The Top Ten

VI

The Shinto Faction

(2 months left till the Core Stone resurfaces)

Naruto rubbed his chin as he looked at his reflection. He expected that his appearance would change after his ascension. He just hoped it was not a drastic change, but surprisingly the changes were very subtle.

Yes, his physical appearance went through some minor changes. His hair color changed to silver, a brighter shade than Kakashi’s if it was even possible. He had a feeling that his old sensei would be proud.

Naruto blinked. Now that he thought about it, most of his sensei had silver-colored hair. Yes, each had their unique shade, but in the end, it was silver.

What changed the most was his Rinnegan. Well, that was a given. Honestly, a part of Naruto was very excited to see how his ascension would affect his eyes. And affect it did. He still remembered the feeling when he first activated his eyes after his ascension.

The first time he activated his Rinnegan in this dimension, he felt giddy, as if he had just received the best birthday present ever. But this time, it was different. The sight of his own Rinnegan mesmerized him. It was exceptionally striking to the point that it felt otherworldly. It sounded like he was being a narcissist, but that was the truth. His Rinnegan before was very different from the original as well. It had the standard pattern, but the sclera had a golden hue rather than the normal silver-purple one. But now? It was as if he had an ‘Inverse’ Rinnegan. When activated, the sclera of his eyes would be black, while the rings on his eyes would be white.

It looked freaking awesome.

“Are you feeling okay, Naruto?”

The seriousness in Amaterasu’s tone was not lost to Naruto, but he still could not help but let out a lighthearted chuckle. It looked like Amaterasu was also becoming a worrywart like Yasaka. Well, he could not blame her for this though, since it was his fault, somewhat.

“Yes, I am fine, Ba-chan~”

And just like that, Amaterasu turned away, huffing. He knew she did not mind his new way of addressing her, it was just that she was not used to it.

The reason behind this was the recent turn of events. What Amaterasu told him two weeks ago was not something only she, Susanoo, and Tsukuyomi desired. It turned out that the whole Shinto faction was aware of it and was gladly anticipating the merging between the Avalon Kingdom and the Shinto faction. In fact, not a single soul in the Shinto faction would mind if Naruto would take the overall leading position after the merging.

This was a huge deal. They were not talking about a simple alliance but a complete union between them. Naruto knew, well technically, a lot of them knew that this would affect the foundation of how the Avalon Kingdom and the Shinto faction were currently running. Even after knowing that, everyone from the Shinto faction was eagerly waiting for this. But what baffled Naruto was that they were willing to let Avalon Kingdom take the lead after the union.

Naruto did not take long to figure out the main reason behind this. It was simple… ‘Power’. Other than the main three, the Shinto faction did not have anyone who could be considered powerful. Amaterasu was a Super class being, but she was on the lower side, and as for Susanoo and Tsukuyomi, both of them were on the highest level of the Ultimate class. From the Avalon Kingdom’s side, even without Naruto, they had Yasaka, Jiraiya, and August, all of whom were also on the same level as Susanoo and Tsukuyomi; Jiraiya and Yasaka almost breaking into the ‘Super’ class. Then there were Mephisto and Sesshomaru, who were also quite strong Ultimate class beings. And the list could go on. That was just the individuals only, then there was the Kingdom’s elite army and advanced technology.

Also, the ‘Power’ was not the only main deciding factor here. According to Amaterasu, she and her companions were not as passionate, charismatic, and innovative as Naruto and his friends were. So to Amaterasu, it did not make any sense for the Shinto faction to be the one holding the reins after the merge. Well, Naruto did have many counterarguments, but she shut him down by saying that she and the rest of the Shinto faction trusted him; and they also knew that he would be fair and respectful toward them regardless of the outcome.

Seeing that they were this determined, Naruto did not push anymore.

Now the main question was, how to unite a Divine faction with thousands of years of legacy and a newly formed Kingdom housing insanely powerful individuals and armies? The simple answer was marriage. No, he was not marrying someone new. Long story short, Yasaka was now officially adopted by Amaterasu, making the Shinto Goddess Naruto’s actual mother-in-law.

Well, it was true that things would have been much easier if Naruto had been the one adopted. But Naruto and Jiraiya thought this was the perfect chance for Yasaka to go beyond her limits.

She and Jiraiya both reached their limit regarding their power a long time ago. But like Naruto, they kept pushing it, but unfortunately, both came to a dead-end. And it had been like that for years. But as usual, Jiraiya was not sitting around doing nothing. He was investing a considerable amount of time and resources to figure out new ways for a breakthrough. Occasionally, he would go on expeditions to ancient runes and forgotten lands searching for answers. Even though the result was not satisfactory enough for him, Jiraiya was making progress, nonetheless. Unfortunately, Yasaka did not have that luxury. Sure, she could invest the same amount of resources, but she did not have the time to do it. After all, she was the Kingdom’s first queen and the head of the Shinto Shrine Priestesses. At the same time, she always made sure never to neglect her duties as a wife and a mother.

Truthfully, it was because she and August were so responsible with their duties that Naruto had much less workload than his time as the Hokage.

So, Naruto talked to Amaterasu and told her the plan. And much to his surprise, she agreed to it in a heartbeat. And the surprise did not end there. Amaterasu wanted to make sure that Yasaka was not her daughter just in name. She wanted Yasaka to be her protégé, her successor. Meaning if something were to happen to Amaterasu, Yasaka could take the position of the chief Goddess of the Shinto faction unchallenged. Well, in regards to challenges, she would not have faced much from the start seeing how popular she was with the masses of the Kingdom as well as with the deities of the Shinto faction.

But there were certain steps… procedures that his wife would have to go through first. And that was why Yasaka was currently going through her ascension as well. Also, since Yasaka was already a powerful deity and a highly ranked Shinto priestess, Amaterasu believed that her ascension would not take as long as Naruto’s. Plus, there was the fact that Yasaka was exposed to divine energy from an early stage of her life, unlike Naruto. Lastly, Naruto was also actively helping with her ascension. Now Naruto was not bragging here, but to him, he could be considered as the most contributor out of all of them. In short, Yasaka would complete her ascension to Godhood within weeks, whereas Naruto took several months.

“I know you love your wife dearly, Naruto,” Amaterasu’s words brought him back from his daze. Guess the stupid smile he had now told Amaterasu what he was thinking. But she was not done, “But you must take it easy. You could have at least let me help you with the alteration of her body.”

Naruto was this close to arguing that this was not that big of a deal but kept his mouth shut. Yes, he was the only one modifying his wife’s body so that she would have the chakra network after her ascension. It was true that Amaterasu wanted to help, but he rejected it. After all, he was the only one with first-hand experience creating a chakra network, so he did not want to take any risks. In the end, everyone had to agree with it.

So was it a delicate task? Yes, absolutely. He had to create the chakra network from scratch while making sure the old power structure in her body would not break down. One wrong move and it might cripple the user. But was it taxing on him? Nope. He just had to be very focused during the procedure. The whole process took little toll on his body or power. He even went further and helped her by tweaking her power here and there. Well, maybe creating the mini time room for her to train her new body was pushing a bit. But he knew from experience that it would take some time to get used to the new body and the power that came with it.

“And then, there is the third city you are helping to….”

“Okay, okay~ I get it. I am working too hard,” Naruto knew that if he kept quiet, Amaterasu would not stop. For some reason, she was on a roll. But, “Ba-chan, you know why I am doing all these. The core stone will resurface within the next two months. We have one shot at making all of these work.”

Amaterasu sighed heavily. She finally turned to look at Naruto again, and her expression became gentle, “The core stone will resurface again,” She immediately raised her hand to stop Naruto from replying, “Yes, it will take another hundred years. And because of the recent turn of events, you do not want to wait that long.”

“It’s not that I do not want to, it’s just that I cannot wait that long.” Naruto corrected her.

“Unfortunately, I completely understand your burden.” Amaterasu closed her eyes and started rubbing the bridge of her nose, “And instead of helping you reduce the burden, we are just putting more crap to it.”

It was official. Amaterasu was very stressed. She would only cuss, mild ones, of course, when she was frustrated or depressed. It seemed that it was time for his famous ‘Talk-no-Jutsu’.

“My turn,” Naruto cracked his neck and straightened his posture, Amaterasu was confused at his gesture, but Naruto ignored that, “You are saying that you are putting more crap to my burden, your words, not mine. Then let’s see if the recent events agree with your statement or no, shall we?”

Naruto raised his index finger, “First, Tsukuyomi stayed by my side the whole time during my ascension. And we are talking about seven months. And let’s not forget that you would come every day and spend at least four hours to ensure every part of the process went smoothly. So I can safely say that my ascension would not have been completed within seven months if it was not for all of your efforts.”

Then the middle finger went up, “Second, the amount of time and guidance you gave us for this merge topic is immeasurable. We basically did not have to do anything since you made sure that every single deity from your faction understood what they would expect from this merge. You covered everything in the changes that will be coming, the future of the faction. Because of that, we had more than enough time to focus on other matters.”

Next came the ring finger, “Third, regarding Yasaka’s ascension, yes, I am the one who created the body and tweaked her power. Yes, I also spent most of my time with her, but I was not the one who was with her twenty-four-seven. Also, you will be the one who will accompany her to the mini-time chamber and will personally train her. The only reason you are not with her right now is because she is at the last stage, and the Shinto priestesses are taking care of this part. But still, you made sure to leave a fraction of your power beside her in case you need to return to help. So right now, you should be resting, yet here you are.”

Amaterasu raised her eyebrow delicately, but Naruto did not stop. This time, he was on a roll, “I came this far, accomplished so many objectives only because I have friends and families like you. Yes, because of the nature and scale of my power, I have to take the heaviest and the flashiest side of certain matters and projects. But that does not mean I am working alone or shouldering everything by myself.” Then he looked toward the portal before him, “Do you know what I will do now? I am going to spend the whole morning and afternoon with Kunou. Why? Because even without me, you will ensure Yasaka’s ascension goes smoothly. Even without me, Tsukuyomi and Jiraiya will keep working on the third city. Even without me, Susanoo and August will make sure that all the new clans and refugees properly settle down in the second city. You see where I am going with this, Ba-chan?”

Amaterasu did not say anything for the whole two minutes. But during this entire time, both kept staring at each other. Finally, Amaterasu broke the gaze with a small smile as she spoke softly, “You and your pep talk.”

With that, she moved forward and passed through the portal. Naruto followed behind her with his huge trademark smile.

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X

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Somewhere in Europe

(1 month left till the Core Stone resurfaces)

Yasaka, the Queen of the Avalon Kingdom and the protégé of the Shinto Goddess Amaterasu let out a tired sigh. With everything happening to and around her, she should be ecstatic by all means. Unfortunately, even with the combined talent of Naruto and Jiraiya, they could not predict every complication coming their way. Yes, her ascension to Godhood went without a hitch. And the power she gained after her ascension, it was indescribable. She felt like she had been reborn… again. But she knew this was not her limit. On the contrary, this was just a new beginning. She now had the opportunity to finally reach her envisioned self, the one that could truly stand beside her husband. She just needed to practice with her newly acquired energy and had to spend a considerable amount of time exploring the boundaries of her powers. That was what she was supposed to be doing right now, training with Lady Amaterasu to understand her power better. Unfortunately, they had to postpone it.

The Carmilla faction, the female-dominant vampire faction, had asked for help. It was urgent. But something was off, the way the plea was relayed indicated that there was more to it than they were letting on. It was not much of a surprise, after all, there were not any factions out there who would willingly reveal their secrets to others, even if they required help. But unfortunately, the Avalon Kingdom did not have anyone who could handle such a delicate matter, anyone who was available.

So, though slightly reluctant, Yasaka volunteered to oversee the situation. And that was why she was currently in the main castle of the Carmilla faction.

Yasaka felt the new enchantments when she entered the designated chamber. She was surprised to see how heavily guarded the castle was. Though they were nowhere near the Kingdom’s level, she had to admit that the enchantments were still quite impressive.

“Welcome to the Carmilla Castle. My name is Elmenhilde Karnstein, heiress of the noble house of Karnstein,” The vampire called Elmenhilde was quite respectful, but Yasaka could tell she was slightly nervous. She could also sense some reluctance, but Elmenhilde hid her emotions well.

“The honor is mine, Lady Elmenhilde,” Yasaka replied politely.

Elmenhilde motioned toward the empty seats. As they sat down, some servants came in and served them refreshments, though Elmenhilde only took one glass of red wine.

“First, I would like to thank you once again on behalf of the Carmilla faction for your swift reply.” Elmenhilde started, “As mentioned through our envoy, we found some suspicious activities around this region.” There was a slight pause, “We believe that the Tepes faction is acquiring some outside help. As much as we would like to believe that this is something minor and we can take care of it ourselves, recent events indicate that this might not be the case.”

This time the pause was longer.

“If it is the protection your faction seeks, we can certainly help.” Yasaka replied, though her tone was wary, “But you have yet to specify what kind of help you are seeking from us. Certainly, what your envoy stated was not vague, but it raised some concerns. Even now, you are being quite abstract in your explanation.”

Instead of answering immediately, Elmenhilde drank her wine. Rude it may be, it was a way to hide her nervousness, or maybe it was to buy her some time, Yasaka could not tell it precisely.

“The Tepes faction is desperate. They made a blunder, and they are trying to fix it. But it is not their desperation which is worrying us. It is the time. Although we are just a small faction, we know what is happening worldwide. The Core Stone is going to resurface soon, very soon. And usually, conflicts break out after the resurface, mostly between the medium-rank factions. But regardless of the ranks, all the factions, especially smaller ones like us, get affected by these conflicts.”

“You believe some other faction is inciting this fight,” Yasaka frowned.

“That is the thing,” The discomfort in Elmenhilde’s face was now apparent to her, “The Tepes faction is not initiating a fight, they are going all out. They had attacked our borders more than five times just last week. They had taken out two villages, leaving no survivor. And it is not like they are winning all the fights. They are losing just as badly. They want war. That much is clear. But why now? Why so badly?” The last part, she said through gritted teeth.

Yasaka remained quiet for some time. She could sense that the situation was more delicate than they initially thought. Not because of what she heard from her it was because of what she did not hear from her. According to the intel Jiraiya gathered, the Carmilla faction was sheltering a runaway Tepes royalty. That alone was enough to spark a war. If so, the Avalon Kingdom would not interfere since the fault was on both sides. Unfortunately, movements from the Greek faction were seen around Europe in the last couple of months. And they were being very subtle about it. Which meant somewhere something terrible was going to happen soon. Maybe …

“Lady Yasaka,” Yasaka touched her earrings when she heard Magari’s grave tone over the communication. Something told her that she was not going to like the news she was about to receive.

“Ares of the Greek has been spotted.”

That message alone was enough to tell Yasaka how dire the situation had just become. She turned toward Elmenhilde, who went paler, probably seeing her enraged expression, “Your faction will not survive till the next dawn if you do not tell me everything.”

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Ares’ POV

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The pathetic screams of the weak as their feeble lives slowly drained away were like music to his ear. He was a cruel and ruthless God, he knew that. He understood why. And he accepted it with open arms. After all, that was what it meant to be a God of War, to be twisted and merciless beyond common sense. It was the same for Gods of War from other pantheons as well. But the thing was, he was different from them.

He loved war.

The blood,

The screams,

The suffering,

The torture,

The deaths… He cherished every aspect of the war, be it big or small, relevant or irrelevant.

“Do you think this will force them to come out?”

Ares gave a side glance to the frail vampire, Marius Tepes. Personality-wise, both shared some similarities. They were both cruel and shared a sense of joy in seeing others suffer. But that was where the similarity ended.

“We just slaughtered a town which is… sorry, was under the protection of one of the high-ranked nobles from the Carmilla faction. This is a clear declaration of war from your side. And if your judgment on the Carmilla faction is correct, they will not hesitate to retaliate.” Ares replied nonchalantly.

Marius gave a sinister smile, which looked strange to Ares, considering Marius’s doll-like face. “And since they have my useless sister, Valerie, they will think they have a chance to defeat us.”

Ares nodded but did not say anything. It was easy to persuade the so-called mastermind behind the coup d’état and the current king of the Tepes faction to attack the Carmilla faction. It turned out that the Tepes faction had no issues restarting the war but lacked the power and means to initiate it. This was where Ares came in. According to their agreement, the Greek faction would give Marius the manpower and arms to break the balance between the two vampire factions by a huge margin. Since their deal was done and carried out with utmost secrecy, they had the element of surprise. So Ares suggested the best way to utilize this advantage was to take down the Carmilla faction in one swift strike. But the challenge was how to make the Carmilla faction come out in the open and take the bait.

Simple… Give them the illusion of hope. Give them an edge that would make them believe they had the upper hand. After all, it was not only the Tepes faction who wanted complete authority over the Vampire faction as a whole. And fortunately for the Tepes faction, they had the perfect bait.

An opening was deliberately created for Valeria Tepes and Gasper Vladi to escape from the Tepes castle. Their escape route was controlled in such a way that led them to the Carmilla territory and right into the hands of their leaders. Of course, Ares knew that giving his opponents both ‘Sephiroth Graal’ and ‘Forbidden Balor View’ might disrupt the whole plan. So, when Valeria and Gasper entered the Carmilla territory, a small force consisting of Tepes men armed with the weapons he provided rushed in and snatched Gasper. The timing had to be perfect; too early, then Valeria would have turned back and followed them, and too late, then they might have faced stronger opposition. And just as Ares predicted, even though Valeria wanted to turn back when Gasper was taken, the Carmilla faction did not let her.

Of course, Marius was completely against this at the beginning, but he was convinced when Ares showed him the complete layout of the plan. And a small demonstration of the might of his army and the power of his weapons helped as well. Ares wondered, was it because they had the same twisted personality, which was why they did not have any major arguments? Or was it because Marius was just a plain idiot? Regardless, everything was going smoother than he thought.

Truthfully, Ares was reluctant to let Valerie go as well. She was quite the beauty and held a considerable amount of power, a perfect candidate to sire strong children for him. He thought of impregnating her before her escape but held himself back. Unfortunately, he had to prioritize his mission. Also, he would take his time with her after his mission here was completed. After all, it had been a while since he had decent sex, let alone found someone capable enough to give him worthy children.

“They are making their moves,” Ares spoke up, loud enough for everyone standing behind him to hear.

“Finally,” With a sadistic smile, Marius took flight, most of the men standing behind them following him.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The first part of the plan was to let the Carmilla faction get hold of Valeria Tepes, who wielded the ‘Sephiroth Graal’. Then the second part was to attack some of the villages and patrol units on the border to make them believe that the Tepes faction was desperate… desperate to get Valerie back. And just to make sure that they bit the bait hard, they would purposely lose a few battles here and there to draw them out more.

“To think they would fall so easily,” Ares chuckled. The agreement between the Greek faction and the Tepes faction was simple. They would help them win the civil war, and in return, the Greek faction would get either ‘Sephiroth Graal’ or ‘Forbidden Balor View’, and some of the ancient vampire magic. Of course, they did not know that the Greek faction had no desire to keep their alliance with the Tepes faction. The question was when to strike at them. When the Tepes faction would be high on their victory celebration? Or just wait and let their own idiocy and selfishness destroy them?

“Now what to…” His thoughts abruptly halted as he felt that. He blinked and then turned his head toward a specific location. He extended his power just a bit to make sure it was not an illusion. It was not. It had been ages since he felt that unique aura, but he would never forget it. There was no mistake, it was her.

If it were the old him, he would have instantly rushed toward her. But he knew better. Regardless of his desire, they were in the middle of a battlefield. Ares looked back and gave a silent command to his men. Then he scanned the area as far as he could. There was no other major powerhouse anywhere near them. Satisfied with his finding, he took off.

It took Ares two seconds to reach his destination. And when he landed, she was just a few meters away from him, beautiful as ever. As usual, she was wearing that conservative Shinto priestess attire and over which she wore a white coat and a small golden crown. Her untied hair reached all the way to her thighs. Sometimes, he wished she was showing a bit more skin or at least wore something that showed off her curves more.

“Yasaka,” He did not even acknowledge the nekomata and the other nekoshou beside her, even though later he would admit that they were quite the beauty themselves. Of course to him, they did not hold a candle compared to Yasaka.

“Lord Ares,” As usual, she had her guard up.

“I am guessing you are here to make a deal with the Carmilla faction,” Ares loosened his stance but stood his ground.

“We are here to answer their call for help, yes,” Yasaka answered swiftly.

“Giving a helping hand, making a deal, manipulating them like a monkey, do they not all achieve the same result? Because it’s always about your faction first, right?” Ares chuckled, seeing how uncomfortable the nekoshou looked, “It’s just how you approach the other party, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Believe whatever you will, Lord Ares. It is not like you will heed my words anyway…”

“You know that is not right.” Ares took his first step, not forward but to the side, and slowly started walking. Well, more like started circling her without reducing the distance. “A hunter stalking his ultimate hunt,” That thought somehow made him more excited. With a grin, he continued, “I always pay close attention to anything related to you.”

“Last time I checked, the Olympians are not welcomed in Europe.” Yasaka was moving her body slowly and subtly but in a way that made sure her back was not facing him at all.

What Yasaka said was the truth, but at the same time, it was very offensive. Telling the Greek faction they were not welcome to their own birth realm was enough to rile up any Olympians. Ares would have been as well if he did not know what Yasaka was doing. She was stalling him. The question was, what could she achieve by stalling him for a mere few minutes? But it was time to show who was the real hunter here.

When Ares took his first step toward Yasaka, her two guards took two steps toward him. His second step made them go on a full battle stance. They drew their weapons at his third step. Fourth step, nothing. But he had to stop after taking his fifth step.

Yasaka flared her powers as a warning. But by doing so, it made it easier for Ares to get a clear read on her energy, more like the change in her energy. Her energy before was like that of a strong and blessed demigod, it was divine but not completely at a God’s level. But now, her energy was completely divine and purer than ever before, surpassing most of the oldest Goddess he came across. This revelation surprised him, which in turn stopped him.

She had ascended to Godhood.

Was this bad? No! She was perfect before, and now she became more than perfect. Now, he wanted her more than ever. Maybe his resolve showed on his face or his stance because it seemed Yasaka did not like it as she flared more power.

In retaliation, Ares flared his power. Yasaka was stronger than the last time he saw her, but even with her ascension, she was no match for him. And it became clear as he could see tiny beads of sweat started to form on Yasaka’s forehead as her energy clashed with his.

However, his excitement, his desire, everything died when he took the next step.

He could not move.

He could not breathe.

He felt small… tiny… insignificant. It was as if his power, his existence was nothing compared…

Ares’s eyes widened as he understood what was going on. It was him. He wanted to look around, he wanted to see where he was. But he could not move a single muscle in his body. And then he noticed that he was not looking at Yasaka anymore. He was looking at his own feet. And no matter how hard he tried, he just could not move his head toward Yasaka. It was as if he was not allowed to.

And then Ares felt his presence. He was right behind him, breathing down his neck. The God of War knew he was not there physically, but that did not make it any better. It was…

“Ares, I am quite displeased at your rude behavior toward my wife.” The voice was inside his fucking head.

This warning he could not ignore. With all his willpower, he jumped to the side, creating a huge distance between himself and Yasaka. It was then Ares realized, he was not there.

“Thank you, I hope you will remain courteous for the rest of the meeting.” And then everything was back to normal in the blink of an eye.

When Ares tried to raise his hand, he realized he was shaking. It took him a few seconds to realize why… he was terrified. He had heard how the mortals felt when they were brought before Zeus when his father was in his prime. According to the mortals, they would feel as if their existence had no meaning, no value in front of this mighty being. Just like how Ares was feeling now.

“Lord Ares, we have a situation here!” Hearing his captain’s voice, Ares subconsciously touched his earrings.

“Report.”

Maybe it was his hoarse voice or the gravity of the situation, his captain on the other side started babbling, “In Tepes capital, multiple attacks were carried out by an unknown party. They targeted a lot of the nobles’ residences. There was much collateral damage but no casualties. But we soon found out that the aim of this party was something else,” There was a pause as if the captain was choosing his words carefully, “Lord Ares, our weapons were found at the crime scenes. My men were able to acquire some of the weapons. These weapons are the ones we lost on the dark elves’ island. And at the same time, someone tipped a few nobles about our hideouts in their cities. We…”

“Retreat.” Ares closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He finally got the picture. They lost many arms in their skirmish with the Avalon Kingdom at the dark elves’ island. He thought they would study those weapons, but it seemed they were cleverer than that. The Avalon Kingdom wanted to create a wedge between the Greek faction and the Tepes faction. And they had done it perfectly, staging these attacks on the Tepes nobles, leaving behind their weapons as evidence, and then revealing the location where the Greek faction hid their weapons that were meant to be used to take the Tepes faction down; all the while Ares was kept busy. He had to give it to them; the execution of their plan was flawless. The battle was lost. Yes, there were ways to recover from this, but it was not worth the effort.

It seemed like the Avalon Kingdom had won once again.

“But not completely,” Ares thought to himself before he turned toward Yasaka. He noticed how he subconsciously flinched as if he was getting ready to be attacked, but nothing happened. But he knew better, he knew he was still there, watching him, waiting for his move. So, he decided to keep it short, “I have to say, I am honestly impressed at how quickly you have come up with such a devious plan and how thoroughly you have carried it out. You used yourself as bait to lure me out so I won’t notice your teams breaching Tepes’s territories. Well done,” Ares clapped, facing Yasaka, who remained silent.

“You may have won the fight, but the war is far from over,” Ares gave her a long hard look before he took flight. And the moment she was out of sight, he touched his earrings, “All teams, abort your missions. We have been compromised. Make your way toward your designated pickup points immediately.”

It took Ares a few minutes to reach his destination, Rhea 00. It was the largest and strongest flying aircraft carrier the Greek faction possessed. Yes, it was true that many individuals could take it down easily, that was not counting the Top ten. Regardless, it was handy when it came to transferring a large number of troops and large types of machinery. Sometimes, it could also be used as a mobile command center.

Instead of taking the upper platform, Ares used a hidden gateway to go directly to the command room, which was only accessible by the Olympians. And he was quite surprised to see the person sitting in the commander’s position.

Athena.

Truth be told, Athena was quite the beauty herself. Her long straight silver hair paired with her silver eyes and pale skin, gave her an ethereal look. She was the only child of Zeus who had that particular shade of hair that made her all the more appealing. Unfortunately, her cold unapproachable aura combined with that emotionless calculating gaze dampened her beauty, it was just an opinion of his.

“You lost the fight.”

Ares grunted but did not say anything. He wanted to retort, but he was unable to. He wanted to be angry, he wanted to lash out, but he could not. He knew why. The fear he felt that time drained him more than he thought. It was funny that Naruto Ōtsutsuki was not even there. But what scared him the most was that something was telling him that what he felt was just a fraction of Naruto’s power.

“But I cannot blame you.”

The God of war turned toward her sister but again did not say anything other than merely raising his eyebrow.

“I felt his power all the way from Olympus,” She paused as she stood up, “And that is why I am here.”

“Ahh~ To see what we can salvage from this fallout,” Ares chuckled, even though he could tell it was forced, “Do not worry. At least we got what we initially wanted,” With that, he snapped his fingers. And not a moment later, one of the doors opened, and two people entered, pushing a mobile cryotube with them. Ares raised his hand, and the two bowed before exiting the room.

“I made sure that the wielder of the ‘Forbidden Balor View’ was always with us as he was our topmost priority,” Ares went toward the cryotube inside which Gasper Vladi was sleeping soundly; he took the digital notepad which contained all the information his men could gather regarding Gasper and started going through the contents, “So the moment I signaled the retreat, he was transported directly here with the utmost care, making sure to cover all trails.”

Athena got up and walked toward the tube. For a minute or two, she didn’t speak. Then she turned to face Ares, “And the vampire magic?”

“Few minor noble houses decided to follow us,” Ares shrugged as he kept reading the notepad, “I know that they cannot give us much insight, but I believe they could at least give us some direction to start with.”

Athena nodded, “I will take the boy if that is all right with you.”

Ares did not reply as something caught his attention. He re-read the contents a few times before it clicked. And then he started laughing. He really could not help it. Finally, a break.

“Mind sharing what you have discovered?”

Ares looked at his sister, who delicately raised her eyebrow at him, “Let me have him, I think I can train him better considering the circumstances,” He then passed the notepad to Athena.

The Goddess of wisdom silently took the notepad and reviewed the contents. Not a minute passed by before she was done and looked back at him, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, “You want to use Valerie Tepes as bait?”

Just as Ares suspected, she got it at first glance. But it seemed like she did not see the bigger picture, so he decided to elaborate, “Our little vampire here reveres Valerie, and if the information is correct, then until now, he was completely dependent on her. I believe that with time and training, I can switch these emotions to lust and obsession.” Ares then turned his head to look at the cryotube, “I have a gut feeling that it will not take much time for that.”

“And why do you think it will be so easy,” Athena asked, but he did not miss the slight disbelief in her tone.

“Simple, we tell him what he needs to know for now. And then when he is ready for more, we tell him more.” Ares raised his hand to stop Athena from interrupting him, “I know what you are thinking. But I would strongly advise against memory tampering. We need his emotions to be authentic and strong. If we can manipulate his emotions subtly, it will help us to build his character the way we desire. And that is why I believe I can train him better than you.”

Athena did not say anything, just stared at him. It was quite unnerving, but he was used to it. Finally, she spoke up, “He sees him as a sister figure, as his guardian. Do…”

Ares scoffed, he knew Athena did not like being interrupted, but he could not help it, “When did our familial relationship stop us from fucking each other?”

That shut up Athena. But she was not done, “I thought you wanted Valerie for yourself.”

Ares chuckled, he completely forgot about that, “Yes, I did. She was a rare find, I will admit that. But, if I can get a rarer elite general by sacrificing her, then I do not see any problem.”

Again, she did not say anything for a moment, just stared at him impassively. Then she turned toward the exit,

“In that case, I will leave him in your care.”

.

.

X

.

.

Somewhere in Europe

It was a mess.

Yes, they had foiled Ares’s plan and made the Greek faction retreat completely. But the damage had been done. Although the Tepes faction withdrew from the battle after realizing they had been tricked, the Carmilla faction kept pushing. Suffice it to say, the female-dominated vampire faction renewed their aggression with much more force after learning the truth. They went as far as to officially cut ties with the Avalon Kingdom so that they could not intervene. But Yasaka knew that they would not achieve the victory they so deeply desired. After all, just because the Greek faction had retreated, it did not mean they had taken all the weapons they had provided to the Tepes faction. She could say with certainty that the war would end in a draw… a bloody and costly draw.

So how could she count that as a win?

Yasaka released a frustrated sigh.

“What ails my queen?”

Yasaka could not help but smile, despite the situation. When she opened her eyes, there he was. Sitting opposite of her, with that gorgeous childish smile of his.

“I thought you had an important appointment with Lord Susanoo.” Yasaka tried to glare at her husband, but his contagious smile made it harder for her.

“Shadow clone jutsu, solving my problem since,” Naruto paused as his gaze went upward momentarily before focusing on her again, “Sage knows when.” He immediately raised his hands in placate manner to stop her from replying, “I know~ I know~ I should not abuse the clone jutsu. But you must admit, this is quite handy.”

That… was very true, and she had no comeback for that. And she knew very well that there was no point arguing over it since Naruto did it for her. He could have waited till she and her team reached the capital. Instead, he teleported to their airship to meet her as soon as he could. The thought warmed her and relieved her from her frustration, albeit not completely. And as usual, Naruto easily saw through her, “What’s wrong, love?” His voice was calm as he gently held her hands.

“I…” Yasaka wanted to say that she failed to stop the war, failed to establish an alliance, and failed to help them. But was it the real reason for her frustration? Yes, she was disappointed that she could not stop the Carmilla faction from their meaningless endeavor, but in the end, there was nothing she could do. She could not help those who did not want help. Then why was she feeling like this?

“Is it because you could not stop Ares?”

Yasaka blinked when she heard Naruto’s words. It took her a moment, but she finally realized he was right. She released a deep breath and squeezed Naruto’s hands, “Even after my ascension, I still needed your help to fend him off.”

“He is growing stronger,” Yasaka looked at Naruto, surprised. He slightly bent down to kiss her knuckles, “He is hiding it very well, but compared to ten years ago, he became stronger… exceptionally, if I am honest.” Naruto released one of her hands and gently stroked her cheek, it seemed her concern was quite obvious, “Do not worry, Ares is nowhere near Sirzechs’s level, let alone Top Five.”

“Still, it is quite worrisome, is it not?” Yasaka asked, his gentle touch was doing wonders in calming her nerves.

“Yes, it is. Any factions out there could grow stronger, but that is not the case for the individuals Gods or Goddesses. Especially Olympians, they should not be able to gain any more power-ups.” He released her other hand and then cupped her face, “I know it is troubling but trust me, trust us. We are not alone. And no matter what they come up with, we will always win. And if they truly try to cross the line,” The irises in Naruto’s eyes disappeared as the scleras morphed to become his new rinnegan. Unlike the previous one, this one looked more… enchanting… frightening… overpowering, “Let’s just say we will have one less faction to deal with.”

It was not a threat. It was a promise.

Yasaka knew it.

She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. After a moment of blissful silence, she finally spoke up, “I want to train,” Naruto nodded his head, but she wasn’t done, “With you.”

She put her index finger on his lips, stopping him from saying anything, “You already know I have not used the time chamber. I guess it was a blessing in disguise. Because I decided that instead of Lady Amaterasu, I want you to train me.” She pressed her finger when she felt Naruto trying to move his lips, “Please, do not interrupt. I know she is supposed to help me understand the effects and the responsibilities of my Godly powers. And I know how important that is, especially concerning the future ahead of us. But I need this. I know this is completely selfish, but this is the first time I am asking, not as a priestess, not as a queen, not as a Goddess, but just as myself.”

Finally, she removed her finger. Naruto did not say anything other than holding his gaze. She could tell what he was thinking. Then out of nowhere, he pulled her into a tight hug, eliciting a surprised squeak from her.

“My wife is too cute~”

Yasaka was completely speechless. But before she could utter a word, Naruto’s lips were on her. It was not a passionate kiss, it was more like a teasing one, a caring one. And before she knew it, Naruto moved his lips away from her, just barely, “You have no idea how happy I am.” She blinked a few times. She really had no idea what was going on, “This is the first time after our marriage that you have honestly asked something from me, for yourself.”

“Ahh~” She finally understood why Naruto was so ecstatic.

“Give me a day or two, I will tweak the time chamber so that we can utilize more time,” She tried to protest that it was unnecessary, but her words died down as Naruto kissed her again. He broke the kiss a few seconds later and grinned, “Don’t interrupt~ I will divide my work between Jiraiya and August. If I am not mistaken, their schedule should be lightened by now.”

Yasaka just gave him a helpless smile. And Naruto returned it with another caring kiss.

She liked these kisses of his.

“Rest now, love,” Naruto stood up and then took a few steps back, “We will talk more when you reach the capital.”

When Yasaka nodded at his words, Naruto disappeared. She knew why he did not stay longer. It was that he could not. While it was true that Naruto was progressing extraordinarily fast in controlling his newfound divine power, it was still risky for him to stay outside the Kingdom or the Shinto faction for too long lest he alert other divine beings of his ascension.

Still, even if it was for a short time, him coming over to check up on her did wonders for her. Releasing a tired but satisfied breath, Yasaka looked at her hands.

She would become stronger… stronger than her past self.

.

With Naruto

.

Naruto did not go to the training realm. Instead, he went to see Jiraiya, who was in the middle of organizing some documents in his office. It was a rare sight, to be honest.

Jiraiya opened his mouth, but the moment his eyes landed on Naruto, he paused. He put down the papers he was holding and leaned back on his chair, “What do you need, Naruto?”

Naruto smiled, not his usual laidback ones, “I want you to focus more on the Greek faction. They are becoming problematic day by day.”

“Anything or anyone special should I keep an eye out for.”

Naruto felt his smile deepening, his power heating up, “First, find out where their base is. We need something to put a leash on them. And second, can you find out what their God of War is up to these days?”

.

.

X

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.

Underworld

(3 weeks left till the Core Stone resurfaces)

“Master Beelzebub has arrived,” After announcing Ajuka’s arrival, the head butler of the Gremory house moved to the side, giving way for Ajuka to enter.

“Good morning Lord Gremory, Sirzechs,” Ajuka greeted them when he entered the room.

Both Sirzechs and his father got up to greet him back. As they sat down, Sirzechs’ father motioned the butler to close the door and leave, which he did.

“Quite the unusual place you have chosen for this meeting,” Ajuka had seen Sirzechs’ father’s home office before, but it was the first time he had come here for a formal matter.

“That is why I chose it in the first place,” Sirzechs replied with a smile. However, the smile disappeared quickly as he turned toward his father. After seeing him nodding back and activating multiple privacy barriers, he faced Ajuka again, “Have you gone through my report?”

Releasing a deep breath, Ajuka started rubbing his forehead, a clear sign that he was not happy with the outcome, “Look, we are talking about Zekram Bael here. I can predict any,” He paused for a moment before continuing, correcting himself, “most events as long as I have the necessary information. But even then, I cannot predict him, especially after the current turn of events.”

“I thought you said that he was not easy to predict.” Sirzechs frowned.

“His goal is easy to predict; he wants to be the de facto leader of the devils without having a large target on his head. The way he controls politics is easy to predict as well; as one of the oldest devils, he has the dirt on almost all the lords and ladies of the devil houses, both past and present, and he delicately uses that to his advantage. Even then, I am having a hard time predicting him. Why? Yes, he is cunning, which is a given considering his age and experience. But it is his subtlety and patience that makes him unpredictable.” During the entire duration of his speech, Ajuka did not stop rubbing his forehead.

“You can predict what actions he may take, but you cannot predict when he will take those actions. I think I understand your frustration,” Lord Gremory spoke up, “After all, this is the devil that followed the original Satans like a loyal hound for thousands of years. There were others who rebelled against the original Satans, but never once he showed any sign of switching sides till the very last one. He is the type of devil who will not show his hand even if his whole clan perishes, an unpredictable and patient devil, through and through.”

“And yet the Avalon Kingdom read both him and us like an open book.” Sirzechs knew he was not being fair to his friend, but certain matters in the underworld raised some warning flags in his mind.

From an outsider’s perspective, the Devil Faction was recovering smoothly after the nasty fight with the Avalon Kingdom. The main reason behind it was his and Ajuka’s bold move to take in the Extra Demons. Yes, at first, it raised many concerns but after seeing how fast the devil faction was recuperating, almost everyone applauded at this step. It was then, Sirzechs realized that the hold Zekram had on the devil faction for nearly two hundred years weakened tremendously, whereas Sirzechs and his friends’ influence was increasing day by day. It came to a point where he could safely say that now they had more control over the devil faction than Zekram. And that was not sitting well with him because he knew very well about Zekram’s obsession with being in control. Maybe he was thinking too much, but still, he wanted to be sure. That was why he asked Ajuka if he could study Zekram’s current behavior and predict his next steps. Needless to say, Sirzechs was not happy with the lack of results.

And how did Zekram lose so much influence? It was because of the Avalon Kingdom.

After the war, many of the devil lords and heirs went missing. Sirzechs and the rest knew that it was Naruto’s doing. Because those that went missing were the most active participants during the massacre. It was easy to see that Naruto wanted to punish them personally. Sirzechs knew that they were all dead, and probably, they did not get a swift and painless death. Unfortunately, this was one matter that Satans decided to cover up and make sure there were no traces left. He did not want any stupid devils using this as an excuse to go against the Kingdom again.

And then there were a few lords who lost their positions and quite a few heirs who lost their right to possess ‘Evil pieces’ because of their indirect participation. Currently, they were all under house arrest. Sirzechs was not worried about the lords, he knew they would wait this out. But he could not say the same for the young heirs. That was why he was also making sure to keep in touch with them just in case they would think of doing anything drastic.

Lastly, quite a few were executed. All of them were soldiers that went against his or Ajuka’s strict orders. He executed them publicly to show the populace the gravity of the situation. To him, this was a gamble that he was forced to take. If things went well, the devils would fear the Kingdom, and he could use that fear to control them. And if things went poorly, the devils would become enraged, which would then create a big mess. But fortunately, everything went smoothly.

Truth to be told, Sirzechs was happy at the outcome, especially at how the most involved ones had been taken care of. Yes, what they did was unforgivable, but it was not a spur-of-the-moment thing. These devils were committing heinous crimes behind closed doors for quite some time. Just look at what Diodara was doing, gathering holy maidens in the cruelest and vilest way possible, all the while fooling everyone with his kind and generous façade. If this went out, the Heaven faction would be at their doorsteps, armed to the teeth. And Diordara was not the only one with a skeleton of this size in their closet. Cleaning up all these messes needed all four Satans working around the clock. In some cases, Sirzechs had to indirectly threaten the whole house to make sure they buried those secrets properly.

Now, why did he think about those despicable devils? Because all of them were active followers of Zekram. Meaning inside and outside of the devil council, Zekram did not have as much sway as he had a year back.

“Did you try to meet him, Lord Gremory?” Ajuka turned toward his father.

“I did, but the old devil is keeping to himself these past few months,” Lord Gremory sighed, “As far as I know, it’s not just me. He is not meeting anyone these days.”

“Now, tell me this is not worrying,” Now it was Sirzechs who started rubbing his forehead, “Instead of going out there trying to restore his influence with the old devil houses and spread it to the new ones, he just sitting still, doing nothing.”

“Okay, look, the worst-case scenario I can come up with is that he is siding with the old devil faction. I am sure even you could see that. But even then, things will not end well for him, no matter the outcome. Yes, he can take planned measures which could earn him heavy favors from the old devil faction, but this is still too risky for him.” Ajuka leaned, took one of the champagne glasses and emptied the content in one go, “Is he planning something right now? Definitely. Does his plan require him to go against us? Maybe. Will he execute the plan anytime soon? Will he take any drastic measures in the near future? No. He will wait it out. He will wait hundreds of years if he needs to. So we can only wait with him and create contingency plans as we move forward. That is the best I can come up with.”

“And that is more than enough,” Sirzechs looked at his father, who was looking tired, “Sirzechs, I know why you are restless, why you want to make sure everything is under control.”

“I have fought countless battles against the descendants of the original Satans. I have lost quite a few times, which led to the death of some of my finest and closest men. But I have never felt this hopeless and powerless against the Kingdom, against Naruto Ōtsutsuki. He and his Kingdom could have wiped us out. I do not want an incident like this ever to happen again,” Sirzechs refilled Ajuka’s glass and took another one for himself, “And that actually made me realize something. It’s just not him. Even the Hindu faction could easily wipe us out if we make an enemy out of them. We are so focused on the Biblical faction that we forgot that there are other powerful beings, factions out there who outclasses us by a huge margin and who can wipe us out effortlessly.”

“It was partly our fault as well,” His father interrupted him, “You two are the strongest devils ever to exist, the first devils ever to reach the top ten. And we used that as an ultimate excuse, as our strongest shield. Well, at least now all of us learned our lessons.”

“Look Sirzechs, the best course of action is to observe him closely and his actions. If we see anything out of place, then we can think of something. Until then, there is no point in stressing ourselves to this extent.” Ajuka also chipped in as he finished his second glass in one gulp.

Sirzechs could only nod his head, even though he didn’t like the situation at all. He could only hope that nothing major would happen anytime soon that could trigger something similar to the nekoshou massacre.