Chapter 57: Burden
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Carrying you out of here is the least I can do. Now stop talking and look pretty while I get us out of here before these exorcists wake up," Naruto told her with a wide grin.
Asia blushed again, but seemed to follow the order. Before Naruto could start walking though, the two heard a grinding noise.
Naruto turned to see Freed limping into a dark tunnel that definitely hadn't been there a few minutes ago. They then watched as it closed behind him.
Naruto just stood gaping. What the hell? Freed was alive. He took a full on kick from Naruto. Naruto had thought he'd caved in his ribcage.
Not to mention the stray priest had smacked into a stone wall with sickening force.
The fact that he was not only alive, but walking was just astonishing. Freed may be a fucking maniac, but he's a durable fucking maniac.
Naruto considered trying to chase him down. He could probably break through that hidden tunnel and catch Freed before he got too far.
He was clearly injured considering how he was walking. When he looked at Asia though, he scrapped the idea.
Asia was tired and vulnerable. He wasn't going to leave her alone to go chasing after Freed. He couldn't allow himself to get sidetracked.
He'd done that enough yesterday. He'd completed what he set out to do. Saving Asia. He'd have to be satisfied with that.
Naruto just knew letting Freed go was going to come back to bite him in the ass down the road though.
Turning away from where Freed had escaped, Naruto started moving towards the way back out of this chamber.
Walking up the stairs, they soon entered the regular church. He didn't get close to the door though before it was kicked open from the outside.
Naruto looked in shock as two figures ran inside before coming to a stop after seeing him.
"Yuuto? Koneko-chan?" Naruto questioned in surprise at seeing the two devils.
"Naruto," Yuuto exclaimed in equal surprise. He then saw Asia in his arms and commented in surprise, "You finished already."
"Senpai works fast…Impressive," Koneko remarked with the slightest bit of surprise in her voice.
"Uh, what are you two doing here? Rias-chan is going to be mad at you," Naruto asked in concern. He might have been willing to become a stray to save Asia, but he didn't want to drag these two down with him.
Yuuto just shot him a smile before stating, "No she isn't. She came too, after all."
"What?"
"Look," Yuuto told him in amusement, stepping aside.
Naruto tilted his head, but walked out of the church. He immediately saw what Yuuto meant. Rias and Akeno were both looking at the three hypnotized fallen angels, perplexed. Rias snapped her fingers in front of their faces before asking in blatant confusion, "What sort of illusion is this? I've never seen anything like this."
"Rias-chan," Naruto called out. She looked at him, so he quickly moved closer to her before he questioned, "What are you doing here, Rias-chan?"
"Well, we were planning to assist you," Rias claimed before continuing while looking at Asia, "Unfortunately, that pesky barrier was rather stubborn. It took a few minutes for Akeno and I to break it down. It seems our help was unnecessary though. You seem to have managed on your own."
"Yeah," Naruto replied. He then quickly added, "I appreciate the thought regardless."
"I hope so," Rias stated with a shrug. She nodded towards the unresponsive fallen angels and commented, "I have to ask about this though. I've never seen anything like it before."
"Oh that. Yeah, that's this sword at work," Naruto informed, waving it a bit while still holding Asia.
"That sword?" Rias mumbled, confused by the answer.
A gasp quickly drew her attention though. She turned to see Yuuto looking at the sword with wide eyes. His hands then clenched as he proclaimed, "I knew I sensed a holy sword, but never thought this. The power to control other living beings…That is Excalibur Ruler."
"Wait! What? Excalibur Ruler?" Rias exclaimed in astonishment. She then looked at the sword in Naruto's hand with wide eyes.
Excalibur Ruler. The strongest fragment of the holy sword Excalibur, the weapon wielded by King Arthur himself.
The fragment that disappeared soon after it was constructed and has remained missing for centuries.
And Naruto, a devil, was wielding it.
Naruto ignored the disbelieving stares in favor of announcing, "Yep. Selene gave it to me."
"The Lady of the Lake?" Akeno repeated in confusion.
"Yep. Apparently the blessing she gave King Arthur ended up saving his life at some point. He then swore her a debt of gratitude.
Unfortunately, he died before he could fulfill it. So the burden fell on his family. For several centuries they couldn't fulfill it, and they considered it a blight on their ancestor's memory.
When the original Excalibur broke, they managed to gain possession of Excalibur Ruler. They then gave it to her as payment for that old debt," Naruto explained.
"And she just gave it to you?" Akeno questioned skeptically.
Naruto shrugged before clarifying without much care, "Excalibur Ruler might be a valuable tool for us, but it was practically useless to her.
She claims to have only accepted it in the first place because she wanted the Pendragon family to move on. She'd never particularly cared about the debt in the first place.
She gave King Arthur the blessing to help him, and viewed the debt as unnecessary. With no use for it though, it was just gathering dust.
When she sent me off to go to Kuoh, she gave it to me. She said she just wanted it gone, and was looking to pass it on at the first opportunity."
That caused the listeners to sweat drop. That makes a disturbing amount of sense. For a true holy sword to be treated as a useless burden is a disturbing thought regardless.
The Lady of the Lake is a god so she had powers that far surpass a fragment of Excalibur, but still.
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If you want to read ahead by 10 chapters from her you can visit my Patre-on.
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