Chapter 32 (Patreon)

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"Life is a scroll, and every day you unroll a new chapter. The mystery of the past isn't what was written, but how it will shape the story yet to come."

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Chapter 32

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Naruto spun his staff, his breathing calm but his eyes locked—serious, fierce, and unblinking.

Crack!

A jagged spike of ice shot out of the ground at his command, flying toward Solitär like a frozen spear. She danced around it with terrifying grace, laughing like a child on a carousel. "Ice? I thought you'd be warmer than this, Naruto~!"

He didn't answer. His next move came from above. A huge amount of water rained down in a twisting stream, forming an enormous snake-like wave that crashed toward her with the fury of a storm.

Solitär lazily raised her hand, created a barrier, and let the water hit it without even flinching. "Water, too? You're a very hydrated little mage," she teased, licking her lips as if she could taste his magic.

And then—

FWOOOOOSH

A fireball the size of a boulder exploded toward her from the steam, burning the battlefield with blistering heat.

Her eyes went wide for a split second. "What?!"

She twisted out of the way, her cloak a little burned. "I wasn't expecting that! Sneaky, sneaky~!"

From the shadows of the steam, Naruto jumped, his staff spinning as he launched a bunch of smaller fireballs. She blocked them all, a swarm of blades appearing with a loud hum. Then—

"MY TURN!" she shrieked, grinning from ear to ear.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!

Magic burst from her body like a storm. Waves of raw magical pressure shredded the trees, made the side of the mountain collapse, and filled the air with loud explosions. Her blades came next—hundreds of triangular edges, slicing from every direction, zigzagging, appearing and disappearing.

Naruto blocked with his staff, a shimmering shield of magic covering its length, but even he was being pushed back. He could barely see her; her movements were just streaks of purple lightning. Her attacks were everywhere—from above, from below, from behind, even from inside his own shadow.

It was like fighting a hurricane made of blades and magic. There was no opening.

"She's crazy," Naruto muttered, ducking under one blade and sliding under a magical spear that would have cut him in half. He tried to hit back—he shoved his palm forward, using his magic to create a swirling ball of pure compression and rotational force.

He lunged—a Rasengan.

But—CLANG!

A blade hit his wrist right in the middle of his attack. The spell disappeared.

Another sword screamed past his cheek. Another tried to take his leg.

No opening. No space. No chance.

Her magic was so thick it was like trying to punch through a wall made of condensed galaxies. Even his staff strikes were being pushed back by her raw power.

Solitär floated above him, spinning slowly, laughing like a ballet dancer who was drunk on a fight. "Are you trying to touch me, Naruto?" she cooed. "Oh my! What a pervert!"

Naruto landed hard, flipping backward to dodge a barrage of spinning blades that stuck into the ground around him like magical landmines. He panted and smirked. "You want me to hit you, huh? What kind of messed-up hobby is this?"

She winked. "I like pain. I just don't like losing. But if someone could land a hit, mmm… I think I'd fall in love."

He narrowed his eyes. "Then I'll knock you down harder."

"Oh? A proposal? You humans move so fast!"

And then they clashed again.

Fire against nothingness. Water against distortion. Ice against chaos. Naruto's magic flared like a lighthouse in a storm. His movements were precise now, more fluid, more natural. No wasted steps. He wasn't fighting to show off. He was fighting to land one clean hit.

Just one.

That's all he needed.

And Solitär?

She kept laughing. Kept dodging. Kept trying to get him to hit her harder.

Because beneath all that magic and chaos…

She was dying to feel something real.

The earth groaned beneath his feet.

Up until now, Naruto had been holding back. Not because he felt sorry for her, but because he needed to keep control. To stop his power from getting out of hand. But this demon wasn't just some mindless monster. Solitär was learning, adapting, and copying human magic. She was fast, unpredictable, and worst of all—she was smart. If he couldn't beat her with speed, maybe he could beat her with pure power.

Naruto let out a slow, steady breath.

Then he dropped the limiter on his power.

WHUMMM—

The ground exploded. Trees were ripped from the earth as if gravity itself had gone crazy. The air twisted and warped with raw pressure. Even the sky seemed to bend around him.

His white robes billowed violently, and the golden designs on them glowed like molten veins. His messy red hair was whipped back as a massive wave of magic surged from his body like a tsunami.

Solitär's smirk disappeared.

She blinked. Just once. Slowly.

"What… what did you just do?"

Naruto opened his eyes.

They weren't angry. They weren't wild.

They were just calm.

"I stopped holding back."

Solitär took a step back without meaning to. Her blades shook. Her magic flared, as if it was scared.

"Your… your magic… it's like a sun. No, more than that. It's… endless. Are you—are you a demon?"

Naruto tilted his head. "Back in my world, some people did call me that."

"…But I'm not one," he added casually, pointing his staff forward.

"You're lying." Her voice cracked a little.

"No human has this much magic! That's as much as the Demon King! You… you're not a human… Maybe even you don't know it—!"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm very much human, you know."

Then—he fired.

ZOL TARAK.

The spell burst from his staff with a howling roar, spiraling outward like a beam of light wrapped in a million threads of power. It wasn't just a light. It was a command, a divine order to destroy.

Solitär gasped, moving to the side at the very last second, just barely getting away.

KA—BOOOOMMM!

The blast hit the ground behind her, and a huge chunk of the forest simply ceased to exist. Trees turned to dust. The sky lit up. A canyon of pure destruction was carved through the land, glowing white-hot.

Solitär shielded her face, floating through the smoke. She was completely stunned.

Naruto winced. "Ugh. It's hard to focus with all this magic. It's like a constant screaming in my brain."

But he didn't stop.

Solitär screamed and fired ten different spells at once—blades, curses, beams, magic spears.

None of them reached him.

The moment they touched the air around him, they disappeared. They died. They shattered like glass hitting a mountain.

She could feel it. His magic was so dense now… nothing could get through it. Her own spells bounced off the pressure like small pebbles hitting a diamond.

"Hah… ha… ha…" She stumbled in midair, actually sweating. "Is this how it feels… to be helpless? Is this… what you humans feel around us?"

Naruto took a slow step forward, the ground sinking under his feet.

"Yeah," he said, raising his staff again.

"Except I never liked being helpless."

The ground below was completely burned and scorched. The air itself crackled with the leftover magic of a fight that could have changed the entire landscape. But even in the middle of all this destruction, Solitär was smiling. She was calm, composed, and completely insane.

She tilted her head, her lips curling into a grin.

"Alright," she said. "I have something better. Something simple."

Her magic changed. It was no longer wild or flashy. It came together, getting smaller and denser until it wasn't bright anymore, just incredibly powerful.

Mana Strike.

An invisible wave of raw, compressed magic exploded out from her body, like the silent pulse of a dying star. It completely surrounded the area and blasted Naruto directly.

The attack was pure. No tricks. No element. Just… magic in its rawest, most powerful form.

Solitär let out a slow breath.

"You've been fun to talk to, Naruto Uzumaki," she said with a tone that almost sounded affectionate. "But I have to go now—"

And then she stopped.

Because floating in midair—untouched, not even with a bruise—was Naruto. His white robes fluttered softly in the leftover energy, and his short red hair was messy and glowing faintly from the magic in the air.

His staff was still in his hand.

And his face showed absolutely no emotion.

"That was a nice trick," Naruto said flatly. "But it won't work on me."

Without another word, he spun his staff, focused his power, and let the spell form in his hand.

It shimmered, swirling tightly in a compact, screaming sphere of compressed force.

He threw it.

WHHHHHHHMMM—BOOOM!

The Rasengan shot forward with a tail of glowing energy, crashing directly into her with the force of a comet.

The explosion made the trees bend and the air scream. Smoke filled the sky, and the ground was pushed in from the pressure of the blast.

Silence followed.

And yet—

When the smoke cleared, she was still standing.

But just barely.

Her dress was in shreds. Her body was cracked, like glass about to shatter, and magic was leaking from the broken circuits. Blood was dripping from her mouth. But her eyes?

They were wide.

And filled with pure joy.

"Fascinating!" she gasped. "You are a fascinating human! Is this the part where I beg for mercy? Please forgive me. I apologize and I am truly sorry for my crimes. I promise to change my ways!" she said with an overly dramatic flair, even placing a hand on her chest.

Naruto blinked at her, completely unimpressed.

"…That won't work, I guess," Solitär said with a sheepish look, just as hundreds of new magic circuits opened up around her in a blinding circle of geometric light.

They all fired at once—beams, hexes, magical spears, binding runes, elemental bursts, and pure kinetic blasts.

All of them screamed toward Naruto.

Naruto raised his staff in an almost lazy way, as if he was just checking the wind.

And then—

FWHOOOOOM.

Every single spell—every single one of them—was sucked into the staff.

Like a vacuum cleaner.

Naruto blinked. "…Huh. I had no idea I could do that."

Solitär froze in the middle of her spell. Her arms were raised, her jaw was open, and her whole body was twitching in disbelief.

Then she fell to her knees.

"Oh no. I'm dead. I'm going to die. You're going to turn me into soup. I don't want to be soup—!" she wailed dramatically, clapping her hands together like a begging schoolgirl. "Please don't kill me! I've changed! I've changed, I swear! I'm just a little emotionally unstable!"

Naruto squinted.

He wasn't sure if this was a performance… or if she was actually having a breakdown.

Either way… he didn't lower his staff.

Solitär was trembling, her legs shaking under her as her once-glowing magic circuits flickered like fireflies about to die. But despite the burns, the cracks on her skin, the bleeding mouth, and the complete exhaustion gripping her very soul—she looked up at Naruto, panting, her eyes glistening.

And then… she started to laugh.

But it wasn't a crazy laugh this time.

It was soft. Quiet. Like the laugh of someone who had just remembered something from a very long time ago.

"Did you know," she said, "a long time ago… I had a human friend."

Naruto didn't answer. He just watched, silent and patient.

Solitär smiled sadly.

"He was a boy. Just a little thing. Brown hair. He wore glasses that were too big for his face. He used to sneak out of his village and bring me food… I was hiding in a cave back then. I was starving and weak. He didn't even know I was a demon. He just thought I was a sick girl who couldn't go out in the sun."

She looked down at her own hands.

"He used to say that I was his only friend. That when he grew up, he would become a great mage and teach me magic. I remember how he smiled when he said that."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, still holding the staff at his side. His magic was calm and impossible to read.

"One day… the village found out about me. I was cornered. There were pitchforks, spells, fire. And… and he…"

She bit her lip. Her voice cracked.

"He threw the first stone."

Naruto's expression changed for just a second, so fast it was almost invisible.

Solitär looked up at him again. "So, Naruto Uzumaki, tell me… if even humans betray each other so easily, what reason do I have to be good?"

Then—her face twitched.

And in a single instant, her body snapped forward.

Smoke twisted around her as she teleported behind Naruto with a cracked, ancient dagger in her bloody hand. Her lips curled into a grin of victory as she plunged the blade into his back, right between the ribs.

It went in deep.

"Blood" spurted out.

And her smile grew wider.

"I win," she whispered.

But Naruto didn't scream.

He didn't even flinch.

He just turned his head slowly, calmly.

A puff of smoke exploded from his body.

Poof.

Solitär's grin froze. Her eyes went wide.

The Naruto she had stabbed was gone.

A clone.

"Wha—?"

She didn't even have time to finish her thought.

Because then she felt it.

The air warped. Pressure coiled around her like a crushing, ancient tide.

The magic—so dense, so heavy, so old. And so, so furious.

She turned, her whole body jerking—

And there he was.

Standing behind her.

Naruto Uzumaki.

His staff was held low, and his robes fluttered in the still air. His red hair was a mess, and his eyes glowed faintly with a jade light under the falling ash.

He didn't even look like he was in a fighting stance. He looked relaxed, his arms loose, with his guard completely down.

But Solitär didn't dare to move.

He was silent for a moment.

Then, softly—

"I think I know now," Naruto said, his voice quiet, but sharp enough to split mountains. "Why the hag is so racist. You demons… you're not sad or tragic. You're just pure evil trying to sound poetic."

Solitär's mouth opened.

She didn't beg this time.

She ran.

Stumbling and gasping, like a child who knew they had done something horribly wrong.

"I—I'm sorry—no, wait—please—I was just scared—don't—!"

But it was too late.

Because in that moment, for the first time in her entire life—

Solitär felt something that no spell, no book, and no experiment had ever taught her.

A human emotion.

Fear.

Solitär fell to her knees, ash and blood dripping from her cracked lips. Her smile was completely gone now. Her arms and legs trembled, not with power—but with terror. The once-proud demon who laughed at death was now clinging to life like a child lost in a storm.

"Please…" she rasped, her voice hoarse. "Please, Naruto Uzumaki… don't. I—I don't want to die. I can change. I'll stop. I swear it—I'll stop hurting people. I'll learn. I'll… I'll try."

Naruto didn't move. His green eyes remained cold and unwavering.

His staff pulsed with dense magic. The air shimmered around him as a fierce wind whipped through his white robes, even though there was no breeze before.

He took a step forward.

Solitär shrank away from him.

"Your only mercy," he said, his voice low and firm, "is death."

The Rasengan whirled in his hand, a swirling storm of compressed magic, glowing like a final judgment. The moment he launched it, the world seemed to freeze.

And in that instant, Solitär's life flashed behind her eyes.

Not her battles.

Not her victories.

Not her experiments.

But a memory that had been buried for so long that even time had forgotten it.

She was young, her mind barely formed, let alone her body. She was sitting cross-legged on a cold, black floor, the air heavy with incense and blood magic. In front of her stood a tall, shrouded figure.

The Demon King.

She didn't remember most of what he said. Not the theories. Not the lectures. Not the punishments. But there was one sentence. One whisper in the dark that somehow stayed in her soul.

"…He had hair as red as human blood and eyes as green as the forbidden forest. His magic was like an ocean of kindness… and justice."

She remembered wondering back then: What kind of creature has magic like that?

She never got the answer.

Until now.

As the Rasengan got closer, firelight reflecting in her wide, trembling eyes—her lips parted in a strange, sad smile. "Ah… what a destiny," she murmured. "To think I'd be taken down by…"

And she didn't finish the thought.

Because the Rasengan hit.

There was no scream.

Only a blinding light.

And then, nothing.

Where she once stood, only dust danced in the wind, trailing through the last beams of sunlight.

Naruto stood silently for a moment, his staff lowering. His hair fluttered gently in the breeze, and his eyes were impossible to read.

He stared in the direction where she had vanished, his brow furrowed just a little.

"…What was she mumbling about?" he muttered, almost to himself.

Then he shook his head, let out a breath, and the swirling sea of magic around him disappeared. His powerful presence shrank back to normal.

No time for mysteries. He turned, his face calm once again.

"Denken…" he whispered. "Macht…"

And with that, Naruto disappeared into the forest mist, heading toward the distant sound of clashing magic—toward the battle that was still raging.

The golden streets of El Dorado shimmered with blood and dust.

Denken was slumped on the ground, barely conscious, his robes soaked in crimson. His cane had been snapped in half next to him, and his glasses were cracked, with one lens completely gone. In front of him, Macht stood perfectly clean and calm, the edge of his black coat stained faintly with ash and blood. He tilted his head, his eyes showing no concern at all.

"Lord Denken," Macht said with the cold voice of someone giving a eulogy, "you tried very hard. But it is a simple reality… that humans, no matter how hard they try, cannot defeat a demon."

He raised a hand, dark magic crackling in his palm.

And in that instant—pop.

Denken vanished in a flicker of light, teleported away.

A few yards away, Naruto stood, his white and gold robes ruffling in the breeze. Denken's body was carefully supported by two glowing shadow clones. Naruto's staff glowed faintly in his left hand, its point digging into the golden pavement. The clones gently laid Denken down and began using healing magic to stabilize him.

"Naruto?" Denken murmured, coughing weakly. "…Didn't think you'd show up this quickly."

Naruto didn't respond. He was already walking forward, steady and calm, his green eyes locked on Macht.

Macht turned slightly, his face unreadable. "I see," he said. "So you killed Solitär."

Naruto said nothing. He just kept walking until he stood alone between Macht and the crumbling golden city.

Two more clones shimmered into existence and stood guard beside Denken.

Macht's gaze narrowed. "Do you wish to fight me, Naruto Uzumaki?"

Naruto stopped.

"You once said," he began, his voice quiet but clear, "that you were looking for coexistence. That you were different. That you wanted to understand humans."

"That is true," Macht answered without emotion. "However, this particular experiment… this city, this test… has failed. The fortified city of El Dorado did not give me the results I wanted. It is time for me to start again."

"You can't just walk away like this," Naruto said, his voice rising. "You need to undo everything. The people you turned into gold—bring them back. Fix what you've broken."

"I cannot," Macht replied, his tone unchanged. "The spell is permanent. Once a soul is turned into something else, it cannot return to a human body. I am not able to undo that."

Naruto's hands tightened on his staff. "So you're just going to leave it all behind? Move on to another city? Another group of people to test and throw away when it's convenient?"

"It is for the sake of finding the answer," Macht said. "I must continue my search. For true coexistence."

Naruto stepped forward, his jaw clenched. "Killing even one person for the sake of coexistence isn't coexistence! It's just murder in a prettier outfit!"

His voice rose, cutting through the air like a crack of thunder. "You say you want to understand humans—but you won't even listen to them. You say you want coexistence—but all you've done is dominate and manipulate. You call this a failure, but all I see is your refusal to admit you were wrong! That you went too far! That people aren't just numbers in your stupid experiment!"

His staff pulsed with blue and white light. "You don't get to call yourself peaceful just because you talk softly while you kill! You turned a city into gold and then say it's a failed experiment—but what about the lives you erased? What about the children? The families?"

Naruto's voice cracked with restrained emotion. "You want an answer? This is the answer! You don't learn about people by destroying them! You learn by living with them. Hurting with them. Growing with them!"

There was a long silence.

But Macht's expression didn't change. Not even a blink. He tilted his head again, like a child watching a bird die.

"…You are an obstacle in my path," Macht said calmly. "And obstacles must be removed. Naruto Uzumaki… and your master, Frieren."

Naruto's expression darkened, shadows falling across his face as the air around him began to ripple with untamed magic.

"Then I guess the experiment ends here."

And the golden city held its breath.

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Õ—T—Õ

Author Note

Drop your thoughts in the review section. Your words inspire me to write faster, better and with more depth.

Till next time.

~Phoenix.