Uploaded: Ash Wednesday, 22nd February 2023
3:30 AM AEST - Australian Eastern Standard Time GMT+10
A Naruto and Elden Ring Crossover
Disclaimer: "Naruto" is a property of Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, and Studio Pierrot; "Elden" is a property of From Software, Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin. I do not own any of them.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Reader discretion is advised.
A/N: Please join Aizen the Goat's Discord Server; it's a great place: kyTaRuVpBW
Genres: Action, Adventure, Romance, Epic Fantasy, Drama, Supernatural
Warnings: Violence, Strong Language, Implied Sexual Content, SOME CHARACTERS WILL BE OOC
Tags: Whatever applies here applies here.
Universe: Animeverse/Gameverse
Series: The Chronicles of the Eternal Sage - Naruto Uzumaki
"Jutsus/Time change/ Place change"
"Gods/Goddesses/Heavenly Beings/Demons or Dragons Talking"
"Gods/Goddesses/Heavenly Beings/Demons or Dragons Thinking"
'Flashback'
"Talking"
"Thinking/Telepathy speaking/News/Messages/Videos/Different Languages"
Translation if using a different language.
"I am the Lord of All that is Golden!"
- Godrick the Grafted
Volume 1 - From Beyond the Sea
Chapter 4: Lord of Gold
Story Start.
The moment that portcullis was raised, hell followed.
Curdled screams arose within the castle walls, and Naruto left none alive. He felt their bloodlust before he even entered the castle, and he was met with unrelenting aggression from them when they laid their eyes on him; thus, he responded in kind.
He released the anger that boiled within him, and none could stop him.
His companions were not surprised, even the three women that followed him, but of course, Roderika was the meekest of the three and reacted strongly, but not negatively; in fact, some satisfaction found itself within her, as these were the same men that attacked her original group.
Melina watched from the shadows as she scouted ahead; with that, she had a bird's eye view of the slaughter.
One by one, Godrick's men, exiled, banished and otherwise, fell dead.
Arrows and bolts were fired, yet none found their mark.
The Tree Sentinel did not hesitate to assist Naruto and took her share in killing Godrick's men; long had they annoyed her when she was still in her old place outside of that ruined church, and this was simply a payback being due.
The Hokage sent clones to scour the nooks and crannies of the castle, and some made unsavoury discoveries; nonetheless, they kept moving in the cycle as they informed the original of their findings through memory, and all these only furthered his anger.
Perched atop one of the towers, a clone dismissed himself, and the original Naruto took a halt.
"… so that is Godrick…" he muttered as memories rushed back in, then he dodged a knight in silver armour who jumped towards him.
This knight was like the others and was quickly dispatched, all while Roderika followed not far behind him.
It was then that they found themselves in a chamber filled with hostile servants, but what took their attention was that monstrous child-like being, a by-product of grafting, a grisly art.
"A spider!" Roderika gasped in terror as the grafted scion crawled lazily into the centre of the hall.
Naruto quickly threw some shuriken to the servants and made headway towards the grafted scion, and it immediately saw him, if the screech it made was something to go by.
The creature jumped towards him with a sword, while he spun around, this time, with a kunai at hand, coated with wind, and with it, he cut off several arms from the grafted creature, from which blood spilled and made Roderika gag in disgust.
Outside, the Tree Sentinel continued her way towards the inner keep in the midst of killing more of Godrick's men, and she went onwards slowly as she waited for Naruto and Roderika.
Meanwhile, Roderika approached a pile of bodies wrapped in bags after Naruto killed that grafted scion. She recognised those remains because those were what remained of her companions, which she witnessed after she ran away; she knelt not far from the bodies, and Naruto sensed her plight.
"…" he approached her carefully; his anger sated for the moment as he placed a hand over her right shoulder.
"They fought for me… now, this is their fate…" she said before she finally broke down in tears after Naruto's presence brought her back to reality.
The Hokage knelt beside her and took her into his arms, from which Roderika took much comfort, like that of a child consoled by their parent, and she was thankful.
"Cry it all out," he whispered as the two remained there for a while.
-Line Break-
Melina watched the pace of the soldiers that patrolled the sideways and rarely used thoroughfares in the dilapidated castle, and suddenly, there was a presence behind her, someone she did not sense at all.
"Greetings, fair maiden."
She froze in her place, but somehow, the stranger's presence calmed her down, and she turned to face him and saw an old man in white and crimson.
"I am Aurelius, a Stargazer."
The man's introduction sent Melina's thoughts right before they entered Stormveil, and she remembered the words of the gatekeeper.
"… are you the man who left a message to the gatekeeper?" she inquired, and the old man gave her a smile with a nod.
"Indeed, Melina, I am."
She did not show it, but Melina was taken aback at how the old man knew of her identity, but most importantly, the casual way he called her name.
"What is your purpose?" she asked as she quietly ascertained every possible answer she could think of at that moment, but the old man's response stumped her.
"To be a shadow."
Sounds of anguish and death entered Nepheli Loux's hearing as she knelt before a knight she killed, and having paid her respects, she left the place she was in and found a massacre before her. Atop the carnage, she saw a man cloaked in white, with dancing flames sewn at the bottom edge; and she saw that he was clothed in strange clothing, unlike anything she ever saw at that point.
"…"
What took her attention the most was the fact that despite the castle grounds being soaked with blood, none dirtied the man's cloak.
"Another Tarnished?" she muttered to herself. Then, she found his companions not far behind him; of course, the massive size of the Tree Sentinel took her notice almost immediately and made her question why one of them was there.
"Hello there," she heard the man greet her, but he did not approach her.
"And excuse me," he continued as he blazed past her and struck the troll that guarded the way towards the keep.
Nepheli watched as the man rolled under the troll and sent it straight down to the ground; then, he jumped and disarmed the troll. He took with him the troll's massive weapon and used it against the troll.
She watched with grim fascination as the man used the troll's sword and tore apart the said troll, piece by piece, and she could feel the hidden power beneath him.
"… a warrior… hmm."
It was a complete evisceration, and Nepheli was very intrigued at how he did it, especially when he wielded that massive weapon with such ease and finesse, and something awakened within her, but at that moment, she was none the wiser.
The winds that battered the cliffside became audible as silence settled in; Naruto could feel Godrick's presence beyond the last gateway, beyond the staircase before them, and an unpleasant feeling came upon him. Then, there was a whiff of disgust; he had already seen what grafting is, but this, this is different.
Anger resurfaced, but he tempered it immediately as the woman approached him.
"… sorry about that," he muttered as he turned to the woman and made a quick observation within his mind.
"Those axes look very deadly."
"Agreed."
"Name's Naruto Uzumaki, you?" he offered a hand, and she accepted it.
"Nepheli Loux, a Tarnished and warrior; here by decree of my father."
For an introduction that was good and succinct, Naruto would have to clear things out, but they were interrupted by Melina no less as she appeared before them out of the ether.
"Ah, pleased to see you re-join us, Melina," greeted Naruto, and was only returned with a curt nod; still much work to be done on their rapport, and they knew it.
"Godrick awaits beyond, in the inner courtyard before the keep."
Naruto nodded in gratitude, despite having already known as such, but here, Nepheli took the chance to speak.
"I take you're here to challenge Godrick?" she asked, and he nodded in response. "Then allow me to fight by your side."
The Seventh Hokage took one look at Nepheli and smiled, "Sounds great; let's go."
Fury.
That was everything he felt at that moment as he stood by the courtyard's entrance, flanked by Nepheli and Melina, while the Tree Sentinel watched their back with Roderika, who, at this point, quivered as the foul stench in the air entered her senses.
She couldn't see Godrick yet, but she could feel the fury from Naruto; they all could.
Naruto remembered the first thing he heard Roderika say, and there was that grafted scion earlier that he killed. Memories of a clone are one thing, but seeing Godrick in person was different.
His face was stoic, but everyone in his group knew how he felt; his presence changed drastically, but Melina was the one who was surprised the most, yet she remained silent by his right side.
Nepheli, on the other hand, made her thoughts vocal.
"… fury, I understand why; this… thing, is no lord."
Everyone agreed, save Naruto.
"No…" he said quietly. "Rather, this is unbefitting of a lord."
"Mighty dragon, thou'rt a trueborn heir. Lend me thy strength, o kindred." Godrick knew he had spectators as he caressed a dead dragon.
He paid them no mind, however, as he crooned to himself. "Deliver me unto greater heights…"
Then, he faced them with a snarl as he grasped his weapons.
"… well. A lowly Tarnished, playing as a lord?" the wind blew away his cloak and revealed a group of mangled arms of different sizes. At this moment, he paused as he saw another Tarnished, a woman, then another, perhaps a maiden, but he paid her no mind as his gaze landed upon the Tree Sentinel that loomed behind the group.
"Hrrm… it matters not," he growled as he stood straight and tall, proud as he was, yet all Naruto could see was a man at his lowest.
"I command thee, kneel! I am the lord of all that is golden!"
The ground shook as Godrick slammed his golden axe while Naruto and those inside him made quick observations.
"A troll's body, among other things, in short, absolutely disgusting." Those were Kaguya's words; every Tailed Beast agreed with that assessment.
"Same thing I thought when I saw the form you took when you combined the tailed beasts' chakra…" Naruto quipped to lighten the mood in his mind, but nothing could be said further at that moment.
"… plan's change. Melina, Nepheli, stay back."
"What?" asked Nepheli in confusion; she wanted to fight even more now while Melina eyed her mysterious Tarnished. However, Naruto ignored them and faced Godrick, who still stood there menacingly.
"What makes up a Lord, Godrick?" he bellowed to the demigod, who eyed him carefully, but he was confused with the rest who heard him.
Nonetheless, the demigod replied. "A lord… is someone served by the weak… like you!"
It was by countless years of experience that Naruto saw Godrick move faster than he thought, and it was by the same experience that Naruto met his axe with his fist, and Godrick found ground.
"Wrong!" shouted Naruto as the demigod was sent backwards into the courtyard; dust and stones scattered as Naruto walked down the courtyard steps.
"Lordship is defined by service… to serve and protect," he lectured to the demigod who arose from his position, but it was clear that he did not listen.
"Cease thy nonsense!" he shouted as he whirled towards him at great speed, but Naruto sidestepped and kicked Godrick away and rolled down the hard court.
Nepheli took that chance and joined the battle, twin axes at hand, she jumped down and relieved Godrick of two arms, and a cry of agony came from the demigod, then it turned into vengeful anger.
She rolled away as Godrick tried to grab her with one of his arms, while the Tree Sentinel jumped in the way, and with her halberd, she called on the powers of the Golden Order; then, there was golden light as she brought her shield against the demigod.
"Die!" he snarled at the Tree Sentinel as he raised his golden axe, but before else, he found himself pulled away by a golden claw-like hand and thrown like garbage towards the keep, but, as quickly as it appeared, the golden hand vanished back into Naruto, which did not go unnoticed by his group.
"A lord provides to his subjects and leads them into a better future," continued Naruto, and everyone heard his words as he approached Godrick slowly, and at every step, Godrick sank further into his anger.
A soft breeze came upon the courtyard and softly danced with the leaves, a quiet chill amid the radiant sun; oh, this reminded Godrick of one particular memory, but he buried those thoughts deep and snarled against Naruto, who stood opposite him, right at the centre of the courtyard.
"The strong dominate the weak!"
The decrepit demigod swirled in advance, and he struck true; however, instead of flesh, his axe met a sword, a straight, single-edged blade that appeared on Naruto's hands out of thin air, and it was this brief moment of surprise that Naruto used to pivot and liberate more arms from Godrick's back.
"Never thought I'd see you make use of Sasuke's sword," Kurama commented, but Naruto replied with nothing except a hum as he made repeated strikes against Godrick's grafted flesh. He ended that moment with a strong punch that pummelled the demigod into the ground again.
It was clear that Godrick became very intimate with the ground at that moment, and he groaned in pain as he rose slowly; then he raised his golden axe, and as Naruto dodged away, Godrick dropped it onto his grafted left arm and severed it.
His group watched in shock and disgust as Godrick screamed in pain and growled as he rounded on the dead and rotten dragon. On the other hand, Naruto was rather intrigued but chiefly disgusted as well, but none could tell because his face remained stoic.
"Grafting, right here? Dude's nuts," commented Shukaku, as the tailed beasts watched from Naruto's sight while the rest remained silent on the repugnant scene before them.
The One-Tail was correct in more ways than he thought, for Godrick believed this was his moment of glory, triumph, and the beginning of his rise as a true lord.
"Ah, truest of dragons…" he whispered before he slammed his mangled arm deep into the corpse's throat. "Lend me thy strength!"
For a few moments, Naruto watched with revulsion as Godrick tore the dragon's head with its throat and bound it in place of his severed arm; then, like some grim magic at work, the head growled awake, but it was not alive, no, that was not the case.
It became a part of him, of Godrick, and nothing held him back as he stood triumphant in his moment of glory.
"Forefathers, one and all!" he raised it, and flame belched from its mouth. "BEAR WITNESS!"
The Tree Sentinel pulled Nepheli into her back as she held her shield ready, and amidst the chaos, Roderika made herself scarce with Melina, and since the golden armoured woman was in his sight, it was her whom Godrick made an attack first.
Fire raced towards her, but it never reached her.
Suijinheki.
A whisper amidst the noise echoed in the courtyard, and a wall of water blocked the fires of Godrick's attack, and the demigod snarled as he turned to face Naruto, whose hands were joined in a strange sign.
Steam hissed as flame met water, yet the question remained, where did that water come from? But no answer was given, as Naruto moved fast and struck Godrick while the demigod was in an angry fit.
"To be a lord… you must be proud, yet humble, to be strong, yet meek; if you have none of those traits, then you cannot be a true lord," stated Naruto, and it did nothing but further anger the demigod, the runt of the litter, but demigod nonetheless.
"You… dare lecture me!? Cretin!"
Godrick buried the dragon's head in the ground and took a chunk of rocks, then set them aflame before he hurled them towards Naruto, who stood there, unflinching; then, a stroke of genius came upon him.
"You call that fire? Hah!"
Gōkakyū no Jutsu!
A massive fireball came from Naruto's mouth and turned Godrick's rocks into ash, but it did not end there; instead, the enormous fireball went straight towards Godrick, who belched more flame, but Naruto's flame overcame it, and those burned stronger than a dragon's.
"Man, to think you'd steal Sasuke's style of all people." An eyebrow twitched as Naruto heard Kurama make his thoughts heard.
"Just this once, eat dirt and touch grass."
Laughter echoed in his mindscape, but it was the opposite outside as Nepheli, and the Tree Sentinel approached him carefully, all while Godrick screamed in real anguish as the smell of burnt flesh entered their senses. Nepheli's eyebrows furrowed, and her face became marred with disgust, and the same could have been said for the Tree Sentinel, but the helm hid her face from anyone's view.
"A lowly Tarnished!" Godrick cried with a raspy voice. "Unworthy… unworthy of lordship…"
He lay there, at the bottom of the steps that led into the inner keep, broken and burnt, and it was then that pity settled inside Naruto, but justice demanded that Godrick pays for his atrocities, and vengeance cried out from the souls that Godrick mercilessly grafted into himself, among other things.
Naruto approached him slowly as lightning coated the sword he held in his right hand.
"To be lord is to hand down justice even if we do not want it… to be a lord is to pass down judgment even if it is painful to do so, to make the right decision, despite of the consequences, to seek that which is good… can you say that you have done it, Godrick the Golden?" It was not by mistake that Naruto referred to the demigod by his other epithet, which he used.
The runt of the litter, they called him, the last of the great Golden Lineage, reduced to this mess, and despite missing the full context, Naruto pitied the man; in his heart, Godrick just wanted to be better, he went in search of greatness, but not for good, but for himself. At the forefront of his search, selfishness occupied the front, and thus he fell short into depravity; his mind addled by delusions of grandeur.
And here, as he began to breathe his last, Godrick's sight was filled with golden rays, and Naruto was no longer in his sight, and there, he spoke; this time, his voice was weak.
"… our land's grown old… ashen and cold…" he lamented as death drew near. "… but look up, the Erdtree glows…"
Naruto stood beside the demigod and prepared his blade to end it all whilst Godrick slowly expired.
"… one day, we'll return together…" he croaked, eyes open, yet could not truly see. "To our home, bathed in rays of gold."
When Naruto heard that, he turned towards the Erdtree that loomed high in the sky, and its rays of gold shone down the lands, but Godrick's last words had not yet reached their end until here.
"And grace will surely guide us safe… to our home, bathed in rays of gold…"
Thus passed Godrick the Golden, the last of the Golden Lineage, and from there, a Great Rune - Godrick's Great Rune, found itself clutched between Naruto's fingers.
The ethereal construct floated from Godrick's chest into his hands, and the demigod's body slowly dispersed into dust while runes entered Naruto's body to wherever they went.
A sigh came out of him as he felt the wind calm down, a moment of peace after a period of chaos, and Stormveil found itself without a lord.
"Forgive me. I've been… testing you. To see whether grace guides truly guides thee or not." He heard Melina from behind him as she appeared from the ether.
She met his gaze, and she just received a smile in return, a genuine smile. "Suspected as much, but what do you think about our first foray against a demigod?"
"My worries are unfounded," she said, and there was a hint of a faint smile on her serene yet grave face. "Torrent had your measure from the start, whereas I merely pretended for a time."
A raised eyebrow appeared on his face, but he paid no mind to what Melina said; instead, he turned back into the Great Rune that pulsated on his hands.
"People fought for these, died for these?" he asked incredulously, and Melina nodded.
"How does it work?"
"You need to take it to a divine tower."
They were not in a hurry, and they needed to recuperate, or rather, his group needed to recuperate, so they took shelter in the inner keep. In contrast to the rest of the castle, the inner keep was kept tidy; a throne sat at the centre, and behind, a great sculpture of a man with a lion stood.
Godfrey the First Elden Lord, or so Melina said, the great forefather of the late Godrick, said to have been hounded from the capital, but Melina did not tell him why, nor did he deigned to ask, not yet, as there are other things that hand that needed attending.
Like Godrick, whose natural body was just buried a while ago, in a grave that he dug quickly with a jutsu and marked with a simple blank gravestone, it was the least he could do to honour the man Godrick should have been, rather than how he turned out to be.
Nepheli Loux took note of that gesture, but her thoughts returned to Naruto.
A mystery for sure, and it would take time to unravel; she could try all she wanted, but she could not discern anything about him aside from the fact that he showed abilities that she never knew existed and that immense strength… she concluded forthright that he was a true warrior, a great warrior, yet something more.
"… I shall return to my father and report of our success, your success," she said out of the blue as the group gathered at a table in silence, as they drank and ate the fresh food that was surprisingly stored in the keep.
"As you wish; you're not bound here in any way, shape or form, be safe."
That was the only thing Naruto said, and Nepheli left as she arrived, towards wherever her father was, but Naruto's thoughts did not linger there; instead, his thoughts remained solely at Stormveil Castle itself, as he had memorised the region's map and the castle's floor plan itself from the documents and maps his clones gathered for him.
And while his thoughts lingered, Roderika conversed with Gostoc, who finally followed them after word quickly spread. Amidst the mutilated corpses of Godrick's men, he passed through unscathed inwards.
As for the Great Rune that came from Godrick, they were supposed to take it to a divine tower, but somehow, it bound itself beneath his chest and was activated already; thus, Melina suspected something was afoot, as this should not have happened at all.
Godrick's rune rested beneath Naruto's clothing, and Melina's eye watched it dimly glow from beneath the fabric. She continued her observation of him, but her thoughts returned to the old man from earlier - the Stargazer, who had not shown himself at all, even after Godrick was killed, and she was divided on whether she would inform Naruto of the old man or not.
But it seemed fate answered for her.
"Greetings, you who have been made full of grace."
Naruto immediately put up his guard, and it seemed strange to Melina that a man deep in thought changed in mood and demeanour faster than a blink of an eye, and by far, quicker than anything she had seen, but regardless, she too was surprised when the voice came from the keep's great doors.
Though Naruto was alarmed at the greeting as he finally saw the man that left that message for him, and Gostoc was correct, this was an old man, or so he appeared as such, and as Melina silently noted, still garbed in white and gold robes with a red silk cloak over it.
"You must be the Stargazer," stated Naruto as he eyed the man with guarded suspicion.
"I am, Lord Seventh, a pleasure to meet you, aside from meeting one of your clones down south by the Weeping Peninsula." The old man remained nonplussed and seemingly at ease, without any hostile intentions as far as Naruto could sense, but it was clear that the old man hid plenty of secrets.
Not to mention, the man's identity and real purpose.
"I bring tidings from beyond the stars."
It was a strange greeting for Naruto, but for the Tailed Beasts and Kaguya, they knew what it meant, undoubtedly so, and by that greeting, they knew where this one came from, or rather, suspected it.
"Pray tell, what kind of tidings?"
"Glad tidings; and counsel," the old man paused to measure his following words, and he stood there, dignified in his appearance, and seemed to be something greater than he appeared.
"… to tread the narrow road to the Erdtree, to becoming Elden Lord."
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