For a moment, Sasuke did nothing but accept Winter and Neo's affection, it was a recurring thing at this point that he came to accept and even like it, his eyes focusing on the state they were in.
It seemed he wasn't the only person having a bad night.
Unfortunately, it could still get a lot worse.
"Good to see you're both okay," Sasuke let his voice sound with intensity enough to draw goosebumps from them, and not in a bad way. "Unfortunately, this is no time for a touching reunion."
The girls couldn't help but agree as they turned away from him after their Auras had been recharged and finally took in Sasuke's current appearance.
The divine boy looked exactly the same, but with one slightly disturbing difference: he had countless white snakes attached to his body, almost like branches from a tree, and each one was being used to suspend an unconscious person in the air.
That alone, regardless of the divine-looking boy in the center, could be considered an image straight out of a nightmare.
As if that wasn't enough, the snakes that were with the other people in the area began to return and literally attach themselves to his body to...merge with him.
Just the sight of this scene gave Neo goosebumps for a different reason and suddenly she was beginning to make sense of the strong feelings she was developing for Sasuke.
Only a sinister, handsome, and powerful man like this could remotely gain her interest.
The shocked expression of the lovesick woman accompanying Neo said that she was finally getting a glimpse of the monster that Sasuke really was.
"W-what is this?!" Winter could hardly believe her eyes! "Why are you even more naked than before!?"
She didn't know where to look!
"That's what's bothering you?!" Neo wanted to scream if she could! Love is so dumb!
Because it made people equally dumb, to the point of ignoring what was right in front of their eyes!
"Oh, I forgot about that." Sasuke was still wearing only a towel tied around his waist and attracting a lot of attention because of the snakes attached to his body, so he made a seal by raising two fingers of one hand to be covered by a cloud of smoke and change his appearance. "Better now."
When the smoke dispersed, he was completely dressed in his clothes from the fourth war, except this time they were immaculate.
It may have been just a basic transformation technique, but it was nonetheless a demonstration of power capable of rendering Winter and Neo speechless.
In their dreamy eyes, Sasuke really could do anything!
What's more, these clothes could only be described as perfect for him, especially with that gray turtleneck, wristbands, black pants, sandals, and the characteristic purple rope tied around his waist on a dark blue sash...
Somehow, even though he had changed only a little compared to that obscene white Obi from before, he looked even more beautiful and perfect!
How was that possible?! Even more so with all those sinister snakes attached to his body!?
Really, love was so dumb!
"Much better," Winter couldn't help but agree. Even so, she still wanted to have her beloved try on more clothes and take some pictures! But before that. She needed to address the elephant in the room that was still making the upper floors of the hospital shake and the air vibrate with the intensity of its conflicting power. "Sasuke, what happened?"
At this, even Neo became so serious that she once again postponed her reunion with Roman.
It might have been negligence on her part, but this was something she needed to know, especially if that hungry goddess was around.
Before an answer could be given, however, another explosion took place in the hospital, only this time it was strong enough to blow out the windows and send debris flying towards the helpless people below.
"Neo!" Winter shouted and immediately manifested her Semblance to create a barrier of Glyphs as wide as possible. "Help me with this!"
Obeying instinctively, Neo followed this woman's example and transformed into her before creating clones with her Semblance to extend the barrier.
It was a commendable effort, to the point of impressing Sasuke who smiled at this unexpected display of teamwork, but it was far from enough to guarantee that no one would be hurt.
Sighing before taking a deep breath, time seemed to stand still as his eyes analyzed and calculated the amount of fallen debris. It didn't take Sasuke more than a second to finish and begin weighing his options, soon determining that destroying everything without leaving a trace would be the best course of action.
"Fire Style," he recited as he brought his hands together to perform a series of seals. "Phoenix Flower!"
Exhaling with intensity from his mouth, a barrage of fireballs erupted to change the local temperature and lighting, rising up to meet everything from above and causing another explosion.
The resulting impact, although controlled, sent shockwaves capable of shattering the windows of neighboring buildings and raining glass fragments harmlessly on the Glyphs created by more than a dozen Winters.
Soon, the dust settled and the imminent danger had disappeared along with the fire created.
"Incredible..." Winter was almost awestruck by this display of power, soon having her eyes on this god in human form. "Is there anything you can't do?"
Just when she thought she had seen it all, her beloved went and literally breathed fire!
Semblances couldn't do that without Dust!
That was the power of a Maiden!
"Fire Style?" Neo focused on that as she returned to her original form and undid her clones to avoid spending her newly restored Aura unnecessarily. "Against the Grimm, you used something called Shadow Release." She then looked at the boy who was proving to be more and more divine and gave him a teasing smile. "Do you always yell out the names of your attacks like that?"
Divine or not, a boy will always be a boy~
Although, Neo would admit that "Phoenix Flower" was a super cool name, especially when all those fireballs really did look like petals shaping a flower of destruction.
She couldn't wait to use her Semblance and try to do the same.
The idea of being able to replicate the power of a god filled her with excitement!
"Saying the name forms a mental image that helps you execute the technique," Sasuke ignored this feeble attempt at provocation and explained briefly. "You should try..." he paused for a second, realizing his mistake as he remembered the disability that made Neo unable to speak before continuing, "...the hand seals I used, because only then will you be able to use the power I offered you."
In fact, from what he could tell, the current Neo was able to replicate to some extent the abilities of other people she impersonated. So, perhaps, she could already do something similar with her incomplete form of Chakra, even if on a smaller scale.
"As for what's going on..." Sasuke was about to answer the question Winter had asked earlier but was interrupted when the old doctor that he was carrying with him started coughing, a sign that his condition was deteriorating rapidly. "I think this matter will have to wait a while." His complexion darkened, knowing that this wasn't going to end well. "Neo, can you create some stretchers for these people?"
Everyone he was holding with his snakes was severely debilitated in one way or another and needed immediate rest, as well as outside care and assistance.
"Of course." Neo stopped wandering about Sasuke's words when she noticed the change in his demeanor and did as requested. "Do you need anything else?"
Within seconds, pink crystals appeared to give shape to a good number of hospital gurneys.
"No, that's enough," Sasuke said as he put everyone to rest before looking at this girl, who was quickly proving to be his best choice, and stroking her multicolored hair. "Thank you, Neo."
The girl in question could only clutch her clothes in her hands as she lowered her head in a futile attempt to hide her flushed face and happy smile.
It was such a simple gesture but one that meant so much, especially to Neo who loved having her efforts recognized and being praised.
As if that wasn't enough, there was Sasuke's intoxicating power coursing through her veins to recharge the Aura used just now.
Even at a time like this, he was making sure that Neo remained in peak condition. Perhaps it was for her to keep the stretchers existing for as long as possible, but she didn't care.
In her heart, Neo believed that he was doing it for her and no one could convince her otherwise!
Not even Winter, who could only watch this interaction, swallowed the jealousy burning in her chest and accepted it.
After everything that had happened, Neo deserved that much.
She saved a lot of people on this day, perhaps even enough to redeem herself for some of her crimes if not all of them.
Fortunately, this moment lasted no more than a few seconds, which honestly seemed like an eternity and a half in Winter's eyes, before Sasuke turned away from Neo and approached a specific patient.
The kind of look he had, however imperceptible, was one of anger...and sadness.
"Is everything all right?" Winter decided to ask as she approached her beloved; she wanted to help in some way but stopped, her eyes widening in surprise after taking a good look at this person. "Don't tell me that this man is..." she covered her mouth in disbelief as she read the name on the lab coat. "Doctor Argento? But how?!"
What had happened to leave him in this decrepit state?!
Although this man was relatively old, he was still considered healthy for someone of his age, very different from the sedentary person in front of her!
It even looked as if he had aged decades since Winter had last seen him!
"He was attacked by some kind of demon; a humanoid Grimm that can speak," Sasuke summarized as best he could while focusing on using the man's own Semblance to try to heal him but to no avail, he knew. I can stabilize his body, maybe even reverse the aging, but...the stolen piece of his soul won't come back.
This weighed heavily on his mind, along with a sense of guilt.
If Sasuke hadn't given him some of his power and turned him into a target, this old man would be fine and probably live for a few more decades using his powers to help other people.
Not only was that no longer the case but there was also a hateful part of him that felt relieved by this outcome.
In an alternative scenario in which Sasuke hadn't enhanced Doctor Argento's Aura, that thing would have targeted someone else.
While Roman and Cinder were easy targets given their critical conditions, judging strictly by the intensity of Sasuke's power being emitted by their bodies, those two felt much stronger than even Neo.
In that case, considering that Grimm was a coward who attacked the weakest, by elimination, he would have gone after Winter first.
The mere thought of this woman, who had saved his life and prevented him from becoming a monster and destroying this entire kingdom, ending up in this decadent state by having her life and soul stolen, made Sasuke want to hold her in his arms and never let her go again to make sure something like that would never happen.
Fortunately, that wasn't the case and unfortunately, someone else had to pay the price. So the least he could do was make sure that the victim of his actions had at least a chance of salvation.
All that remained now was to wait for his original to return with good news.
For the girls who were oblivious to this internal conflict, they finally had an explanation for the bad feeling in the air and somehow, even knowing that it was an anomaly, the fact that it wasn't the goddess Kaguya was enough to put their minds at ease.
"It's probably a Fragment of Darkness," Winter muttered, that being the only thing in this world that matched the description given. "But why now?"
Those things have never shown themselves before or all sentient life on the planet would have ended already.
Except that, before, there wasn't a god like Sasuke walking around. Considering his power, the intensity of his negative emotions, and the massacre he carried out on the population of Grimm in Vale, it wasn't exactly something those creatures could ignore.
"You knew about the existence of that thing?" Now that managed to surprise and get Sasuke's attention by raising a lot of questions. "Wait, did you say 'a Fragment'? Does that mean there's more out there?"
That could be a problem, especially if the others also shared that thing's ability to merge its presence with the world, making it almost undetectable.
"I only learned about it recently and in the form of an old tale, almost like a legend." Winter wished she'd had the opportunity to talk to her beloved and explain everything that was treated as secret in this world, but things kept happening and she never got the chance. "As far as I know, there are seven Fragments of Darkness created by one of the two gods who used to inhabit this world."
She made a point of approaching Sasuke and reluctantly bringing Neo along to tell them what she knew in a low voice.
Despite the commotion going on around them, they were still the center of attention. Spreading all this information about creatures capable of destroying the world that lurked in the shadows would only serve to instill fear where there was already enough.
Winter summed up as best she could the tale of the Brothers of Light and Dark, the conflict between the two and the corrupted creations of the brother jealous of the life he couldn't replicate on his own; seven pieces that represented aspects of his own existence to be used as weapons to help kill his own brother.
However, such a conflict never took place and the two brothers decided to leave after a series of unknown events and left everything behind, including those monsters that came to be known as Grimm.
The Fragments, as they possessed a sentient mind and understood that humans and faunus were a joint creation of the Brothers of Light and Darkness, did not move to destroy the world and are quietly awaiting the return of their creator.
At least, until now.
For Sasuke, this story carried extra weight, as it sounded a lot like that of Indra and Ashura; the conflict born of jealousy.
In the end, it seemed that even in another world and between gods, brothers sought to destroy each other and as a consequence, the world around them had to pay for it.
Knowing this, even if it wasn't completely true, only reinforced the notion that Sasuke couldn't kill Naruto. Beat him until that annoying idiot turned black and blue to vent all his repressed rage, yes, but not kill him or the cycle of hatred would never end.
In fact, the best-case scenario would be if Sasuke never returned to the Elemental Nations. Remnant would certainly welcome him with open arms, especially the girls he met.
However... staying in this world would be the same as disregarding all the sacrifices his family had made to obtain peace and Sasuke couldn't do that.
At least, that's what his mind told him. His heart, on the other hand, wanted to stay.
Logic or emotion, which one should Sasuke listen to?
Only time will tell.
"Wow." Neo didn't know what to make of these revelations that she would have labeled as nonsense if it hadn't been for Sasuke's existence. Living and learning. There was only one thing about all this that bothered her more than she would ever admit. "So, this weapon made to kill gods, it's not a threat to you?"
As much as he wouldn't admit that he was a deity, it was undeniable that Sasuke had the power of a god. Following that logic, he should also have the weaknesses of one... whatever they might be.
"If I considered it one, my original would have evacuated the entire city by now." That thing was dangerous, especially with the kind of ability it possessed, but not enough for Sasuke to worry about. "Besides, based on what I'm sensing, the fight should be almost over."
That thing had only been a hassle earlier because of the other people limiting Sasuke by having to divide his attention and focus on saving rather than fighting.
Now, that problem had been solved and there was nothing left to distract him.
There was truth behind what Sasuke said, Winter could also feel that the uncomfortable presence - which certainly belonged to the Fragment of Darkness - was diminishing with each passing second. However, there was something that was said by her beloved that made her express confusion, especially at the way Neo was grinning from ear to ear.
"Original?!" she almost jumped like a little girl at the ice cream shop, questioning. "You can make copies too, can't you?!" Then her eyes lit up as she understood what was happening. "Not only can you, but you're a clone!"
Gosh, they really were alike! So much so that it was scary!
Almost as if they were made for each other!
If it weren't for a jealous Winter stopping her from getting in the way of the old doctor's treatment, Neo would be throwing herself into the arms of her soulmate!
"Err, excuse me?" a shy, childish voice broke the illusion as someone approached them. "I-I just wanted to say thanks for earlier." Three pairs of eyes were on a boy of no more than ten accompanied by a little girl of six and only the girls recognized them. "Thank you for saving us!"
These two were the ones who were almost buried when the corridor at the hospital collapsed, but Neo managed to protect them with Winter's Semblance and then heal the boy who had been injured with Doctor Argento's Semblance.
Neo lost her smile and forgot all about her plans to tease Sasuke, almost tripping over her own feet as she retreated in the face of this turn of events.
With the courage of these naïve children to approach the boy controlling all those sinister snakes, the other people who had been keeping their distance felt the weight in the air loosen up a bit and started to speak without fear of being overheard.
"That colorful girl saved me too!"
"Yeah, I saw, like, a dozen copies of her running around while carrying people who couldn't walk on their own."
"I saw it too! Her Semblance is so powerful!"
"Especially when she created all those structures to evacuate the building!"
"It would have been so much fun to slide down those toboggans if it hadn't been for the terrorist attack happening..."
More and more conversations of this kind took over the streets, be it among the patients and doctors or the people caught up in the chaos, where the common denominator was Neo and her achievements.
"Big sis was so cool!" The little girl dressed as a patient stopped hiding behind her older brother and had her eyes shining as she looked at Neo in admiration. "Just like the moonlight hero!"
Now, Neo could understand what Sasuke had been through and why he had cried, where her eyes had grown heavy at the sight of this cute little thing begging for a hug from someone like her.
After all, even before she started living as a criminal, she had never been seen by anyone else in such a pure and positive light.
There was always something else behind every smile she received, every word spoken or request made.
Neo was a weapon; a tool, and she accepted that because it was the only way she could be accepted.
However, this no longer seemed to be the case and, suddenly, Neo was beginning to regret the path she had taken in following Roman and was grateful that Sasuke had given her a second chance.
If it hadn't been for this god in human form, she would never had a glimpse of "this" side.
I think I should thank him later. Neo created a teddy bear for her little fan before looking at the perfection that Sasuke was, and having her heart dance in a way she had never experienced. Shit... is it just me or he looks even hotter now!?
How was that possible?!
All she had to do was look at Winter and remember the reason behind this woman's stupid reactions and the answer became obvious.
Oh... Neo swallowed dryly and pressed her hand to her noisy chest as she felt the heat rise to her face. I just fell in love with him... Goddamn it!
While she experienced something close to an existential crisis, the object of her affection observed her reactions with a slight touch of humor.
"So that's what she was using all those constructs for." Sasuke had a smile adorning his face for more than watching Neo fall victim to other people's adoration. "It's not for nothing that she almost passed out from exhaustion just now."
It was good to know that the power he had helped to hone was already being put to good use and for the right reason.
"Right, you were busy fighting." Winter broke out of her own daydreams, almost forgetting that Sasuke probably didn't know about their fight either. "Neo, with that super Semblance of hers, evacuated several floors of the hospital practically by herself."
Although she helped too, this girl did ten times more and deserved to have her efforts recognized.
"That explains why some floors were already almost empty..." Sasuke was impressed, even more so by Winter's mature admission of the achievements of someone she had every reason in the world to hate. Looks like I made the right choice after all.
Not only sparing Neo's life but having Winter by his side as well.
If these two could work together then the same must be true for the others.
Speaking of the other girls. Sasuke shifted his focus to look into the distance and thanks to his special eyes, he could see a silhouette of something approaching Vale and coming in this direction. Weiss, Blake, and Yang? What are they doing here? And why isn't Ruby with them?
Many questions, some more important than others, but there was no time to consider or get answers because something else was happening above.
Another explosion occurred at the top of the hospital and from the smoke his original finally appeared. The most remarkable thing about him, apart from his lack of clothes, was that he was covered by the Six Paths Mark. That and the demonic form of the Fragment of Darkness was being held by the throat as it fought for its life under the moonlight.
"It's over." Sasuke could see the power of that Grimm being drained away with each passing second and soon there would be nothing left of him. A fitting end for a monster who bases his existence on taking from others.
If all went well, the part of the soul that had been taken from the old doctor would also be recovered and his life could be saved.
However, something didn't feel right.
Obviously, absorbing a mass of darkness like that could have severe consequences, especially considering what happened when the Six Paths Mark got out of control, but that wasn't the problem.
There was something else going on.
"Your eyes must be really good." Winter could only see two blurry dots in the sky and only because they were in front of the fragmented moon before she noticed a third one further away from the other two. "What about that one? Another clone like you?"
She couldn't say exactly, only that the presence of this third point was non-existent...just like the Fragment of Darkness!
Before she could do anything and vocalize her potential discovery, the clone of her beloved abandoned the old doctor's cure and made another series of hand seals that looked more like blurs in her eyes to use magic again!
This time, however, it was on a completely different scale and she had to shield her eyes from the sudden light and heat.
"Fire Style!" Sasuke didn't hesitate when he realized that this new apparition was the source of his discomfort and an eminent danger to his original who was ignorant of its presence. "Great Fireball!"
There was no restriction in the use of this Jutsu, and he practically breathed a small sun out of his mouth!
As a result, the oxygen and moisture in the air almost disappeared from the atmosphere as the air distorted with heat capable of melting the external structure of nearby buildings, and leaving a trail of destruction in its path until it reached the unknown entity in less than a tenth of a second.
Contrary to his expectations, the night did not turn into the day as a result of an explosion of a magnitude capable of bringing even a Bijuu to its knees.
No, instead, his attack simply disappeared without a trace as if it had never existed in the first place!
"What in the world..." Sasuke began but didn't finish, being interrupted by the heat and presence of his own Chakra resurfacing in the opposite direction, coming straight for him and everyone around him! "Manipulation of space and time!?"
Sasuke didn't have time to think about how that was possible, he just did the unthinkable at any other time, especially as he was just a White Serpent Clone whose limitations he didn't know, and made sure of embracing Winter and Neo for the impact!
Only then did the explosion he had been waiting for happen, and in the worst way to make the whole kingdom tremble under the impact of his power!
I hope you guys liked this chapter, it's one of my favorites so far.
I also want to wish you all a Happy, Merry Christmas. I know it's earlier, but I'll only post again after that and before the year ends, so better to say it now than not saying at all.
Anyway, that's all for now, so don't forget to review, and if you want to read more, and support me, take a look at my P t r & on (slash) Bertoti.
Until the next one.