Chapter 10: Power and Understanding
Koneko was nervous. That much was not extraordinary. She was participating in her first real battle. Fighting Stray Devils was just pest extermination against single and insane targets. The Rating Game against Riser, for all the stakes of that fight, had been a safe affair. This battle, however, was a lethal confrontation with strong foes who desired her death. As a result, it was not just the physical exertion that made her heart beat faster.
That was not to say that she was clueless. No, as soon as she and the rest of the Peerage had left the conference room, she had fallen back on what her teacher had taught her. Her awareness was constant despite the ongoing fight. Others had more problems.
"Keep your head in the game," she told Gasper while kicking a magician who had come too close.
"But it's scary!" complained the masked Dhampir.
His performance was… bad. He had no offense to speak of and little in terms of defence. He was surprisingly good at evasion, though. His use in the battle was thus limited to bait. The last thing Koneko wanted was for him to end up injured or dead because he got careless.
Fortunately, the others were very efficient at compensating for his shortcomings. Rias and Akeno were blasting the enemy magicians from afar. Koneko herself, Yuuto, and Issei engaged the enemy at close range. While the enemy had the range advantage thanks to their magic, they were fairly slow, too. That each of them had the power level of the average Middle-Class Devil was a bit problematic. There were extenuating circumstances, however.
BOOM!
Koneko glimpsed an entire section of magicians being annihilated by a bombardment of holy light. Neither Azazel nor Metatron were in the mood to play games, it seemed. They and the security troops were taking care of the majority of the hostiles, but that still left the Occult Research club outgunned and outnumbered. Fortunately, they were not alone.
"No whining, Gasper. Focus on the fight," said Naruto.
The blond Shinobi's voice was calm an even despite his advanced acrobatics. She did not know how he was doing it, but he ensured that the amount of enemies the Peerage was facing never outstripped their ability to deal with them. It was both artful and brutally effective.
"He's right!" said Issei. "Conquer your fear, Gasper!"
The pervert was an idiot, but he could be inspiring. He was also not lacking in the courage necessary to make his point. The engagements he was taking did not favour him at all when one considered his weakness, but he pushed through with bull-headed determination. Koneko decided to add demonstration of her own to his efforts.
She rushed forward, surprising the magician closest to them. His hastily shot spell came awfully close to hitting her in the side, but she swung her hip around fast enough to avoid it. She exploited the momentum to launch herself in the air and deliver a devastating, chakra-enhanced kick to the magician's head. The sickening crack the followed told her that either his skull or his spine at borne the brunt of the force. Either way, the result was the same. The magician was dead.
"Come on, Gasper. You can fight too," she said.
Before he could reply, one of the enemy magicians, a rather shapely woman accompanied by several others like her, shouted: "There he is! Capture the half-breed and we can turn this battle around! We need that Sacred Gear!"
"Aaah! I knew it! They're here for me!" wailed Gasper.
Neither Koneko nor Issei were having it. They yelled in unison: "Get a grip!"
"But I'm useless and a burden. I can't fight," protested the blond boy.
"You're my precious servant. You're not useless!" retorted Rias.
Koneko wished to add her own piece of wisdom as well, but she, Yuuto, and Akeno were a bit too busy distracting the witches. Motivational speeches were good and all, and morale was very important; that was true. The problem was that the witches did not have the patience and the courtesy to let them speak undisturbed. Fortunately, there was no necessity for additional words from her side.
Gasper's voice was shaky as he answered, but he seemed to have found some resolve: "I… I can try. I can't control my Sacred Gear, though. Not at all."
"I could help. President, is now the right time?" asked Issei.
Rias was quick on the uptake, it seemed. She quickly ordered: "Gasper, take off your mask. Issei, give him your blood!"
The older boy quickly took out the vial he had been given previously. He pulled out the stopper and handed it to Gasper. Despite his nervousness, the dhampir acted quickly. He took off his mask and gulped down the entire vial in one go.
The results were instantaneous. Gasper's aura intensified to an enormous degree. With the dragon blood empowering him, his presence had a threatening edge to it that sat at odds with the boy's usual disposition. It seemed like he was finally ready for combat.
As she delivered another skull-shattering kick to a witch's head, Koneko encouraged him: "You can do it, Gasper! Show them what you're made of."
Issei doubled up: "You may dress like a girl, but you've got the essence of manliness within you! Put it on display and show them what a man of the Gremory household can do!"
And so Gasper did. His body seemed to collapse into a black mass which then quickly dispersed, revealing itself to be a swarm of bats. They quickly charged at the witches fighting their Peerage. Their reactions were promising.
"I thought he was supposed to be a weakling," said one of them as she failed to fend off the bats.
Another one yelped when a bat bit her. She yelled: "He's draining our power!"
The fight devolved into a mess of curses and dark wings at this point. Koneko did not dare enter that melee for fear of hitting Gasper. She instead kept an eye on things in case other witches or magicians got though Naruto's defences. Her help was not needed anyway, as Gasper was making short work of the witches for as long as they were confused by his assault.
The situation would not last, however. The witches already seemed to be rallying. Gasper was fortunate enough to notice this, and the bats pulled back. They swarmed together and coalesced back into his humanoid form. From there, he levelled his gaze at the assembly of witches. Before they knew what was happening, he froze them in time.
"Now, Ise!" he said.
Koneko was unaware that they had any sort of plan. She also did not know when or how they would have planned for an attack on the Peace Conference. That meant that whatever this was going to be had to be a combination move they had come up with rather than an attack plan. Perhaps they had had the idea after one of their bully- training sessions. She had left those directly after completion to go to her own training with Naruto, so she was not privy to what had happened after her departure. Whatever the boys had come up with, she hoped it was effective.
[Dress Break]
Issei had run at the frozen witches and touched their shoulders before unleashing his infamous technique. In an instant, they were all naked.
… I don't know why I expected something else, thought Koneko with a mental sigh. She told him: "You're the worst."
"Hey, I had to check if they had weapons or special items hidden in their clothes," he protested.
That was a fair point, but she did not think that it had been his primary motivation. She snarked: "… Sure you did."
He looked like he wanted to protest further, but he abandoned the effort before he spoke. Instead, he began securing the witches with ropes the Peerage had on hand for unplanned capture missions or contracts of that nature. Surprisingly, he did not stare all the much at the naked witches. He struggled, of course, but he actively tried not to look them over- He focused more on preventing their escape while the time stasis lasted. Maybe he had finally gotten his priorities straight.
Unable to resist the temptation to find out, Koneko commented: "I'm glad you're not getting distracted. I was afraid you'd tie them up in the shibari style."
As she spoke, she moved to help him. There was no purpose in wasting time; not when their opponents could become active again at any time. So, she secured several witches while waiting for the response.
Issei shrugged and said: "It's not like I'm not tempted, but it wouldn't be satisfying. I thought a lot about what your Sensei said, and I think he's right. So, I have decided: From now on I will only ogle girls I consider special! These women are attractive, but they're don't have that certain something. Tying them up normally just makes sense at this point."
That answer was an odd one. Then again, she had been asking for it; she blamed it on her curiosity and the hyper-puberty she was going through. On the upside, it was a slight glimmer of hope for a future in which Issei would restrain himself a bit.
"… Right. Let's move on," said Koneko.
The last of the witches was tied up now thanks to the efforts of the others, finishing the engagement. Sadly for her, that had them brought close enough to overhear the exchange of words. Akeno was outright chuckling, and the others except for Asia showed bemusement. Even Naruto was there, suppressing a snicker even while he secured the area.
"Moving on means sitting back for you guys," he spoke after his moment of amusement was over. "The attack's been going on for long enough that the enemy in charge has taken the measure of us. They'll be sending out the heavy hitters soon. Stay on your guard, though. You never know how they might fight."
Just as he said this, two magic circles appeared in the air. One of them appeared to be of Devil origin while the other one bore a distinct pattern that could only come from an accomplished magician. Koneko recognised neither of them. Someone else, however, recognised one.
"That is the magical circle of House Leviathan!" said Rias with a gasp.
From the magic circles appeared two women. One of them, emerging from the Leviathan circle, was a tall woman with tanned skin and brown hair. She wore a rather revealing purple outfit and had a scowl on her face. From the other magic circle emerged another woman, who was adorned with a purple Gothic Lolita dress. Both her hair and skin tone were much lighter than the first woman's. Malice seemed to exude from her very being.
"Who the heck are you?" asked Naruto.
The first woman levelled him with an unimpressed stare. Despite the obvious dislike she held of him, she answered: "My name is Katarea Leviathan. Greetings, vermin."
Koneko's mind reeled. She had heard that name before, during the lesson's on the Underworld's politics she had attended while growing up at the Gremory estate. Katarea Leviathan was the last confirmed descendant of the original Leviathan. That a person of her status and infamy was here boded ill.
That did not stop Naruto from returning her unimpressed stare and replying with: "Never heard of you before."
The second woman who had shown up with Katarea laughed. It was not a pleasant laugh, though she clearly was not bothered by its uncomfortable nature. "You should see your face, Katarea," she said with a giggle. Her tone became serious as she went on: "As for me, I'm Walburga. Pleased to burn you."
"Don't you mean meet?" asked Naruto.
"No, I meant what I said," answered Walburga with a smile.
The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Azazel. He appeared with great speed, a smirk on his face. The casual expression did not leave him as he spoke: "Ah, so the bigshots are here. I was getting a bit tired of handling the peanut gallery. Metatron can deal with them without me, even if there are a lot of them."
"You sure?" asked Naruto.
"He's a ninja-obsessed excentric, but he's a Seraph for a reason. The only reason why he doesn't seem to make progress is because those magicians keep throwing themselves at him by the hundreds," replied Azazel.
Naruto nodded wisely and said: "I see. It's the sunk cost fallacy at its finest. Do you thin-"
"Stop ignoring us," interrupted Katarea as she hurled a bolt of demonic power at them.
The two men evaded the attack easily. Azazel then said: "That was rude. No manners at all. But tell me, why are you even here?"
"I would like to know that as well, Katarea!" said a voice from the side.
While the fighting was going on outside, those who remained in the conference room had erected a barrier to replace Naruto's temporary one. It served the dual purpose of protecting the school building and keeping the remaining delegations safe from attack. The only one who had not been able to contribute was Hinata.
That was not to say that she was powerless, but barriers had never been her field of expertise, and she did not yet know how much of her skillset was wise to reveal. Despite her husband's summary of his exploration, she knew precious little about this world. Since Naruto was keeping certain things very close to his chest, she followed suit. Her own actions and words had to be gauged by the ones of the people around her.
It was one of the reasons why she was now intently observing Serafall Leviathan. The woman's bubbly personality had drawn Hinata's notice from the get-go. The keen intellect hiding behind the ditzy first impression she gave off was most intriguing. The genuine nature of the cover also told Hinata that Serafall was not a malicious manipulator. She was a politician who showed her feelings openly, as was the case right now.
Serafall stood at the edge of the barrier's interior. She, like the others, was observing the battle. The appearance of the two presumably hostile women had drawn her attention. It appeared that Serafall had recognised one of them. Hinata thus understood why she had approached them and was doubling up on Azazel's question concerning the intentions of these women.
"I would like to know that as well, Katarea!"
The woman in question sneered and answered: "I am here to put an end to you pretenders. The Underworld belongs to the true Satans."
Serafall protested: "But why? I thought we were getting along!"
The sneer on Katarea's face grew uglier as she said: "We were not and we never will! So long as you claim the names of the true Satans, we will not stop until you are all dead."
"So the Old Satan Faction has allied itself with the Khaos Brigade?" asked Sirzechs.
"That is correct," said Katarea.
"More like part of it than allied with," commented Walburga. "We wouldn't risk our necks for them otherwise, now would we?"
"And who is we?" asked Naruto. "I see more than one uniform among the cannon fodder."
Walburga laughed and said: "Wow, you're smarter than you look. I meant the magician associations who sent forces into this battle. Personally, I represent and lead Hexennacht."
"Thanks for the information," replied Naruto.
"Why, you're welcome," said Walburga.
"Let's get back to the point," said Azazel. He addressed Katarea: "Is the Ourboros Dragon involved in this?"
"Nominally. The dragon is officially in charge, but there is very little oversight," answered Katarea. "Now let us get this over with."
Azazel nodded. "Agreed. Uzumaki, I'm taking on the Satan descendant. You can take care of the witch."
"Fine with me," said Naruto. "Let's start."
With frightening speed things started to escalate. Holy light, purple flames, and other types of attacks began being thrown around. Serafall wisely decided to retreat while Michael, Gabriel, and Sirzechs reinforced the barrier. As a side effect, the barrier became a bit opaque and dampened the sound coming from outside. The battle could still be followed, but it now appeared as a muted thing in the background. It left those inside to analyse the events outside.
"I can sense your disappointment from here, Miss Leviathan," said Hinata.
The Devil woman sighed and replied: "I just thought we could stop fighting. We had a civil war over the succession. Our side won, and while we banished the Old Satan Faction, we did not exterminate them. There had been enough bloodshed already. Why can't they see that?"
"Fanatics are not convinced by reason or mercy. They are bereft of both," said Hinata.
She had seen it often enough. The priesthood of Jashin, for example, had been a nightmare to get rid of for this very reason. Naruto had had to hunt them all down and follow the trail back to the evil god they had worshipped. It had led him to another world and centuries of cruel battles against the God of Slaughter. His followers had called him by a different name there, but their cruelty had made them and their master easy to find. After the fighting, Naruto had come home and spent more than a year in the Pure World just to recover mentally. The lessons he had learned from experience, and she by proxy, had been very painful.
"That is the sad reality of things," said Michael in confirmation. "It is why the Inquisition went out of control after… after Father's passing. Instead of going after corrupt clerics as was their mandate, they started killing people on trumped-up charges. Bringing them to heel was… messy. Fanatics and peace do not mesh well."
Serafall grimaced and said: "I just wish it were differently. Our population is too low to reduce it further with infighting."
"That you think so speaks well of your character," commented Gabriel.
The female Angel was a fascinating being, Hinata considered. Her outward appearance, while incredibly beautiful, suggested a limited intellect. Hinata doubted that this was the case, however. Her Shinobi instincts were screaming at her that the naivete Gabriel projected was an act. The woman's genuine empathy covered the act superbly. Still, she would never have achieved her high rank, or survived the Great War, if she had been the ditz she portrayed herself to be. Her act fooled most, but Hinata saw through it; and it seemed that she was not the only one.
"Ugh, the day when I must accept a compliment from my eternal rival has come. The shame!" cried Serafall dramatically.
Those two act so similarly yet so differently from each other, and both for the same reason. How interesting, mused Hinata.
"Serafall, compose yourself," chided Sirzechs with a sigh.
The other Devil pouted at him and said: "Mou, don't be like that! Our rivalry is serious business!"
Gabriel simply tilted her head to the side. She did a very good job at feigning ignorance of the whole thing. If Hinata had been capable of the local version of Senjutsu, she was sure that she could have sensed the amusement of the female Seraph with ease. She probably took their "rivalry" as seriously as Kakashi had taken his with Guy. But instead of being "hip and cool," Gabriel was simply serene and unbothered.
It did not stop Sirzechs from continuing: "But back to the matter at hand. It is true that we refrained from further fighting for fear of a population crisis. The Evil Pieces have alleviated the problem a bit, but our population levels are still close to critical."
"It does not help that most pure-blooded noble Devils regard reincarnated ones as third-class citizens. The second-class stratum is already filled with their descendants and lowborn commoners, no?" questioned Hinata.
Both Sirzechs and Serafall sighed. The redhead answered: "That is sadly correct. It is a foolish belief too."
"I would say so as well," commented Michael. "The concept of a pure-blooded Devil is already disingenuous at the premise. After all, apart from the original Satans and their descendants, every Devil can trace their ancestry back to Lilith, a former human. The Satans themselves were former Fallen Angels, and it still shows in their descendants."
That piqued Hinata's intrigue. She spoke: "That is the first time I hear of this. What makes you say that?"
"You forget that I was there when Lucifer rebelled. He and the other Satans were the only survivors of the ill-fated plot. They escaped together with a book containing forbidden rites which would later come to be called the Book of Lucifer. Lucifer and Lilith used their powers and the book to turn themselves and their compatriots into the first Devils. Their angelic heritage is the reason why the descendants of the original Satans have multiple pairs of wings corresponding to their power. Normal Devils, even those with the power of the current Lucifer, have only one pair of wings. There is no Angel in their family tree. Nonetheless, they are all descendants of a former human," explained Michael.
"… That was… enlightening," said Sirzechs.
Serafall agreed. "I makes sense, yes. Too bad we can't tell that to anyone. I think old Zekram would have a heart attack if he heard it."
"There are days when I tempted to tear down the fallacies that pervade our government, but the problems this would create… I am sure Heaven is familiar with this as well," said Sirzechs.
Michael nodded, and Gabriel said: "That is the case. It is not just the clergy but also some of the high-ranking Angels who do not like a change of perspective at all."
"Peace is a difficult prospect in the face of that, but it is worth pursuing," said Michael.
"I agree," added Hinata. "Even if the road to it may be painful. I'm optimistic, however. Naruto brought lasting peace to our home, so I'm convinced that the same can be achieved at large over time."
"And where is that home?" asked Sirzechs.
Hinata laughed softly. "We wouldn't call ourselves the Hidden Villages if outsiders could find them so easily or if we told them where we are. Perhaps once you have gained sufficient trust, you will be entrusted with that secret. You see, the peace we now enjoy is partly protected by such secrecy."
"I am more interest in how your husband apparently achieved this peace," said Gabriel. "I wonder if it is applicable to the current situation. If what is happening outside is any indication, there will be violent attempts to end the peace we have established here today."
An awkward smile graced Hinata's face as she explained: "Wars were incredibly common back in the day. One day two brothers looked for the answer to the question of how to end war. One thought that peace could only be ensured by power. The other thought that understanding was the only path to peace. What do you think was correct?"
As she paused, the others at the table frowned in thought.
"Going with my instincts, I would argue that the second brother was correct," said Michael. "It is true that great conquerors can destroy all enemies and lead to a time of peace, but empires established in this manner tend to crumble sooner or later."
"On the other hand," interjected Sirzechs, "disarmed communities that never fight have great internal stability, but pacifism is not viable. Any moderately skilled aggressor or even insurgent could subdue or destroy them easily."
Hinata nodded and continued: "That was what the brothers argued. Their disagreement persisted, and nearly as soon as their father had died, they began a war. Their descendants continued to fight each other for over a thousand years. The last century of that conflict was crowned by four Great Wars, the last of which ended when Naruto found the answer: The war was violence and power, and it united the Hidden Villages against the threat that caused the war. They came together in understanding to combat it. So, the path to peace is wrought with power and understanding in equal measure. Where power unites people, understanding will keep them united; where understanding creates unity, power will protect it."
BOOM
SHATTER
The moment she had finished speaking, the barrier surrounding the new school building was blown apart by a massive explosion from the outside. Going by the colour and the feeling of the explosion, Naruto had been the cause of it. It was by far as destructive as he could have been, and he had probably not even needed that level of power at all against his opponent.
It seems Naruto is done playing with his food, she thought. No, he's smarter than this. In any case, he's holding back while showing off.
Then, it hit her. She smiled and said: "My husband has apparently decided to demonstrate the power he wishes to use in the defence of peace."
As soon as the barrier around the new school building darkened, Naruto put his attention on his opponent. The witch, Walburga, was throwing around dangerous quantities of purple flames. Their intensity was not to be underestimated. They were of a divine nature, which caused him to suspect a Sacred Gear. Apart from those flames, however, the woman was not showing any combat ability so far, which was honestly rather disappointing. Naruto wanted to know her power level so he could achieve an overwhelming victory without looking too suspicious.
He had encountered problems with his own power level before. If he visited a new world and showed off power too incredibly to believe, people noticed and started asking questions. In general, it was nearly impossible to miss the rise of such a powerful being, and suddenly, crackpot conspiracy theorists talking about aliens or dimensional travel were proven right. People had to be eased into such revelations. Fortunately, the world Naruto was currently in had many alternate dimensions, sub-spaces, and attached realms. So long as he did not show off world-shattering powers form the get-go, he would be able to maintain the ruse long enough to establish a positive relationship with the relevant political entities. So, while he did not have to be as careful as usual, there was still some gauging required.
Let's poke the bear a little, then, he thought.
"Your accuracy's fairly good, but you could do with some variety," he taunted as he twisted out of the way of a cross made of flame.
Walburga scowled at him and hurled more fire at him. "Let me indulge you, then! Don't come crying to me once I hit you," she said.
She did change it up quickly. The fire continued as before, but now Walburga was also shooting a variety of spells at him. Naruto dodged them narrowly and analysed their impact on what was behind or beside him. There were explosions, ice, wind blades, and earth spikes. Naruto concluded that her skillset contained many elemental spells.
He smirked and thought: Time to see what she's got for defence.
He grabbed a kunai from a storage compartment on the outside of his armour and added an explosive seal on its handle. He dodged her next spell with a spin and threw the kunai in her general direction. He had thrown it to go past her head; something she spotted and therefore ignored. When the kunai was next to her head, Naruto activated the seal, engulfing her in an explosion.
The effect was not what he had desired. When the sight cleared, Walburga was unharmed, protected by a glowing magic circle next to her head. It had stopped the explosion with no visible effect. While disappointing, it was not exactly unexpected. She would not have shown up as one of the bigwigs if an explosive seal had been enough to take her out.
"Was that supposed to do something'" she asked mockingly.
Naruto replied: "I gotta check if my opponents are complete novices. Congrats on passing that test. You're an amateur at the least."
Walburga scowled at him. "I'll show you 'amateur,' you third-rate ninja."
Her anger made Walburga predictable, even if she still was dangerous. The potency of her spells increased, and Naruto made sure to avoid them whenever he could. Her speed had also not lessened. To the casual observer, the threat she posed had just increased. A more skilled observer would have been able to pick up on the error she was committing. In her drive to inflict harm on her opponent, she had fallen into a pattern.
Naruto abused this weakness by conforming to her pattern and taking in the rest of the battlefield. As expected, Koneko and her friends had hunkered down in safety. Azazel was still duking it out with Katarea, and going by her infuriated facial expression, he was dominating her in that battle. The side that interested him most were the security troops, however. He noted that Vali was carving a trail of destruction through the assailants, but he was less than careful with his allies. Metatron spent a lot of time clearing the White Dragon Emperor's path of his own troops, but the Seraph was still inflicting a fair amount of damage. The stream of reinforcements for the magicians was also finally slowing down, it seemed. The sad part about that was that neither Katarea nor Walburga seemed to be noticing this.
We'd better finish up soon, thought Naruto.
Vali's bloodlust was easy to sense. Naruto got the feeling that the young man really did not care whom he was fighting nor in what state he left his opponents. If he turned that mindset against his allies, it would not end well. Things had to be sped along.
He was apparently not the only one to think so. The fight between Azazel and Katarea entered a new phase. The Devil woman had grown frustrated enough to unveil an ace up her sleeve. She produced some sort of snake, which she then swallowed. Her power skyrocketed instantly thereafter. She seemed to be gunning for a quick victory.
Azazel tested that theory by throwing more spears of holy light at her. Contrary to before, they disintegrated before reaching her, however. Her power now eclipsed his by a significant degree. He was fortunately quick on the uptake and did not attack further. Instead, he transitioned to evasion as Katarea unleashed several bursts of demonic power. Only a short time later, he acted. The Fallen Angel revealed his own trump card.
"It's finally time to test this thing," he said as he pulled a golden dagger with a purple gem from his pocket.
"Now that's interesting," muttered Naruto as he watched this.
Walburga noticed that he had stopped paying attention to her despite avoiding every blow she unleashed. "You have some nerve. Your fight is with me, you bastard," she said.
Right. She's still around. Let's fix that, thought Naruto
He shot her an unappreciative look and raised his arm. From a hidden compartment of his armour, copious amounts of sealing ink shot out. He then formed a few quick hand signs and flared his chakra. The result was an airtight barrier than engulfed Walburga before she even noticed that he had attacked her. It would hold for a few minutes; and it also conveniently prevented her from yelling at him.
"Shut up," he told her, "I wanna watch this. You're won't like what I'm gonna do to you if you interrupt me."
Naruto's focus shifted back to Azazel, who had begun his explanation of the dagger: "I am an enthusiast for Sacred Gears. They are God's greatest creation. They are tools with which even humans can challenge Ultimate-Class beings. Analysing them is my passion. But that in itself is not enough to satisfy me. So, I began to research them in order to create my own Sacred Gears. I used all the data I gathered from observing Vali's Divine Dividing Scale Mail to create the one in my hand. This here is the fruit of my labour: The Fallen Dragon's Flash Spear."
"It looks pathetic. Apart from a grandiose name, it has nothing. Besides, I see no dragon," commented Katarea. "If that's all, I might as well finish you off now."
Azazel smirked. He countered: "Well, the dragon is sealed within this jewel. I made a pact with Dragon King Fafnir, you know? Let me show you what this baby can do. Balance Break: Down Fall Dragon Another Armour."
That statement piqued Naruto's interest. He really wanted to know what type of seals Azazel had used and whether he could replicate them. He also wanted to compare them to the seals that the Heaven System and the Holy Ghost had given him access to. Their efficiency and security would be fun to analyse. Fortunately, he would get to see them in action right now.
When the flash of light, which had begun with the artificial Sacred Gear's activation, cleared, it was revealed in all its splendour. Azazel was now clad in a golden armour adorned with round purple gems. In his hand he now held a two-pronged spear of holy light that exuded a far more dangerous aura than before. Azazel's power level had also increased tremendously.
He then re-took the initiative, attacking immediately. He closed the distance between him and Katarea in an instant, and unleashed the power of his new and improved spear. With the way she backpedalled, she at least had the wits to recognise that she was outclassed again.
Further observation of the events had to be stopped, however. The sound of his barrier being blown apart alerted Naruto to the fact that Walburga had broken out of the prison he had made for her. It was honestly very impressive, as he had expected her to remain trapped for a minute or two longer.
"You damn bastard! I nearly suffocated in there. I'll kill you for this!" she said with a growl.
He snorted and responded: "You used fire to in an airtight space. I'm no genius, but even I know that's dumb."
"Die!" yelled Walburga, hurling lightning magic and divine flames at him.
"Heh. Where's that peppy attitude from when we started? You sounded like you were having fun. I guess it pisses you off that you can't hit me. Is that it?"
"Shut the fuck up!" she yelled at him. "I've had it with you! Balance Break: Incinerate Anthem Calvario!"
The familiar form of a cross of purple flames appeared behind Walburga. This time, it was bigger, however, and strapped to it was a dragon of some description. In the next moment, purple flame replicas of the dragon appeared around the witch. Her eyes held a manic glint in them as they assembled around her.
"I'll enjoy haring you scream while I burn you for your insolence," she said.
"Heh," said Naruto in response. Then, he laughed: "Hahahaha, oh, so that's why those flames had the holy attribute. You have a Sacred Gear!"
Walburga scowled and told him: "Take me seriously, you moron! This is Incinerate Anthem, one of the thirteen Longinus-Class Sacred Gears!"
He simply sighed in response and said: "Playtime's over, huh? You don't look like you're in the mood explain more about your Sacred Gear. I'll have to take a look at it once you're down, I guess."
"As if you could," scoffed Walburga.
Then, she charged at him in an unorthodox fashion. She first shot various spells at him, making him dodge. Following that, the sent the purple flame dragons on him. They obscured his vision and rushed at him. As he erected a short-lived seal-barrier to protect himself, Walburga activated a teleportation formula. She reappeared right behind him, a spell on her lips. It would have been the perfect ambush if not for one problem:
He was Naruto Uzumaki.
Sage Mode told him exactly where Walburga was at any time. His emotion sensing abilities told him where here attacks were heading and how much damage they could have possibly done. He was too tough to be hurt by that level of attack anyway. And lastly, he had superior speed.
Before Walburga knew what was happening to her, she had his foot buried in her gut, literally. The force of his kick smashed halfway through her body, easily braking through the haphazardly cast protective spells she had put on herself. Her body was thrown back and smashed into the barrier that protected the new school building. The witch's body had been greatly damaged with this single attack.
"I told you; playtime's over. You'd better believe it," he told her.
She coughed up blood and looked up at him with fear in her eyes. "Stop… please."
"There was a time when I would have spared you," he said, "but that was before I met people who were truly beyond redemption. You're someone like that. You'll never stop being a terrorist if I let you live. I can sense the corruption of your spirit. Know that I take no pleasure in this. I'll make it quick."
In his hand he formed a Rasengan. It grew in size until it was twice as big as he was. Then, he added the wind element to it, creating a Rasenshuriken of unusual proportions. It would ensure that Walburga's end was quick and thorough. Once it was completely formed, he jumped into the air and threw the Rasenshuriken at his opponent.
BOOM
SHATTER
A bright blue light shone through the campus of Kuoh Academy as the Jutsu detonated. The protective barrier broke apart from the sheer force of it. Walburga's life force disappeared within the blink of an eye, and the flames she had summoned dissipated, leaving behind an unconscious dragon. Everything else in the blast zone apart from Naruto was shredded and torn apart into nothingness. It was a view of devastation.
A sad sigh escaped Naruto. "I really wish insane maniacs like that stopped cropping up," he said softly. "Well, let's check how Azazel is doing. The kids should be near him too."
Issei Hyoudou was not a smart man by any stretch of the imagination. His grades were decent, but that was the result of brute-forcing the learning process, not intelligence. He was also barely a man at just seventeen years of age. He knew that he was really rather dumb. His lack of intelligence, however, did not mean that he was completely without wisdom.
That was why he had picked up the nearly unconscious Gasper and the other members of the Peerage, and hightailed it out of the range of the purple holy flames as soon as Walburga had freed herself of the prison barrier. They had relocated closer to Azazel's battle, mostly because it was fairly contained to the two combatants. The true wisdom of that move was revealed when the explosion hit.
"What the heck was that?" he asked.
"Going by the nervous expression on dear Katarea's face, that was Walburga losing," said Azazel casually as he continued to attack the female Devil in question.
His opponent was far less enthused than he. It was more accurate to describe Katarea as seething in rage. "Why won't you die?! How are you withstanding the power of the Ouroboros Dragon?!"
Azazel scoffed as he evaded her latest strike and closed in. "What you have is a pale shadow of the real thing. That snake you swallowed doesn't make you invincible. I on the other hand have a significant portion of Fafnir's power on my side. The end of this match is a foregone conclusion."
"Don't be ridiculous," growled out Katarea.
Her reply was not convincing at all. It was clear that Azazel dominated the fight again, like he had done before any power-ups had been involved. That Katarea was not willing or able to recognise that forced Issei to conclude one thing about her.
She may have great tits, but she's really dumb. Arrogant too. That's one Hell of a turn-off. Mister Uzumaki was right; I can't believe I would've ogled her just a few week ago. There's nothing interesting about someone like that, thought the boy.
The significance of that epiphany was lost on him right now. It would have a significant impact on his future eventually, but the immediate consequence was another. The detachment from his usual perversion granted him insight into the course of battle.
Analysis was an important skill in any fight. If he wanted to be useful to the President, he would have to improve in that department. So, he paid attention to what was happening. The smoothness and decisiveness of Azazel's moves impressed him greatly. They contrasted with his opponent's powerful but uncoordinated attacks. She still seemed to think that she had a change of winning. Nevertheless, it was obvious that Katarea was grasping at straws at this point.
Eventually, even she noticed, however. The exact point when desperation set in was lost on Issei's inexperienced eyes, but he noticed it after a short while. Her attacks became erratic, which Azazel exploited cruelly. He had closed the distance between them bit by bit over the course of the fight, and he was nearly in her face now. It made her react in accordance with her desperation.
Tentacular extensions sprang forth from her arms. They headed straight towards Azazel. Sadly for her, they stopped mere centimetres before reaching him. The reason for this was the spear of light that was now stuck in her body.
"Suicide techniques? How pathetic. I guess it would have worked if I hadn't been so close. You wouldn't have fallen victim to my reflexes like that. Goodbye, Katarea," said Azazel.
The woman looked like she wanted to reply, but she was disintegrated by the holy light before she could. And just like that, an Ultimate-Class Satan descendant was gone.
Azazel is scary, thought Issei.
"Well, that's that, I suppose," sad the leader of the Grigori. "Let's see if there are any other hostiles to mop up before-"
He was interrupted by a white blur crashing into him. The force of the impact shattered the golden armour and hurled Azazel away for quite a distance. The Fallen Angel fortunately seemed largely unharmed, but Issei was forced to divert his focus from him to the enemy who had just appeared.
Said opponent was a familiar face. It was the subordinate Azazel had taken with him. It was-
"The White Dragon Emperor has come to take the measure of his eternal rival. Fight me, Issei Hyoudou."
Issei gulped. He thought: I'm not looking forward to this.
AN: Greetings, dear readers!
This chapter was a bit of a challenge to write for me. I'm not experienced with writing fight scenes of individuals instead of battle scenes between armies. I hope you were entertained by it regardless of that. The second challenge that presented itself to me was time. This chapter was a bit rushed because distractions have kept me occupied a lot since the release of the last chapter. As a result, there may be more grammatical errors than usual, and potentially consistency errors. Please don't hesitate to point those out.
Content wise, this chapter was Naruto's combat debut. He hasn't revealed many of his cards yet, mostly because throwing what amounts to a supernatural nuke at the in-universe equivalent of a semi-generic villain is overkill. That said, the demonstration of power was enough to guarantee that people take him seriously now.
I have also included some minor character development; a bit for Gasper, Koneko, Naruto, and Hinata, and even some for Issei. I decided to get his development going, which earned him his first PoV in this story. I'm aware that many of you don't like him, but I do sincerely hope that you will come to at least appreciate the version of him I plan to craft.
At this point, I give my customary thanks to all my readers. Special thanks to all who favourited, followed, and reviewed.
Until next time. Stay happy and healthy, everyone!
