Calm before the Storm
VI
“Ophis is making a move.”
He started laughing. Again. He just could not control it. It was hilarious… from his perspective at least.
The Supernatural world was in an uproar. Not the entirety of it… now that would be another sight to see. Those who were a part of the Khaos Brigade and those who knew about its existence; no, that was wrong. Anyone aware of Ophis and her connection to the Khaos Brigade was losing their minds right now.
All this… for a drop of blood.
“You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
Quickly getting his laughter under control, he turned around, “Ophis, what a pleasant surprise.”
Ophis tilted her head to the side, just a bit.
Fortunately, he was quite experienced when it came to deciphering emotions, “It’s more of a celebration, you see. That pet project of mine, it did much better than I expected.”
“The one where you took my blood?”
“The one where I took one drop of your blood, yes.”
One glance was enough to tell him that she was still curious about the topic. Being the smart man he was, he decided to satisfy Ophis’s curiosity. He waved his hand and immediately projections of many items appeared in front of them. He could see from the corner of his eye that his magic had her undivided attention.
“Why not?” He stood closer to his magical projections and with a snap, he gave them a more exaggerated but elegant appearance, “One drop of your blood, diluted using Heavenly Dragon’s essence, with some high-level magical enchantments… and we got ourselves ‘Formula O’. A very powerful and effective potion that boosts the user. No side-effects so far.”
The projections behind him changed to match his explanation. He blinked once and mouthed ‘O’ before adding the last part, “And, just for your information, I passed around this potion as ‘Blessing of Ophis’.”
Ophis tilted her head to one side, then to another, “How did this help?”
“For our plan to work, we need strong soldiers,” He waved his hand and the projections changed again, “To cover our tracks.”
Ophis looked at the plan for a few seconds before she pointed at one particular spot. Even though the projection was created using his magic, it still followed Ophis’ direction.
“Is this way not faster?”
He looked at the new plan and took some time to absorb it. When he was done, he smiled and faced Ophis, “Yes. It is. But is it secure?”
“Why does it need to be?”
“Incalculable variables.”
Images of two beings appeared behind him. The first one made Ophis frown but the second made her confused, “Why is Naruto Ōtsutsuki a problem?”
“Not a problem, just a watchout.”
“Do you need my help?”
He chuckled. The absolute chaos it would create, it was very tempting. But he had a goal to reach, “Ophis, I understand. You want to hasten the plan since the end is within your reach. But, let us stick to the plan, all right?”
Seeing her shoulders dropping, he decided to elaborate, “For a few centuries, you tried to figure out a way. You made progress, yes, but nothing concrete. And now, after only a few months with me, you already have a foolproof solution in your hands. And if you compare this with your previous attempts, this plan is going at the speed of light. So, as I said before, take a break, enjoy your remaining time here,” Then he went down on his knees so that he can match Ophis’s eye level, “Because, you will be returning home soon.”
Ophis held her gaze for a few seconds before nodding and disappearing.
Was Ophis naïve? Almost everyone who worked with her would say ‘Yes’ in a heartbeat. But he had a different opinion. She was innocent, yes. But she was also wise. It was difficult to see that wisdom of hers because of her innocence.
One simple example. The reason why Ophis was not interacting much if at all with Khaos Brigade was because she knew that no one there wanted to help her. Of course, she could have forced them to work for her or disbanded the group and create a new one. Then, why did she not do any of it?
Simple. She just did not want to bother herself with it.
He stood up and started to stroke his chin, “If ‘It’ does not work, just throw ‘It’ away, huh~”
To be honest, Khaos Brigade was still useful if one knew how to play with its weakness. Look deeply at its core, and one would find that all the factions inside Khaos Brigade wanted to take over the world. Some worded it differently, and some took a different road, but in the end, it was what it was.
Such a cliché ambition.
Amongst all the factions of the Khaos Brigade, the Old Satan Faction was the most ambitious one. Their so-called secret plan to conquer the world was to steal Ophis’s power. And they planned to achieve it by using Samael’s curse.
Was it arrogance? No. It was idiocy. Pure and simple.
Just because Ophis did not go around destroying or subjugating realms, it did not change the fact that she was the Beast of Infinity. He just could not fathom how the Old Satans actually believed that the curse from a mere angel-turned-dragon could actually do anything to a Beast. But the best part was the punchline.
Ophis knew about their plan.
And she did not care.
Because she knew that whatever they would pull, it could never harm her. At max, it would just annoy her. This was neither arrogance nor ignorance. Because long ago, she had tested the curse herself. In her mind, if the curse would have some effect on her then it meant she could have used it against the Great Red.
To her disappointment, the curse did absolutely nothing to her.
When he heard that, he had burst out laughing.
He yawned and stretched, “Time to get back to work.”
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X
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Avalon Kingdom
“Are you ready, brat?”
It was funny how Naruto could read Jiraiya’s thoughts by just meeting his glance for a second. And he was sure Jiraiya could do the same.
With a smile, he looked around the table.
This is the fourth time all the leaders of the Alliance Faction gathered in one place. First was, of course, the day the Alliance Faction was officially established. The second was the day the ‘Core Stone’ resurfaced. The third was a few weeks after that.
Of course, all the leaders always kept in touch with each other. And if needed they would have set up a meeting through magical projections. Because there was no need for it since everyone knew their roles and responsibilities and they took it seriously.
But to be honest, it was mostly them protecting their people.
Okay… maybe there was a bit more to it than that.
Mephisto Pheles moved the whole association ‘Grauzauberer’ and put it under the Alliance Faction. His reason was simple. He wanted the magicians to thrive in a safe and rich environment without limiting their magical growth. Because one of the primary ways for a magician to advance his or her magic was to make a pact with a devil. And almost always it would end with the magician reincarnating into a devil.
Honestly, he had no problem with this exchange. But he also could not turn a blind eye to the issue.
Magic was not evolving.
Because in the end, most magicians focused on the final result. And, reincarnating into a devil was a faster and more efficient way to achieve that result. But by becoming a devil, they would also restrict themselves regarding magic.
After all, a devil could not practice all branches of magic.
Unfortunately, before there were no other alternatives. But that was not the case now. What Naruto found truly hilarious was the fact that many magicians now wanted to have a pact with a youkai or a fae after they had heard about their achievements.
After all, not only youkai and fae could use more branches of magic than a devil, but they had also ‘Upgraded’ their magic.
What’s more, a few months after Grauzauberer moved under the Alliance Faction’s banner, ‘Golden Dawn’ also decided to join.
Now, Mephisto had to take care of both these groups.
Compared to him, Tiamat had it easy. She had just asked for two safe places. One was where the dragons could safely lay their eggs, and the second one was for the newborns to grow without any harm.
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Naruto happily created multiple islands for the dragons. And so far, he had heard that the dragons were loving it.
As for Khaoss, he was busy with the Elemental Academy and currently, the tournament it was hosting. And Amaterasu was still continuing Yasaka’s training as her protégé.
The Alliance Faction was and would always be, at its core, a shield. Well, technically, that was how Naruto wanted it to be but in the end, the Alliance Faction became something like a fortress. Because it would not just defend its inhabitants but would absolutely annihilate the invaders.
Naruto smiled. Honestly, he quite liked that analogy.
“Time to start the show.”
The moment he stood up, everyone’s gaze was on him, “Since most of you do not appreciate my humor, I will jump straight to the point,” There were a few chuckles here and there, the loudest being Tiamat, “I have a few pieces of news to share. All of them were found by Jiraiya in his last mission,” He pointed at the man himself who was standing beside his seat, “I have verified some of them. And some need more investigation.”
“I will share the good news first,” He waved his hand and immediately a projection image appeared in the middle of the round table, “Rizevim Livan Lucifer is dead.”
Naruto looked at Mephisto specifically, “Before you ask, yes, I have thoroughly checked the body along with the Biblical Faction; and yes, his soul truly passed away.”
Tiamat frowned, “The Biblical Faction?”
Jiraiya took half a step forward, summoned some folders, and levitated toward them. The moment all of them received a folder, Naruto continued, “A few months ago, the Avalon Kingdom and the Biblical Faction had created a task force whose primary objective was to assassinate Rizevim. Why we partnered with them?” Naruto gave Jiraiya a side glance and smiled, “What obstacles Jiraiya had faced, and what messes he had to clean? You will find answers to all of your questions in that report.”
For a moment, no one said anything. But no one opened the report either.
“Finally,” Tiamat was the first to speak up. She leaned back on her chair and let out a vicious grin, “That bastard is out of the picture. He had been a pain for a long time.”
“That he had,” Mephisto nodded.
Smiling, Amaterasu patted the folder, “This must have been quite an ordeal for you, Jiraiya.”
“That it was, Lady Amaterasu. I added it to the report and marked it as ‘Skippable content’. Give it a read when you have time,” Jiraiya gave Naruto a not-so-subtle glance, “Or when you are in the mood.”
Naruto’s smile waned, “Unfortunately, that was the only good news I had to share.”
Everyone straightened up and gave Naruto their complete attention. With a nod of acknowledgment, Naruto pointed at the projection, “Rizevim was assassinated, true, but not by us. We do not know who yet, but we strongly believe it was an accomplice of his.”
“Someone else got the jump on him,” Tiamat gave him a confused look, “But how is that a bad news?”
“The assassination took him down with a single silent shot,” Naruto replied back with a wry smile.
“It is not the assassination’s power you are worried about,” Amaterasu caught him.
The smile became a bit livelier, “You are right,” Naruto waved his hands and the image changed, “Rizevim was part of a group called ‘Khaos Brigade’.”
“Are you serious?” Khaoss let out a mighty frown.
Naruto almost laughed but held himself back. He was not the only one, “I believe they wanted to call themselves Chaos Brigade but went for something different?”
“They just replaced a single letter,” Khaoss genuinely looked annoyed.
“You are looking at the wrong guy here,” Naruto removed the smile from his face and focused on the image, “And I do not believe you want to take this complaint to their leader.”
“Who is it?”
“Ophis, the Beast of Infinity.”
A second, and then everyone stood up from their seat.
“Are you serious?”
“Is this a prank of yours?”
“We are so fucked!”
“What did you do?!”
Naruto actually felt offended by Mephisto’s statement. He had nothing to do with this mess. Luckily Jiraiya got the cue. He summoned another set of folders. He could not even completely take them out before they were forcedly snatched away by the rest.
Naruto gave them time. All the time they needed to go through the contents and digest it. And when they were done, they fell down on their seats.
“It’s…” Mephisto glanced at everyone before finishing, “Quite troubling.”
“Troubling?” Tiamat leaned forward and glared at Mephisto, “This shit is nuts!”
“No, Jiraiya is right,” Khaoss patted the folder, “This ‘Blessing of Ophis’ is fake. And I also agree with the theory that it is some sort of booster using the ambiance energy left by Ophis.”
“But this does not change the fact that this,” Amaterasu glanced at Khaoss, “Criminal organization has access to this sort of booster.”
“I for one wholeheartedly believe that Ophis is not behind this. Directly, of course. But I do agree with Lady Amaterasu,” Naruto nodded at Amaterasu, “This organization shelters criminals. And now, they have a powerful weapon.”
“You believe they will make a move soon.”
Naruto smiled and pointed at the projection, “They already made a move, no?”
“When and where they are going to strike next?” Mephisto leaned toward the table, “This is why we are having this meeting.”
“And how are we to prevent that?” Naruto released an audible breath, “Or in the worst-case scenario, how do we minimize the damage?”
Tiamat leaned back again, looking slightly more relaxed, “You have a plan so spit it out.”
“When they are going to attack, that I do not know yet. Probably soon,” Naruto glanced at Mephisto before addressing everyone around the table, “As for ‘Where’, I believe one of these two is their target. Or both of them, who knows? One of the targets, I think we can all agree on this, is the Biblical Faction.”
Grunts and hums of acknowledgment went around the table.
“Location wise it can be Heaven, Underworld, or…” Naruto paused before meeting Khaoss’ gaze, “the Elemental Academy.”
The frosty expression Khaoss made everyone squirm a bit, including Naruto. Clearing his throat, Naruto continued, “Think about it. Children and apprentices of bigshots, not just from the Biblical Faction but many others, come here. If anyone wants to disrupt the order of the world or start another ‘Great War’, this is the perfect place.”
“Let. Them. Come.”
Now everyone visibly squirmed. Naruto subtly released his energy to pacify Khaoss, “I will leave this matter to you. My only suggestion will be…”
“Do not worry, no one will notice a thing.”
He would check with Khaoss later to see what he would do to update the security of the academy. But the look Khaoss was giving him, it seemed like he would come to him first.
“This is just a guess of mine,” Naruto let out a heavy sigh, “But there is a possibility that this organization is targeting Trihexa, Beast of Apocalypse.”
Everyone… just blankly stared at him, for a full minute.
Mephisto was the first to speak, “Do you have any more surprises?”
Naruto knew he should not deliver such a piece of heavy news. Not like this. Even Jiraiya understood what Naruto wanted to do but he was too late to stop him.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” Naruto let out a heartfelt smile, “The Biblical God is dead.”
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X
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Unknown Location
“They did not take the news well, did they?”
Naruto gave Amun-Ra a withering look.
“And you complain why I question your wisdom,” Amun-Ra paused for a second, “Or that common sense of yours. I mean who in their right mind would break that kind of news as if they are stating the weather? People will flip tables,” Amun-Ra grinned and looked at Naruto, “Did they?”
“No, they did not flip tables,” Naruto grumbled, “But they were close to beating me with their bare fists.” And no way he was going to tell Amun-Ra about that. But the look he was giving, he already had a hunch.
“Story for another time I suppose.”
Naruto’s shoulders dropped at that statement, “I know that the first impression is not everything but you are so much different from how others view you as.”
Amun-Ra crossed his arms and held Naruto’s gaze with a grin on his face.
Naruto sighed dramatically, “People think you are this noble and regal ancient God. But what I see is you are that annoying uncle that I am not sure if I love or hate to be with.”
The grin almost split Amun-Ra’s face, “I will take that as a compliment,” His grin faded instantly as if it was never there, “It’s time. Let us get back to the training, shall we?”
Yes, right now they were inside one of Naruto’s ‘Worlds’. Naruto had asked Shiva and Amun-Ra for help with his training since he was somewhat stuck with his Reality Manipulation. He knew he could push past this obstacle given time, but he also knew that sometimes it was okay to ask for help. Surprisingly, Amun-Ra instantly agreed to help him. And so, here they were. Their first training session.
Naruto took a deep breath and then released it through his mouth. He did the exercise 3 times. After that, he nodded his head.
Amun-Ra waved his staff and immediately the fog around them disappeared. He smiled when he finally saw their surroundings, “An upside reality. Fascinating.”
The place looked like his beloved Konohagakure but there was a twist. Everything was upside down. It was not just the positions of the environment and infrastructure that were reversed but even the flow of power and elements as well.
Amun-Ra stood and looked up. Basically, they were standing in the sky which was below them, and above was the village, “Times like these make me wonder about how your mind works. How you perceive things.”
Naruto chuckled, “I will take that as a compliment.”
“This is a work of wonder, no doubt. But what I am praising is the process, not the creation,” Amun-Ra then looked straight at him, “Creating a completely different reality by borrowing the concepts and logics that already exist in our universe, and then tweaking them to match your need,” Then he smiled, with his whole face, “’Alternate Reality’… safest way to use and test ‘Reality Manipulation’.”
“Safest but not the best.”
“Correct,” Amun-Ra moved his staff in a way that it felt like he was tapping the ground. Instantly, Naruto felt the strain on his control. He glanced upward and saw ‘Glitches’ appearing at random locations.
“Tell me, what do you think is the problem?”
Naruto closed his eyes and dived deeper. But 10 seconds later, he heard a loud snap which broke his concentration. Opening his eyes, he gave Amun-Ra a questioning look.
“This technique of yours is great to learn and understand about various Concepts, good at pushing your limits on Reality Manipulation, but it will fall short during battles. I think you already know why?”
Naruto sighed, “If someone is master at controlling a certain element or concept, they can use it to disrupt the balance of my ‘Worlds’. Well, I am trying to counter it by creating a ‘World’ where the amount of existing concepts is limited.”
Amun-Ra shook his head, “It is a short-term countermeasure, Naruto,” He paused for a second before smiling, “Let us start from the very beginning. Tell me, what do you think are the strongest concepts?”
“Reality is one of them for sure,” Naruto pondered for a moment before continuing, “Life, Death, Soul, and Time.”
“You got one of them right,” Amun-Ra smiled, “‘Reality’, ‘Beginning’, and ‘End’. These 3 are the strongest concepts,” His smile turned into chuckles when Naruto gave him a dubious look, “Questionable answer, right? But I know just the example to clear your doubts.”
Amun-Ra let go of his staff, which started to hover by itself, and created a piece of paper using both of his hands, “You can use various other terms but this is the ‘Beginning’ of this paper,” Then within seconds, the empty paper was filled with words, “Now, think each of the letters as concepts, elements, and logics. And together, the whole content… that is the ‘Reality’ of this paper. You can change it however you want,” Many letters disappeared, and many words were reshuffled, “You can even push it further and start again from the clean state,” All the letters disappeared making the paper empty again, “And the ‘End’ of this paper will be,” The paper slowly crumbled away leaving behind nothing.
It was a simple explanation, nothing exaggerated. But for some reason, his words resonated with Naruto. Simple words, but they felt so heavy.
“So, Reality is above everything,” Seeing the look on Amun-Ra’s face, Naruto immediately added, “Along with Beginning, and End.”
“And that is why, Naruto,” The smile vanished from Amun-Ra’s face, “No one can fully master these 3 concepts.”
The conviction in Amun-Ra’s tone caught Naruto off-guard. But he stood his ground and returned it with a challenging look.
“This is not a test Naruto,” Amun-Ra shook his head, “Reality is the collection of all the concepts, logic, and elements that exist within a universe. So mastering Reality would mean that you have control over anything and everything. Do you understand?”
Naruto did not answer immediately. He took a few seconds to organize his thoughts first, “I agree that it is quite impossible to control everything within a universe. But I do not believe I need to do that to master Reality Manipulation.”
Amun-Ra looked genuinely surprised and curious at his answer but he stayed silent.
Naruto smiled and pointed at the city above them, “What you are using to fight against my ‘World’ is not a concept. You are using a logic related to the Sky. You are using something like ‘Sky should always be above us’. And that logic is clashing with the balance of this ‘World’.”
Amun-Ra blinked once. And then he started to laugh. It was heartfelt laughter filled with delight. After laughing for full half a minute, he finally met Naruto’s gaze, “It seems you already have a good grasp on how to improve your proficiency in Reality Manipulation.”
“Knowledge and power,” Naruto made a fist and looked at it, “But it feels like I am missing something.”
“Of course, you are missing something.”
Naruto instantly met Amun-Ra’s gaze and found him giving a cheeky look, “It is quite funny that someone like you would miss something as simple as this,” He grabbed his staff and made that tapping motion again, “It’s ‘Experience’.”
Naruto blinked once. Twice. But the word still did not register in his head.
Amun-Ra sighed, “Naruto, how many times did you test out a theory regarding Reality Manipulation in real life? How many techniques did you create using Reality Manipulation? How many applications of Reality Manipulation did you try out? And how many of those applications did you master?” Amun-Ra paused as he looked up. Naruto followed his gaze and saw the village was slowly being replaced by the sky.
“Naruto, how many battles did you have after your ascension?”