AN: This takes place a year and eight months before Nazarick shows up. This is an AU multi crossover so keep that in mind.

Chapter 2

In the base there were 5 floor guardians in total, each one protecting a set number of floors. All five were level 100, and had been consistently upgraded in terms of gear, and permanent stat increasing items. The first one Naruto wanted to see was the guardian of floor 25 through 20.

Astolfo was created by Gudako who had always admired legendary heroes of the past, before the world went to complete shit. Naruto had often wondered why Gudako had made Astolfo into what was obviously a trap.

"You know that I won't judge you, but I have to ask why you made him like…that?" Naruto asked. "I mean it when I say that I won't judge—"

"Because traps are amazing!" The young woman exclaimed in excitement. "Plus most legendary heroes are male, but nobody really knows what they looked like or if some heroes were even male!"

They dropped the subject after her two hour rant.

"Master!" the pink haired young man called to the man he saw as a literal god. "I'm so happy you've came to visit me!"

The area was based on walled French cities and was a mix between modern and middle ages. It was perfect for someone who could fight in the air and on the ground. His weapons were a sword, chainmail, a lance, and a large horn flute. While he was the weakest of the guardians, he was at his best during one on one fights, and in certain situations he was an anti army specialist. Despite having positive karma, he was very much capable of doing evil things without a second thought and with a smile on his face. It was scary to say the least.

"I'm personally checking up on the guardians." He said. "Your troops?"

"They're golems so they're on standby but ready to deploy at any time, the flesh and blood troops are ready for defense and invading tactics as well." He said. "The flying beasts are ready as well."

"And you?"

"I'm always prepared to put on my armor and fight." Astolfo said cheerfully. "I'll follow any order you give be it engage in battle or even...well anything!" He was like a cute puppy. A cute puppy that could and would kill you.

Now sure that things were fine here, Naruto teleported to the floor where Rusalka Schwagerin was. The 19th floor.

Upon arrival, he found himself in the ruins of some kind of city. The structure reminded him of Germany, well the pictures he'd seen of old Berlin specifically. The tower in the middle of it all held the exit that would lead to the lower floors, but Rusalka was also in there. Said woman had just teleported in front if him. Immediately she bowed.

"Master, what can I do for you?" she asked nervously. "I've been reinforcing my forces on my assigned floors as Majorita advised."

"Good to know, now lift your head and look at me."

"I—I am not worthy to gaze upon the true face of the strongest celestial!" she truly believed this.

"Well, I say you are worthy." Naruto gently lifted her head. "Come on, let's see that pretty face."

Such words caused her to turn completely red and it was hard to hold back. Something Naruto thought was really cute.

"It's alright to smile." He chuckled.

The young woman couldn't hold it back anymore.

"You're so much cuter when you smile." He wasn't lying. 'Honestly, I want all my people to be able to smile out of genuine happiness.'

"Th—Thank you master, I'll smile more often when in your presence!" Rusalka said. "Master, I know it is presumptuous of me, but may I ask a favor?"

"If it's reasonable and within my power."

"May, may I hug you?"

Naruto was silent for a few moments before he wrapped his arms around him while pulling her close. He wasn't forceful nor was his hold to tight, it was just right. Rusalka wrapped her arms around him. To her this was the greatest reward, for the strongest celestial to have embraced her, this was heaven for her. She wasn't ashamed to say that she was also getting turned on, but mostly she was the happiest she'd ever been before.

'Hmm, I wonder if affection will alter how the guardians think of me?' he wondered. 'I do care about them, and letting them know it would probably help.' He already had their absolute loyalty so maybe having their 'love' would help their mentality.

After separating much to Rusalkas displeasure, he left to go check on Sylvie.

Upon arriving at the 16th floor, he couldn't help but smile. It was mostly grassland with a forest in the distance. Deep inside was cottage where Sylvie lived. Moments later the woman was running up to him, stopping when she was close enough. Like Rusalka, she bowed. Now that he thought about it, Astolfo never bowed.

"Master Naruto, to what do owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Sylvie had a petite frame with rabbit ears and tail. She has short red hair. She wears an outfit that is mostly a thin layer of cloth that exposes her belly button with some ornaments. She was also the oldest guardian, but not the strongest.

In terms of speed she couldn't be matched, she could tear through armor, and had a skill that would allow her to nullify magic and bring special defenses down by 80%. Her critical chances were high as well and her magic was mostly devastating magic that could bury, crush, and swallow multiple opponents. He wasn't sure about her equipment though, the ornaments were definitely magical in nature.

"I'm personally checking on all the guardians." He stated. "Is there anything you're lacking here?"

"No, my new resources have allowed for 110% efficiency, my forces are ready to come out with violent intentions, and a thirst for blood, and so am I!" she said with a smile.

Despite her appearance she had neutral karma, and this was the case for 98% of all the npcs. Naruto still retained his humanity in terms of mindset, but his morality had naturally shifted to neutral. He wouldn't kill defenseless women or children specifically civilians as he despised unnecessary killing.

Legitimate enemies were fair game of course and he would show no mercy unless he needed a prisoner or three. Naturally he wouldn't ever force himself on someone, that was a line he would never cross no matter what. He had made it very clear that he wouldn't tolerate senseless killing and rape, any who dared to commit such acts would answer directly to him and there was a good chance that they wouldn't survive. They had to have standards, decency, and a sense of honor.

After finishing up here, Naruto teleported to the Medical Center on the 16th Floor.

The Medical Center was manned by Horror Nurse, an eldritch creature made mostly of tentacles, long thin arms that were pitch black, glowing red eyes, and a mouth full of three rows of razor sharp teeth.

"Master, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked after bowing to him.

"I've come to see if everything is good here, aside from the armory and vault, this is one of the most vital places here." Naruto told the man. "Is everything fully stocked?"

"Things are plentiful here, and I am ready to work when needed." He stated.

"I'm glad to hear that, but don't push yourself to hard, and remember to think of your own health as well." Naruto said. 'Now onto the last guardians.'

After finishing up, Naruto teleported to the last two guardians. Scanty and Kneesocks who resided on the 11th Floor.

"Now where are—"

"Sit up straight damnit!"

"The master could arrive any minute and if you embarrass us then we'll make sure that you all suffer fates worse than death!"

Naruto her a lot of footsteps and then silence, he then walked through the door. There they were, a horde of demons and the two sisters that commanded them. They were bowing to him as if they'd anticipated him coming. Had someone warned them?

"Scanty, Kneesocks."

"We greet and bow to the strongest Celestial, Naruto!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Demon sisters, raise you heads and look at me, it's hard talking to you while—"

The two stood up and looked at him, their gazes piercing, full of commitment, and eagerness to show their worth.

"Ok, it looks like you both are doing a good job here, everything is neat and clean, your subordinates look ready for battle, but is there anything you require?" – "Any special items for the Vault or maybe one of my custom made items?"

"We have all we require." Scanty said. "We've even compensated for the floors without guardians, but…"

"It would be better if we had more." Naruto finished. "I'll have to look into recruiting."

"R—Recruit?" Kneesocks said with wide eyes. "From the outside?"

Naruto nodded his head in confirmation.

"If possible I'd like to find allies for the future." He said. "Oh, I forgot to ask the others this." – "What do you think of humans, and those outside?"

"That's…" Scanty started. "We don't hate them or anything."

"They're more of a meh existence to us personally, but if they become enemies then they'll be wiped out without mercy."

"Or if you simply want them completely, and 1000% eradicated from the face of planet then we'll do it with pleasure." She said.

"And without fail, we have no doubt that all of us guardians feel the same."

The blonde smiled.

"Well, I won't be asking any of you to do something like that." Naruto said. "Needless killing is one of thebiggest wastes of life in my opinion, to snuff out a life for no reason..."

The blonde let out a growl. So many were killed on that shit hole called Earth for no reason, it disgustedand saddened him to no end.

"Is a filthy bastard who deserves nothing less than death." His anger was now evident, and he wanted the two demons to know that. He wanted them to know that he would never tolerate that.

"We—we would never commit such atrocious acts." Scanty proclaimed.

She and her sister were now kneeling with their heads lowered, and sweat pouring down their face. Fear now evident on their, and the faces of their demon subordinates. They could feel their masters power coating the room, putting pressure on them while suffocating their very souls. This was the anger of a Celestial; while simply a warning it was enough.

'I'm probably being to hard on them since they're demons, but considering the nature of YGGDRASIL demons this is simply a precaution despite their karma.'

Chaos Commander had created them with their attitudes, and military like outfits being a subtle nod to his time in the army.

"Good to hear."

"Um my lord when you said recruit, will the new guardian be human?" Scanty questioned.

"Maybe, if I see them as worthy then I'll give them the offer, and whether they accept it or not is up to them." He said. "Just remember that it takes more than strength to be a guardian you must be intelligent, humble, and willing to learn from any mistakes or losses you may suffer." – "Also for the time being try not to make any guesses about what I'm planning, just ask."

The last thing he wanted was for someone to misunderstand him, and then cause chaos. What kind if leader would he be if he let his subordinates run wild. Only an idiot would let such dangerous beings act on their own in a completely foreign location. The floor guardians needed to be kept on a leash for the time being.

"Now if you'll both excuse me, I must get going." He said.

The rest of his day was going to be quite full.

The Next Day – Star Genesis – Celestial Living Quarters – Naruto's Room

The Robel Holy Kingdom was to the east while the west was the Re-Estize Kingdom. Both were human kingdoms, and the base was smack dab in the middle of them. There were mountains that they would have to either go through or around if they wanted to get to E-Rantel. Of course flying over them was best, but Naruto had though of better way.

Set up a hidden [Gate] connection, and secure location so that they don't have to actually cross the mountain. They could bypass it completely.

The blonde had changed clothes into something a bit less fancy. Magic existed obviously, and the scouts said that there were magic casters. Even so he wasn't going to E-Rantel as the last Celestial, he was simply going as a wandering magic caster looking to make some money.

"It looks excellent on you, master." The cat eared maid said.

"Thank you."

He was wearing a hooded orange robe with stark white outlines. The robe itself looked like something a master magic caster would wear although it wasn't god tier armor, he did create it for a purpose. As long as it didn't fail then there would be no problems.

'Should I take someone with me just in case?' he wanted to be careful, and the last thing he needed was to get blindsided by an enemy. 'I know the perfect level 90 knight!' he silently exclaimed in excitement.

2 Hours Later – Re-Estize Kingdom Territory

They'd been smart to hide the gate entrance in a cave, and a bit smarter to actually carve one into the mountain to create said cave. Naruto looked to the direction of their destination, E-Rantel. It would take them a couple hours to reach it by foot.

"So this is the new world we're in?" a female voice asked.

Despite being of short stature she adorned a suit of bulky armor covered in red decorations and markings. Along with a with a retractable horned helmet.

"Yep, from now on we'll be calling it the NW or New World since we don't know the name of the world itself yet." The blonde said. "What do you think, Mordred?"

"It's nice to be outside." She said.

Mordred was a very special homunculus. Mordred was by all means strong enough to be a floor guardian, but she was part of the Kings Guard. The last line of defense against intruders. They were a group of six NPCs capable of matching the guardians.

"I swear I was going to strangle Karna with his whole brooding emo thing going on!" she exclaimed in anger.

"Brooding emo thing…oh." Naruto suddenly remembered one of his friends.

Susanoo aka Sasuke Uchiha had created Karna as a gift before he'd been forced to quit gaming. Taking over the family business hadn't been Sasuke's dream, but he couldn't risk being disowned by his family.

"I'll do my best to make things in this country better, and undo the harm that the Uchiha has inflicted on the people."

Last he heard the guy was developing ways to make the air less toxic. He wanted it done in their lifetime before any of them had kids.

'What an annoying overachiever, but I can respect him if he's serious about helping people.' He smiled. "Try not get into fights with your comrades, such conflict will only hinder your future teamwork." – "Now let's get going there's quite a bit of ground to cover."

With that the duo were off to E-Rantel. They would remember that they could both use the spell [Fly].

The Next Day – Re-Estize Kingdom – E-Rantel

It was medieval yet not quite considering the roads were paved. The inhabitants truly were humans which made Naruto a bit cautious considering he formerly was human, and knew how they thought. So hiding his kitsune features was a necessary precaution. His racial skill [Disguise] was perfect for infiltration here granted it had been useless in game.

"Excuse me, you two."

The duo turned around to see a little old lady, a very little old lady with a rather prominent nose.

"Hello mam." Naruto greeted kindly. "Something we can do for you?"

"You wouldn't happen to be adventurers would you?" she asked.

"We belong to a guild."

This wasn't a lie, and he didn't directly confirm that they were adventurers. So this was ok.

"Not from this kingdom though." He stated. "Why?"

"I had put up a request in the adventurers guild, but these damn newbie adventurers are all a bunch of damn cowards." She said. "The group that took the job ended up running away, and then demanded the reward despite failing."

"They fled like cowards, and then demanded the reward…disgusting." Mordred said. "Retreating is one thing, but to demand reparations for your own weakness, and cowardice is dishonorable to the highest caliber." Her fists were clenched in anger.

"What's the job?" Naruto asked.

"There's a rare type of herb I need, but the thing is it's located near the Katze Plains which is currently inhabited by a couple dozen or so undead according to those adventures."

"Only undead a couple dozen undead, that doesn't sound very scary." He said. 'Zombies freak me out though, but I have some good spells to deal with a horde.' – "If you give us a map then we'll go do it."

They needed the money since they were broke, and YGGDRASIL currency was most definitely worthless. They had hordes of rare precious metal, and various other treasures, but there was no way Naruto was going to sell that stuff. It was an accumulation of the guilds wealth over the course of 11 years. Selling was not an option, but trash weapons were another matter.

After getting the map from the old woman who's name was Lizzie. The two headed off.

1 Hour Later – Katze Plains

The area was covered in fog, but they could see through it. Naruto's [Night Vision] racial skill allowed for it, and Mordred naturally had superior senses.

"Yep skeleton warriors and zombies." Mordred said. "Why run away from these guys?"

She summoned her sword, Clarent, but didn't unsheathe it. Swinging it once sent a powerful shockwave that tore through the undead who had seen them, and those who hadn't. The duo looked around a bit, they needed to find the blue, and black herbs that grew near the ruins.

"Close your eyes, I want to get rid of them all at once so we can hurry." Naruto said. "[Grand Fireball]."

Naruto aimed at the incoming undead, they were in a giant mob thankfully. The spell was fired, and it was much bigger than Naruto expected.

Bones, and rotting flesh were burned with intensity as they were turned to ashes. A simple 4th tier spell did the trick. As expected since undead like these were usually not a problem to deal with unless someone was stupid enough to get overwhelmed. Common sense was always key when doing quests after all.

The two found the herbs after about 20 more minutes of searching they found the herbs, and stored them in Naruto's item box. They had what they came for, and were ready to leave this creepy place. Unknown to them, their presence had awakened something extremely dangerous.

1 Hour Later – E-Rantel – Adventurers Guild

"Isn't this a bit much?" Naruto asked as he counted the reward Lizzie was giving them. "All we did was gather a bunch if herbs, and really the quest wasn't all that dangerous for us."

"Kid these herbs are extremely rare, I only expected two or three at most, but you brought me thirty-six; that deserves extra pay." Lizzie said. "Not to mention half of that is what I had planned to pay the adventurers, sounds like this was a silver plate quest after all."

"Iron plate?" Mordred asked. "That some kind of rank?"

"You really aren't from around here." She said. "Guess I'd better explain things."

Lizzie had given them quite a bit of useful information. This included information about the three human kingdoms along with what sentient races lived in this world. It was exactly what they needed, but they weren't going back home just yet. There was still more information to gather plus they needed to really learn about the humans of this world. Religious beliefs, and everything.

But first they had to gather more money. This is why they were currently in the Adventurers Guild. They'd signed up while subtly managing to tell the receptionist that they couldn't understand this country's written language. They were from a completely different world after all, and thankfully the woman had helped them out.

"Goblins pillaging caravans, and killing the drivers." The receptionist said. "This is nearly an iron ranked quest, but with your armor…"

The woman felt unsure about this, but something told her that they could handle it.

"I would suggest forming or joining a party since there may be some trolls." She said. "Oh, Brita!"

"Huh?"

"Come over here."

The two turned to see a young woman whole was around 20 years old or younger. She has trimmed short untidy red hair. Her features aren't bad and her blue eyes are sharp, and her skin is wheat-colored after long exposure to the sun.

"What is…it?" she stopped upon getting close to Naruto and Mordred.

"Could you accompany these two on their quest, it's the one that's near iron rank." She said.

Brita let out a sigh.

'She's a iron plate.' Naruto silently said. 'Wonder how long it would take us to rank up with our skills?'

"This helmet is stuffy." Mordred said before taking it off.

Brita and the receptionist were surprised to see a young looking girl with light green eyes and blond hair that's tied into a ponytail.

"A girl?" the receptionist said. "That bulky armor really hides your feminine features."

"Seriously I thought you were a guy." Brita said. "Wait, why wear bulky armor?"

"It's very good armor." She said.

"Cool, now about the goblin quest; I'll come since I'm strapped for coin." She sighed. "So what're your names?"

"Kurama."

"Mordred."

"Those are some…pretty cool names." She said thinking they were aliases.

Naruto's was, but Mordred had said her actual name much to Naruto's annoyance. Her face, and name were now known. Hopefully this wouldn't come back to bite them.

"Well, I'm Brita, now let's get going; sooner we leave the sooner we get done." She said.

Brita preferred to not face monsters at night. It was to risky, and death could come from any direction. Unless she was in a group she wouldn't go outside unless she absolutely needed to, and thankfully she had a group. A small group, but the two seemed really strong.

'Why do I suddenly feel like dead weight?'

Little did she know, she kind of was.

Star Genesis Base – Forest

Being an orichalcum ranked adventurer Rex was very skilled in fighting, and surviving. His party of four were excellent as well, and at this point they didn't think anything could surprise them. So when they saw a giant hill erupt from the ground they simply had to go investigate it. What they'd found was a large forest, and in the middle of it all was a large ruined castle.

Of course he led them into the forest, and they were currently trying to navigate their way through the tall trees.

"Think the castle has some good loot inside?" Mel asked as she readied her bow.

Unknown to them they were being watched by something far from human, and it didn't like what it had just heard. In the distance the middle flora sibling. They could see, and hear through the trees. The humans had come to their sector, and would regret it dearly.

"Wraiths flank them." They ordered. "Don't kill them, we need to interrogate them, just make sure they can't take any hostile action."

With those orders given, the undead proceeded to very quickly flank the adventurers before attacking.

"Shit, undead!" Rex said as he cut down the closest ones with his blade, but it quickly regenerated. "Retreat we're retreating now!" – 'Shit, they not only flanked us, but our weapons are useless!'

Then he caught sight of Ren being dragged away.

"No, no, no, Rex help!" this would be the last he ever heard from his best friend.

"Fuck!" he cursed before ushering the others to follow him. "If we can get out of this forest then maybe we'll be safe!"

Of course he didn't know this for sure, in fact he didn't even know what these things were. Even so, he couldn't let them see his fear.

That's when one of the creatures swiped at Amy, their only magic caster who had used all of her offensive spells. They'd hit, but didn't slow the creatures down. So now she was freaking out as much as everyone else. Amy's exhausted mana was putting a strain on her.

"Amy don't worry we'll—"

Blood splattered over Mei's face, and clothes causing her to fall.

"Mei!"

The archer said nothing as she watched her sister rise into the air. Four long yet slim claws had gone through her abdomen. The creature peeked out from behind the 18 year old, and stared for a few moments before whisking her off deeper into the forest.

"Mei, you to get—"

He fell to the ground.

"Wh—what happened?" he looked back to see a vine covered in white thorns. "A vine?"

All feeling in his body suddenly left him, and everything went black. The vine wrapped around him before dragging him away. Leaving Mei completely alone, and at the mercy of whatever had just taken out her childhood friends, and only sister. It truly was a mistake coming here. They should've just gone home.

Taking her last arrow, she held it up to her throat. She didn't want to die like the others, she would die on her own terms. Sadly for her the arrow was broken, and something impacted with her head knocking her unconscious instantly. On this day 5 orichalcum ranked adventurers would go missing never to be seen or heard from again.

Chapter 2 End