The God of Destruction

IV

Unknown location

(Few weeks after the duel)

“So, will you write any sequel or side-stories anytime soon?”

Naruto gave Shiva a deadpan look, “’The Tale of the Most Unpredictable Shinobi’ had three volumes, three! It took me, Jiraiya, and Yasaka almost a year to write all of them down. Those books had enough contents to keep anyone occupied for at least few weeks. And you finished them in minutes!”

Shiva chuckled, “Just because I am ‘The God of Destruction’, does not mean that I do not have other powers. Some of them, as you can see, are quite handy, in fact.”

“Shiva,” Naruto turned to face him, his expression dead serious, “You inhaled the books. You finished them faster than me finishing a bowl of ramen. And that is saying something.”

“To be fair, they were very interesting,” Shiva replied back casually.

Naruto dramatically released a heavy sigh, his shoulders dropping, “Well I can live with that. But no, nothing is planned at the moment.”

“Lack of time?”

“And lack of resources as well. I mean there are only four of us who can write about our past, and all of them are already working overtime.”

“If I may,” Shiva shifted on his chair so that he was completely facing Naruto, “the three other people who came to this side…”

“I can tell that you have already guessed them correctly, but you want to hear from me directly to sate your curiosity, right?”

Shiva smiled, which in turn made Naruto chuckle. He leaned back on his chair, his gaze shifted toward the ceiling of the room, “Well, I am pretty sure you already figured out Yasaka. You see, I cannot imagine anyone other than Hinata as my life partner, as my wife. We had a really long and fulfilling life together, there is no denying that. But I wanted her to accompany me here as well; to walk side by side just as she had done before. Yes, I could have found someone here; and I know Hinata would not have minded that. She would have gladly given me her blessing. But I did not want that. And so, she was the only one I chose purely out of my own selfish desire.”

“And thus, Hinata Uzumaki was reborn as Yasaka,” Shiva nodded, “But she is quite different from her old self, no,” Shiva paused and looked at Naruto, “I mean no disrespect.”

“None taken,” Naruto replied back immediately, “It was her choice. She wanted to be different from her past self. Now, don’t get me wrong, she was perfect before. But this time, she wanted to stand on her own two feet, have her own identity. Someone who truly can walk beside a king. And this is not just for me, but for herself as well. So, when she put it like that, I can do nothing but give her my utmost support. And that is why I always call her Yasaka now. After all, Yasaka is the new identity she forged with nothing but her dedication and her own strength.”

Suddenly, Naruto made a perverted grin, “But she is still the same behind closed doors.”

Shiva gave a very unamused look.

Naruto let out another perverted giggle, before schooling his feature as if nothing happened, “The second choice was obviously Sasuke, but that dude chased me around with Chidori for even suggesting that.”

“Ahh~ It makes sense. After such hardship and struggle, he was reunited with his whole family and clan in the afterlife. He finally found his well-deserved peace.”

“I mean, I do understand where he is coming from, but seriously, that was overreacting,” Naruto shrugged, “So Itachi was also out. Then I approached Neji. He left our previous world too early,” Naruto released a deep breath, it was always hard recalling this part, “But I was not sure if he would follow my path again.”

“And he accepted your offer in a heartbeat.”

Now Naruto gave an unamused look, “Yes, Neji was reborn as Sesshomaru, as an Inugami. His characteristics did not change much, but I am glad that he toned down on the fate thing.”

“He has a family now, no?”

“Yes,” Naruto smiled at that, “He does not show it much, but he really adores his family, his wife, and his two little girls.”

“I am happy for him, and pray that he lives a long fulfilling life that he was denied the last time,” Shiva stated, his voice was soft.

Naruto’s smile widened, and he nodded his head at Shiva in appreciation.

“Then the last one is Jiraiya.”

“Well, for that, you will have to ask him yourself.”

Shiva merely raised a single eyebrow at Naruto, who in turn just snorted, “According to him, this is his tale to tell. He feels that I lack enough passion when I tell his part. We all know that he is just being nitpicky about this. Well, to be fair, he did something completely unexpected even by the Gods’ standard. So, he really likes to boast about that part.”

“True,” Shiva relented. He paused for a moment, before meeting Naruto’s gaze, “If I may…”

Naruto smiled knowingly, “Why not my parents?”

Shiva nodded.

“Trust me when I say this, I really wanted to, you know. To have that childhood with my parents, getting scolded by them, getting pampered by them. To live in a lively and warm home,” Naruto chuckled, but the sound was a lot weaker, “But I was not reborn, I was reincarnated.”

“Directly starting from adulthood. I suppose the Shinto faction was quite desperate then,” Shiva added.

“True, and that is why my parents decided it will be better for me to take people who can help me with my journey. Of course, I also promised them that I will visit them as soon as I am able,” Naruto then grumbled, “And there is also the fact that they now have grandchildren so I was pushed to the side.”

Shiva blinked once and then started to chuckle loudly.

“I am glad that you are enjoying yourself,” Naruto smiled and shook his head. But few seconds later, his smile lost some radiance, “In a way, I was glad that I did not have to choose, you know. I mean other than Hinata, I did not really know who to bring. So, I gave the choice, the decision to them. From my parents, to Tsunade baa-chan, to Sarutobi-jiji. I even asked Haku, the first person that I could not save.”

“Many wanted to accompany, did they not?” It was a statement.

“Yes,” Naruto gave a wry smile, “While they did not say the words but I had seen in their eyes. But at the end, they chose to be content.”

The silence that lingered after Naruto’s words was quite short-lived as both of them felt the familiar presence entering the place.

Naruto got up from his chair, walked around the big round table to reach the empty spot near it. The moment Yasaka came through teleportation, Naruto gave her a big bear hug, “Honey~”

Yasaka was surprised at first, then she saw Shiva which made her blush. Still, she hugged him back, “Naruto-kun?”

Naruto released the hug and gave Shiva a smug grin.

“Yes, yes, you two are a match made in heaven and your bond transcends over time and space; now can we move on.”

Naruto laughed heartily, while Yasaka’s blush deepened.

“Lord Shiva,” Yasaka greeted Shiva with a respectful bow.

“Lady Yasaka,” Shiva returned the gesture, “I believe it is time.”

“Yes, everyone should be here any moment.”

Naruto looked around. Currently, they were on an island which was in the middle of the Indian ocean. This was an already existing island but hidden from the humans. There were many similar islands all around the world, a common ground for different pantheon gods to meet and discuss.

When Naruto came here, the first thing he did was to explore the island… which only took handful of minutes since it was quite a small one. After he was done with his exploration, Naruto had created a large open hut, near the beach, with a round table in the middle for all the guests to sit. He tried to make the structure blend in with the environment. It looked very simple but yet had an elegant touch to it.

To be honest, Naruto was a tad bit nervous. After all, today was the day. The first official meeting between him and all the divine beings that accepted his invitation. Because, to be honest here, he was outright asking some of the major gods and goddesses to join him in his mischievous and unpredictable adventure; and posing as children no less.

Fortunately, he did not have to wait too long.

The next one to arrive was Thor, from the famous multi-colored rainbow-themed Bifrost. Quite the flashy appearance to be honest.

Thor was quite bulky. Almost two meters tall with pure muscle, his figure alone would scare any normal beings away, be it gods or monsters. And he would always wear that costume that was a combination between a warrior’s armor and a hero’s suit. At least, that was how it looked to Naruto. Surprisingly, he would have a laidback smile on his face which did not match his figure. It was funny, Thor’s expression would make anyone feel like they would have a blast with him. At the same time, his figure released that aura which felt like he would literally blast someone on the spot, if he became angry.

“Greetings Lord Thor,” Yasaka was the first to greet.

“It’s nice to see you again Lady Yasaka,” Thor smiled at her and then turned toward them.

This was what Naruto liked about Thor. He was open with him that, yes, he wanted Yasaka’s hand in marriage. But after Yasaka married him, Thor had let go of the matter. An honorable behavior, unlike a certain God.

And also Thor had a cool beard, one of the manliest beards Naruto had ever seen. It was as if his beard had a beard. And all he could get was a small goatee. Of course, he could use some magic to grow an awesome beard, but for some reason, that just did not sit right with him.

Well, there was also the fact that Yasaka did not like beards. It was more of a bedroom kind of matter, under the bedcover so to say, so he would not complain there.

“I see that Lord Shiva has beaten me to it.” Thor chuckled as he came closer to the round table. He looked around and let out an appreciative hum.

“To be fair, Lord Thor, I had a bit of free time. So, I decided to come early.” Shiva replied from his chair.

Thor sat down and looked surprised when the chair shifted to adjust his weight.

Before the Norse Thunder God could say anything, Naruto felt another presence. In fact, all of them felt it. But unlike them, this newcomer did not come from any noticeable teleportation method. It was as if she just appeared, from the shadows.

The newcomer was an extremely beautiful woman. She had long purple hair and red eyes and wore a full-body outfit that highlights her curvaceous body, with metallic shoulder pads. She wore a black veil over her head and a short cloak over her shoulders. But Naruto felt her centuries' worth of battle experience and her untainted power underneath that gorgeous appearance.

“Greetings Lady Scáthach,” Yasaka greeted the Celtic goddess.

Scáthach was an unexpected addition to this meeting.

Surprisingly, it was Scáthach who approached him on behalf of the Celtic faction, a month after the core stone revelation. The Celtic faction was in a deplorable state, from quite some time ago. The way it was going, the faction would fade away within this decade.

Two reasons why the Celtic faction was still alive till this day. One, during rough times, they would completely disappear from the map to the point many would believe that their faction had faded. Just like what they had done in The Great Faction War. This way, they would suffer the least number of causalities. A very clever strategy to be honest. And the second reason for their survival was Lugh, the God of the Sun in Irish mythology, maintaining his spot in the Top Ten… even though it was on the lower end.

Unfortunately, this time, Lugh fell off the ranking.

And the reason for his decline in power was because he was defeated in a battle. He was alive but severely injured. The assailant was an unknown being. What was the cause of the fight or how the fight occurred, not even the Celtic faction knew. This news was quite disturbing. And Jiraiya personally was looking into the matter. But with so little and vague leads, it would take some time before they could find something concrete, if they would find any at all.

And then, it did not help that the Greek faction somehow figured out that the guardian god of the Celtic faction was incapacitated. And so, they struck, repeatedly; no surprises there. Scáthach and few remaining strong individuals from the Celtic faction were fending off the Greek faction but they were reaching their limits.

Of course, many were suspecting Ares to be the culprit since he, out of nowhere, entered the Top Ten ranking.

All these events occurred before the revelation of the new ‘Top Ten’. Even though everyone learned about the fall of Lugh, the Celtic faction found the break they were looking for. It was Naruto being on the very top and him announcing ‘The Alliance’, a shelter which they desperately needed.

Scáthach came to him in hopes for protection for her faction, something Naruto had no problem providing. But the Celtic Goddess of the ‘Land of the Shadows’ was quite forward about one thing, the Celtic faction would not be a part of the Alliance, at least not for now. It was not that she was being arrogant, but this decision was taken by the Celtic faction without any input from Lugh, who was still in a coma and was recovering. So, after Lugh recovered, he would have the final say.

Naruto was completely okay with this. Honestly, he liked that she was being open about their issue rather than hiding it.

Of course, one thing led to another, and Naruto told her about the academy during their discussion and what he was planning to do. He was quite surprised when she told him that she wanted to join him on his mischievous adventures.

Well, Naruto was not complaining here; the more the merrier. And now, here she was.

“Please have a seat,” Yasaka pointed toward the table.

Naruto and everyone greeted Scáthach, but before she could sit down a door appeared in front of Yasaka.

The golden door was around three meters in height and had ancient Egyptian carvings. There was an echo of a large bell-like sound, it was quite eerie, and then the door opened.

“We need to have a cooler and flashier transportation method,” Naruto knew what his next personal project was going to be.

It was Amun-Ra.

What was funny about Amun-Ra’s appearance was that he looked like a friendly supermodel from the middle-east. Supermodel just in appearance though, as the cloths he would wear… it was more unique than his orange jumpsuits. And that was saying something. To Naruto, it was as if Amun-Ra’s outfit was so bad that it actually looked good.

It had to be a special skill.

Even right now, he was wearing two heavy golden gauntlets, his chest was bare, and he was wearing loose formal pants draped with colorful ornaments.

From the corner of his eyes, Naruto could see that Shiva had an amused look.

Something that he found out recently was that Shiva and Amun-Ra knew each other. They were not close enough to be called friends, more like acquaintances. After all, they were one of the very few oldest beings out there.

After their initial greetings, Amun-Ra sat down.

So, this was it. Naruto did not know how he was able to pull it off but he got Shiva, Thor, Scáthach, and Amun-Ra. He knew that he needed someone from the Biblical faction. But unfortunately, he was unable to get anyone to join. Surprisingly, the issue was not what he had expected.

Jiraiya approached Azazel a few weeks back and gave him a rundown about his plan. From what he had heard, Azazel was ecstatic. But he could not join. Azazel pointed out that he was a very well-known figure and many already knew, based on his personality, that he would be joining Elemental academy as a teacher. So, if he did not join as a teacher, some would figure out that he joined the academy in disguise, which in turn would jeopardize them.

As for Michael, Azazel stated that he was also in the same position. Yes, there was a chance that Michael could slip in since, unlike Azazel, Michael did not go out as much. But the issue was that Michael would not be able to keep the whole thing a secret for long. He would tell the four great Seraphs at some point and there was a chance, slim it might be, that it would spiral down from there.

As for the Devils faction, unfortunately for one, they were still some animosities left after their last clash with Avalon. Yes, the four Satans were working overtime and they did calm the populace, but not all the nobles were pacified. So, if at any point in time, it leaked that one of the Satan was working with Naruto, there would be fatal consequences. The devil nobles would not care about any other details.

So, Azazel pointed out that it was best to leave the Biblical faction out of this as of now. In return, he wanted Naruto to have a meeting with him and Michael sometime in the future, an informal one, just to get to know each other.

It was something Naruto wanted to do anyway. Regardless, he was quite surprised about Azazel’s honesty.

Finally, Naruto’s mind focused back on the present. He smiled at Yasaka and got up, “Welcome everyone, to our very first gathering. First things first, I believe that there is no need for any introduction. I have a feeling that, with time, we will properly get to know each other. But, this is just me, I would appreciate it if we address each other casually. After all, this is not supposed to be a formal meeting where we are discussing the fate of the world, but rather think this is as a hang-out between friends… or would-be-friends in this case. Of course, if that is okay with all of you,” Seeing all the smiles, Naruto continued, “Now with that out of the way, let me dive right into the core of our meeting.”

With a single snap, Naruto created a blackboard in front of them. But instead of turning toward it, he faced his audiences, “Before we start, first, I want to thank all of you. I know what I have in my mind, and what I have presented to all of you did not sound, how do I say, like an organized plan. To be fair, even now, I have not detailed out everything. I know what we can do, and what we can achieve, but the process is something that we have to figure out together. It will be unpredictable but fun nonetheless.”

“Well, I had no choice. You roped me into this,” Shiva said with a grin.

Naruto frowned, “Hey, be nice. I am really trying here.”

“But, it is the truth.” Shiva’s grin only widened.

“Well, excluding Shiva, who is unfortunately missing his adventurous bone,” Naruto turned toward others, “I am sure the rest of you are here to enjoy the company of each other and experience once-in-a-lifetime adventures.”

“Hear, hear,” Thor bombastically shouted, “I am sure together we will have adventures that will go down in history.”

“From an academy?” Amun-Ra raised an eyebrow, the mirth on his tone was not lost, “I am here because I want to see what you have planned for us, Naruto. In pen and paper, what you have said, sounds quite grand and enlightening. But I have a feeling you have not shown us your trump card, yet.”

Naruto blinked once and then turned toward Scáthach who coughed behind her hand to hide her blush, “I thought I can use this chance to train and get stronger.”

He did not need to look to see Shiva and Yasaka’s amused grins.

“Fine,” Naruto turned toward Thor, “It seems Thor that, with such boring people here, we will become very close friends, in no time at all.”

Thor laughed loudly at that, “I look forward to it, friend.”

“I think it is time for me to rock your boats, and make you genuinely interested in this,” Naruto made a swiping motion and the word ‘MRC’ appeared on the blackboard, “I approached you with the idea that we should sneak into the Elemental academy as students, to maintain the peace from the shadows, to subtly guide students from our respective factions, and so on. But I also mentioned that I have something much bigger in mind.”

“This is what Yasaka and I came up with. If any of you have different ideas or want to try another approach, please share. Of course, it does not have to be now,” The word ‘MRC’ changed to ‘Mythical Research Club’, “We will join as students from our respective factions, and of course, each with a different identity. I will leave the disguise part up to each of you. But after we join the academy, we will all be joining this club. Of course, this is just a front. It is what we will tell the other students, about what we are doing in the club. And this,” The words ‘Mythical Research Club’ changed to ‘Managing the Rascals Club’. The new name earned a few chuckles, “Is what we will be telling the people from our factions. I mean those who are aware of your situation,” Naruto paused, and then leaned forward a bit, “I do hope you have not announced this secret quest of ours to your whole faction.”

The amused looks all around made Naruto to chuckle, “Thought not. But let’s be honest, we really do not want to spend so much time on this. So, what will we really be doing then?”

The words ‘Managing the Rascals Club’ slowly changed to ‘Multiverse Research Club’.

Naruto was closely watching everyone so that he could see their initial reactions. That was why he caught all of it.

Yasaka was not surprised, for obvious reasons. Unexpectedly, Shiva and Amun-Ra were mildly surprised. Shiva made sense. After all, Naruto told him about his past life in his old world. But Amun-Ra’s expression was unexpected. It could also be that these two oldest gods knew about the multiverse long ago. It would not come as a surprise.

Scáthach and Thor on the other hand looked completely stunned.

“Are you serious about this, Lord Naruto?” Scáthach was the first to ask.

“Just Naruto is fine, Scáthach,” Naruto smiled at her before focusing on everyone, “Before I share my thoughts, I want to hear if anyone else has any opinions on this matter,” With that Naruto took his seat.

Amun-Ra looked at Shiva, then to the rest, “We, the old gods, knew that other universes exist. There were records of it, records which are lost now. The problem is not the records or the knowledge, but the gate.”

“The Dimensional Gap,” Naruto said.

“To be fair, it is not the gate but the gatekeeper that is the issue,” Shiva added, “Be it Ophis of the past or Great Red of the present, both are very territorial. We can only explore the outer edge of the dimensional gap. Even then, we have to be careful. Case in point,” Shiva looked at Naruto, “Our last time there.”

“There is something my father said long ago,” Thor shifted his body to lean on the table, “Other than Great Red, there are ancient and hostile beings exist in the dimensional gap.”

“Yes, they are called Gogmagogs, if I am not mistaken,” Naruto pointed out, and immediately he was again the center of their attention.

“You have seen them,” Thor asked, which sounded more like a statement.

Naruto started tapping the table with his index finger. He was not doing this to create suspense, no, he was taking the extra time to organize his thoughts, “The dimensional gap, to me, is like a border castle. You have the wall facing us, as Shiva mentioned, the only part we can explore without much hassles. The inner castle where Great red resides, the most dangerous part which is completely unavoidable. And then the outer wall which is facing the other universe or universes… something that no one knows yet.”

“It sounds like Lo… Naruto,” With a cough Scáthach corrected herself, “You have explored it quite a bit.”

“I have not done any explorations there, but I did send few teams and spend a lot of resources trying to learn more about the dimensional gap,” Naruto answered.

“And you are going to share this with us,” Amun-Ra said with a knowing smile, “During our time at the club.”

“We will be doing more than that during our time in the club. After all, I believe that it is easier to learn through hands-on approach rather than verbal knowledge-sharing.”

It took few seconds for the rest to digest what he meant.

Thor laughed gleefully, “I knew it! Adventures that will go down in our history!”

“You want us,” Scáthach glanced at everyone, “all of us to explore the dimensional gap together.”

“Of course, we have the strength, the knowledge, and the experience to pull this off, while keeping it completely under the radar.” Naruto pointed out.

“You also have something in mind, do you not, for where to start?”

Naruto smiled slyly at Shiva.

.

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X

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Unknown location

“Welcome, Lord Solomon.”

The three ladies greeted him in unison. The first thing Solomon noticed about them, which was quite obvious, that they looked completely worn-out. The second was, even though they were trying to hide it, Solomon could see their nervousness. In all honestly, even he was a bit tensed. But this had to be addressed.

“Lead me to him.”

Their flinches did not bode well for him. Still, the oldest, if he was not mistaken, bowed to him and started to lead him inside the mansion.

It took a minute for him to reach the master room. The large heavy door, made of pure gold and silver, opened slightly the moment his escort reached near it.

His escort stopped, surprised. She blinked few times. He knew they were communicating via minds. Few seconds later, she turned to him, “He is waiting inside, Lord Solomon.”

Solomon gave a curt nod, and stepped forward. When he got closer, the door fully opened. Without missing a beat, he went inside the room.

It was as if he was inside one of Zekram’s or Rizevim’s place. Full of glittering and priceless furniture and artifacts… half of which had no use. But it was not the extravagant feel of the room that would bother him. It was the smell of sex… which, unexpectedly, was missing. But that did not make any sense since the ladies looked clearly exhausted…

“This room is off-limits for the time being.”

His eyes went toward the large window on the other side of the room. He was sitting there, wearing his usual loose toga. The nekoshou, the cause of his recent problems, was sleeping on top of him. Upon closer look, Solomon was surprised. The nekoshou who was heavily affected by Rizevim’s ‘Corruption’ ability now looked… healthy and healed.

“Solomon.”

Tearing his eyes off from the sleeping girl, he looked at him, “Bahamut.”

Bahamut opened his eyes, and Solomon knew if he did not handle this properly, there would be a confrontation… something which he ought to avoid at all costs.

“Are you here to give me a lecture? Of what I did to Lugh?”

It seemed like Bahamut wanted a confrontation.

“I promised you, didn’t I, that Rizevim is all yours after I am done with him.”

Solomon knew that this was not what Bahamut wanted to hear, when he felt the pressure. It was not the warning kind either. Then he heard a small whimper coming from the nekoshou, and Bahamut immediately pulled back his powers.

Bahamut stood up, gently picking up the nekoshou. He went toward the bed, which, by the way, was big enough for Riser’s all-female peerage to sleep in together… with rooms to spare.

Placing the nekoshou on the bed, Bahamut looked at the door. Within few seconds, the other three ladies came inside, but they stayed at the door.

“Rest here, I will talk to him outside.”

All of them looked equally reluctant. Bahamut just smiled at them gently, “I will keep my temper in check, I promise.”

The ladies nodded back, a small relieved smile on their lips, and then started walking toward the bed.

The surrounding immediately started to change, it as if everything was dissolving. Within seconds, the room… the inside of the mansion disappeared and was replaced by the outside of it.

“So… let’s talk,” Bahamut said with a smile, that did not reach his eyes.

Solomon started to rub the bridge of his nose.

Bahamut was his brother. But unlike him or Rizevim, he was not a pureblood devil. He was a devil-dragon hybrid. And unlike any of his offspring, Bahamut did not have a good aptitude for devil magic. But everyone knew that he was special, from the very beginning. But no one knew how special or strong he truly was… until it was too late.

Bahamut became so strong that, unfortunately, he had to be hidden with utmost care. No one could know about him. After all, he was one of their trump cards.

Solomon knew that there was a possibility that Bahamut might have made it to ‘The Top Ten’. It seemed, again, that he had underestimated his brother’s growth. Bahamut defeating Lugh, just because he was pissed, was enough to tell him that he was somewhere around Sirzech’s level. Fortunately, the seals around his place were strong enough to avoid the ‘Core Stone’s’ detection.

“Your action could have jeopardized our whole plan.” Solomon said calmly.

The vicious grin on Bahamut’s face, if he was honest, unnerved him, “I told you, give me Rizevim, and I will go back to becoming his pet hound.”

“Rizevim still has his uses.”

Bahamut snarled, something that Solomon felt it to his bones, “Like I care! He touched my mate!”

And it all came back to this.

Bahamut was more like a dragon than a devil. Another fact, that none of them had foreseen… until it was too late. At least, he should have. But in his defense, Bahamut used to act quite tame compared to other dragons he had seen.

Bahamut did not care about being ordered around. He did not care his movement being monitored and restricted. And he did not care about obtaining more power or wealth. The only thing he wanted was to have lovers. He was a bit picky about this… but never to the point where it raised any alarms.

They thought it was the devil’s sin of lust. They were wrong. It was the dragon’s desire of having a treasure of his own. The treasure in Bahamut’s case was his lovers… his mates.

Solomon gently rubbed his right arm. He still remembered that day when he delivered the mind-broken nekoshou. Bahamut looked at the girl, and in the next second, Solomon was missing his right arm which was holding the girl. He was lucky Bahamut’s other lovers were there to calm him down enough so that he can explain what had truly happened.

Bahamut calmed down enough to tend the girl. But it was at that point Solomon learned one important point. They were able to control and contain Bahamut because he was letting them. Now that he was not so willing, it was almost impossible to even track his movements when he would go out of this place to look for Rizevim on his own.

“Rizevim is helping me to create fake signs about a third heavenly dragon existing. No one can know about your real origin… our real origin. And you know this. Just wait a bit longer,” Solomon said, “When Rizevim is done setting up all the fake traces, you can kill him. I will also make it look like the non-existent third heavenly dragon killed him. It is a win-win situation for all of us… I told you that.”

Bahamut’s breathing became normal, although, the scowl on his face remained. For the next few seconds, none of them spoke. And the silence was very uncomfortable, at least to Solomon.

“I will stop venturing out. But, if I sense Rizevim near my place, I will kill him.”

Solomon let out an audible breath, “Understandable. And again, I apologize for all of this,” He paused for a second, and then took out a picture, “I have found another dragon tamer. Her name is Asia Argento. If you want, I can create an opportunity for you to personally pick her up.” Solomon hoped that this would keep Bahamut busy for some time.

Bahamut took the picture and looked at it… for one full minute. Then he spoke, in a controlled tone, “I hope this picture is from ten years ago.”

Solomon frowned, “Of course not, this is her latest picture. I also have her full profile.”

Bahamut gave him a very unamused look, “Sometimes I wonder what do you see me as, Solomon? Someone who will stick his dick in anyone who is a dragon tamer?” He then angrily tapped the picture, “She is a child! A brat who probably still thinks sex is only to create babies!”

Solomon blinked. He did not foresee this, “In my defense, you have never told me your preference on women.”

“Curvy mature women who have high compatibility with dragons,” Bahamut growled, “Whom I like to conquer on my own.”

Bahamut liked to charm his would-be lovers on his own, no mind-controlling, no blackmailing... just pure charisma. A surprisingly respectable trait. The clues were there, that Bahamut respected and cared for his lovers, something Solomon should have picked up. If he did, maybe this whole disaster would have been avoided.

“Get laid, will you?” Scoffing, Bahamut turned toward the mansion, “Maybe that will help to get rid of the stick you have on your ass.”

After giving such a crude comment, the half-dragon disappeared.

Solomon let out a dry chuckle. As if he had time to relax, with all the unpredictable moves the Youkai King started pulling off. At least, the Youkai King had given him a target… the Elemental academy. The place which had become the focus point in the supernatural world. He knew, for sure, that quite a few unsavory parties would be trying to get into the academy. Some would be there just to see what was going on. But some…

Solomon sighed. This meant that, unfortunately, he would also have to sneak in there.

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X

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Unknown location

“He is not ready yet.”

Ares scowled and looked at Athena, “If you compare him to the top dogs, then he will never be ready.”

“I know his limits,” Athena looked back at him with her expressionless eyes, “I am talking about the next mission. He is not strong enough to take on the Carmilla faction, not alone, not after they absorbed the Tepes faction.”

Ares did not say anything. He just looked at the boy, no, the man in front of him.

When he first saw Gasper, Ares immediately had an immense dislike toward the boy. After all, Gasper was everything that Ares hated in a man. The dhampir was an androgynous-looking boy. Even his personality was the worst. He was a coward and overly introverted. His power was the only thing that stopped Ares from completely breaking him.

If it was the old him, he would have fed the boy to one of his pets within first few minutes.

But the new him saw an opportunity. The chance to change him… to mold him to be like Ares.

It was simple really.

Ares pointed out to Gasper, with facts, that him and Valerie were being used like mere objects by the vampires, from both sides. They were also sold to the Greek faction by the Tepes faction for more power. Yes, things did not work out, but those facts remained. After all, even now, Valerie was forcedly being used as a symbol of power by the Carmilla faction.

And just like that, by omitting the Greek’s actions, Ares was able to portray the vampire faction as the villain for Gasper.

After corrupting Gasper’s mind, all that left was the dhampir’s heart… which was easier. All Ares did was for Gasper to have dreams about Valerie… sometimes intimate, sometimes terrifying, but most of the time sensual. The idea was for the dhampir to see the girl as a lover not as a sister. It was not hard considering the girl was not his sister by blood, and the boy was young enough to be tempted.

Ares was actually surprised how easy the whole process was. Within weeks, the dhampir discarded his weak personality which was replaced by an alpha mentality; surprisingly, even his appearance took a drastic change. No more bob-cut hair, he had spiky dark blond hair and very expressive violet eyes. He was now over six feet tall with lean muscles and tattoos all over his body.

According to Athena, the dhampir’s ‘Sacred Gear’ had a hand in this since they did not do anything. How? Ares did not know nor he cared.

“I know that you want to push him,” Hearing Athena’s voice, Ares again looked at her, “By making him go against a strong adversary, he will, again, evolve. I understand,” Athena then turned toward the subject of their topic, “But I fear, one wrong move, and we may lose him.”

Ares scoffed, and then he pointed at the carnage around them, “He cannot grow if we coddle him. We are running out of punching bags for him, and he is running out of patience. Look,” Ares sighed, he understood Athena’s fear. After all, they finally had someone they could treat as their champion, “I will monitor him personally. If he gets into trouble, I will bail him out. But he needs to be pushed. And if we keep delaying, we will miss the chance to send him to the Elemental academy.”

“There is no need of that,” Athena, without looking at him, handed him a folder.

Surprised, Ares opened it and started going through the documents. It took him a minute to go through all of them, “Are you sure it is going to work out?”

“Yes. No one will suspect anything since we never had a collaboration before. If it fails, we can just cut them off without any consequences.”

Athena’s words made sense. But, Ares looked at the profiles again, “These bunch of morons are not known for following orders, just so you know.”

“They are just our eyes and ears inside the academy. Nothing more, nothing less… until they have proven themselves otherwise.” Athena promptly replied back.

The ground shook, and the world around them regained back its color.

Ares smiled, “Well, in that case, I will have more time to train him.”