Reply to PauloPT90:
"Well, the thing is, I don't translate the story, my native language is Spanish, and I speak English, but not fluently enough to write the story in English. I pay a professional translator for that, but being a professional translator doesn't imply they know how to translate the grammar style used by English speakers. Anyway, I'll mention it to them, since I'm not their only client."
Reply to Ryojomaru15:
"Since I don't want to turn more than half of my chapter into answering questions, this time I'll answer all your questions directly. This saves me valuable time and a good amount of words.
First, and although it wasn't a question, that was the purpose of the chapter: to show Naruto's foundation for helping Delta, since characters even more monstrous than her are coming soon. For example, my OC knight, who, without fear of exaggeration, is the most powerful knight that could exist in the underworld, to the point that the reaction to having her as an opponent is usually: 'Why, of all your pieces, did you have to send me you?'. But I digress, now then, let's go to each of your seven questions:
Well, yes and no. I never really said 'that not all of them would be part of his harem'. That was a very extreme interpretation of what I actually said. I mean, he's not trying to build a harem with his peerage, like Issei does or Raizer did. I never said it wouldn't be his harem, it's just that it's not something he took into account while building it, but a natural consequence of having formed a purely female peerage and being one of the strongest devils of his generation and in the world in general.
Oh yes, I understood the meaning of your original question, but the thing is, Naruto is against devils with multiple pieces. In his opinion, Okita may be strong and all, but in a real fight, numbers matter. They don't really matter in a Rating Game, but in something like a war, numbers and quality matter, and Naruto seeks both. That is, fifteen powerful pieces or with great growth potential. Natsumi is one of them, although it might be a spoiler, in the future she's called 'the witch of fire and ice' and she's so powerful that she has a unique element in the world: 'cold fire'.
Saying that mutation pieces are rare is… giving Hishibumi too much credit. The bastard says they're rare, but even the most mediocre devil had one. Hell, Rias had five, the bishop she reincarnated Gasper with, and it's said that Issei required eight (four of them mutated pieces). And from what I've heard, the mutation piece doesn't come from chance, but from the devil's power. But that's beside the point right now. Summing up my answer: yes, Naruto has a couple of them. He already burned his rook with Delta, who, again, is an incredibly adorable monster, but a monster at the end of the day. And his other mutation piece… well, let's just say that Naruto is going to break the Evil Piece system thanks to two things. Number one, the Six Eyes that allow him to see the fundamental truth of everything around him, not just magic or energy, but every object around him. And number two, the guy literally has the ability to fundamentally alter the laws of the world at will, since the bastard can literally use cosmos because he has the Six Eyes.
Well, this question has an extremely ambiguous answer. Tell me what ambition is to you personally and I guarantee that Naruto has a very different view of it. His view of ambition is to do anything to discover the secrets of the universe, as long as it doesn't involve dying, since then it stops being an ambition and becomes an ideal, and Naruto despises ideals. But I explain better in question six.
Well, regarding Ravel… I don't know how far you've read in the novels or manga, but her greatest ambition was… to be kidnapped and saved by a hero she could fall in love with. As I said, her character as such lacks ambition right now. Naruto gets along with her quite well, I won't deny it, but not as a member of his peerage. I don't rule her out as a member of his harem, just as a peerage piece, since she has to develop on her own. Hell, in canon she didn't even want her own noble title, just to serve her brother first, then that idiot Issei, and you're giving Naruto very idealistic visions. The guy is literally a real devil. He likes Ravel, but only because they've been friends since diapers, but he doesn't respect her, since as I said, she has no ambition at the moment. She starts to have it a few chapters after a certain event that I don't want to spoil, but it boils down to: 'If this happened to him, who was the true star of the Gremory, what prevents it from happening to me?'.
Well, here's the thing. Lee isn't ambitious, he's idealistic. He has the ideal that he can be the best in the world based solely on Taijutsu. Sairaorg, on the other hand, knows he'll never be the best in the world, he just wants to be the strongest. Sairaorg is ambitious because his way of getting there is not limited to just getting stronger, but to seek allies and unorthodox ways to increase his power, like the Regulus armor. Lee, on the other hand… well, the very definition of an idealist is 'someone willing to die to achieve their ideal' and an ideal is 'a value or principle that is considered a model of perfection to follow. Ideals are unattainable, but serve as a guide for the moral path' and Naruto despises morality, since morality in his eyes hinders you in the pursuit of your ambitions, but above all he hates perfection, to the point that he literally hates Poseidon for proclaiming himself the perfect god, since in his eyes perfection implies being the pinnacle, that you can't go any further and he strongly despises that idea. That's why the idea of idealists is repulsive and disgusting to him, to the point that his nickname is 'the dream killer' because he mercilessly kills idealistic dreamers.
I'm going to pretend you didn't ask this question, because it offends me that you think I don't know what Fairy Tail is."
Chapter 6
N/A: One thing before we start with the chapter... this is the turning point for Naruto. Until now, the guy is a total bastard, but he's not the true monster he's destined to be. That starts at this point in the story, where Sirzechs basically screws up big time.
The years had slipped by silently, like shadows lengthening in the twilight, and now, Delta's purple eyes glowed with an almost palpable emotion, a voracious spark in the gloom. Three men, rough and imposing figures, lunged at her like wild beasts unleashed from their cages. The sickly light of the Siberian sunset reflected off their tattered clothes and the blind determination in their gazes, a disturbing combination that would have made most people back away.
Delta, however, remained unfazed, a statue of power amidst the impending chaos. She wasn't entirely sure who these intruders were, or what the hell they were doing in her boss's favorite training ground, that place consecrated to sweat and effort, soaked in Naruto's magic and the fervor for self-improvement. Honestly, even if she knew, she wouldn't give a damn. The order, concise and resounding like an ancient mandate, echoed in her mind with the force of an oath: "This place was his, and you must defend it at all costs."
Now, with thirteen years freshly completed, the young therianthrope was much stronger, faster, more... lethal than she had been before. Her body, though still in adolescence, was already a testament to strength and agility, sculpted by countless hours of grueling training. Her hair, once long and wild, was now trimmed to her shoulders, a strategic decision that granted her almost unlimited freedom of movement, allowing her limbs to move with lightning speed, with the precision of a scalpel.
She dressed with an elegant pragmatism, a reflection of her growing discipline: black combat boots, sturdy and silent, matching pants that hugged her muscular legs like a second skin, and a rather loose white shirt, which contrasted with the darkness of her other garments, but failed to hide the firmness of her torso, or the throbbing fury in her eyes. But above all, she wore several strategically placed armor plates over her vital points, a symbol that, in these years, had become the key mark, the hallmark of the three members of Naruto Gremory's peerage: a silent declaration of war, etched in steel.
Delta had been training with Naruto for the past three years, learning esoteric and lethal truths that others, in their clumsiness and ignorance, could never have understood without the guidance of a king as brilliant, intelligent, and patient as her boss. For this very reason, without hesitating for an instant, with a fierce determination that propelled her like a wild beast, she lunged at what appeared to be the leader of the group of three intruders.
Not even a shred of hesitation or uncertainty slowed her down. In a display of blinding speed that would have made the fastest of knights envious, the man's two subordinates fell to the ground, their bodies shattered and bloodied, turned into a shapeless mass by the sharp claws of pure, brutal magic that Delta had materialized on her hands. Demonic energy crackled on her claws, a violet fire dancing on their extensions, a reminder of the lesson that Naruto had tattooed in her mind since the first day of training.
"In a Rating Game, fights are a game," her boss had said with a glacial but penetrating tone, "but in the outside world, it's life or death. You must kill them before they can kill you." That truth, brutal and raw, was what drove her actions, and for that reason, Delta wasn't affected, not even a bit, by the scene of carnage, the way the white snow had been stained a vibrant red, the blood dyeing the ground like crimson petals.
The remaining man, spurred by anger and panic, roared with uncontrolled fury, a guttural and primitive sound. He charged at full speed against the young therianthrope, his arm rising and conjuring an ice spear, a crude imitation of the power of cold that Natsumi wielded, a desperate plea for an advantage over the teenager who stood before him.
Delta, with feline grace, simply had to lean back, a fluid and elegant movement, to dodge the spear with extreme ease. Her movements were precise and fast like those of an agile predator. With a disdainful indifference, she caught the spear with both hands, and with a simple squeeze, a brutal force contained in still youthful limbs, she shattered it, the broken fragments falling to the ground like broken crystals. These guys, compared to Natsumi's icy power, were absolutely nothing. She had been willingly used as her queen's sparring partner, her body turned into a canvas for magical experimentation: frozen to the marrow, mercilessly sprayed by scorching diamond dust, whipped by a myriad of unthinkable techniques over the past three years.
So a pathetic low-level ice mage, a mere amateur, was absolutely nothing to her. Still, she refocused all her attention on the man, with a predatory intensity, before channeling her magic into her claws again. The violet energy that enveloped her claws now, instead of forming her characteristic sharp extensions, began to spark with golden electricity, a harbinger of the power that was coming.
However, before she could unleash her technique on the man, he was suddenly frozen, a slow and agonizing process, an icy torture. Frost spread from his feet, slowly climbing up his limbs, enveloping him in a shroud of ice. Out of nowhere, the man burst into a shower of snow and frost, his body reduced to tiny frozen fragments, dissolving into the air like a winter mirage.
"I had him, boss," the wolf girl said with a childish pout, although a hint of pride could be perceived in her tone. Her violet eyes, bright and curious, focused on her king and queen, both having returned from their training in the cosmos of cold, or something like that. The truth is, she still wasn't entirely clear on how it worked; her mind, too practical and simple, didn't allow her to fully comprehend it. But she knew it was something truly amazing. I mean, Natsumi-sama had frozen the guy from a distance of fifty meters, a feat that bordered on the divine.
Naruto, however, ignored the whole situation with studied indifference, and shrugged, as if the intruder's death were a mere reflex, a mundane event. He hadn't ordered Natsumi to attack the man. She did it entirely of her own volition, driven by frustration, a discontent that gnawed at her for still being unable to achieve absolute zero, even after three whole years of training and having gained a couple more tails.
Naruto had grown quite a bit during these last three years. He went from being shorter than Rias to being taller than her, now measuring around one meter seventy-five, a height that placed him as a giant among those his age. His blood-red hair was still much shorter than his brothers', a distinctive trait of his rebellion, but now it was a bit longer than before, and he wore much simpler and more pragmatic clothes, black pants, a short-sleeved white shirt, without unnecessary adornments, and a black jacket with fur lining on the collar, a concession to the Siberian climate, but which reflected his sober style. He, unlike Natsumi and Delta, who wore armor on their bodies, actually dressed completely normally, a detail that made perfect sense to Delta, since her master, with his pragmatic logic, had absolute defense in that strange, almost invisible barrier that he was capable of generating to prevent any attack from hitting him, an invisible membrane of pure power that surrounded him like a protective aura.
His sharp, piercing, and merciless eyes scrutinized the Dantean scene that stretched before them. The shattered and mutilated bodies of the enemies lay scattered across the Siberian ground, a brutal testament to Delta's ferocity. If he wasn't mistaken, they numbered close to a hundred. That bloodbath, that massacre, was undoubtedly an absolute, irrefutable proof that the therianthrope had grown, and grown well, during those three years.
"Anyway, it's probably best to leave soon," Naruto ordered with his melodious voice, an order given with the icy calm of indifference. Methodically, he put away the notebook, the book soaked in demonic knowledge, in a pocket of his jacket, a mechanical gesture in the immensity of the chaos that had been unleashed.
"It's true, we've been here for quite a while now, and they'll find us if we keep hiding here," Natsumi affirmed, her soft and melodic voice tinged with cautious concern, a fear that contrasted with Naruto's coldness and Delta's bloodlust.
Natsumi only received a nod from Naruto, a dry but affirmative gesture... Delta would have too, if not for the fact that the little girl had her eyes slightly wide, her gaze lost and cloudy as she pointed behind her boss and Natsumi, a paralyzing terror in her eyes.
"She's behind us, isn't she?" Naruto asked in his calm and stoic voice, as if he had expected the revelation, anticipating an inevitable encounter.
"Do I tell you the truth, or do we skip straight to the part where you try to escape?" Grayfia asked, her melodious tone unwavering, an almost unsettling tranquility. It was mere formality, and she knew it. And she knew they knew it. Now that she had found them, they couldn't escape her. Well, Naruto could, that was obvious. But he wouldn't abandon his girls, no wonder they were so loyal to him, with an attitude like that. His mentality was clear and stubborn, a life philosophy that dictated: "We all go, or no one goes."
"I'd rather skip to the part where I say it's just a dance, that Raizer is an imbecile and Sirzechs threatened me with something I don't remember unless I stop trying to kill him every time he bothers me, so let's get to the important question. Do I really have to go even though I'm going to try to kill him?" Naruto inquired, his voice dragging a hint of resentment, a manifest aversion. He wasn't trying to reason anymore, but stating an inescapable fact. Raizer Phoenix was a damn imbecile, a vile being who bothered Naruto for the simple fact of being a half-breed and, in his eyes, weaker and more insignificant. Even though, of the seven times they had fought so far, Naruto had won all seven, each victory more crushing than the last.
"You could simply not try to kill him," Grayfia replied dryly, sarcasm hidden behind her seriousness.
"And Raizer could try not to be an imbecile." That was a hard argument to dispute, an irrefutable truth. So Grayfia didn't even try.
For a moment, the Siberian tundra was enveloped in a sepulchral, oppressive silence. A veil of tension covered the air. Naruto stared at Grayfia, his eyes behind his dark glasses like bottomless, cold, and impenetrable wells. And she returned his gaze with the same intensity, the coldness in stark contrast. There was no appropriate response to this whole situation, because honestly, there wasn't one. They were forcing two male devils to get along, two extremely powerful, competitive male devils with completely opposite moral convictions. Obviously, it wasn't going to turn out well, given that, as Naruto had said on more than one occasion, "he never looked for Raizer, it was Raizer who actively looked for him just to bother him, to the point that it seemed he wanted to get beaten up at every party they met at."
In the end, Grayfia simply let out a weary sigh, a sound laden with resignation, and spoke in her firmest tone, an implicit authority.
"You are Lord Gremory's son, you must attend as a show of support for your family."
"When have they ever supported me?" Naruto scoffed with a bitter smile, an irony that reflected the lack of a harmonious relationship in his family. However, his sarcasm vanished instantly. With a swift movement, he turned and returned directly to the underworld. Natsumi and Delta, without a word, followed closely behind.
A few hours later, in the lavishly decorated hall, Naruto's eyes, serene but cunning as those of a lurking predator, lazily watched his older sister. Rias, on the other hand, glared at him, her blue-green eyes, normally bright and curious, turned into wells of resentment. The silence lingered for several tense minutes, interrupted only by the murmur of the crowd and the clinking of glasses. Finally, Naruto, with a small yawn that pretended to be indifferent but betrayed deep boredom, broke the silence. That confrontation happened so often that he frankly didn't care anymore. In fact, he hadn't cared for a long time.
"Rias, do you really have to glare at me just because we have to stand next to each other?" Naruto finally asked, his voice devoid of emotion, a tone of contained annoyance. It wasn't that his sister's accusing look bothered him, but... well, okay, it did bother him. It was incredibly annoying.
"I don't like being near monsters," Rias retorted sharply, her voice laden with subtle venom, poorly disguised contempt.
"Neither do I like being near spoiled bitches, but you don't see me glaring at you, do you?" Naruto countered dryly, his tone cold and blood-chilling.
To be honest, everyone in the Gremory group had stopped trying to solve that problem a long time ago. Their arguments and disputes had become a recurring spectacle, an exasperating routine. Sirzechs, with his blind affection for his sister, would immediately side with Rias. Venelana, Naruto and Rias' mother, didn't give a damn about what her husband's little half-breed said, showing him disinterest. And Zeoticus, their father, knew that intervening in his children's arguments would only end with Naruto being proven right by argumentation, a bitter victory that Sirzechs would systematically deny just because Naruto wasn't Rias-chan.
"Anyway, let's go Natsumi, Delta. If I'm going to ignore an imbecile, I prefer it to be the one I don't have at home," Naruto said with disdainful coldness. With that said, the two girls quickly followed Naruto, his slender figure standing out in the crowd. They headed straight for a table in a secluded corner of the hall. Naruto sat down with elegant indifference, his gaze lost in nothingness, yet expectant. He waited patiently for Raizer to come and receive his usual beating.
"He just insulted me," Rias asked, her voice broken by surprise and indignation. She was genuinely bewildered.
"You insulted him first," Koneko replied dryly, her voice devoid of emotion, a cruel objectivity. For the little Nekomata, the situation was evident. Naruto wasn't a monster. He was simply stronger than Rias, had more ambition, and far fewer scruples. To the little Nekomata, it was clear that Rias was jealous of her brother, but too proud to admit it.
Twenty minutes later, in that hall filled with nobles and devils, the king and queen of the Gremory clan's youngest peerage were having a pleasant conversation, a calm and civilized discussion that strongly contrasted with their previous hostilities. Their voices mingled with the murmur of the crowd as they heatedly debated one of the topics Natsumi had been focused on in recent months, an almost morbid obsession that consumed her completely. An ambitious project, an investigation that required Naruto's help, as it involved a concept so novel and unique that his perspective, his brilliant mind, was truly invaluable.
"To be completely honest, it's not the first time I've heard such a concept," Naruto spoke calmly, his tone paused and serene, as his analytical mind deeply studied the idea Natsumi had presented. His eyes, hidden behind his dark glasses, scrutinized every detail, every possibility. "But almost no one has achieved it, and the few who have done so jealously guard their methods, like jealous guardians of an ancestral secret."
"Think of it as a proof of concept," Natsumi said with an innocent smile, a radiant expression that lit up her face, a mischievous spark in her hazel eyes.
"A proof of concept with an energy that shapes the laws of reality to our whim, like cosmos, and that could blow us to pieces if it goes wrong?" Naruto asked, his usual calm breaking slightly, switching from his tranquil and conciliatory tone to a drier and harsher one, warning of the impending danger. Cosmos was a force as incredibly powerful as it was volatile, an untamed, almost uncontrollable energy. That's why they always trained from the most basic concepts, the foundations of that power.
Natsumi opened her mouth to protest, trying to deny that possibility. But in the end, faced with the icy gaze and the implicit warning, she could only sigh resignedly.
"Back to the basics then?" she asked weakly, her voice laden with disappointment, as she looked at Naruto with her big, teary eyes, like a child facing a reprimand.
¡Aquí tienes la traducción al inglés de la página 5 del Capítulo 6!
Page 5.
"Rather, to develop your concept in your free time," Naruto responded with a conciliatory tone, trying to soften his previous warning, gently stroking Natsumi's head, a gesture that made the kitsune begin to purr softly, enjoying that display of affection, that contact.
"Aunt Natsumi is still trying things she's not ready for," a childish voice echoed near the table, making Naruto finally look up. Delta, with her usual recklessness, held her little nephew, Milicas, on her lap, a mischievous child who didn't seem to fear Naruto, a palpable proof of the sweetness disguised as coldness of the boy. It wasn't that he had anything against the child, quite the opposite. But when had he arrived?
"I don't try things I'm not ready for," Natsumi said with a childish pout, rolling her eyes at the therianthrope's comment. The kitsune's reaction caused the nine-year-old boy to giggle, enjoying the argument.
"Aurora Execution Aunt Natsumi," Milicas replied with a big childish smile, making Naruto laugh heartily. That had been a fun day, an unforgettable anecdote. Natsumi had tried to overcome Aurora Execution with her own fire technique, an attempt that had turned out terribly wrong.
"It was only once," Natsumi said with a pout, slightly puffing out her cheeks, because no one let her forget that she tried to surpass Naruto using the most powerful cold technique with a basic fire technique.
"Aurora Execution, are you really that geeky, dude?" Sairaorg joked, approaching the table and taking a seat next to Naruto. The redhead, with an almost inhuman coldness and intelligence, simply shrugged, downplaying the matter.
"I thought it was disrespectful to change the name," he replied, adopting a tone of studied indifference.
"You changed the name of the aurora borealis," Milicas intervened in what was clearly not a gesture of help, but simply making it clear that he only did that with cool names while others, like the aurora borealis itself, he changed the names completely.
"It sounded bland," Naruto defended himself, shrugging with apparent innocence.
"And polar cold doesn't?" Sairaorg joked. The muscular devil simply grunted a little, as he honestly wasn't good at naming things, a flaw that everyone knew.
"You know I'm not good at naming things," the redhead complained with a sigh of resignation, seriously, because people assumed that a guy obsessed with the secrets of the universe could name things, a common but frustrating mistake.
Sairaorg, with his imposing figure, simply chuckled, a laugh that resonated in the hall, a deep and powerful sound that quickly spread to Milicas. The little boy burst into childish laughter, his joy infecting the atmosphere. Soon, the two girls, Natsumi and Delta, joined in the laughter, releasing the tension in the air. Finally, Naruto, with a hint of embarrassment on his face, couldn't help but succumb to the humor of the situation. He admitted, even grudgingly, that the scene, despite its ridiculous nature, was quite comical.
"Naruto, are you free soon?" Sairaorg asked after the laughter subsided, a casual question that masked an underlying desire. The question caused the redhead to raise an eyebrow, showing his surprise.
"Sure, do you need help with something?" Naruto replied with indifference, although in his mind he struggled against guilt. The truth is, he never had free time. He had finally given up on his vain search for Galium, and now, he had a new mission, a renewed obsession: to create his own metal with those properties, a task that consumed him. He had been diligently studying alchemy for the past few months, immersed in arcane tomes and complex experiments. But he could always dedicate some time to his friend, whom he appreciated despite their differences.
"Nothing special, I just wanted to train with you," Sairaorg said with a challenging smile, a smile that concealed an almost obsessive desire to measure his strength against Naruto's, a longing that drove them in every encounter. "After all, I can say that in recent years you have become much stronger, a formidable warrior."
"You're not the only one," Naruto said with a hint of irony, a barely perceptible smile curving his lips, obviously referring to the growth of his friend's own strength. Both warriors, in their constant pursuit of self-improvement, had reached levels of power unimaginable years ago.
Unfortunately for both of them, the conversation stopped at the very moment they heard a mocking laugh, an insidious melody that was getting closer and closer to their table, resonating in the hall and interrupting their interaction. The sound, familiar and exasperating, made Naruto groan in his mind, trying to contain a torrent of anger. He began counting to a hundred in his mind, a useless strategy to regain composure. Why couldn't they ever have a dance where Raizer, arrogant and despicable, didn't act like an imbecile?
"This half-breed, strong? Please, he couldn't even break a paper with a sword!" Raizer scoffed in his arrogant and haughty voice, looking at Naruto with disdain. The redhead, despite wanting to put Raizer in a box and launch him to the moon, had reached eighty-five in his count, barely managing to contain his latent anger and his desires for revenge.
"Didn't he send you to the hospital for two months the last time you fought, and even nullified your regeneration? Did you forget so quickly?" Milicas reminded him, his innocent voice imbued with malice, adding fuel to the fire. That encounter had been front-page news, a story that spread throughout the corners of the Underworld for months. Hell, he remembered Rias saying many times, with a mix of envy and admiration, that she would find a way to emulate that feat with the power of Destruction. It must be said that, so far, she had not had any success in her research.
Naruto, knowing that Raizer would respond poorly to his nephew, intervened and had to interrupt his torturous counting.
"Raizer, we both know how this ends. You insult me, I make it clear to you that you are such an incredibly mediocre person that I have better things to do than waste my time with you. You get angry, you insult me even more, I don't respond, you hit me, and I send you to the hospital for months. So, for a single dance, can we just pretend the other doesn't exist and ignore each other? Believe it or not, humiliating you gives me no pleasure," Naruto requested with studied calmness, his voice quiet and firm, but with a hint of coldness and annoyance. Honestly, he was tired of the same routine, the eternal confrontation that, instead of being a fight, had become a tedious and repetitive script.
"Charming words, half-breed, but it's not as if you really deserved to receive anything worth considering," Raizer said with a wave of his hand, dismissing Naruto's words with disdain.
"If I'm not worth your consideration, why do you always seem to seek me out?" Naruto inquired with his calm but penetrating voice, a tone that conveyed confidence. I mean, he never looked for Raizer, nor did he try to avoid him. The Phoenix was always the one who sought that confrontation, trying, with very little success, to annoy Naruto.
The Phoenix stared at Naruto for a few moments, a brief lapse of time where his eyes reflected a glimpse of doubt, considering his words. Finally, he realized that he was right. The truth hit him like an iron fist. But his inflated ego, his wounded pride, would not allow him to admit that a half-breed, even if he was one his parents wanted at all costs as Ravel's husband, beat him in a battle of wits.
"Of course I don't consider you, something that may seem like a thought to a simpleton like you is a fleeting thought to me," he finally said, with studied arrogance, puffing out his chest, causing everyone present to raise an eyebrow, incredulous at the Phoenix's stupidity.
"You just insulted yourself, idiot," Naruto said dryly, with a mocking tone, his voice laden with irony. He couldn't believe that Raizer had insulted himself in a desperate attempt to save face.
At that moment, all pretenses of courtesy and kindness... not that there had been many... disappeared instantly. Raizer, his face reddened with anger, glared at Naruto, his eyes shining with barely contained rage. He leaned over the table, his hands gripping the edge with a trembling force, not without first warning:
"Listen to me, little half-breed, this is my Dance."
Raizer's voice vibrated with a barely contained threat, a repressed roar that threatened to erupt at any moment.
"It's your sister's birthday," Sairaorg said dryly, breaking the tension with a dry and pragmatic tone. Hell, Ravel had literally asked her brother not to make a scene today. It was an ignored plea, a warning disregarded by the vehement Phoenix.
"This is my house!" Raizer shouted, interrupting his friend's words and completely ignoring him, blinded by the perceived insult to his person, an attack on his ego.
"It's your father's," Naruto corrected with the same dryness as Sairaorg, his voice devoid of emotion, a tone of glacial indifference.
"That means my rules! That makes my words law! Do you understand?" Raizer, like a volcano about to erupt, now seethed with uncontrolled fury, his face contorted with anger. "So, if I say that you are a half-breed who doesn't even deserve to breathe the same air as the stray dogs you always rescue... then that means that..."
Raizer's voice, which had previously resonated in the hall, slowly faded away. The Phoenix devil noticed an unusually glaring look from his older brother, looking at him sternly from across the table. And Naruto's cold eyes, the Six Eyes, watching him with astonishing intensity, a peculiar gleam in them, made him realize that, more than saving his honor from Naruto's supposed insults, he had only dug his own grave.
"Let it be known... that I tolerated him more than other times," Naruto finally said, with a terrifying calmness. His fingers, one by one, cracked with a dull and menacing sound, a macabre creak that foretold Raizer that his hospital bed awaited him once again, a new recovery trip.
"I second that," Ruval affirmed, with a taciturn tone. Apparently, Raizer, in his idiocy, did not understand that his family desired, yearned for, and sought the power of those legendary Six Eyes.
At the same time that tense confrontation between Naruto and the idiot Phoenix was taking place, Sirzechs was sitting at a large luxurious table, sharing space with Serafall, as well as the lords and ladies of the Gremory, Sitri, and Phoenix houses. The hall, lavishly decorated, was a melting pot of power and elegance, the air imbued with mundane conversations and analytical gazes.
"By the way, Sirzechs-tan, I'm going to take Naruto-tan on my trip to Kyoto, to teach him politics and stuff. Do you mind? No, right?" Serafall asked cheerfully, her tone lively and carefree, a mask that barely hid the importance of her request.
"Why do you want to take my brother on a negotiation trip?" Sirzechs asked, raising an eyebrow, his voice tinged with genuine curiosity.
"Because I can't take you, since Amaterasu still wants your head on a silver platter, and rightfully so. She can't stand your sister, and threatened to turn her to ashes if she sets foot in Japan. And she found out that Naru-tan hates you and in her own words: 'if the kid hates the kitty killer, then he's alright in my books.'" Everyone in the hall wisely chose to say nothing to that clarification, a prudent choice, since every point was true, a frustrating reality, especially for Rias, who longed with all her heart to visit the land of the rising sun someday. But the queen goddess of those lands had a deep hatred for her, just for being associated with her hated younger brother.
"He doesn't hate me," Sirzechs said weakly, trying to deny it. His voice conveyed a mix of sadness and resignation.
"If it makes you feel better to think that..." Serafall said with elegant indifference. It was an open secret, an uncomfortable truth, that Naruto hated Sirzechs for his total and absolute lack of ambition. That feeling was a persistent murmur in the Underworld.
Before Sirzechs could articulate a response, the unmistakable and resounding scream of "Aurora Execution" echoed loudly throughout the room, breaking the tension in the hall. A few seconds later, Raizer's frost-shattered body flew past them, a brutal and humiliating sight. Followed by Naruto's unmistakable icy wind, a freezing breath that swept through the room, and pieces of ice that shot out at high speed in all directions. The incident caused many devils to jump aside in fear, trying to avoid being pierced by the ice shards, which followed Raizer's flight like deadly projectiles.
"What just happened?" Venelana asked, completely confused and alarmed, her voice broken by surprise and shock, as everyone in the hall watched Raizer's body impact the wall, only to suddenly burst into flames. After the impact, he stood up, sore and almost charred.
"Fuck you, half-breed!" Raizer shouted angrily, but his voice cracked, paling noticeably as he saw the frozen path of destruction his own body had caused, a lethal groove of ice that stretched across the hall.
"How original, it's not like you've said that to me before... 32 times counting this one," Naruto replied, a penetrating coldness reflected in his gaze and voice. His tone was calm, but laden with biting irony, a patience at its limit. The phrase, repeated during so many encounters, had become a pathetic greeting. That made it clear to everyone present what had happened: Naruto, for his part, demonstrated control and mastery. Not that Lord and Lady Phoenix doubted it for a minute.
For there stood Naruto Gremory, upright and calm in the middle of the icy path, his blue eyes, the Six Eyes, shining with a supernatural intensity. In his right fist, an icy wind technique glowed like a star, a demonstration of pure, uncontrollable power. It was evident. Raizer had enraged him... again.
"I warned you twice. I wanted to ignore you, pretend you don't exist, and have you pretend I don't exist," Naruto commented dryly, with an icy tone, a voice trembling with contained rage. For him, dealing with Raizer was a tedious routine. Asking Raizer to do something mature and logical was like asking Sirzechs to stop being partially idiotic towards his younger sister. "But no... you always have to be an idiot."
The older teenager, Raizer, simply growled at Naruto's words, in a pathetic display of impotence. He unleashed his magic, and, reflexively, began to envelop himself in flames. The dancing tongues licked his body, while nearby objects burned under the Phoenix's rather surprising power.
"I control cold, you idiot, the heat of your fire is nothing to me," Naruto said in his dry voice.
At that very moment, Naruto's body began to emanate a bright, whitish aura, a cold and deadly halo. That primordial energy, the cosmos, began to freeze the entire place, invading the room, enveloping everything in frost. Even Raizer's own flames, crackling with a scorching heat, began to tremble before the redhead's icy power. The Phoenix, as he struggled, began to tremble uncontrollably from the unnatural cold that Naruto exuded at that moment, his skin turning into a layer of frost.
Raizer, overwhelmed by uncontrollable rage, could only growl furiously, like a wounded animal. Desperate, he tripled the projection of his magic, a desperate attempt to prevail. He flatly refused to be surpassed by Naruto, who, with burning arrogance, wasn't even bothering to increase his own.
"Back off!"
With that authoritative shout, an imposing roar that echoed through the hall, no one in the room dared to utter another word, a sudden silence that fell upon those present like a heavy slab.
For standing there, his imposing figure dominating the room, glaring at the two teenagers, stood Sirzechs Lucifer. His presence radiated a contained fury, an oppressive power that reminded everyone that he was a devil king, and one who had earned a bloody and memorable infamy during the civil war.
However, despite his king's order, Raizer, with awkward inertia, obeyed instantly. Naruto, on the other hand, took much longer to comply. He only withdrew his dangerous projection after feeling his older brother's penetrating gaze, a glacial and authoritative look that pierced him like a spear.
"Now, I would like an explanation," the devil king said sternly, approaching the two teenagers, Raizer and Naruto, closely followed by their parents, eager to know what had happened.
"Do you want the real one or the one this idiot will give you, even if he knows his parents won't believe him, even grudgingly?" Naruto asked with a brazen tone, crossing his arms indifferently. His composure was unwavering, his attitude defiant. For many in the hall, for the nobles, for the ladies, for the royalty, it was truly fascinating that the little devil, Lord Gremory's son, did not shrink under his older brother's glaring look. That impudence was a hallmark of his personality.
"Raizer came to Naruto's table, where he was conversing amicably with your cousin, Sairaorg, and your little son. But my brother, imbued with his usual arrogance and motivated by a wounded ego, insulted your brother. And when Naruto, finally, lost his patience and saw red, he simply did what always happens when Raizer provokes him, which has become a routine as heavy as it is exasperating: he responded with force," Ruval explained, with an objective but worried tone, as he approached the scene.
"Is that true?" Sirzechs asked in a firm voice, his inquisitive gaze scrutinizing the two teenage devils, Naruto and Raizer. A shiver ran down Raizer's spine, causing him to shrink instantly, knowing that his parents, upon learning what had happened, would definitely give him a beating later. The Maou's gaze, however, did not elicit any reaction from Naruto.
"You just heard it from a guy who, unlike others, isn't partial to his younger brother," Naruto commented dryly, his voice devoid of emotion. It was a direct and venomous hint towards his older brother.
"I see..." Sirzechs said dryly, assimilating the information. He pondered for a moment. "However, even though Raizer Phoenix provoked the incident, provoking you, you responded with excessive force. Therefore, you will pay for all the damage that..."
"Raizer will pay for it," Lord Phoenix interrupted sharply. His tone left no room for discussion. If anyone was to pay for this disaster, it was his idiot son. He constantly insisted on provoking the asset his family desired more than anything in the Underworld.
"It's your choice, in that case..." Sirzechs sentenced in a firm voice, an unusual harshness in his tone. His words echoed through the hall, a decree that carried immense weight. "Naruto, from now on, you will be deprived of all monetary, personal, and material positions of the Gremory clan for at least three years."
"Idiot," Lord Phoenix muttered through his teeth, with a whisper that betrayed his frustration, his gaze fixed on Sirzechs. The patriarch was aware that his devil brother did not realize the grave mistake he had just made.
Naruto, for his part, reacted in a strange way. At first, he was slightly stunned for a few seconds, as if the impact of his brother's words left him momentarily speechless. But then, his expression returned to being impassive. His face became devoid of emotion again. He recomposed himself quickly and with a fluid gesture, stood up, turning away from the family that decided to exile him.
"Don't turn your back on me, Naruto," Sirzechs shouted at his younger brother. His voice, normally firm and authoritative, sounded with a hint of uncertainty.
Naruto, imperturbable, didn't even bother to turn around to respond.
"You just exiled me, idiot. I'm not turning my back on you. I'm complying with your order," Naruto replied with his sharp and cold voice, his tone as icy as the Siberian winter. It was evident. His brother had been, as always, an idiot who did not measure the real consequences of his words.
"I didn't mean..." Sirzechs' voice cracked for an instant, surprisingly soft and laden with doubt. The Devil King did not understand how Naruto could interpret his words that way.
"You did. Not only that. You disowned him as a member of the Gremory clan, by stripping him of monetary possessions, and officially removed the financial support of your house. No clan allied with you, which is basically everyone in the Underworld, can help him financially. By stripping him of his personal positions, you disown him as your brother, something hurtful. And he can only keep the noble title, being something that is not from Gremory, but his, a talent he acquired through his own merit. And by stripping him of his material positions... well, I hope you at least let him keep his clothes," Serafall, with sadness in her eyes, had lost all her joy and liveliness at that moment. She looked at Sirzechs as what he really was, a complete and absolute idiot.
"I didn't want... I didn't think that..." Sirzechs, normally confident and eloquent, stammered unable to find the right words. His voice, which normally resonated with authority, now sounded insecure, broken. He really didn't know what to say at that moment. He did not understand the scope of his words, he was not able to digest the power that his actions had exerted.
"That's the problem, Sirzechs. You never think... You act on impulse, the consequences hit you, and only then, with the disaster consummated, you think and realize that you are nothing more than an idiot." Naruto's sentence cut through the air, his voice a dagger of ice, each word precise and laden with overwhelming contempt. He didn't even bother to look at his brother, his figure remaining with his back turned, firm and unwavering.
"Natsumi, Delta, we're leaving."
With an authoritative tone, he sentenced his departure, his voice sounding much colder and more distant than it ever had before.
End of chapter.