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"Hi~!" greeted a familiar pink haired elf with a cheerful voice and aura of loveliness to her. "It's your beloved friend Elysia here. Ehe~" the woman giggled and gave the viewers a playful wink. "Today, we've brought a special guest from the author's 'Project Cypher' works, the senior to all written stories, Cypher Naruto Uzumaki!" She made a grand gesture, and lo and behold, one Naruto Uzumaki sat in one of the seats on stage. He wore a blue shirt under a white haori with red flames at the edges, black pants with plated black gloves on his hands.
"Hey guys! Your old friend Naruto is here for a visit!" He gave a small smile and wave to the audience as Elysia sat on her chair and held a mic with one hand.
"So you're the first character the author ever did his 'Project Cypher' on huh? Tell me, what was it like to be the prototype for his future works?" Elysia asked, her blue eyes brimming with sparkling curiosity. Naruto scratched his cheek sheepishly and cleared his throat before giving his answer.
"It's an honor actually, because me and the author went back during the early 2010s when he got his laptop and discovered fanfiction. Of course he was hooked onto all the cool ideas and began writing with me as his first choice since I was his favorite protagonist. But you know how people change over time right? Same with both the author himself and how fanfiction stories about me have changed. Now he can't stand most Naruto fanfiction with how they are at times and decided to move on after my canon series ended. It's sad, but any works involving me are pretty much scrapped now since he can't find any good motivation to write Naruto fanfiction. But out of sentimental reasons, I'm planning to make minor appearances in other Cypher works as a senpai for Hakuno and Lelouch in their own stories in the future."
"Hmmm…it is kind of sad that the author has given up on writing more about you. From what I heard, he had plans for you in not-yet-written works." Elysia looked a little sad at that all while Naruto had a laugh.
"Trust me, I'm glad I'm not involved much nowadays. The Will of Fire burns on in my two kōhai, Hakuno and Lelouch. I basically made the foundations of what Cyphers are, now they will carry on where I can't go. A passing of the torch so to speak." he reassured her as Elysia had a nostalgic and fond smile on her face as she understood where he was going with his explanation.
"Speaking of Hakuno, can you explain a bit about the divine being she's currently fighting?" Elysia asked while Naruto nodded his head.
"Sure, believe it or not, Deus is a nice guy once his acting is done. But onto Deus's Cypher Lore. From a timeline where the Abrahamic God did not bless the world by granting the existence of Jesus and absolving humanity of their original sin grew fed up with their behavior and decided to no longer be merciful to His creations. He stole back the Knowledge from their minds, reducing them to being weak-minded and subservient to Him. He imprisoned their souls in a special realm where they were to worship Him eternally, unable to eat, unable to sleep, unable to die. Reduced to nothing more than livestock while He sought to control the humans created by other Pantheons and then later...across the Multiverse." Naruto explained while Elysia shook her head like she was disappointed in Deus's actions.
"Poor Deus, He couldn't love his creations anymore and guide them down a better path. So, what is your connection with Him exactly Naruto-kun?" Elysia asked.
"He turned me into the source of all evil in the world, similar to Nasuverse's Angra Mainyu. It had a nasty side effect of making other Naruto counterparts have…darker personalities due to me being their Cypher counterpart. It caused non-existing factors like the non-canon councils or villagers violently abusing other Narutos which didn't happen in canon and caused mental trauma and issues for them. Such promising futures ruined by the blunders of a foolish godfather and an egotistical god." Naruto sighed, recalling the promising futures and happy endings those Narutos would have gotten if not for the corruption caused by Jiraiya and Deus.
"But you got better, right?" Elysia asked with a confused expression.
"Got purified off-screen in a Shadow Duel. Big fan of Duel Monsters and in one possible work before the author scrapped it, I would have dueled an acquaintance and suffered the biggest, most ego-shattering defeat either via Exodia or Dark Paladin since I was a Blue-Eyes user. My defeat would force the corruption to leave me as part of the condition if I lost and well, here I am." Naruto shrugged while sounding a bit bitter at the recall of such a defeat in his favorite game.
"I see," Elysia nodded her head before smiling. "I'm happy you're on a better path now Naruto-kun!" she beamed with honesty that the sun could get blinded by it.
"Same. So, in terms of power in The Lunar Witch, Deus is heavily nerfed from previous defeats and His current blunder of hijacking Elohim's body. At his prime, He could create galaxies at a whim due to the amount of faith from conquering various versions of Earth empowering Him. After robbing him of His followers, Deus was as powerful as a single united Pantheon. But destroying His original body off-screen, Deus was on par with Chief Gods and that was only as a ghostly force." Naruto explained more about Deus's strength while Elysia pondered for a bit.
"How strong is He now in Elohim's body?" she asked curiously.
"On par with Greece's Big Three together. Even with the fact the soul is being rejected by Elohim's body." Naruto answered her honestly.
"Really?! And Hakunon was able to beat Him?!" Elysia exclaimed in shock as even she knew how strong the Greek gods were.
"Hakuno had accumulated 2000 years of Mystery thanks to what happened in the Far Side of the Moon in the CCC story, making her one of the strongest mages in Proper Human History in the Nasuverse. And in the Nasuverse, the older something with Mystery is, the more powerful they are. Then she acquired a body by the Moon Cell that is attuned to the mana levels of the Age of Gods which is the current setting of the story that augmented her already formidable magecraft even further. She's basically Morgan and Wodime combined and she's still holding back in the story." Naruto shook his head and sighed with an amused smile.
"So that's why she's so powerful?" Elysia pondered before backtracking and recalling what Naruto just said. "Wait, holding back? How?" Elysia asked with renewed interest.
"Hakuno is first most a swordswoman, a skilled one at that. Magecraft was her secondary, used only to heal and support her Servants at the time. She only learned Morgan's magecraft thanks to Kazuradrop's actions on the Far Side and became more on the offensive side. But her skills are still below Morgan le Fay's despite how destructive her abilities are in the current settings. And don't get me started on her Cypher and Heavenly King powers as well." Naruto folded his arms and huffed in annoyance and jealousy.
"She got to do New Game Plus in the Danmachi world with her stats and one trusty weapon and already broke the setting's storyline. Now she's got to deal with Chaldea and…" Naruto gulped, a sense of dread in his tone. "...ORT."
"You sound scared of ORT, Naruto-kun. Is ORT that scary?" Elysia asked.
"It's Hopeless Despair incarnate Elysia-chan. Humanity alone cannot defeat ORT or any Ultimate One. People on the Internet say things like Goku can beat it, sure, because in the end, he's a bloody alien himself. Most DBZ characters not originating from Earth are not bound to the logic, concepts and rules of Earth so they can act as a hard counter to ORT. But if it was just humanity alone? Game Over. That's why in Angel Notes, the old humanity went extinct, replaced by genetically engineered lifeforms, the A-Rays and Ether Liners to succeed where they failed in battling the Ultimate Ones. And in the discontinued Storm of the King, Team 7 encountered it, and it was confirmed by the author to still be in sleep mode." Naruto shuddered at the idea of the Spider actually waking up in that story.
"How bad is one space spider exactly?" Elysia asked, completely clueless to what Ultimate Ones are. Oh, Elysia you sweet summer child, that's hell you're walking into.
"I'd rather not say. Go watch Lostbelt 7 or wait until the author gets to ORT for you to understand." Naruto hastily answered while shivering with a haunted look.
"Mou, Naruto-kun's so stingy!" Elysia pouted cutely before changing topics. "So, in the previous episode, Hakunon-chan explained a bit of the nature of the Heavenly Kings. What powers related to fire does she have?" Elysia curiously asked. This made Naruto smile.
"Glad you asked! In terms of raw destructive firepower, those that become the Heavenly King of Fire fit that criterion on default. They're allowed to harness any form of thermal energy and the byproducts from it. Lightning is one element born from heat, as Sasuke showed when he used Kirin in his fight against Itachi by creating thunderclouds with a fire jutsu." Naruto began explaining while Elysia clapped in awe of the video displaying Sasuke's tactic against his brother.
"That would explain why Kiana-chan's Ultimate Attack does that as the Herrscher of Flamescion with the red lightning." the Pink Elf noted.
"Yes, and in her fight with Deus as seen by witnessing Jeanne Alter's cursed flames Hakuno could learn and recreate any type of flames she's encountered. In the yet to be written scene in the CCC story, Hakuno would see the black flames of the Amaterasu from Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan and apply the imperishable properties to her own flames. If she were to ever meet the Count of Monte Cristo and observe his unique flames, she'd be able to burn souls herself." Naruto continued while giving an example of Hakuno's unique abilities.
"Everlasting Flames and Soul Burning…Kevin and Kalpas might like working alongside her!" Elysia giggled recalling her two fellow Flame-Chashers and their usage of fire in battle.
"Throughout time, fire has been a sacred element to humanity and also most feared. Ever since the genesis of the material universe, it was the primordial fires that fueled creation itself and is the origin of human wisdom. Used properly and civilizations flourished, misuse however leads to destruction. Even the material universe itself will face its end through the heat death that inevitably awaits it." Naruto mused philosophically while Elysia pondered something and snapped her fingers.
"Is Hakunon-chan by chance…the avatar of the Big Bang and Heat Death?" she guessed while Naruto blinked and looked at her in surprise.
"In a manner of speaking…yes." he nodded, still baffled how this carefree woman could figure it out so quickly. "The Four Heavenly Kings are connected to the universe in some way. Fire as the creation and destruction of the universe, the raw unrefined materials given form so to speak. Earth is the refinement of the elements and represents substance and form. Water represents life by default while Wind represents living essence or the soul." the ninja explained while Elysia pondered something.
"So where does Void fit in?" she asked, recalling the fifth Heavenly King Lelouch.
"Equilibrium, Balance, or…Nothingness. Restore balance by all means or wipe the slate clean. Fitting for a Demon King (Emperor) like him (Lelouch)." Naruto answered while Elysia beamed with fondness for something the blond ninja wouldn't understand.
"Sounds like a fitting job for Lulu!" she giggled while Naruto gave a wry smile in understanding.
"Hakuno has some work for her since she only just partially Awakened. But knowing her and how defiant against impossible odds are against her, she'll pull through." Naruto admitted to the girl's strengths as Elysia smiled at that.
"But she is going for a full Awakening in the upcoming chapters, I know because I asked the author himself!" Elysia mentioned while Naruto blinked, quickly pulled up the script and read it over again before putting it away again.
"...Right, after beating Deus. The previous chapter was Phase 1 of the Final Boss phase. But even Hakuno will be exhausted despite her current strength. Managing 3 of her own Servants and their Noble Phantasms plus her own Lordless Camelot is taxing even for a mage of her caliber. The next chapter is Boss Phase 1.5 taken from Bell's perspective in the chapter called Iconoclasm (Desecration). I'm certain a few viewers who've played a certain game will understand what Bell must do to help out Hakuno." Naruto noted while casting a glance at the screen with a knowing wink.
"Well, I'm excited for the next chapter, but until then. Take care everyone!" Elysia waved to the audience.
"Till we meet again!" Naruto's two fingers salute the viewers.
