I do not own Naruto, Overlord (the game), or anything else that may or may not appear within the story. This story is for entertainment purposes only.Have we not long since established that?!
The one called the Overlord
Chapter Four: You never forget your first raid
Fort
The difference between the dungeon and the fort proper was startlingly clear even if there wasn't a light to help make the difference. The hallways were impeccably clean and looked to have been made from expensive stones of prestige like the dark marble that made up the very floor. Even the rooms he peeked in through open doors and occasional checking were nothing short of what one would find within a noble's palace. Each inch of each room and hallway had been polished with a fine sheen that it was almost disturbing to see a perfect reflection of himself and his minions matching them step for step. In fact it was also a bit distracting, namely for the minions whom if he wasn't watching would take what chances they could to make faces at their own reflection or else wave their arms about for their own amusement. Aside from that however he began to notice another feature that was making him feel a bit... nauseated.
The further they crept through the fort, thankfully without resistance, the air became... thicker, heady, something. He didn't know what word best described it but it made his skin tingle nevertheless. Whatever it was it was persistent to say the least around the center of the fort as the outlying areas felt less... tingly. Thankfully though whatever this strange quality was it didn't make breathing a problem nor addled his mind for that matter, it just left a strange presence on him like he were walking through a thick fog.
"Master! Master, can you hear me?"
With a jerk Naruto looked up and down the hall they were in to see if anyone was with them before realizing whose voice that belonged to. He blinked in confusion when he failed to see Gnarl anywhere before remembering something: before leaving he was given one item aside from the equipment he wore now, a roughly hewn amber gem. Supposedly it was meant to have been installed onto his headpiece yet between Giblet's lack of delicacy with all things non-metal and a severe lack of jewelling equipment the best they could manage was a putting it a little pouch tied by a string that was further fastened to his belt. Apparently it was a means of communicating like the head piece radios he seen some shinobi wear around the village when they were leaving for faraway missions... The only problem with them, this "gem communicator" as it were, however is that without a substantial power source to empower it like the Tower Heart for example they practically useless for long range use. But with a font of power like a possible mana vent suspected to be within the fort, it should work. If nothing else they could possibly tap into the Tower Heart itself to give the jewel the boost it needs to establish a proper connection. But given how Gnarl was talking to him it now would seem there was indeed a mana vent nearby; those "blue elves" didn't seem to like to tarry in places without a mana vent it seemed according to Gnarl and Quaver; almost none of them left this fort for even a rudimentary patrol according to his minions.
With his confusion now gone he reached into the tiny pouch and fished out the rough cut gem which he held to his eye. "Ah, there you are! I was getting a little worried! And it seems you got in without any trouble as well. That's a great start as well!"
"Y-yeah," Naruto mumbled as he resumed his pace forward.
"Is something wrong Master?"
Naruto didn't respond at first as he stalled for time for his own sake by eying the passageway and what few open doors there were. "Master?"
He drew a deep breath to calm himself.
"Just... we entered this dungeon-place and found those dark elves there... They were... torturing them."
The minion hummed through the gem and for a moment Naruto couldn't help but imagine him stroking his beard in contemplation. "I see, I see," he hummed. "If I may ask you sire, how did you respond to all this?"
Naruto pursed his lips behind his scarf. "I sicked the minions on them, the torturers. It... they.. it just... sickened me."
"Ah," the minion murmured sagely. "If I may ask my lord, was it the dungeon and its masters that sickened you or was it in smiting them?"
"The... the torturers," Naruto answered him in confusion as he furrowed his brow at the gem.
"So not in smiting them?"
"N-no...?"
"Ah. That's good then."
"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head, eyes wide in puzzlement.
The older minion hummed. "Like I said before, sire, evil can be quite relative. As infamous as some of your predecessors were, people tend to... overlook the transgressions of anyone who happens to have a bit of coin, a fair face and, most importantly, don't do in their misbegotten faces. That's especially true when they think no one is watching them. Even truer when they think they can't be touched either! Oh the suffering they inflected just for sport!" the minion giggled before calming down. "You won't believe how much some Overlords were just hated for being the lesser of two evils sire, especially if our previous masters think a good smiting is in order. After all, for 'good' or evil sire, an Overlord gets what they want, we minions are just happy to serve."
For a moment Naruto couldn't help but think of that one Overlord Gnarl mentioned, the one who ended up trapped in an abyss after flaying the Forgotten God. The one he had asked about before he had gone through the tunnel to the fort, and thankfully Gnarl was by no hesitant to brag and complain about him. He was by right of an extended legacy he was evil. With his objective he was certainly so on the face of it. He set off to slay the heroes who had betrayed him before becoming the Overlord of his time but they were by no means innocent. Even ignoring the fact they left him for dead without seeing if he indeed was, in the aftermath of their victory they had besieged, enslaved or led to ruin their respective domains and neighbors. The Overlord may have slain them in the name of retribution but he was kind and even patient to everyone else in need of aid; when he raided the Halfling's domain he restored the stolen food found within back to the starving village of Spree; he stormed a temple belonging to a religious order for denying sanctuary to the refugees trapped within their own city; he gave up a vault's worth of gold just to save the enslaved women of the elves, saving their entire race from decaying into extinction by proxy much to Gnarl's chagrin; even when the very village he saved and accepted him as their lord had betrayed them, he went after the one that intimidated them in the first place instead. As such he wasn't Gnarl's favorite that was for sure, but he was definitely one of the most notable...
If nothing else, for Naruto, he proved that one didn't have to be evil to be an Overlord. And like Gnarl had said... an Overlord one can do more good than the 'good guys' at times. He certainly proved that in the dungeon but moments ago...
He jerked his head up with widening eyes.
Back in the village he was the Demon Brat, named so for having been the convenient host for the Nine Tailed Fox. Yet for all the crap they put them through he was willing to bet none of them could look him in the eye and legitimately tell him that he had done anything wrong to them aside from a well deserved prank or two. At most he had to defend himself and others from snot nosed bullies! If he really was the terror they claimed he was then he could've done worse with ease! He wasn't a label damn it! He was Naruto Uzumaki! He was what he wanted to be, not a title or a label that had to act accordingly! He didn't need to conform to their desires and he certainly set out to prove it when he wanted to be Hokage! Granted that may as well be good as dead at the moment but that didn't mean he had to change who he was! If they didn't like him for it then fine, he didn't need them! If they have issue with it he had a fist with their name on it! And minions too to emphasis the point!
Smiling for the first time for what felt like an age Naruto squared his shoulders with newfound vigor and confidently strode forth.
"Now, given that we can speak like this sire it can only be assumed that a mana vent is nearby. That or the air is so charged that this gem is essentially overcharged with the ambient energy available because of that vent. Speaking of which, does the air feel unusual to you master? Thick perhaps?"
"Yes."
"Ah. Ambient energy then. Either they are somehow pumping a vast quantity of energy through that vent to supercharge your surroundings. That or, more likely, its been there and active far longer than I suspect. Hmm..."
In the silence that ensued Naruto continued his quest of peeking through doors and opening them to no avail.
"In any case, if they still have it then the Tower Heart should be nearby. With any luck it would be feeding on those very energies like it had before. If not, in the worst case scenario, that battalion that left took it with them and we simply didn't notice." Gnarl sighed heavily. "Well at any rate we could use the arms and armor of their armory. There probably wouldn't be much left at this point but our minions could use the quality equipment when you return—Giblet can only do so much with that forge of his with what we have available now a days."
"Wait," Naruto said as he came to an abrupt halt, his hand on a door as he realized something.
"Yes master?"
With what he knew there was basically two ways out of the dungeon as far as he knew: the way the blue elves came from which he used to leave and the tunnel he used to come in the first place. If he were in their shoes and didn't have a good reason not too, he'd take the tunnel if he at least suspected it. With that in mind, there could very well be a band of the dark elves shuffling their way to the Lair at this very moment!
"The elves, the prisoners, are probably making their way back to the Lair as we speak! I—uh.." His mind drew a blank on what to say.
"Oh! Are they invading? Don't worry master! I won't let some whining hippie elves boot us out of ANOTHER of our settlements! Not while I have anything to say about it!"
"Wait, wha—NO!" Naruto barked a little too loudly than he would've liked. "Just let them through! Give them... beds or food if they need it!"
Silence once again pervaded into the conversation.
"... Do I have to master?" he groaned.
"Yes," Naruto answered with a frown.
"... can I at least get Quaver to do it?"
"Uh... yes?"
"Good... good, good good. At least that winging lummox has some use after all," he grumbled. "Honestly, helping elves... it's the Hero Overlord all over again," Gnarl continued to grumbled even as his voice became more distant for reasons unknown. Regardless, Naruto rolled his eyes as he pushed open the door and stared in open curiosity at what lay within.
Most rooms he had found were void of most things save for perhaps a forgotten footlocker and some furniture draped with sheets at the most. This one however was different entirely for its contents. sitting within the middle of the room appeared to be a sealed bronze vat that was about as wide as it was tall; there was barely enough room for perhaps two people to walk along the sides of the vat without brushing up against the wall. From the top of the vat to the ceiling he could easily imagine a fully grown man having to crouch down to walk along the top. The vat itself though was actually sitting atop a platform of dark marble, contributing to its apparent height but that wasn't what really drew his attention after the first glance. A narrow pipe of gold had been fed from a seamless and conforming hole in the ceiling and was attached to the vat. Likewise a larger pipe of copper had emerged from the floor in a likewise fashion and was connected to the vat by an elbow joint near the top. Aside from the unusual piping he couldn't help but eye the furnished oak table sitting in front of the vat that was laden with quite a few uncorked bottles of wine. Beneath the table and at its foot to the side were crates filled with their properly bottled counterparts, eleven crates in all, only one of which was empty. And there sitting perfectly in the middle of the table, underneath a spigot jutting out from the vat was a bottle prepared to be filled.
"Alright, Quaver has been informed and is now tending to the refugees who are emerging from the tunnel as we speak... I make no promises however if one of them finds starts playing a lute and start singing kumba-whatissit though. Or a violin... A harp I can withstand but that's the line!"
Again Naruto rolled his eyes as he approached the vat.
"Oh? What's this?" Gnarl paused for a moment as Naruto drew nearer. When he was close enough he stopped at the edge of the table and grabbed the nearest bottle he could reach for his own personal inspection, the gem held aloft to grant Gnarl the same rough view he had of what looked to be deformed grapes on a vine. In fact they were darker than the typical picture of grapes he had seen like someone had taken the time to darken them themselves. In fact he could see the little irregular bumps and jerks left behind by whatever implement they had used to color them in the first place in a failed attempt to color within the given lines. Actually on a second look and squinting he was able to make out what appeared to be anguished faces on the grapes which gave them their deformed look. "Huh... what an usual style. I wonder what it could mean," Gnarl hummed.
"In any case though I think a little catharsis is in order sire. Even the most ruthless of lords had survivors escape their most ingenious and calculated of raids and ambushes after all master. And in their home territory they do have a tendency of grabbing what they can before getting out of there. It would be such a shame though if they had to endure all of that while sober," the minion offered with a chuckle. And while Naruto couldn't quite agree with the minion master, he was right. It was almost like a prank boiled down to its more base, anarchistic form...
Meh, they deserved it at any rate. Catharsis it is then!
With but a wave of the hand the minions eagerly dove straight into the crates and scattered them as they bashed, tossed and destroyed the bottles of wine and their wooden containers. In seconds flat puddles of wine converged into one large pool that only grew from there. There was something odd however...
Throughout his exploration of the fort everything was quiet. It would've been creepy even if his minions weren't accompanying him and in doing so created their own brand of noise be it a clattering of claws, grunts, sighs and whatnot to inadvertently battle the silence. But now there was a low droning sound which came from the expanding sea of wine that the minions splashed about in to fulfill his whim. Whatever it was he couldn't quiet hear it between the splashing and the smashing but he could swear there was something to it. Curious and on a hunch he turned to the spigot and twisted its valve. In turn the wine from within the vat began to pour out into the bottle. Not only that but by proximity he was able to hear the droning much more clearly now, but it wasn't that at all. Even amongst the rampant destruction he was able to hear the groaning coming from the liquid itself as it poured out like liquefied sludge into the bottle.
When the bottle was full and forced to spill out the liquid it seemed to crawl rather than slip down the glass to the table beneath it. Hesitantly he reached out with a finger and swiped it along the oozing wine before drawing it back to personally inspect the liquid which clung to his gloves' finger as if desperate for what comfort it could provide. With equal hesitation he stuck his tongue out and lapped a single lick from his glove. He immediately regretted it afterward.
For a split second he saw a faces. No, faces, each one distorted and contorted as a writhing mass clinging to one another like a pile of still living corpses. Each face was void of anything more identifying than soulless, nondescript eyes blindly peering out and their gaping mouths which silently screamed but even he could make out the almost invisible differences between those who were male and female, but only on an instinctual level. Just as soon as the image had appeared it was gone and he found himself immediately retching to spit out that one taste from his tongue with only half a mind to vomit out of disgust for good measure. Before he even realized it he had set his minions on the vat itself, more accurately the spigot since they lacked anything that could do any real damage to the structure of the vat on such short notice. Already the table and its bottles were smashed and the browns were dutifully trying to rip out the spigot with pure brute force. After some seconds they not only succeeded but tore a small hole into the tank as well which the wine had no choice but to gush out from like a sluggish waterfall.
"We'll I'll be... And here I thought they were just your typical merry band of bandits and raiders... rich ones but raiders all the same," Gnarl mused.
"What is this stuff?!" Naruto cried out in a demand as he staggered away from the ocean of wine forming before him. Already he was desperately wishing for the almost unnerving silence he had to endure before in face of the unnatural groaning.
"Wine of Suffering I'm afraid sire," Gnarl answered him. "Never thought I'd see it again. Much less in the presence of an elf, savage as this lot is."
"It's a rather nasty little mark of prestige amongst the amongst the so called upper crust of the realm that is Evil sire. Typically those who like to think themselves as rulers of the world or have a status rivaling that or your own at its peak my lord at the very least. Individuals so black and vile even I get repulsed by them time from time! And that's saying a lot!" The minion then hummed as Naruto scrambled out into the room with his minions, slammed the door and stepped away for good measure. "I'll admit though, I thought it had fallen out of favor long ago. I guess it was just Hapvire that dropped the habit of making the stuff."
"Just... just..." Unable to form words as he backed away, especially once some of the wine had seeped out from underneath the door, he flailed his arms in the direction of the dungeon. Despite not saying anything, Gnarl seemed to have understood what he wanted to say.
"Yes sire, it is quite literally made from suffering. In all likelihood that dungeon you encountered must have been connected to that distillery..." He audibly shuddered at a thought. "It could be worse sire. They could've put it inside the dungeon itself to save on costs. Hell, some victims have been known to have drowned in the stuff to give it a little extra kick!"
Sickened to the core Naruto unabashedly fled from the unnatural liquor in the direction he originally intended to travel in. He didn't even try to glance at the doors that were open in favor of gaining distance from the concoction. It was at the corner of the next obligatory turn at the end that he came to a stop and collected enough of himself to wave an arm back to the growing pool of wine back down the hall. At his unspoken command the reds dashed off, arms reared back and happily flinging forth fireballs into the expanding pool till it ignited in a more comforting flame. As the flame spread to the rest of the wine he could've sworn he heard Gnarl giggling to himself in the meantime.
XVX
The further he ventured inside the fort the easier it was to tell that the fort was indeed manned by more than two blue elves. The rooms he began to investigate beyond that point were definitely that of luxurious bedrooms or store rooms packed with a disorganized clutter of all manner of things. There were even sightings of the fort's inhabitants who seemed none the wiser of the infiltration and sabotage as they milled about with their own objectives in mind. In fact he had yet to see any of them armored in the slightest as opposed their puffy shirts, silken and embroidered clothes, majestic gowns and robes. Not only that but their weaponry, even should they be carrying them or had left them behind in their rooms, were ceremonial or decorative in nature. As such the more he observed them the more he couldn't help but question if this was even a garrison in the first place. From what he observed the blue elves obviously favored blue clothing for the most part and even indulged in some white here and there. They also fancied silver and gold ornamentation from embroidery to heraldry as well if anything was stitched upon their clothing. Not only that but in following them in general he had soon learned there was a surprising many dens and lounges that the blue elves congregated in, albeit in small numbers as far as they were concerned. Four or five at the utter most. Their numbers would probably count closer to fifteen however if he counted the slaves he unwittingly found however...
Human, black skinned and even normally skinned elf alike, much to Gnarl's delight, were collared and shackled to keep them from having mobility and agility greater than an aged man with arthritis. But it seemed to serve the blue elves well enough as the slaves were forced to take their time in conducting what orders they were given. In fact even if they were quite literally shuffling right in front of them the blue elves were content with deliberately ignoring them as if they weren't there to begin with even when being attended to. That is of course if none of them, say, spilled something on them. Or bumped into them. Or, after a subsequent beating of any perceived infraction, bled on them by accident through a broken nose, resulting in another beating and even some reprimanding slices into their skin if they had blades on hand. If none of them were forced to serve their apparent masters then they clung to the walls as if hoping they wouldn't be noticed. What few that tried to escape altogether as stealthily as they could were tortured from afar by magic without much more than a glance and a wave of the hand, often leaving than little more than twitching cadavers to be walked over for all intents and purposes. Of those few that were not forced to serve them directly or else 'hiding,' some slaves, typically women for the most part, were painted up and even dressed like the courtesans and made to apprehensively snuggle into the sides of their otherwise 'ignorant' slavers. That is to say if they still had a spark of willpower to their lives. Some however seemingly gave up and draped themselves onto their masters like sycophants or the otherwise resigned. In a way it only made his victories all the sweeter whenever they cheered and adored him.
Even when he was spotted from the start they were all too shocked at the sheer notion that someone had infiltrated this far. In that short amount of time it took them to rally their senses he had let loose his eager minions on them. Even if they managed to reaffirm themselves in time to retaliate or else defend themselves in the nick of time they were horrified anew when their own blood or that of their allies' had been spilt. In short these skirmishes were nothing short of short lived and often without resistance much like his encounter with the jailers. In fact the encounters were so easy that he couldn't help but question if these were the exact same raiders that had stolen the Tower Heart.
Regardless, the slaves for the most part were grateful. A good few tried to communicate with him but with the language barrier between them there was nothing to be gained or truly acknowledged beyond simple praise, or in the sycophants' cases, loathing. Yet all had the same reaction in the end though. With no one to 'mind' them they shambled off in an exodus through the passageways he came through, the ones marked with blood from the young overlords lessening apprehension and the mayhem of broken possessions. He knew not what they did afterwards though. He didn't bother to find out.
As time wore on he soon came to find himself picking apart the garrison piece by piece the garrison in his blind search for the Tower Heart, each and everyone one a target of opportunity. In his growing aversion toward being civil in light of what he had seen thus far he had come to ransack each and every room, in turn slowly improving his horde of minions with new weapons, armor and was even rewarded with small sacks of gold presented to his person. Unfortunately said sacks had to be abandoned—there was only so much room in his pockets and jingling coins would only attract attention; Gnarl fervently claimed this problem would be fixed once he had the Tower Heart, whatever that meant. It wasn't until he reached what he could only assume to be the very heart of the fort that this now rinse and repeat cycle came to an end though. When he peeled back the double doors that barred his path he was greeted by the most spacious and lest ostentatious room by far. It was apparently the side of the room he had entered through but that didn't matter. In the open space before him was a circular grate in the floor, heavily laden with golden mesh on its surface with a series of thick crisscrossing bars underneath it for support for both the mesh and anyone who happened to be on it. Billowing out from underneath the meshing and the bars came a thick miasma of blue vapors coming forth like a cloud. But his focus wasn't on that nor the pair of staircases he partially eyed that lead to a second level within the room, a balcony if one would. Suspended in midair above the grate and barely hidden away by the mists was an orb far larger than himself in both height and width. From underneath its glasslike surface was a gentle maelstrom of energies which brilliantly shown out even when it was partially obscured by the fog. By staring at it long enough he was able to make out ghosting streaks of white that occasionally flickered like wisps with the more turbulent cerulean within the orb.
"Master! You've found it! The Tower Heart," Gnarl giddily rasped. "And better yet those fools are even charging for you! It might even be fully charged as we speak and awaiting your claim over it! Go my lord! Go before they come and scurry off with it once again like the rats they are!"
At his prompting Naruto dashed forth. In no time he reached the edge of the grate and hesitated as he watched the rising plumes of the strange substance continuously rise out from the hidden depths below which seemingly held the Heart aloft.
"Hm... yes. Probably not a good idea to step into that," Gnarl muttered. "High concentrations of mana have been known to... mutate things. If only we had the Blues. Then again we would have to get that down first. Look around the room master. Almost all mana vents have some kind of built in method to regulate the mana passing through like a dam does with water. If not then, well, we may have to 'ask' your 'splendid' hosts to get it down for you. A good whop on the head should do the trick!"
Taking his advice to heart Naruto began to look about the room from corner to corner in search for some kind of mechanism. As such he found it between the staircases, beneath the balustrade of the level above. At least he thought it was it. In any case it was a rotary wheel with two arms forming a right angle with a square base connecting the two. Immediately he sent his minions over to it yet when they reached it, pushed on it and tugged on it with all their might it wouldn't budge.
"Ugh... how I despise those things. One would think at least having one arm on those wheels would be enough but noooo. If it isn't jammed by some sort of weight lock then somehow, some way those missing arms lock the wheel in place... I swear it's like all the engineers in the world gather in one spot in secret just to conceive the most annoying and impassible of objects till their 'requirements' are met!" Gnarl irritably grumbled. "Looks like we have to find those missing levers sire. With any luck they were too lazy to put them very far away. If worse comes to worse I suppose we'll have to loot some of those corpses for their staves."
"Qu'est-ce que c'est ça?!(1)"
As his minions dutifully returned to him the young overlord snapped his head up to the second level of the room where a bald blue elf in golden robes with cyan trimmings stood peering down at him in utter bewilderment. A moment later he was joined by another in similar clothing and wearing a garish, triangular hat which matched his outfit. In his hand though was none other than one of the two missing rods held to the side as if it were a walking staff.
"Well that's convenient."
As the two suddenly bickered and their conflicting words garbled what could've been heard, the reds ran forth at Naruto's command whilst with an outstretched commanded the browns up the stairs. Sure enough the fireballs the reds launched easily drew their attention on them and with scowls the one with the 'staff' pointed it at them whilst the other made use of both his hands for the forthcoming spell. Evidently neither noticed the browns until they crashed into the one with the rod with demented jubilation and fierce war cries. Like all those before the other elf stared in absolute horror at what was undoubtedly a slaughter of his comrade before he bolted.
Unlike so many others before however he still had wit enough to him to act.
As he fled into the veritable safety that was beyond Naruto's sight, the elf flung a spell not directed at his minions. Instead it flew over the banister with an intentional purpose. Before he knew it this spell of raw magic collided with something overhead, behind him in fact. As he turned to spy on whatever it was a loud clanging sound toned throughout the room with such force and noise that he instinctually grasped to blot out the sounding of a bell, a heavy bell that shook the very room he was in. He wasn't the only one affected by it either. His minions suffered a similar fate as they too clutched at their own ears and yowled in pain whereas he clenched his teeth and grunted. Thankfully after what seemed to have been an eternity the bell's ringing subsided and as such both he and the minions found themselves straightening in relief. But when he looked up to investigate and perhaps glare at the bell, he partially wished it was his only problem.
From the very ceiling itself and seemingly made from the same ethereal wisps coming from the vent to his side were a grand multitude of eyes staring back at him. Every inch of the ceiling was covered from the looks of it, and most disturbingly, each one was staring solely at him and his minions.
"... you may want to start moving sire," Gnarl suggested.
Without any further prompting Naruto snapped his head to the nearest staircase where incidentally the rod from the wheel was being carried down. Thanks to the bell though the minions had dropped it in favor of caring for themselves and thus it had slid and bounced all the way to the bottom, waiting for someone to collect it. Rather than hesitate he threw his arm out and a pair of his minions rushed to the fallen rod. Without being ordered to they immediately began to shuffle to the wheel and attached the rod to it even as he and the other minions rushed passed them and up the stairs to the level the elf had disappeared from. It didn't take a genius to figure out where he went though—amidst the lounge chairs to the sides, the potted plants near them and a statue featuring the very two he had seen, there was only one set of double doors.
"Master! Look!"
In his confusion he jerked his head to and fro to see what it was that caught Gnarl's attention. As he was searching he couldn't help but notice there were more of those eyes even in the balcony. Eventually though he found it: the other doors of the room which he had barely noticed at best had been thrown open and from his poor vantage point he was barely able to see what looked to be heads rushing in through one of the three doors that ringed the lower floor. In but a couple of steps however he was quick to make out the largest gathering of the blue elves to date even as bedraggled stragglers ushered themselves through the doors with knives at the most; of the group of sixteen below him only two were even armored and armed with actual weapons whilst the rest barely stood out from what he had seen thus far.
With so many alert and confused eyes it was only a matter of time before anyone spotted him. Like so many times before the elves only looked up and gawked at him as if he were some exotic creature. Like so many times they simply couldn't seem to fathom the fact that there was an intruder within their fort. Yet there was a marked difference to this time and the others. The ones in full armor bounded up the stairs so quickly that Naruto found himself shaking himself off of the shock he had taken for granted. Before they managed to cross that last step he marshaled his minions and set them loose on the armored soldiers. Yet liken to how they differentiated themselves from the others with their decisiveness, they proved themselves a breed apart by matching the overwhelming swarm of the minion assault and were undeterred in their own retaliation. Swords had met a mishmash of weaponry and stolen armor, shields had blocked and bashed away minions to buy themselves breathing room, and their armor, though undoubtedly heated by the fireballs plaguing them, refused to outright burn under what could be considered a miniscule assault that was a force of four reds. Worse yet his minions, the browns whom happily adorned themselves with armor and weaponry that they deemed superior to their previous armaments began to die off one by one.
As the remaining browns continued to fight despite the odds he knew a change of tactics was in order, especially considering their own reinforcements were undoubtedly hurtling up the stairs at that moment. As such he stowed the gem away into its pouch and drew the sole weapon he had on his person, a curved knife, attached to his body only by a thing leather strap of a belt and a ragged leather scabbard that it happened to fit in on short notice. While barely bigger than a kunai and perhaps slimmer by a sixth of a fraction, aside from the adequate work of the crown he wore, it stood as a sign that Giblet was truly deserving of the position of Forge Master...
Unburdened by the gem in any fashion he dashed to the side to the wall closest to the battle itself. After years of training in the Academy and utilizing his skills for pranks he easily leapt onto a wall and from there launched himself into the nearest warrior who, upon spying on him and what he was doing, brought his shield up o counter him.
Unfortunately for the both of them they both underestimated Naruto's own strength.
Like a rocket he rammed into the shield with such force he managed to successfully cause the elf to lurch back and loose his footing in surprise. And though the overlord bounced off the shield and crashed into the ground, the elf stumbled into his partner and collided into the unsuspecting combatant just as he slew another brown. Once the unexpected body of the other elf smashed into him, both came tumbling down, dazed and pinned respectively once they hit the floor as a mess of bodies and limbs that were at the violent mercy of the minions whom eagerly took advantage of the situation. Even with armor on, it was only a matter of time before the determined and savage strikes of the minions ended them before a dazed Naruto was even a quarter of the way toward standing himself up with his knife at the ready. They were also happily looted for their weapons and helmets. Not only that but a pair of browns rushed forth from the corpses to present to him yellow-brown orbs which promptly vanished as soon as he touched them.
Regardless, with them dead and he standing on his feet Naruto had ordered a guard marker for the browns to man at the very top of the stairs to bar the reinforcements from entering, a second later the reds inhabited a second one at the rails where the two elves from earlier had stood and he himself stood over the railing to at least take stock of his situation before the blows came. In doing so he bore witness to a puzzling scene however. The other elves hadn't even made for the stairs at all, much less moved from their spots. In fact they seemed to be conversing with one another, shaking their heads, sighing... It was like they expected those two who stormed their position to have taken care of the intruders by now and thus need not concern themselves! Were they honestly that arrogant?
Good, evil or no, that was just an insult he wasn't get to take lying down!
As he recalled his minions to him as he considered how best to take them a flicker of movement caught his eye. He looked to the very door he came from and saw from his vantage point a dark elf doing his best to peek out from the corner of the doorway into the room with what looked like a short sword in hand. Likewise he saw shapes and scant glittering of weapons he had became somewhat familiar with at the other doors which now sported once slaves in similar positions with stolen weaponry. It didn't take much to formulate a plan right then and there. Not only that but cloth and flesh were far easier to set ablaze than metal.
Once more the reds gathered a guard marker of his choosing and with it they marched down the stairs till they were positioned within firing range of but a few of the blues whom continued to ignore what should've been the suspicious lack of soldiers returning to them. Even so the reds were all too happy to remind the elves of their presence with a volley of fireballs at the nearest elf within reach. In that one volley he was set ablaze with little effort and ran through his compatriots in both panic and pain, screaming fiery murder as he did so much to their shock and horror. Their horror only turned into outright terror when a second one was set ablaze by the reds, forcing him to run as well and the others to scatter like headless chickens; the prisoners needed no greater invitation than seeing them flock about that to storm into the room and assault them. Naruto would've watched it all really thanks to his growing loathing for the blue elves but he recalled his minions to him, yet he had something else in mind for his minions. As such he recalled them and brought them down on a new target—the double door that stood in his way. He honestly didn't know if it was locked or not but at this point he barely cared at most. Either way the minions were happy to oblige.
It took perhaps a full minute despite the onslaught of eager brutes and pyromaniacs but the doors gave way in the end. Once they did he strode forth with his minions in tow, knife at the ready and the minions giggling in anticipation of yet another fight but all were disappointed. In what appeared to have been a personal lounge barely anything was disturbed beyond a wardrobe near the back, close to a second double door to his right. In front of it was what looked to be a mannequin's torso which appeared to have been tossed onto the ground in a great hurry. Not only that but on a coffee table across the room from him sat a crystal ball on a four pronged stand with a bottle of wine, that wine. Near it and surrounding it were shards of broken glass along the back half of the table and some of the floor in plain view as well. Also a puddle of the moaning liquid had pooled along the base of the ball's pedestal. Further evidence that something had happened was an open window to his left, right next to the couch which the crystal ball was situated in front of.
While he was a bit disappointed at the prospect that the elf fled from him, he was satisfied nevertheless. Especially since he saw the very thing he sought for his mission—the other rod was laying on a weapon's rack of ornate staff, just below an empty space at the very top; one minion dove straight toward it at his command whilst the others joyously ransacked the room out of pure spite on his behalf. They even set themselves on the other door while their comrade shuffled his way out of the room with the rod in his claws and subsequently disappeared...
Given the abuse, torture and decadence he had seen thus far, he wasn't quite prepared for what lay beyond the door which easily broke under the short lived siege.
Beyond the doors was yet another garish and richly decorated bedroom which shared two separate beds hugging their own walls on either side of the room. There were rugs, tapestries, mantelpieces, a hearth... and a naked dark elf whose head was forcibly shaven, their back littered with numerous cuts and lashes bared to him, and their arms, cuffed by their wrists, held aloft by chains attached to the two most relevant bed posts furthest from the headboard of both beds.
His minions utterly ignored the elf as they swept through the room on his command. It was but a matter of moments before they tore the beds down in their jubilant rampage before they turned their destructive sights on everything else, not that he paid them any mind at this point. Once the elf wrapped their arms around themselves the moment the chains came clattering down he cautiously moved closer while taking idle note of the numerous cuts and bruises littering the elf's frame... her frame as he soon came to find out. But that, her nudity nor her lacerations, wasn't what bothered him. The second she whipped her head toward him at the sound of his footsteps he looked into what used to be her eyes—there were no eyes. Two gaping holes in her skull where her eyes used to be stared blankly at him as she cowered away. She was made all the more skittish when he hadn't realized he had dropped his knife in his shock, the clattering of which jerking him out of his engrossed standstill if only to snap to the knife as if it was the threat.
"Adelia!"
He snapped his attention to the door and from there spotted the elf from the dungeon, the one who tried to talk to him first since this whole venture began. He along with his own companions stood at the door, all of whom were just as horrified as he was when the woman brought her shaking attention to them. After a moment's worth of hesitation they all strode out only for the bald one to whip his arms out and block the rest.
"Attends ici,(2)" he said to them before slowly striding forth. By glancing down he was careful to avoid the broken debris of the beds, the pottery and every other decoration the minions managed to get their claws on so as to not startle the woman. Yet despite his meticulous approach she began to inch away as if she was sensing his presence regardless of how quiet he was. Seeing this he slowed his own advance to a crawl. "Adelia, c'est moi, Helos,(3)" he softly offered as he reached out a hand to her. Alas she jerked away with a cry and shoved herself back, away from him and his hand. As such it was of little wonder the elf stilled with a severe, trouble frown on his face as he considered what to do, helpless as he was it seemed with such adversity set before him. It was a sentiment shared with everyone really save perhaps "Adelia" as she was called who almost feebly crawled backwards onto the wreckage of a bed to 'escape' them, her arm covering her bust for what modesty she could afford as her 'eyes' blindly darted about the room with the desperate hope of 'seeing' supposed threats.
Naruto who looked on was unable to think nor say anything as his mind wondered on how to help as he fought the bile threatening to rise in his throat. In the end though he couldn't think of anything as the woman shivered before him, her arms curling around herself as if to protect her from the world... but he had an idea. A concept really that could barely even be called a fledgling of an idea. One that had him remove his crown and set it on the ground so as to keep it from clattering and have the minions rallied around an imaginary flag. Like the other elf before he carefully approached her from despite the sharp, lecturing glare sent his way. In fact he gotten closer to her before she had sense his presence and reacted accordingly.
"Wait! I'm not here to hurt you! They're gone now!" He would've continued in a near panicked voice when he caught himself with a nugget of information he had shoved in his face since his arrival: he didn't understand a word that they had said, it also worked as such in reverse. He could tell her to calm down, recite the most epic stories he had heard and even made up or just simply say 'everything will be alright,' yet in all likelihood she would only perceive it as gibberish at best if he was lucky. Upon that realization he clenched his eyes and groaned aloud as he palmed his face before returning his attention to her tense form 'staring' at him...
... Well, he was already winging it...
"I-I'm Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki," he said as he gestured to himself, his face pinching in realization that he was literally pointing himself out to someone who was forcibly blinded. "I..." he started to say but faltered as he stumbled about to find something to say. "I... just... want to... help," he said as he hesitantly reached out an offering hand to her.
She In turn didn't move at first as she regarded him as best she could. Slowly though, hesitantly and awkwardly she shakily pushed herself onto her feet and approached him with one hand carefully groping the air in admittance of her crippled state. The arm that covered her bust now slide down so as to cover the region between her legs as well as partially cover at least half of her bosom, the other half being left out in the open for all to see. Still, regardless of her nude state, with careful steps she advanced through the rubble of what used to be furniture and valuables with her hand jostling in the air, her breathing hitched and worried. As she got closer he was readily able to tell the difference between them with her easily being head and shoulders taller than himself with some inches to spare. As it was though her hand would most likely caress the top of his spiky hair long before his hand would even touch her. Not wanting to risk a freak out he lowered his own hand in time for her own to indeed flick through the gravity defying hair he sported. She gasped at first and jerked away before rallying herself once more to blindly grasp at his hair. Soon enough her hand caressed the top of his head and the both of them stiffened. Soon after her hand groped the entirety of his scalp to confirm it was indeed a head she was grasping, that it was indeed hair her hand was combing through.
A moment later she renounced her desire for decency to bring up her other hand to cup his cheek in another blind grope and a second later she knelt down, bringing her to eye level with him. Unfortunately however, despite being aware of it, seeing her ruined eyes in greater detail had caused him to involuntarily flinch within her grasp just as her first hand climbed down to caress his face as well. In response the elf stiffened as well and stilled with indecision, her breath coming to a halt as well. Quietly and slowly though her hands slipped down to his shoulders and from there her hands roamed his arms. Even from there she slipped her hands down to his own and grasped them, feeling them compared to her own which were easily larger in comparison, but as frail as her quietly quivering frame.
"Helos. L'instructeur Helos?(4)" she asked softly but loudly as though she wasn't talking to Naruto despite facing him.
"Oui. C'est moi,(5)" the bald one answered as he rose to his full height but otherwise didn't move.
"Était-ce... cet enfant qui m'a libéré?(6)" she asked without looking away from Naruto as her fingers felt and rubbed his fingers.
"Oui."
She didn't react at first, instead she continued to feel his fingers as if she were trying to find evidence to the contrary. "Était-ce lui aussi celui qui vous a libéré?(7)"
"Oui."
Then her lip quirked and a dry huff escaped her nose. Then another as he lips curved in a fracture smile of marred joy. She continued to huff and wheeze in a quickening pace in what Naruto soon realized to be laughter that desperately wanted to be laughter but couldn't quiet form itself to be so, but she was no less happy all the same. Before he knew it she threw herself against him and wrapped him in a surprisingly powerful, almost desperate hug of gratitude.
"Je vous remercie," he softly whispered between joyous wheezes. "Merci..."
A/N: ... Evil can indeed be relative sometimes. There are such a thing called Anti-Villains after all.
Google Translator everybody.
(French) (1) "What's this?!"
(2) "Wait here"
(3) "Adelia, it's me, Helos"
(4) "Helos. Instructor Helos?"
(5) "Yes. It is I"
(6) "Was... this... child the one who freed me?"
(7) "Was he also the one who freed you?"
Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.