hole! Literally!"
The single arrow split into a dozen arrows, which then each split into hundreds, each, each flaming at the tip as Horus jumped back, not wanting to get within the radius. Unfortunately, he was just a bit too close for comfort as it neared the ground – and detonated, all of them.
With nearly a quarter gone from Horus' assault, and the rest weakened, the combined firepower from Fenix's multi-shot wiped out nearly half of the original army, leaving barely a quarter remaining as they struggled to relieve themselves of the flames that now flickered on their bodies as Horus called a charge onto the enemies.
"Impressive," Mei's voice was heard behind Horus, "I knew Fenix was powerful from his stance, but that was just…"
"He uses that for Shock and Awe tactics," one of the Elves reported, "It was rumored that he had once destroyed an entire Orcish Fortress with that single attack alone in the Second War."
"A rumor that was greatly exaggerated," Fenix said as he came down with his Frost Wyrm, "All I did was soften the defenses in order to lure the other enemies away… though perhaps that was not as good an idea as first imagined. I can see the Ranger-General placing her blames on me for the disappearance of her sister."
"Actually…" an archer started, but Fenix interrupted her.
"In any case, wipe out the remaining forces, Kael's reinforcements are already taking them down, help them out and proceed to the main objective. Something's blocking the way, and we do not have enough forces to penetrate it from the sky."
"Naruto called it a barrier composed of Susanoo's powers," Horus added as Mei looked forward, and strained her seneses.
"I see… I can take it down, but only I remain the only one with the ability to take it down for now," Mei said, "Naruto never bothered to learn Boil Release, being too busy working on seals for our own war."
"Boil Release?"
"Acid," And that explained everything when they moved on without a word.
Kael's Camp
"Uhh… what hit me?" Naruto groaned as Sylvanas patted him awake, "Sylvanas-chan? What hit me?"
"Some news," Sylvanas replied as she looked at him with a strange gaze, "You knew it would happen didn't you?"
"I was expecting some of that, but you, Kael, and Nortrom are seriously tense, so when Nortrom cracked that joke and you ended up saying something out of the blue like that, I decided to let it loose and… well I can see the result. Your crease lines are gone from your forehead. That makes it look much better," Naruto replied as Sylvanas blushed.
"You didn't have to add the last part in," Sylvanas said irritably as Naruto shrugged.
"Lighten up, Darkterror and Athaniar is dead, and at the very least you know where your… brother or cousin?"
"Cousin."
"Cousin is," Naruto continued, acknowledging her reply, "So you could quite possibly beat some sense into him after this is all over."
"No way," Sylvanas snorted in an unladylike way, "He idolizes Athaniar… though if it wasn't because Kingston didn't want an apprentice he wouldn't have followed Athaniar. As it stands those two follow right after Antonidas and Jaina… for now. Who knows how much they would rise had Athaniar not died?"
"Stop dwelling on it, think about what I have to tell Lina-chan after this is over," Naruto slumped as he snorted himself, "She is either going to break down on me, or she's going to fry me where it would hurt with an even stronger Laguna Blade… on second though I'm seriously questioning my sanity when teaching her how to manipulate lightning the way I do it."
"She pleaded with you and purposefully wore the thing that showed her body off," Sylvanas recalled, "Under most circumstances most men would just stare at her and mutter gibberish. You managed to stay focused and not stare down… for a while at least. That's something to be said about you."
Naruto slumped as he semi-glared at Sylvanas, "I'm not that bad. I helped you all"
"Yes, yes you did," Sylvanas said with satisfaction as she leaned on Naruto's chest, both sitting comfortably on the bed with Naruto leaning against the wall, "I like the new arrows."
"And you call me a pyromaniac," Naruto chuckled as Sylvanas looked over her shoulder.
"You are. The thing you designed… the what rounds now? Incendiary?" Sylvanas smirked a bit as Naruto shrugged.
"You asked. I just delivered," Naruto said, "My world really is something to come up with those designs though."
"To think you made the Dwarven boomsticks look obsolete," Sylvanas giggled, "They were so mad and awed when you first presented the design to them… then they started following you."
"Don't. Remind. Me," Naruto said in a strained voice before he yawned lightly, "Good Night, my plushie."
With that said Naruto wrapped his arms around the startled Sylvanas, pulling her in as Naruto closed his eyes and leaned back down. Sylvanas could only smile after getting out of her startled state as she closed her own eyes, and fell asleep soon after.
However, in the minds of the two, and even in the minds of Sasuke, all knew one thing…
The next time a battle was fought, either Sasuke or Naruto would be killed… and not even Sasuke, despite his mindset on his so-called Uchiha lineage, was sure who would really come out on top.
"Stop thinking about it," Arthas suddenly said as Sasuke looked up at him.
"Hn. The dobe's beneath my abilities," Sasuke grunted as they trudged along the snow, reaching their center of operation, "Neither is Darkterror nor Athaniar."
"Haven't you felt it? They are dead," Arthas said as Sasuke looked bored.
"Exactly why I said that. Alive, perhaps they would have posed as entertainment, dead, they are nothing," Sasuke said without a care as Arthas laughed, then winced, clutching his arm and the wound on his chest.
"Stupid heart, wish I didn't have the damn thing in the first place…" Arthas growled as he cursed out the other two factions, before sensing an urgent recall from the Lich King, "Forget about recovering, we're moving out. You've sensed the Lich King's orders. We'll heal the best we can on the way. Necromancers!"
"Immediately, my liege. All hail the Lich King!" several said as they sacrificed themselves, their energies flowing into the duo as they rapidly healed, before they moved out.
"Expendable and numerous," Arthas commented as Sasuke disappeared to recon further, "Perfect. Quite unlike you, Sasuke… but of course, you're also expendable. Even I am expendable for the Lich King."
Yep, I'm ending the chapter here. I'm not sure how to continue it without making it seem like I'm straining the story, and potentially making it look bad.
Whoever flames my grandpa will be blacklisted – he is not at fault here – if there is such a thing as blacklisting on . In any case. REVIEW! I didn't get enough reviews last chapter, I want more! MOAR!
Anyone would know we authors are addicted to reviews – and horray! This story's been going on for a whole year now and I haven't thought about abandoning it! That's your jobs readers, pat yourselves on the back and keep reviewing, and many thanks for the people who have supported this fanfic through its darkest and best times… although I'm honestly not sure when the darkest time was, it always seemed bright and happy.