Chapter 7: Dealing with Nuisances
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The Imperial Garden, Moon
Situated right behind the breathtakingly majestic Crystal Palace was the personal garden of the ancient King and his children. The very name indicated the true beauty of the garden.
Lush landscape stretching as far as the eye could see littered with delicate blades of infinite grass, softly shimmering and waving in the soft breeze.
An astonishingly peaceful and awe-aspiring waterfall fell right at the start of the garden, creating a large natural stream and ran through the landscape as gentle grooves of glittering diamond-like crystal blue water.
The water falling from the waterfall bore a striking resemblance to pearls shinning in the bright rays of sunlight, shrouding the grassy landscape below with an ethereal blue hue.
White and black marble pathways ran through the majestic front of the divine waterfall, curl around the lush and blossoming landscape and sped off to the unknown, flanked by golden poles with a blue gem at the tip to provide light during the darkness of the night.
Enormous palm trees littered the sides of the white and black pathways, hiding and decorating it at the same time. Extinct and endangered species of plants, both sentient and otherwise, were joyfully bathing in the ethereal hue provided by the water.
Off to the distance, right in the middle of this majestic creation, standing proudly amidst the lush embrace of the hospitable blades of grass, was a colossal tree, reaching for the very surface of the dazzling cerulean sky of the isolated dimension.
This monumental accumulation of untainted and uncorrupted natural energy was erected by the immeasurably distinctive siblings as a symbol of acknowledgement to their father's origin and a tangible manifestation of his might.
Sitting cross-legged on the soft surface of the vibrant grass right beneath the majestic waterfall was the ancient King.
Long tresses of red silky hair waved in the soft breeze like fragile leaves, shining brightly in the soft morning sunlight, looking as though rubies were elongated into silky strands by a magical force and bonded to his skull with shocking precision.
Sharp and piercing blue eyes squinted slightly due to concealed mirth, a soft and delicate smile danced on his lips as he watched the scene before him with amusement and something akin to paternal pride.
Relaxing next to the tall and shimmering figure of the kind king was his eldest son, the ever prideful and secretly overprotective older brother, Kurama, the powerful and formidable Lord of Foxes.
The massive accumulation of energy was gloriously sprawled out on the grass, his massive tails softly flickering and waving in a mesmerizing fashion, his head placed on his front paws and a mildly irritated expression on his vulpine face.
Naruto couldn't help the close-eyed smile that appeared on his ethereal visage as he gazed on at the scene.
He had been in his Throne Room, overlooking the grim situation of a particularly bothersome race that had recently sprung up when Shukaku had barged into the room and complained about him not paying attention to them.
Despite his schedule stretched out thin and many matters of the infinite realities needing his attention, he had been compelled to hear the pleas of his youngest child and had proceeded down here to entertain his children.
Being the ever understanding and mischievous children that they are, they had somehow bribed the royal chefs to prepare a feast for the entire royal family and ordered them to bring it to the garden.
They had even gone so far as ordering the royal chefs to prepare a soothing pot of green tea for him so that he may spend more time with them.
They were of the opinion that by presenting a feast, he would be compelled to sit down and eat with them and by offering the green tea, he would feel obligated to not reject their offer and thus spend more time with them since he would need to drink the tea.
While their efforts were awfully amusing and something he was proud of, they had no reason to do so since he had no intention of leaving them on their own unless and until they tired themselves out. Duties and obligations were good and all, but the joy and contentment of his children took priority above all else.
He wouldn't be a great father if he did otherwise.
He had to admit, sitting out in the grassy clearing among his nine children and eating like a normal family brought him a strange sense of satisfaction and joy. Seeing them subtly push the most delicious parts of a particular food towards each other brought a constant smile to his face.
It was not because there was less food or that the other cuisines cooked by the chefs were not worthy of being called delicious, but it was their way of saying that they cared.
Each and every single one of his children had pride in spades and were vastly different than each other in their temperaments, personalities, penchants and dislikes, but they were willing to overlook their differences when it came to caring for each other.
Among his sons, Shukaku, his youngest son, was the only one who had no problems in showing his childish side. Being the youngest brother, the sisters and brothers would subtly push delicious parts of a food towards him and he would accept them in glee.
While the rest of the siblings were subtle in their attempts to show that they cared, he and Matatabi had no such qualms. Shukaku would eagerly grab a rice ball or a piece of any food he would find delicious and present it to his sisters with an innocent grin.
Matatabi, his youngest daughter, his pride and joy was the most expressive of all his daughters. Being the second youngest among them and being their sister, the brothers while not appearing like it, were awfully protective of her.
Long ago, perhaps two hundred centuries in the past, Matatabi had requested to take a trip to a planet in the north sector of an unknown universe and being a proud father, he had accepted her request and given her free reign over the lands.
Since she had been in her human form, she had attracted a lot of unwanted attention to herself. Somehow a delusional king of a primitive land had heard of her divine beauty and send his entire army to bring her to him.
Kurama, being the perceptive and watchful older brother that he is, had somehow found out the intention of the so called King and had literally plummet to the planet. His colossal form impacting the land had shaken the very core of the planet itself and alerted entire empires to his presence.
Needless to say, nothing had survived his wrath.
As such, she was the second receiver of such generosity. Chomei, Son Goku, Isobu, Gyuki would discreetly push as much food as possible towards her and act as if they had no idea where the food was coming from.
Even the prideful Kurama would do the same, but with a dismissive snort or a patronizing comment in order to preserve his image.
However, just like Shukaku, she had no qualms about showing her caring side. She would openly share her favorite food with her brothers and sisters and blissfully wave off their mock glares.
In a way, both Shukaku and Matatabi were the masterminds of any plan concocted by his children to get his attention. When everything was said and done, he was proud to call them his children.
After eating the feast, the siblings, with the exception of Kurama, had shrunk down to their smaller sizes _ their childhood sizes _ and jumped into the natural pool created by the waterfall, gleefully splashing water all over the grass.
At first, Shukaku and Matatabi had been the only occupants of the pool since the rest of the siblings had refused to swim, finding the act childish. However, after seeing Matatabi and Shukaku race through the crystal blue surface of the cold water with childish giggles, they had swallowed their pride and joined their siblings.
Only Kurama had refused to swim.
Naruto chuckled softly when he saw a mischievously grinning Shukaku unexpectedly pull Gyuki's octopus leg and innocently hide behind Saiken, prompting the eight-tailed ox to blame a nearby swimming Son Goku for the prank.
Matatabi jumped out of the water, strolling up to her smiling father and strangely irritated brother with a large grin "Hey brother, why don't you join us?"
Kurama's eyebrow twitched as he tried to ignore her question. He was the mighty Lord of Foxes, the strongest demon in all the realities, the eldest son of the ancient Emperor! He couldn't just shrink into his babyish size and splash around in the water like a kit!
He had an image to uphold!
Though the shimmering and gleaming surface of the stream looked absolutely divine. He couldn't help but think what the cool sensation of the water would feel on his fur!
"I need not stoop myself so low as to indulge in such childish acts with the likes of you!" he retorted snappishly and closed his eyes with a huff to indicate his displeasure and … to prevent himself from seeing his sister's hurtful look.
"Father, that was mean of him!" the two tailed hellcat exclaimed with a teary-eyed pout.
Naruto smiled softly and placed his large hand on her head, softly running his hands through her flaming fur, causing the nine-tailed fox to mutter 'Daddy's girl' under his breath. Matatabi heard the comment and openly stuck out her tongue before purring under the ancient king's skillful hand.
"Now now, child, it's not polite to show disrespect towards your brother" Naruto commented lightly and delicately ruffled her blue fur.
"But father, he started it!" she retorted with a pout.
"Indeed he did and I shall question him about it" Naruto replied with a delicate smile "Now go, entertain yourself and try not to antagonize Gyuki… too much"
Matatabi grinned like a Cheshire cat and jumped into the water, detecting the hidden permission in her father's tone. He said not to antagonize her ox-topus brother too much, so did that mean she and Shukaku could maybe tease him a little bit? It sure seemed that way to her!
As if they had a telepathic link with each other, Shukaku instantly understood the situation and took necessary actions. Using condensed and wet sand, the childish desert demon griped Gyuki's legs and pulled him under the water before he and Matatabi hurried out of the water and hid behind their father's giant form.
The second son of the mighty emperor rose from the depths of the water and roared. Seeing as the only one who was proficient in water based techniques was Isobu, Lord of the Oceans, who was currently trying to act all innocent behind the ox-topus, it made him the only culprit!
The eight tailed demon tackled a surprised Isobu and pushed him under the water with a growl.
The tiny heads of the two mischievous siblings cautiously peaked out from their father's broad back, assessing the hostility of the situation before high-fiving each other with wide grins. Their beams widened when they saw the delicately smiling visage of their powerful father.
Guess, he approved!
The two mischievous siblings gave each other a knowing look and jumped into the water with wide grins. It was Son Goku's turn next!
Naruto took a dignified sip from the soothing cup of green tea and chuckled softly when he heard Goku's indignant 'hey'. One of these days, his youngest son and daughter would get themselves in trouble with their siblings.
Sensing the approaching presence, Naruto lowered the tea cup from his lips and smiled softly as his loyal attendant appeared in front of him "Welcome back, child"
Oken kneeled on the ground and nodded firmly "Gratitude, Sire, and greetings to you, Lord Kurama"
The nine tailed fox merely gave him a nod and dozed off. This guy again! Didn't Shukaku and Matatabi said that they won't be seeing him for a while since they had ensured that he would be away from the Palace for a day at least?
Guess their plan failed and this guy was here to ruin their family moment!
Off to the side, Shukaku and Matatabi comically palmed their tiny faces in misery while the other siblings glared at them. What in the nine bloody hells? How did he complete such a difficult task in such short amount of time?
They had been hoping that it would take him at least a day to search and the guy was back after a few hours!?
They had ordered the loyal attendant to search for a powerful race in the embrace of the infinite realities so that their father may enjoy sparring with them when he was feeling bored.
While Oken was no fool and knew well enough that his King was not a fan of simple sparring with mere mortals, they were the Masters and Mistresses and thus he had an obligation to fulfil.
He showing up this early ruined everything!
Oken could see the expressions on the faces of the young Lords and Ladies, and couldn't help but smile at their attempts to drive him away for them to enjoy their time with their father.
He was not such a heartless individual to intrude upon their family and had to admit that he was feeling hurt by their impression of him.
Was he really that cold or duty-bound that the young Lords and Ladies considered him a nuisance?
Seeing the dejected expression on his face, the ancient entity smiled softly before turning to a cutely pouting Shukaku "Child, it's almost time for dinner. I hope providing me with lunch only was not a part of your agenda?"
Shukaku blinked "Huh?"
Naruto chuckled softly "Have you informed the chefs to prepare us something for dinner?"
The sand demon sprung and puffed his small chest in pride, instantly understanding what his father meant "Of course, I have! I will get it now!"
The tiny Shukaku sprinted off into the distance with a maniacal laughter. Though he did neglected to point that he hadn't told the chefs anything besides ordering them to prepare lunch. Meh, who cared? They were the Royal chefs, they could prepare anything in a few seconds!
Matatabi turned into her original form and raced after her brother "Wait brother, I am coming as well!"
Naruto smiled delicately and turned to his stupefied children floating in the pool "Alright children, that's sufficient swimming for one day, come here"
The siblings blinked and then blinked again!? Did their father just tell them to join him? Did that mean that he and Oken wouldn't suddenly disappear into a faraway reality for a few days and leave them with nothing to do?
Wide pleased grins appeared on their faces as they jumped out of the water and sprinted towards their father's sitting form. This was turning out to be their lucky day!
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A Day Later, North East Quadrant, Unknown Reality
Amidst the dusty cloud of infinite realities in location unknown, a particular speck of dust of unidentified name was shining much more brilliantly than the others of its kind. Zooming into the speck of glittering dust, an entire cluster of galaxies and solar systems came into play.
Amidst these cluster of galaxies and milky ways, an outstandingly primitive planet shook unexpectedly and exploded in an astonishing display of embers and debris, erasing the very existence and history of the planet along with its inhabitants.
Floating right above the now destroyed and erased planet was a tall and heavily armored giant humanoid. The humanoid was at least 8 feet tall and heavily muscled, his tall and imposing stature augmented by the black armor.
The most striking feature of this strange creature was his bald head and pupil-less fiery eyes.
The heavily armored giant known as T'rar by his bloodthirsty comrades, lowered his hand and laughed, his coarse and rough voice reverberating through the vast reaches of space.
He was the mightiest there was! A single full powered punch from him had the power to shatter planets and the destroyed debris floating in space was a testament to that fact!
By destroying and eliminating a total of 13 primitive and weak civilizations in the spin of 1 day would surely get the attention of his King! The mighty Z'ver would reward him and promote him from a lowly soldier to the esteemed position of one of his elites!
His maniacal laughter came to a screeching halt when a dark portal ripped opened in the middle of the space and two tall men stepped out.
The first one, a tall redhead, was dressed in a long white coat reaching past his knees, white hakama, a white kimono style shirt with a few buttons undone and a black sash wrapped his waist. The most peculiar features of his being were the horns atop his head and his abnormally long, sweeping red hair.
The second one, a brown haired male, was garbed in a golden and crimson armor. The armor was consisting of two golden shoulder pads, a gleaming crimson chest piece covering his torso, golden wristbands wrapped around his hands up to his elbows leaving his muscular arms bare and a set of black boots covering his feet
Seeing the two strong-looking opponents appear out of nowhere, the bald humanoid grinned widely and vanished. Appearing right in front of the redhead, T'rar laughed sadistically and swung his fist, intent on blasting the redhead to pieces.
His fiery eyes widened in heart-stopping surprise when the redhead raised his index finger and stopped his planet-shattering fist without even looking at him, an enormous shockwave generating from the impact.
This was impossible! No one beside the King, his elites and a few others of his kind had the power to stop his blows!
Recoiling his fist once again, T'rar delivered a destructive combo to the redhead's exposed torso, only to be stopped by his damned finger again!
Jumping away from the two strangers, the bald humanoid skimmed his gaze over the two. Judging from their appearances, the first one was the leader since he was the powerful one as well as the one without any sort of physical protection.
The second was the either a bodyguard or an attendant. Though if he were to take his imposing stature into account, he would say that the man was a bodyguard.
His teeth grinded against each other as he witnessed them observe the vast space and blissfully ignore his presence. This humiliation will not stand!
Focusing his power behind the two, a black hole manifested out of thin air and exerted an incredibly powerful magnetizing force upon the surrounding. Some of the floating debris from the newly destroyed planet sailed past the two strangers and got sucked into the black hole, yet they remained undisturbed by the proceeding.
The only thing the appearance of the black hole accomplished was flap the redhead's long hair and coat.
His heart skipped a beat when the brown haired bodyguard gestured over his shoulder and shut the portal down without even blinking! These two were not mere individuals!
If reality warping had no effect on them, then maybe brute force will!
Summoning almost one third of his vast power, T'rar raise his muscular hands above his head and concentrated the power into an enormous sphere of dark energy. The destructive sphere of energy kept on increasing until it resembled a small sun.
The humanoid soldier grinned widely and hurled the enormous sphere of negative energy in the direction of the two unworried duo.
Only the King and his elites had ever survived this technique! There was no way that mere mortals will be able to maintain their physical and fleshy form after being subjected to his corrosive power!
His jaws dropped when the redhead merely moved his finger in a nonchalant arc and turned the massive sphere of destructive energy into a pile of flower petals that rained down upon them! How was this possible!?
He felt something he hadn't felt in a long time… fear! He had felt true fear almost a millennium ago when facing his mighty King in battle for the first time! This redhead, while still significantly weaker than his King, was obviously stronger than him and thus he needed to retreat to report this anomaly.
Before he could use his reality warping abilities to teleport to his home planet, the redhead appeared before him from thin air and grabbed him by the neck, effortlessly lifting him up like a doll.
The giant humanoid struggled under the impossibly strong grip of the redhead but to no avail.
"Sire, permission to destroy him?" Oken asked bluntly as he appeared behind Naruto.
T'rar gave the redhead a questioningly painful look as he tried to liberate his painfully crushed neck from the redhead's overwhelming grasp.
This redhead was a King as well? Did that mean that he was looking to usurp the dark lord of this universe? They would die before even touching a hair on the mighty Z'ver!
"No need, I have something much more … interesting planned for our acquaintance here. Though his invaluable concurrence to the planned outcome is still uncertain" Naruto smiled gently "Do you mind introducing yourself?"
Seeing the harmlessly smiling redhead turn his gaze towards him, T'rar doubled his efforts to free himself but the grip on his neck remained as painfully strong as ever. What in X'al was this overwhelming pressure?! It was almost crushing his bones!
Not receiving any response but useless struggle of freedom, the ancient King hummed in thought "It would appear our friend here lacks the power of speech"
Oken nodded "Indeed, every single individual of his kind lacks the power of speech, beside their so called king and elites"
Naruto smiled elegantly "How fascinating, they have such substantially formidable assortment of abilities yet lack something as rudimentary as the ability to speak?"
T'rar sighed in relief when the redhead let go of him and floated a few feet away. Excellent! Now that he was free, he could report this insolent redhead and his equally insolent bodyguard to the mighty dark lord and get a reward!
His momentary thoughts of relief went down the drain when the parts of the previously destroyed planet came hurling towards him in blinding speed. Enormous chunks after bone-shattering chunk of planetary debris collided with his body in a sickening crunch.
Even those boulders that had been sucked into the portal ripped open a hole in the fabric of space and rocketed towards the screaming humanoid.
The mighty T'rar screamed in agony, his excruciating and tormented voice reverberated through the empty shroud of nothingness as the colliding portions of rubbles compressed, crushed, squashed and grinded his very existence into nothingness.
Oken smirked at the newly created planet underneath them with a raised eyebrow. Sometimes, his lord was even more sadistic than him! Crushing the Shadow between the destroyed parts of a planet and reforming said planet atop his body was certainly something!
His ideas of punishment were quite straightforward. Chop off their heads, crush their heads between his palms or something similar but the ideas thought of by his King were something else.
To be honest, reversing the destruction of the planet but trapping the bald humanoid inside the core was the least of his thoughts!
Naruto smiled delicately and zipped towards the titanic planet of the beings calling themselves Shadows.
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Planet Z'ver
The giant redheaded emperor and his attendant softly touched the surface of the gigantic planet, right in front of the Shadow King's palace and calmly strode up to the front gate.
The palace was predictably quite large and equally majestic. Oken tsked in annoyance as he perceived the brightly golden color scheme of the palace. Applying a few decorative objects of golden color here and there was good but an entire palace made of gold was just too much.
The palace towered over the main city or rather the capital of Planet Z'ver, looming a bright shadow over the metropolitan. An entire battalion of royal soldiers guarded the front gate, which in Oken's opinion already gave the impression of a weak king depending on his troops to protect him.
Though he did notice that the two giant soldiers standing at front lines were different than the others. They almost resembled the general physique of the Shadows but were quite different nonetheless.
Naruto delicately strode up to the front gate of the palace, carefully observing the parameters of the gigantic structure. Judging from the lack of any bystanders or civilians, it was obvious the king was not keen on interacting with his people, probably perceiving them as lower species.
From what he had seen, the planet, completely shrouded in grey clouds, was created by combining three planets by some sort of dark magic with three moons orbiting its axis. However, despite possessing such a large planet, the Shadows were isolationist or rather a specie who prided themselves on being pure and untainted.
The entirety of the planet was inhabited by Shadows only. However, that was not what interested him. It was the fact that each and every single individual of the planet wielded powers that even dwarfed Superman's considerable strength.
While each were different and unique, their powers were somewhat the same. Enough physical strength to shatter a planet, the ability to survive in the vacuum of space, energy manipulation, extended life force and to a lesser extent, reality warping.
That certainly explained their hate for other species of the universe.
While he usually let either Oken or Kurama handle such problems, this one simply interested him because of the rumors about the king.
Z'ver, known as the Dark Lord of one of the universes in this reality, was a special case of interest. Unlike the rest of his kind, Z'ver was considered as the master of all forms of combat and warfare known to their kind.
He was the only one among the Shadows to have achieved complete mastery of his powers and attained the power of speech. Though his 5 elites had also attained the ability to speak.
While there were several individuals that even dwarfed Z'ver's power, it still was interesting.
Oken had been the one who had come across the info about a primitive race suddenly raising into power and almost conquering an entire solar system in a few days. That report had been a week ago, which would mean that almost seven years have passed in this reality.
In the duration of seven years, the Shadows not only erased every single shred of resistance and obstruction but also conquered the entire universe. They were quite ambitious, he would give them that.
Naruto and Oken calmly walked up to the royal guards, causing the tall soldiers to tense and griped their weapons. The tall brown haired attendant moved to blast the insolent soldiers for daring to stand in the path of the king, but Naruto stopped him with a sideway glance.
"Greetings gentlemen" Naruto voiced in a calm and pleasant tone "We seek an audience with your King"
While he had no knowledge of their language, he did have the power to make them understand his own.
The rest of the soldiers parted ways to reveal the two different soldiers who had been standing at the front gate. The two heavily armored men strode up to Naruto and Oken, standing a few feet away with their arms crossed.
The first one, like the rest of the Shadows, was dressed in a gleaming golden armor except a few small changes. His armor included an extra piece of metal wrapped around his arm, with a strange symbol engraved on it which if his knowledge told him right, announced 'The Fourth'.
The second was dressed similar to the first, except his metal badge announced 'The Fifth'
"The King has neither the time nor the patience to deal with the likes of you!" the first one spat out in disgust "Be gone mortals before I make an example out of you"
Naruto raised an amused eyebrow at his words and gestured for Oken to stop his attack. This man could speak. So this was an elite? The fourth one to be precise, if the badge was any indication. He did look quite powerful.
"I understand his Majesty may be occupied but we have journeyed a time-consuming distance to meet the grand King Z'ver" Naruto clarified with a gentle smile "Departing straightaway without completing our objective would be disappointing"
Hearing his polite and undisturbed answer, the first elite nudged his partner and chuckled darkly "Ah, so you are from another planet? That certainly explains your disrespectful tongue as well as your unannounced presence"
Oken lightly narrowed his sharp eyes at the insult. He would've blasted the disrespectful trash into a million pieces had the king not ordered him to stay calm.
Naruto smiled gently as the first elite gestured for the battalion to surround him and Oken. How predictable.
The two elites grinned widely and turned to walk away with an arrogant wave over their shoulders "Guards, show them our form of hospitality"
The soldiers, while tensed and unsure due to the pressure suddenly appearing out of nowhere, cheered loudly at the permission and rushed to impale the two strangers.
Before the battalion could reach the motionless duo and stab them with their energy rods, their long spear-like weapons glowed brightly.
The two elites stopped their trek to the front gate when a soft glow announced the presence of something behind them. They turned around just in time to witness the weapons of the soldiers transform into enormous anacondas and swallow their terrified owners whole.
"It seems they are quite skilled, K'ur" the first commented lightly as he watched the horned redhead whisper something to the brown haired man and calmly walk towards them with a smile, his long sweeping hair and white coat fluttering in the soft breeze.
It would seem their guest was a magician if the current show was any indication.
"That they are, S'tar" K'ur replied with a grin "Shall we bring him before the King?"
"That would be wise but…" S'tar started with a bloodthirsty grin "Let's educate the stranger about proper manners first!"
The two elites smirked broadly as Naruto strolled up to them and, much to their surprise and annoyance, proceeded past them into the palace.
"Hold it, mortal!" the Fifth elite bellowed in anger "You dare enter the palace without permission!"
Not even sparing the two fuming elites a single glance, the horned emperor continued his undisturbed walk through the hallways of the palace with gentle smile on his ethereal visage, soft taps of feet echoing through the enclosed structure.
Seeing as the redhead ignored them in favor of continuing his daring stroll into the palace, K'ur, gritting his teeth in anger, flew after the horned man and tightly gripped his shoulder.
"You have gone on long enough! You are abou…!"
He never did managed to finish his sentence as a still smiling Naruto gave him a fleeting, composed and nonchalant glance over his shoulder and instantaneously ignited the body of the 5th Elite in soul-searing black flames.
Excruciating screams of torment reverberated throughout the corridors as the influential 5th Elite was downgraded to mere ashes in the middle of the palace while the other Elite looked on with helplessness.
"Barring entrance of your residence to your guests is offensive and highly indecent" Naruto charmingly reprimanded the grey ashes of used-to-be-elite and gracefully resumed his stride.
S'tar, realizing that the man was much more dangerous than he let on, flew a few feet in front of the horned redhead and concentrated black energy into the palms of his hands. A man strong enough to kill an Elite by simply looking at him? That was utterly impossible and outright preposterous!
The Elites were numbered from 1 to 5 on their power level and K'ur was the last Elite, admittedly much weaker than him and the rest, he was still strong enough to conquer an entire cluster of planets by himself!
The damned redhead wasn't even considering him worthy of being looked at! He was walking through the decorated and extravagant hallways of the palace as if he owned it … as if he knew every single twist and turn like the back of his hand!
Judging from the path of his stroll, S'tar realized with a grimace that the redheaded enigma was advancing straight to the Throne Room. If the King and Queen were interrupted at this time of the day, the Queen may not mind much but the King would have their heads in a silver platter.
Just as Naruto reached a few feet of his location, the 4th Elite let loose an massive torrent of dense, concentrated and tainted energy, completely shrouding the serenely smiling redhead its scorching confines.
The dark energy stream maintained its detrimental surge, reducing the front gate as well as the back walls of the palace to naught but dust.
Seeing the chaos caused by his own creation, S'tar lowered his hands with a gratified smirk and prepared to walk towards the Throne Room to report the eradication of a disrespectful trash.
Before he could even take a step into the adjoined hallway, the energy stream he had sent towards the horned redhead suddenly changed course and pirouetted around the general location of the now no doubt deceased redhead.
"By Z'ver!" the Elite breathed in disbelief as the coiling energy distorted, quivered and progressively altered shape. The altering mass of destructive energy kept shifting from a spherical mass into something much more humanoid and … beastly.
With a sudden and unanticipated explosion of light, the energy ceased its startling transformation and revealed a frightening sight.
"I-impossible!"
This couldn't be happening! Nobody, not even the King had this kind of power at his disposal! He was looking at … himself!
The dark energy being standing before him was a perfect replica of his being. Same eyes, same body structure and same facial features… except his skin was the same color as his energy beam and he was humongous … even by Shadow standards!
Each and every fully matured Shadow reached an average height of 8 feet… yet this gigantic construct of his own energy was … well … gigantic! His head was touching the ceiling of the palace and that was saying something! The ceiling of the palace by his estimation was at least 30ft high!
"What in Z'ver's name is this trickery?!" S'tar exclaimed in alarm as he gawked at his looming doppelganger.
His already wide eyes widened even further when an unscathed Naruto serenely strolled out of the smoke and smiled delicately "I am confident you would appreciate my contribution and suitably 'welcome' it"
S'tar gnashed his teeth in resentment as the horned redhead paced towards the stairs directed to the Throne Room. He was not going to let an insolent mortal disturb the King, not as long as he was alive!
Aiming his reality twisting abilities, S'tar produced a dark malleable and spherical mass in his hands and hurled it towards Naruto just as his replica attacked him with a roar. Without even interrupting his graceful walk, the redheaded emperor imperceptibly raised his index finger over his shoulder and indifferently glided away.
The 4th Elite gazed on with a horror-struck expression on his extra-terrestrial visage as the dark mass of energy was sent chucking towards him. His already traumatized psyche shut down when he felt himself being attracted towards his doppelganger by an unknown force.
The two comparable creatures collided with one another as the dark orb of energy hurried towards them.
Screams of heart-wrenching agony reverberated through the palace as the dark spherical energy shredded the body of the 4th Elite to countless pieces, followed by the deafening sound of explosion that rocked the capital city to its core, promptly demolishing the anterior portion of the palace to smithereens.
Entire battalions of recently alerted royal soldiers dropped unconscious in the hallways of the palace as a gently smiling Naruto continued his undisturbed expedition towards his destination. Those with even a shred of malevolence in their hearts perished, drowning in their own blood while the rest merely entered into a momentary dream-like state.
Seeing a rather beautiful maid cower in the corner of a hallway, trembling hands wrapped around her form, Naruto smiled delicately and calmly floated up to the shivering servant. She must have heard the screams of the dying Elites.
Lightly touching the marble floor of the palace, Naruto gave a diminutive curtsy and smiled "Excuse me, young one, can you kindly show me the location of the Throne Room?"
The cowering maid gulped loudly and shakily pointed towards a decorated hallway. Naruto gently patted the head of the shivering maid and floated away with a soft, heartwarming smile, leaving a confused and slightly aroused servant behind.
Reaching the front of the gate to the Throne Room, the horned redhead came across three guards carelessly leaning against the door. Judging from their uniforms, the emperor realized the three individuals were the remaining Elites.
Normally he would have loved to entertain them and witness the extent of their battle prowess but the attitude and the powerlessness of the last two Elites somewhat dulled his interest in them.
A simple twitch of movement later, the three Elites standing at the front of the gate found themselves impaled by protruding spears from the previously motionless door.
The Elites didn't even have time to appear surprised as the absolutely still gate transformed into a thorny four-legged creature and mercilessly skewered them from behind. Giving a nonchalant and uncaring yank, the lifeless carcasses of the three Elites dropped to the ground in meaty thud
Naruto tenderly caressed the golden, metallic head of the newly constructed creature and floated into the Throne Room with a soft smile, while the beaming beast of golden metal stood straight in the door way.
Just because the door was a spiritless entity didn't automatically imply that the Elites could carelessly strike or lash out at it simply because they were bored or feeling underappreciated.
As one would expect from a supposed ruler of a Universe, the throne room was quite large, almost coming close to his own. Golden pillars stood on either side of the room, designs of ancient civilizations keenly resembling the Shadows were engraved on the surface.
A brown carpet lead up to a stage-like construct at the far end of the room where the thrones were positioned. Two beautifully decorated and brightly colored thrones boarded the raised platform.
Sitting upon the first throne with his head resting on his clenched fist was a tall and muscular black haired man with sharp features. The tall individual was dressed in a golden armor from neck to toe, tightly clinging to his muscular form like a second skin.
He was, apparently the only one who had hair on his head since the rest of his kind was bald. From the way he was seated and judging from his slouched posture, the man was bored.
Sitting next to the tall king, was a woman of radiant beauty, vastly different than the women inhabiting this strange planet. In a way, she could even rival Diana and Queen Mera in the warrior-like beauty she was exuding.
The woman was a tall redhead, far taller than the ordinary females and blessed with gracefully muscled frame that seemed to enhance her beauty, instead of decreasing her feminine allure. She was molded in a way that the muscles looked much more enticing rather than intimidating.
Her mood of dress certainly did little to hide that allure.
The tall Amazonian-like queen was garbed in a transparently provocative and form-fitting tunic-like garb, bequeathing a tantalizing indication of the beauty underneath. A golden crown adorned her head, delicately positioned upon her crimson locks.
While the King was visibly bored and undisturbed by the deaths of his subordinates as well as the strange source of their deaths, she was seated on the throne like a woman with a purpose, vigilantly skimming her emerald eyes over his towering and ethereally radiant form with an appreciative glint.
Naruto arched a delicate eyebrow when he sensed an overpowering expanse of lust in the room, directly leaking off the Amazonian-like queen who appeared or more accurately sought to give the impression of being indifferent.
Depositing the issue of the peculiar occurrence aside, the penetrating gaze of the ageless monarch picked up something in the Queen's eyes which illuminated a lot of factors. He could see desperation, solitude, an intense longing for freedom and suppressed desires.
So she was an indisposed casualty of forced marriage? That certainly enlightened her suppressed lust.
Serenely floating to the anterior of the elevated podium, the horned emperor smiled delicately and gracefully rested his hand upon his wide torso "Greetings your highnesses"
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The King and Queen looked at the enigmatic redhead with distinctive expressions on their visages.
The black haired King lazily trialed his fiery eyes over the redhead, seizing every trivial and insignificant detail into account. The ethereally glowing redhead was even taller than him, a pleasant surprise to say the least.
While his body was in perfect condition, flawlessly muscled and molded to the very brink of physical perfection, not to mention in possession of some abnormal features like the black horns and long sweeping hair, Z'ver cared little about that particular factor.
What he was curious about was the fact that the horned redhead seemed to exude an aura of authority and might equaled by few others.
From what he could feel, the redhead may even be able to match him should he release 50% of his power. That component alone was thrilling! Conquering the entire universe made him a hopeless addict to the vile sensation of relentless battles!
There was nothing more beautiful, nothing more seductive than shattering planets and hearing the screams of his miserable victims! Even the sacrifice of his soldiers was but a trivial and insignificant price to pay to elevate his boredom!
He desperately longed for the addicting sensation of sizzling adrenaline rushing through his bloodstream, the heart-wrenching screams of his opponents and the sickening sounds of bones being grinded to dust beneath his boots!
Sadly, after conquering the entire universe, shattering any shred of resistances and covering the inhabitants of the planets under dark clouds of fear, no one had the guts to stand up against him!
Even those few who had found the courage to raise had never made it through his front gate, thus always leaving him disappointed.
This redhead, however, not only crippled his royal guards, killed all of his Elites but also destroyed the front wing of his palace without any visible source of help! He had done all that alone without even breaking a sweat! This was going to be a thrilling battle!
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The redheaded queen on the other hand, had other ideas on her mind. Frankly, if her delusional husband got even a hint of the thoughts going through her head, he would die of shock.
This redheaded warrior was magnificent! Starting from his muscularly divine body, his ethereally defined and sharp facial features up to his overwhelming force of presence!
This was the kind of specimen she was destined to betroth! This was the kind of divine warrior she was supposed to acknowledge and this was the kind of ethereal specimen she was destined to bed!
She was a former princess of a distant planet under the rule of her father, King Hurman. Her planet's cultural revolved around honor, unity and above all strength. Everything was based on power! The more powerful you were, the more privileges you received.
She was born with an abnormally keen sense of battle aggression and strength, instantly being recognized as the strongest heir to ever take breathe on the face of the planet. By the time she was 20, she had received the worthy title of the Strongest Woman in the Universe!
However, the delusional and unworthy fool sitting beside her had heard of her strength and beauty. The disgusting man had gathered his entire army to surround her planet and threatened to destroy it unless she surrenders to him and becomes his wife.
While she had resisted and had been ready to cut him to a million pieces, her father had ordered her to comply with the man's wishes for the sake of her people. Thus, she had come to this planet and become his wife, vowing to take vengeance for her lost dignity and honor as well as her people.
The delusional fool may think that she knew nothing about the fact that he had destroyed her planet right after she had surrendered, but he would be dead wrong! She knew every single little detail about the incident!
She had plotted and schemed endlessly to get her revenge, while also playing the part of a loving wife and caring queen to appease her delusional husband. While at first she had been cold and aloof to everyone around her, she had warmed up to several maids after being told of their similar history.
Through the maids, she had learned that aside from the royal army and the Elites, none of the general populous agreed with the King's bloodthirsty and greedy tendencies to destroy planets.
That had at least provided her with sufficient backup support should she need it. While she was more than an equal for her husband in every form of combat, she had no way of stopping his reality warping abilities, thus a few talented citizens would come in handy.
But with the appearance of this … beautiful man, she would get her revenge much quicker than expected! If she was lucky, she might even convince him to stand beside her and become her king!
While Z'ver was powerful and a worthy warrior, his greedy tendencies left much to be desired. His power was great and vast indeed, but she was equal to him in every possible way.
She had no need for a King who was her equal, she needed a specimen who was her superior! Her warrior instincts sought superior beings to challenge, not equals! She wanted a being who could stand beside and in front of her both as a support and an obstacle so that she may reach new heights!
She needed a man who can be both caring and ruthless at the same time! She needed a man who would care for the innocent people and vanquish her enemies! And more importantly, she needed a king who could dominate her in every possible contest, even in bed!
Together, they would rule over Planet Z'ver and provide the people their due rights.
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"Who are you and what is your purpose for coming her, mortal?" Z'ver asked in a booming tone.
Naruto smiled delicately "How rude of me, my name is Naruto, a pleasure to meet you King Z'ver"
"You neglected to shed some light on your purpose for coming here" the queen announced in a melodious tone, a small smirk dancing on her full lips. This horned stranger was not effected by her husband's aura of power, not in the slightest.
"Oh a pleasure to finally meet you as well, Queen Malaka" Naruto countered with a peaceful smile "I must confess the rumors of your beauty are not doing justice to your actual magnificence"
The Dark Lord scowled threateningly at the silver-tongued redhead while his fellow redheaded queen smiled widely "Quite the charmer, aren't you? Sorry to disappoint you but I am married"
"Undeniably, it is quite a disappointment" The ancient King remarked in a faux wounded tone before turning towards a snarling Z'ver "My sincere apologies for being so daring with your queen, your highness, though you can undoubtedly understand my enthusiasm"
The redheaded queen smirked broadly when she heard the mighty king growl like a disturbed beast. This man was interesting!
"Your impudence knows no bounds, mortal" the Shadow king thundered loudly "You dare enter my palace, destroy my home, kill my soldiers and talk so insolently with MY queen?!"
The armrest of the throne exploded from the crushingly tight grip as Z'ver stood up with a growl. He had been meaning to slowly break the insolent redhead before him and then have him thrown in the dungeons for further torture, however after seeing him talk so boldly with his wife, he was not going to be that merciful!
Nobody had the right to even gaze upon his property, let alone speak with her!
With a twitch of his finger, a dark portal materialized beneath the smiling redhead who simply looked on with a raised eyebrow. Z'ver's eyebrows rose in surprise when the portal closed up with without sucking the redhead away!
Maybe another day, he would've been impressed and even offered a man as powerful as the redhead a place in his army, but now he was lewd! Not only did the man attempted to flirt with his wife, but he was also resisting arrest!? How insulting!
Queen Malaka rolled her eyes in exaggeration when the King dramatically shed off the upper part of his armor and imposingly walked down the raised platform. Each step shook the palace like a fragile leaf barely resisting the eroding winds of autumn.
Leaning comfortably into the throne, the warrior queen crossed her long legs over one another and rested her head on her clenched fist with a wide smirk on her angelic face. Perhaps she could get some entertainment form watching this battle.
Powerful battles and warriors did make her body tingle in excitement after all!
Z'ver approached the still and smiling redhead, standing right in front of him with his hands crossed over his chest, an unpleased snarl visible on his visage. Now that he was off the platform and standing at equal level, the dark lord realized that the redhead was taller than him by a few inches.
His tall height and black horns, not to mention the pressure lurking around his body practically screamed power. He couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't noticed this side of the redhead before!
Without waiting for the horned redhead to make a move, the dark lord sent his giant fist straight towards the redhead's face, the force of the air fraction lighting up his fist in flames as it connected in a brilliant show of blazing shockwaves.
Z'ver would've smirked had he not seen that his fist had connected with the man's forehead but he hadn't even moved an inch from his place.
Before he could jump back and deliver another fist, a bone-shattering knuckle connected with his torso and sent him flying out of the palace into a river outside the capital city.
The queen's smirked widened and her arousal skyrocketed when she witnessed the devastation a simple fist had caused. The ceiling of the throne room was nothing but dust, the pillars were barely standing in their places while the walls were torn and crumbled.
Seeing the smiling redhead zip out of the room, the queen stood up from her throne and flew after the horned manifestation of perfection and her supposed husband.
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Outside the Palace, The Eastern River
The ancient King appeared above the shivering river a second later after the dark lord's abrupt arrival and simply hovered above with an amused smile. So far, he had not seen anything worthy of being praised or worthy of being witnessed by his eyes, for that matter.
Brute strength was not the only factor in a battle.
He knew the man had so much more potential and hidden might, but it seems he lacked the intellect to use those powers to their fullest, destructive potential. Well, he would have to bring out that potential in him one way or another.
The river underneath shook violently as the aforementioned king shot out of the water and hovered right in front of the redhead, fiery eyes shadowed by his long black hair and giant muscular hands clenched to the point of bleeding.
"You dare strike at me!" Z'ver roared and punched the ancient ruler in the face, a shattering shockwave generating from the impact.
"You appear furious for some reason, your highness" Naruto commented softly, not the least bit disturbed by the shocking punch.
Seeing his fist not have an effect on the indestructible redhead, the black haired ruler took a calm breathe, pushing away any and all distractions to the back of his mind. This was an opponent he was thriving to fight! This was the kind of rival he was hoping to destroy!
Then why? Why were his hands and feet trembling!? Why was his heart almost ready to burst free from his chest cavity? Why were his eyes unfocused and dilated? Why couldn't he shake off the feelings of unrestrained fear?
Why was the redhead not attacking him? Why was he smiling as if he, the Dark Lord, was a jokester? Why was the damned redhead UNDERESTIMATING HIM?!
A delicate smile danced on the ancient king's lips as he watched the Shadow ruler gather every ounce of power in his hand, his hands and feet trembling, his body quivering from power. Interesting.
It seems his smile accomplished what it was meant to.
"DIE YOU INSOLENT MORTAL!"
Off to the side, Queen Malaka calmly floated in the air and watched as the destructive stream of energy from her husband's hands completely covered the divine redhead in its embrace and covered the entirety of the dark sky in roaring flames.
She scowled when the stream of energy struck a nearby town and reduced it to ashes in a matter of seconds. While there were no civilians in that town, it still irritated her to plainly see the carelessness of her husband in regards to the safety of his people.
Just to make it official that he had finished off the redhead, Z'ver fired an endless barrage of concentrated energy, lighting up the whole sky as well as the half destroyed palace in a brilliant shower of crimson.
Seeing no movements amidst the inferno, the mighty lord of the universe tore away his fiery gaze from the smoldering sky and focused on his luscious queen. He always did enjoy rutting with his queen after a great battle and this one was such a disappointing one that he needed to vent out some frustration.
The fact that his queen was smirking and visibly trying to stop her hands from wandering to her sacred places only meant that she was anticipating this as much as he was!
Grinning widely, Z'ver tensed his muscles and shot after his calmly floating queen. His heart skipped a few beats. His tensed muscles shredded from the sudden and unexpected force. Cold sweat trialed down his brows. His hands and feet trembled as he turned around and watched the heart-stopping scene.
Right amidst the smoldering confines of the sky, right in the middle of the still smoking and burning dark clouds, stood the ever enigmatic and powerful redhead in his ethereal glory.
His eyes, full of amusement and interest, shone a brilliant blue in the crimson inferno. His lips were stretched into a delicate smile. His sweeping long red hair softly fluttered in the wind, swaying delicate threads of hair like elongated strands of rubies.
The dark clouds in the sky, the burning inferno still flickering and waving in ferocious winds only augmented his ethereal beauty. He realized with a loud growl why his queen was having difficulty in controlling her desires!
He always knew the damned woman had her eyes set on higher beings and had only taken her to show her that there was no one higher than him.
He of course knew about her plans to usurp his throne, he would be a delusional fool if he hadn't! The only thing stopping him from taking any action against her was that the general populace loved her and would stand for her should he strike her without any evidences.
While he was confident in his abilities and the might of his elites, he was under no hallucinations to think that he could take on an entire planet of Shadows by himself.
He had been waiting for her to take action against him so that he may provide the citizens the proof they needed to accuse their caring queen and then lock her in his dungeon to torture for all eternity.
Naruto floated out of the burning inferno and calmly neared the shivering and growling king with a soft smile "I have to say I am deeply disappointed by your supposed claims of unsurpassed power"
"You dare!"
Feeling a sudden burst of power behind him, Naruto sighed in disappointment and blocked a surprise attack from a growling Z'ver. Instead of taking it as a sign of defeat, the Shadow ruler took the nonchalant block as a sign of arrogance and responded by opening a portal right beneath Naruto's feet… a portal far stronger than the first one.
Fascinating. The more they were angry, the stronger they got!
Lighting tapping the portal with the tip of his straw sandals, Naruto smiled at the man's shocked look as the portal closed within a second. The man was suddenly all quiet and focused, not bothering to waste time with words. He supposed he should be thankful for that.
Talking in the middle of a battle was not welcomed or appreciated.
Naruto watched with a delicate smile as the man channeled the same dark energy into his hands and shot towards him with a snarl. Judging from the tenseness of his muscles, he was obviously not looking to release the energy in a wide arc …. More like …
Predictable.
Z'ver recoiled his fists and delivered a flurry of energy enhanced fists, releasing the gathered energy in sudden bursts to maximize damage. Even then it had no effect on the redhead! What in the name of X'al was he?
Widening his hands like a soaring eagle, Z'ver smashed his hands together in a clap, blasting away the river and the surrounding forest from the destructive shockwave. He growled loudly when the redhead stood undisturbed amidst the ferocious wind and kept his infuriating smile.
Feeling a guest enter his Crystal Palace, Naruto smiled softly and pinned the growling lord with his sharp blue eyes "The battle was amusing and somewhat interesting but I am afraid I must tend to my guests"
Z'ver raised an eyebrow when the horned redhead pointed his index to the dark clouds-covered sky and floated a few feet away. What he was he up to?
He got his answer when the dark clouds parted away to reveal a sight no Shadow or any other being had ever seen in their eternal lives. Even the warrior queen was left gaping at the sight!
Hovering right above their heads were the three moons of the planet!
Judging from fire surrounding their entirety, they were obviously speeding towards him in blinding speed! This was impossible! If he did not stop the moons, it will not only destroy his palace, disrupt the tidal system of the oceans but crush half of the planet from the impact!
"Are you insane!?" Z'ver shouted in alarm, losing all semblance of composure as the gigantic masses of silver sand gradually descended upon him.
Naruto merely smiled at him and flickered his finger, causing the colossal sphere to increase their speed and lit up in bone-melting flames. He was not so heartless as to let the innocent people of the planet suffer the consequences of their king's action.
Oken had already erected a Space-Time barrier around the entirety of the palace as well as the surrounding area to avoid any interferences and collateral damage. The only witnesses to this battle were the queen and Oken.
Gritting in his teeth in anger, Z'ver gathered dark energy in his hands and shot towards the approaching moons. Recoiling his fist, the dark lord demonstrated his considerable power by blasting right through the first moon, destroying it to smaller pieces, and transporting the other to a parallel dimension.
Before he could punch the other moon and be done with it, Naruto smiled teasingly and twitched his finger. The mighty lord of the Universe was plummeted towards the humble ground with a surprised roar as an unexpected force griped his ankle.
With another flick of his finger, the third moon dashed towards the downed king and descended upon his body like a vengeful angel. The destroyed pieces of the first moon and the third colossal sphere collided with the surface of the earth, violently shaking the Space-Time barrier from the force.
A few moments later, large cracks formed in the third moon and a bruised Z'ver blasted through it with a roar. His golden armor was shredded and torn, his hair was disheveled. His flaming eyes clearly indicated his anger.
The dark energy surrounded his entire being, cracking the remains of his once gleaming golden armor. His skin tone changed, from a sickly purple to crimson red. His previously smooth black hair changed its style and almost resembled a porcupine.
Naruto raised an interested eyebrow at the change. He would have loved to continue this battle but unfortunately, he had other matters to attend to.
Extending his hands towards the growling and slowly transforming king, Naruto sent an invisible repellant force and sent him flying towards the river once again. Without giving him much time to gather his thoughts, the ageless King delicately raised his hand and clenched.
The embankments of the river shot towards one another and imprisoned the still disoriented king inside its muddy and suffocating confines. Untightening his fist, the banks withdrew to their position and a panting king emerged from the river, covered in mud.
He would have roared at the redhead for humiliating him in such a way had he not seen the sight. Floating behind the King were countless spears of glowing silver energy, pulsing and shimmering with unholy power.
Seeing the spears shoot towards him, Z'ver crossed his hands in front of himself and resigned himself into taking the attack head on. That turned out to be a grave miscalculation as the spears not only pierced his dense and impenetrable skin, but passed his insides and jutted out from the back.
Naruto calmly floated to the ground and smiled at the kneeling self-proclaimed Dark Lord of the Universe. Why did these mortals feel the need to bestow such titles upon themselves when they clearly had no power to back up the claim?
"B-be done w-with it then!" Z'ver spat out in anger.
"No need for such harsh words, your majesty" Naruto replied with a soft smile "I am pondering the best sort of punishment for you"
"Nothing y-you do will be able to s-stop me, I w-will reform again and e-exterminate you!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at the remark. Reformation? That was certainly new and fascinating. Looking deep into his eyes, the ancient horned emperor smiled humorously when he saw a connection between the essence of the King and the external circle of creation.
So by achieving the higher status of not only mastering his innate arts, he also established a contract or link with the environment to regenerate his body from anything should it get destroyed.
That certainly explained his arrogance to take his attacks head on.
Reformation definitely would not do. He was in no mood to come back to this reality anytime soon just to deal with him again.
Since he was a king and since he loved his palace so much, the only fitting way to punish him would be to …
Smiling widely, Naruto pointed his finger towards the throne room of the palace, the gesture accompanied by a swooshing sound as a large object touched the floor near the downed Shadow ruler.
Z'ver looked up and saw, much to his confusion and anger, his beloved throne. What was this redhead's game!? Why did he need his throne? Was he going to sit on it and gloat about taking his kingdom!?
Overhearing his agitated thoughts, the horned redhead smiled mysteriously "Oh I assure you I have no need for it. It would be an insult to you should a commoner like me dare sit on the royal throne"
Before Z'ver could open his mouth and ask the reason for his throne's presence, a shocking development stopped him altogether.
Impossible!
His throne was changing shape like a living and organic being! The armrests turned into muscular spikey golden paws, the feet of his beloved throne transformed into vicious looking hind legs of an unknown creature.
Lastly and the most horrifying of all the stages of transformation was the headrest he had enjoyed leaning his bored head on. The comfy looking headrest twisted, turned and twirled around in a disgusting manner until a tiger's head emerged and roared to the heavens.
The tiger shined a brilliant golden. His massive and revoltingly sharps paws and hulky body gleamed as he looked around the area with its yellowish red eyes until it focused on him.
He would have called the creature majestic if said creature wasn't currently stalking towards him.
"Greet your throne" Naruto announced with a soft chuckle and softly rubbed the head of the massive tiger before gesturing for the downed king "Well little one, it seems your former possessor is not keen on acknowledging you, how about you overlook his disrespect and 'address' him yourself?"
Z'ver could've sworn he saw a large grin appear on his used-to-be-motionless-throne-turned-tiger as it stalked towards his bleeding form, scratching his massive paws on the ground to increase its fear factor.
In one last ditched effort to take out both the redhead and his pet, he signaled for his queen to attack the redhead from behind while he focused his reality warping power on the pet. Imagine his surprise when his queen merely winked at him and raised her middle finger.
Seeing the shell-shocked lord gaze at his traitorous wife, the newly transformed throne-turned-tiger pounced on his bleeding form, tearing into his flesh and bones. Heart-wrenching screams of agony and pain reverberated through the whole planet as the King was devoured by his own throne.
The last image he saw was the smiling form of the redhead calmly floating in the sky, hair softly swaying in the air and his traitorous wife seductively sauntering towards the redhead with a wide smile on her face.
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Magnificent! Simply magnificent!
This power! This beauty and this control over the nature itself! He was the perfect specimen to stand by her side as her King! He was the perfect being to bed her!
Seeing her delusional husband being devoured by his own throne brought her a mind-numbing sense of euphoria. In the end, it didn't matter who or what delivered the finishing blow to Z'ver as long as he was gone for good.
She was thankful to the man in more ways than one. She had no idea that her so called husband had a contract with nature and that he would reform even if killed! That means she would have been fighting an endless battle even if she had succeeded in killing him!
Now if only she could persuade him to join her and rule by her side.
Putting an extra sway to her hips, the luscious queen sauntered over to the still floating redhead and draped her delicate hands over his shoulders before tenderly trailing her tongue over his exposed neck.
This scent of nature itself, this intoxicating aura of power and overwhelming might and this ethereally handsome visage was proving hard to resist.
Her people were virtually more receptive to intimacy than any other race in the entire universe. Impractical reservations like bashfulness were not appreciated in the slightest. The end result of bloody battles always resulted in intercourse right in the middle of the arena, even if in front of the audiences.
In fact some of the most morally frowned upon taboos such as incest were common on her home planet. It didn't matter to them as long as the partner was physically strong and willing to indulge their desires.
"I must say, that was a beautiful show you provided, young warrior" Queen Malaka purred seductively and openly bit on his neck.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at the bold queen and smiled. He had heard that her race were vastly opened to any sort of intimacy, but this was completely unexpected. Her husband was just devoured right before her eyes, yet she was more aroused than frightened by his power.
Then again, she was a victim of forced marriage so it was perfectly understandable if she held no love for her recently killed husband.
Her comment about him being young? That was highly amusing. Saying that he was young was like saying that the sun didn't shine.
She was wandering her hands over his body as if measuring a pieces of meat. She certainly was bold.
"I am somewhat surprised that you are not offended by observing your spouse slain right before your eyes" Naruto commented softly and gently untangled her hands from around his neck, causing the queen to pout in disappointment.
"Cut the drama, you are not the least bit surprised" Malaka retorted with a smirk "We can stand here all day and talk about the battle or we could proceed to my bedchambers and indulge ourselves in a much more… pleasurable combat"
Naruto chuckled softly "The proposal is rather persuasive but you are not in the right state of mind at the moment"
The redheaded queen raised an eyebrow and crossed her hands under her chest with a scowl "Meaning?"
"From my inadequate understanding of your kind, you get … somewhat stimulated when observing a battle" the ancient King replied softly "In consequence, your current suggestion is based solely on your innate impulses rather than any genuine desire for the pleasures of the flesh"
"You have done your homework" she retorted with a tempting smirk "But that only extends to the general citizens of my race. I on the other hand, just like my so called husband, am an evolved being perfectly in control of my desires and instincts"
"Is that so?"
She smirked widely and leaned closure to the smiling king "Indeed. Had that not been the case, I would have been driven by my instincts to claim you and you might have fought me instead of my 'husband'… in a different battle of course"
Biting his lower lip, Naruto tried to contain his laughter. There she was standing in front of him, arousal and lust oozing off of her in waves, her lips stretched into a wide tempting smirk and hands barely able to stop from wandering to his chest or other dangerous organs.
And here he thought Aphrodite was straightforward and blunt with her desires. This redhead was certainly not far behind in that regard.
"I may look young, but are you absolutely sure you can handle me?" Naruto stated in an amused tone and lightly trailed his hand over her cheek, causing the woman to shiver and for her arousal to reach new heights.
"The real question is, are you up to the task?" she countered with a smirk and placed her hand over his wide torso before leaning forward and smashing her considerable chest to his steel-like body "I may have offered, but you will have to best in combat to truly dominate me"
"I may be able to provide that" Naruto replied with a lopsided smile.
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