Chapter 4: Things move.
Three years had passed since Naruto first met Alpha, and of course, thanks to his recent cloning magic, he was now able to train her with much greater freedom and efficiency than before, of course from time to time he had to go personally, Claire proved to be too attentive and seemed to know that her astral projections, or as Alpha called them "thought clones" were not him... that woman was too persuasive for his comfort.
Back to Alpha, she wanted to travel to find the other Shadows, which Naruto strictly forbade her at least not without training his new ritual magic more, it had really cost him a lot to explain to her how the Sword Maker worked and ask her to never ever create the Executioner's Sword unless it was a super desperate life or death situation, Alpha didn't understand why that particular sword had so many restrictions for him to allow her to use it, which led to a three hour lecture on how that damn thing didn't require cutting you just touching you even without the intention of killing you for the damn thing to kill you instantly, he explained how the only way to save yourself from it was to amputate the limb where it was pointed before it touched you and how that would only work with arms and legs, and of course that you had enough reflexes to do it.
What alpha summed up was that "it was a high risk soul because in a quick battle it might accidentally kill an ally, but high benefit since it was basically an insta kill" which naruto instantly confirmed, and that led to a much longer lecture about binding vows and why she can't just do them because she had sworn on her life to him that she would never use the executioner's sword unless she had no other options… alpha actually told him that they were going to need to put this in some kind of manual to give to the new members, and he of course agreed, explaining that to every new member was just a chore he didn't want to do.
Getting back to the main topic, they trained together for a long time each day, Naruto had taught her the basics of the various fighting styles he knew, she was never able to even get him to do more than use one hand to defend herself in their sparring, he explained to her that this was the only and best way to truly become stronger, to face the strongest in the world and get up once again to continue fighting, pushing your limits more and more. She asked him how the strongest reached the top and that was when one of the longest explanations he would ever give her came about.
One that was summarized in three great aspects, natural talent, genetics and effort, genetics was obvious to anyone, okay, your parents being good at something did not imply that you could be good at that something but in physical terms it influenced quite a bit, natural talent of course was a fundamental part of the strongest in the world, he himself being the best example had the best genetics, and the most stupidly broken cursed technique ever originated, and finally hard work he explained to him in great detail that a talented person who does not make an effort would never reach their full potential, but when hard work, genetics and natural talent come together, you get the strongest in the world.
Alpha Palace took his words as some sort of gospel… I honestly never understood how the hell Cid never realized that legally speaking he was forming his own religious cult. Fuck Zeta, he tried to turn him into a god, failing miserably in the process, but that was another topic.
After his explanation Alpha put much more effort into her training, she was still unable to even get him to take her seriously or even use a martial style but at least now she had a good fighting level and had mastered at least to an intermediate level her cursed technique, and her martial combat technique, as well as the six styles of the Roushiki... to be completely honest he hadn't been very surprised that she did that as he said for the talented to grow by leaps and bounds in the areas they excelled in was easy and he had given her a small boost to her physical capabilities by giving her a powerful body.
She also unlocked her magical power which was truly formidable, in fact it was almost as great as the ones Satoru had at his peak, of course that only implied one thing and that was undoubtedly due to the blood of the demons with which her ancestors had been experimented on, naturally with her training and the unlocking of her power, she had no doubt that the woman would be incredibly more powerful than she was in her original version.
But she knew that that would definitely not be enough, Albion herself had made it more than clear to her, and they needed to be the most powerful of all by being the seven great shadows that will fight alongside him to save all of the creation of the exe gods themselves, or for them to survive in the dxd dimension.
They had been discussing a couple of things they could do to help, the best they could come up with was giving them a sacred gear that would enhance their abilities, but to tell the truth they had no idea how to create them, during the Christmas meetings, which he hadn't attended in almost 14 years now that he thought about it, Lucy had never let slip a single piece of information about those things, and Archer only said that they were incredibly powerful treasures... for a loudmouth idiot when he was drunk... even if he wasn't, the King of Heroes was surprisingly good at keeping secrets.
Leaving that aside, right now he was on the bank of a river, with his sister practicing the art of the sword, he had given the first blow that she received, and they struggled with their swords to a point where they simply had to withdraw, and they continued in combat until his sister gave a thrust from which he had to protect himself, of course the man already had everything planned to beat her... in a thousand ways actually.
By that time he had already seen where to cut to defeat her, where to move to avoid each and every one of her blows, but he didn't do it, instead he simply received her stab and flew into the river.
- You've improved a lot, sister. She said with a small smile.
- Yes I have improved a lot, it's because of you... you really improve a lot faster than me and this fight is proof of it. She really had a good perception of things, after all the girl touched a part of her neck where Naruto could have cut her if he had really tried, honestly Naruto genuinely wondered if she had the same perceptions that he had, it was likely that he had noticed how she seemed to capture his ways of fighting and adapt them to herself, it was certainly impressive.
- Claire-sama, Naruto-sama, your parents are calling you to say goodbye to Claire-sama. It was at that very moment that Naruto came out of the river, he had forgotten that today was the day he would say goodbye to his sister, apparently it was a kind of tradition for nobles that when they turn 15 they are sent to the Midgar Academy for Dark Knights in the royal capital... if that was the damn full name, if they also made them say it in full all the time, no really he didn't know why.
Getting back to the topic, he was sure something would happen at this party, but he didn't really remember what it was... he was sure it was something important.
Xxxxx
Now he remembered what he had forgotten... or rather, it was spat in his face in the worst way possible, the party had been going on without a hitch and that should have been his first sign that something was definitely going wrong or was going to go horribly wrong, rule number one of sorcery "when something goes too good to be true, it's because something will go horribly wrong when you least expect it" a rule that basically boiled down to "be the most paranoid bastard you can be or Kenjaku will stab you, poison you or whatever he's working on at the time" in this case fortunately Kenjaku had nothing to do with it, but his sister had been kidnapped just as she was boarding the carriage for her departure.
Fortunately for anyone, Naruto was always prepared for any kind of thing... okay, he had put a tracker on his sister, just because he was now the younger brother didn't mean he was going to stop being a siscon, the difference was that now he had an older sister complex instead of a younger sister, and unlike Wendy, Claire was a complete tease.
Of course he had given control of the tracker to beta who in both his past life and this one was his most trusted element, it was quite difficult for him at first after all their relationship had always been extremely close not to say that he loved beta more than any of his shadows, both were souls who had suffered and were naturally shy, beta faced it by being close to him to the point of panic attacks when he was seriously injured and he faced his problems in a thousand different ways until he discovered his passion for teaching his knowledge to the new generations... which paradoxically made all of his relationships improve enormously now that he thought about it.
But back to beta, she had been the first one that alpha had found in his travels to expand the organization, and of course she had also healed and improved his body and helped him in his training, and thank the gods she was as fanatic as her old beta and helped us a lot with the books especially her knowledge about sorcery, of course she hadn't yet talked about the highest expression of sorcery itself, the domain expansion, on the other hand she hadn't yet talked to them about the simple domain that was a requirement to be able to have a domain expansion.
But he would leave that for another time, as right now he was dealing with one of the most stressful situations of his young second life… completely inept parents.
- What does this mean? Since they were able to overpower Claire, these scoundrels must be experts. Well, obviously they wouldn't send just any scumbag to kidnap an exceptionally talented noblewoman.
- If they were skilled, I guess there wasn't much we could have done. Naruto was starting to think he was destined to have shitty mothers, of course his relationship with his original mother improved a lot once he started to leave his life as a sorcerer aside and it turns out she never tried to kill him, he still hadn't discovered who was responsible for it but he was sure he could do it eventually... not that it mattered right now, she was completely dead.
That thought somehow made the atmosphere feel much more tense than it was, he also felt like his father was about to screw up.
- Not at all, that's why I can't be held responsible for having slept all that time in the room with you. Wow... and he wondered why both Clarice and himself called him Bald instead of Father, the guy was terrible at the task of raising children, not that he was better, I mean he didn't have children.
- Go to hell, baldy! Don't come to me with complicated excuses! Honestly speaking, he didn't see anything complicated about that excuse, but he didn't feel like continuing to feel embarrassed right now, so he discreetly left the place and after that he simply headed to his room, where he knew that one of his shadows would already be waiting for him.
She wasn't, but it didn't take a minute before beta appeared in her room.
- Beta, I have to assume that they've already discovered where my sister is. With the tracker she had in her possession it wasn't even an assumption but a reality, but this world had strange electromagnetic fields so it wouldn't be strange if that thing failed, but with her tactical knowledge she could more or less triangulate her position.
- Red-sama, as you said, I was watching the device and your older sister, and as we suspected, those who kidnapped her were members of the same devil cult. Beta explained, making Naruto simply nod his head.
- The others are ready. His question was more than clear, this was going to be their first real mission against that cult, at least one where he was not going to intervene directly except to save his sister and he would let them fight more or less alone, after all if they really wanted to overcome their limits they needed to grow by themselves in battles that put their lives to the limit... he doubted quite a bit that it would ever happen in this world, but hey, the experience would also do them good.
- Alpha-sama and the others are ready and waiting for your orders. Beta confirmed, making Naruto nod.
- Very well, then we must not waste any more time, we must rescue my sister and show those sons of… he paused at that moment that he had never insulted in front of his shadows, and his slip made beta look at him confused for a few seconds. – we must completely destroy that cult's hideout. He quickly corrected himself.
- Red-sama, don't ask why your sister was kidnapped. That was a really understandable doubt, but he already knew it or at least he sensed it.
- That's pretty easy to answer beta, just like you my sister is descended from a hero of course being my older sister all the time I was healing and reinforcing her body, they probably expected her to mutate like you and kidnapped her to find out what happened to her... after all if it were discovered that the possessed can heal themselves her power would fall considerably.
- That makes more sense than I'd like to admit. Beta had thought of other things, but that certainly made more sense than any of his conclusions.
At the moment Naruto simply stared at Beta for a good couple of minutes, not needing to read her mind to know that she was fantasizing about him and how great he was, he really hoped she wouldn't take the news of him and Alpha the wrong way.
- "the correct term is alpha and I'm honey" oh right the nosy dragon. – I'm not nosy you just said it wrong, besides you really wonder that, you know how she'll react because you know them better than anyone, she'll be surprised for a couple of minutes and then she'll want to join your harem. She was right about that.
He wasn't surprised when girls fell for him, truth be told it was something to be expected "Prince Charming complex" and abandonment and betrayal issues were powerful, plus with all the time they spent training and their conversations not only about training techniques and tactics but also more philosophical and personal ones… well it was only a matter of time before she fell for him, it helped that he found her attractive and genuinely cared for her.
- "Hey now that I realize... when are you going to tell them about you know, myself and all that business with the exe gods" oh right those things, she had completely forgotten about them.
- "It's probably time to do some explaining of our real objective… and what I really am" he actually thought why did he have to be the one to deal with this… oh wait he knew it "look into my eyes and behold the destruction of a thousand realities" damn razelvalga and his ridiculously high power, damn original self and his refusal to participate, damn lancer and his disinterest… and he wasn't sure why he should curse his father in law but when he found out he would curse him too.
- I would slowly release the information darling… these girls are even more dependent on you than the original seven shadows were, they would even give their lives for you if it means you will live one more day. Naruto couldn't help but tense up a little at that, he knew it was true, these girls were much more dependent on his being than his original seven shadows were.
- "I know Albion, but this time it won't be necessary for any of them to sacrifice their lives for me, I learned my lesson and I will never trust my abilities again, I learned the hard way... and this time I will fight with all my being so that not even the gods dare to lay a single finger on them." At that moment Naruto didn't realize it but his body was beginning to emanate intense waves of cursed energy which made his eyes turn completely yellow for a few brief seconds, something that beta noticed causing her to freak out a little, she didn't say anything probably because she understood that right now he was angry about the loss of her sister, she was partially right but partially wrong at the same time. - beta let's destroy that place until there are not even ashes left. Naruto ordered as he used his cursed ritual to create a portal directly to the other shadows.
- It's okay sir. Beta commented absentmindedly while writing down each and every one of his thoughts. – "red-sama is siscon" if Naruto was reading his thoughts at that moment he would have blushed furiously.
-cult hideout, a few hours later-
- Claire Kagenou, I have several questions for you? Said one of the figures who had kidnapped her as he approached her cell.
- Oh I know who you are, I remember you from the capital… Viscount Olba, I saw you fighting at the war festival, that was a terrible defeat at the hands of Princess Iris.
Claire wasn't surprised when Count Olba attacked her, smashing the wall next to her head, or rather where her head should have been. Honestly, with Naruto as a training partner, how did he think he could even manage to touch her? Her brother was damned faster than this guy, who she saw coming from miles away.
- Oh, you can still move, I guess you haven't overflowed with excessive magic. That comment had actually confused him quite a bit.
- I learned from my brother that relying on magic is foolish and that it doesn't depend on how you use it but on your efficiency in doing so. He declared this with a proud smile on his face.
- Oh your little brother, ah it's true Naruto Kagenou. Said the Viscount with a small smile apparent he knew a little about his younger brother, he hoped he didn't know about his... little secret harem, how did his brother think he wouldn't notice the five elves and two beastkin that randomly arrived from time to time just to see him was something that still had her thinking from time to time? Personally he liked Gamma she was calm although a bit clumsy.
- That's right, my little brother… he's extremely strong if I have to be completely honest, I'm actually pretty sure that he greatly restrains his strength at all times. It wasn't hard for her to say that with certainty because it wasn't an unfounded belief but an absolute reality in her mind, no one who could sprint at sonic speed and still look like they were holding back was definitely not someone weak.
- It's like that... well never mind, now there's something I need you to answer me, have you felt bad lately when using your magic? Oh this was like when he and his brother played doctor, she still didn't understand why Naruto turned so red when she made that suggestion, for her it was cute that her little brother wanted to play doctor. - Have black spots appeared that began to rot on your body? That was a much more specific question than she would have liked, how could he know about chickenpox, her brother had assured her that he had made it up on the spot.
- Problems with my magic, blackheads… since when are you a doctor? She asked trying to sound confident, but something told her that her brother actually knew something and invented the doctor game so that she wouldn't worry about what was happening to him, he was such a cute and considerate younger brother… she was going to beat him up for keeping secrets from him even if it was for her protection. – Although now that you mention it, it was about a year ago that they started appearing, but my brother cured him immediately and after that they never appeared again and I must say that I have felt stronger since then… if it weren't for the fact that my brother has nightmares about some kenjaku and wants to kill him I would have no doubt that he would be a great doctor, he is a natural at that.
(note: it's funny how everyone except himself realizes that he has more talent in other fields than as a warrior, but he's so fucking obsessed with being the strongest that he doesn't realize it, I mean Tony told him he was a great inventor and teacher and Naruto literally told him "no, I'm only good at breaking skulls.")
- I see, you had the symptoms, you're a match. That sounded awfully more perverted than when his brother asked him to show him his abdomen.
- Compatible? She couldn't help but ask, looking confident, but inside she was nervous. Naruto had spoken to her very, very seriously about never accepting sweets from strangers and this sounded disturbingly similar to one of those situations... well, except for the kidnapping part, that usually came later.
- That doesn't concern you, I'll investigate your sister... however the man couldn't finish his statement because at that moment she simply attacked him.
- If you dare to provoke him I will kill you! She didn't want her little brother to fight, he was a monster... a terribly adorable one with those bright eyes and whom she loved with all her big sister's heart, but if he was a fighting beast when he held back, Claire didn't want to see what he was in. would turn if he got angry, for that very reason and before this idiot tickled a sleeping dragon... don't ask Naruto for some reason he liked that expression... the point was that definitely speaking he didn't want Naruto to fight, because he didn't have He doubted that his brother would not hold back and definitely kill his enemy, not that he had a problem with Olba's death or anything like that but, he was definitely not going to allow his brother to take innocent people as "acceptable collateral damage" "bandits and intrinsically evil people or enemies but of course yes, but not innocent civilians... although something told him that he would never hurt children even as collateral damage, his brother loved children, so much that he had even created a playground for them the children of their servants.
- How come? He couldn't help but be surprised, she had actually dislocated all her bones just so she could break free and hit him.
- You heard me scum, I swear I will kill you and your entire family. She probably wouldn't do that last thing, however, before she could continue with her furious tirade she was silenced by a powerful blow to her stomach that knocked her out, later she would wonder how she could withstand the blows of her brother after all, who honestly speaking could split a horse in half with one blow if he didn't hold back... even if he did, but he didn't do it enough.
- Stupid bitch, well it doesn't matter anymore, I have to capture her brother, so I can experiment on him like I did on her.
Soon an alert signal let him know that there were invaders in his living room, causing him to quickly head towards that place only to be completely paralyzed by what he saw.
- But what the hell... happened here? Was all he asked, completely bewildered, only to see that in front of him right now were 7 girls no older than 13.
- We are shadow garden. The blonde elf said.
- Our mission is to wipe out the cult of devils. The white-haired elf continued her statement.
- We know everything. The dark-haired girl continued.
- About the rebirth of the devils and the descendants of the heroes. The one with the blue-green hair whom Naruto called blue sukuna and flatly refusing to reveal why he called her that. Well except for "you'll see when you start enjoying cutting things" that left her intrigued especially because he seemed to focus on her more than anyone else for the cursed ritual training... something about "your technique is the most destructive and you need the most control of all" she asked him if that meant she would be the strongest to which he only responded with a simple "strength does not come from your technique but from how you use it"
- And the truth about demonic possession. The blonde finished once again.
- How do you know?! Or rather, how the hell did you find out about the cult of devils!
- They're not even hiding. The dog girl couldn't help but comment, hell even she who didn't stand out for being the smartest of the group could have discovered them without much trouble on her own, okay probably not without help, but even so, they weren't even trying to hide.
Olba couldn't hold back any longer after that snub and attacked directly, which Alpha easily countered with a sword that she created completely out of nowhere and after that a sword duel began while the others simply remained as spectators knowing that their leader didn't need their help right now, this guy wasn't at the same level as her lord and Alpha could keep up with him... yes he was only using one hand to fight her and he wasn't really serious but still.
- You will not die until you tell us everything you know about the cult of diávolos.
Olba was outmatched, even he knew it so he didn't waste any more time and simply took out the pills that increased his magic power that the cult members had given him and consumed them all in an instant, they saw how Olba increased his magic power instantly, which made Alpha get serious at the same instant, even so this wasn't a big deal to her so she simply received the attack without even moving from her position, this made Olba realize that this was not a battle that he was going to escape from but not before hitting his sword against the floor.
- Alpha-sama, I'll go after him. Beta commented.
- No need, my boyfriend must be taking care of it already. She said this with a proud and affectionate smile.
The other six shadows realized what their leader had said and were quite surprised by his words, however when they were going to ask for an explanation they felt someone coming... and he seemed to be arguing with another person they couldn't hear, and out of nowhere Olba appeared again only not exactly in the way he had left but he was simply thrown against the wall and after that Naruto entered the room with a slightly furrowed brow.
- Oh come on it worked in the end no. She complained loudly. – It wasn't luck you know as well as I do that Qin's children have a special orientation. They had no idea who this Qin guy was or why Naruto emphasized the word too much, much less with whom he seemed to be fighting. – Oh go fuck yourself Albion… I don't care that you're my aunt I'll tell you to fuck off when you get really annoying.
- Uhm… sir. Beta called the attention of his lord who was still distracted arguing with a person who apparently did not exist.
- Is she giving you trouble again? Alpha asked with a loving smile, knowing that Aunt… partner… whatever complex relationship Naruto had with the white dragon inside him.
- Oh you have no fucking idea, the overgrown lizard keeps insisting that I have the wrong orientation. Naruto yelled at him, even though they all knew he wasn't yelling at them but at someone else.
However, before anyone could ask him a question, Olba slowly rose from the rubble while holding his stomach from the blow Naruto had given him.
- Who the hell are you guys! Shadow Garden! Olba shouted causing Naruto to growl before simply turning to the Earl.
- Do you care, I'm having a pretty important discussion with my aunt right now... oh shut up I'm going to kill him no matter what I tell him right now... they're going to find out about you anyway... oh fuck off Albion. Naruto simply continued yelling into the air towards someone who clearly wasn't there.
The six shadows who were unaware of what was going on right now turned to their leader who told them "later" letting them understand that she as the closest to their leader, she knew what was going on right now, regarding Olba.
- You think you can put an end to the cult of devils, you're a fool!
Olba took all the nightmares that everyone saw as his body changed grotesquely once again.
- Let me kill this thing first, then we continue the discussion. Naruto commented with a slight tone of frustration in his voice right now… oh how he wished his aunt had a physical form right now, he wanted to hit her damn ass so badly right now.
End of chapter.
Before I go I just have a few things to say about the episode.
First and most importantly, Naruto at least mine and Subtlety is not something that go well together for them being subtle is more of a "suggestion that I'll listen to but completely ignore" than something they actually have the slightest intention of doing, and in fact the stronger they get the more frivolous they are, Phoenix being an exception to the rule since she literally is fun incarnate, why do I mention this? well I think Claire already made it perfectly clear Naruto isn't even trying to hide it's the shadows that do it and they're better than him at it, he's simply containing his strength not because he gives a shit if people find out that he's strong, as shown in a video that I uploaded today to my YouTube channel in Spanish, he even in his weakest version can sweep the Dragon Ball verse without even taking anyone there seriously because of how broken he is. and if this is his weakest version being the most powerful one from New Home, and let's just say this a hit at full power from Goku makes the universe tremble, this particular Naruto if he wants can do what Regalzeva told Ex. quoting verbatim from the novel "Look into my eyes and see the devastation of a thousand realities... Many have tried to defeat me and many have died trying. Some have destroyed their own universes to try to stop me. NONE have succeeded!" Well with this particular Naruto that's true at the power level if he really puts his all into a battle he can devastate a thousand realities effortlessly and again this is his weakest incarnation. The strongest can destroy the omniverse and reform it to his liking being again only below Naruto Helios Pendragon.
why do I mention this, well because again his goal is not to stop Diávolos in fact if he wanted he could destroy them in one night if he really puts his mind to it, I mean the guy literally has the ability to literally stop the damn cold war solely because he didn't want things to go to shit during his stay at Hogwarts. In other words, because of his fucking balls he put the entire damn Muggle world in check by himself, and that when he was fucking 15 years old and hadn't reached the full potential of his cursed technique, his emotional problems were on the surface, in other words, when he was weak.
But anyway, having said that, let's start with the chapter.
Phoenix: This is the end of the chapter.
. . .
Well I'll see you in chapter two, Trevor out.
(video link for anyone who wants to see what I'm talking about /NYDX9Xj89VE)
