The explosion pierced the bottom of the flaming bird's stomach, making an escape route for the Phenex and Naruto.
The second he got out, Naruto made a hand sign to summon his clones.
It was time to finish this!
He didn't sense the phoenix get any weaker...and judging by the fact that the hole was closing up just fine, he'd say that it's regeneration was still in play.
Damn...well, fine.
All he had to do...was obliterate it, right?
Make sure that there won't be anything left to regenerate, right?
Then...it was time.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
Four clones were formed.
One of them allowed themselves to fall, in order to catch the devil that was falling to the earth.
The rest knew what to do.
Two clones grabbed the original and huddled together, while the last clone grabbed the huddled group and flung them towards the phoenix, which was heading towards them after it healed.
One of the clones took the lead, forming an enlarged rasengan in it's left hand.
The descending phoenix opened it's mouth and spewed a firestorm towards the three blonds that were heading towards it.
With an Ōdama Rasengan at hand, the lead clone used it as a defense and kept ascending towards the flaming bird, gritting it's teeth as it realized that it wouldn't be able to stop itself from popping.
As predicted, the heat of the flames proved too much for the clone, and it expired, leaving those behind it defenseless from the fiery onslaught.
At least...it was supposed to.
Instead, inexplicably, something began to split the flames apart.
Something...sharp.
Something...deadly.
Whatever it was, it kept cutting straight through the flames until it reached the deadly creature itself. Cutting through it's wing without any trouble or opposition.
The phoenix screeched as it lost control of it's flight and spiraled down towards the earth.
The one responsible for it's forced descent finally reached the end of his own ascent, turning around to finish off the beast once and for all.
With a blue orb in hand.
With a blue orb that had massive wind blades in hand.
The last clone grabbed the arm of it's maker and flung it towards the falling phoenix, allowing itself to pop once it's job was done.
Naruto descended rapidly, reaching the phoenix before it could regenerate in time, raised his deadly jutsu in the sky...
Then slammed it onto the phoenix's torso!
"Fūton: Rasenshuriken!" Naruto screamed at the top of his lungs, allowing for the deadly jutsu to obliterate all that was before it.
Before releasing the jutsu from his hand.
The rasenshuriken sent the phoenix sailing towards the earth at extreme speeds, the wind blades buffeting the bird and doing immense damage.
Similar to a comet from the sky, the phoenix was sent hurtling to the ground.
Also similar to one, it detonated once it reached it.
*BOOOOOOOM*
The rasenshuriken let loose a massive dome that enveloped the nearby rock formations, obliterating it with it's potent microscopic wind blades.
The massive dome of wind continued to deconstruct anything inside it down to a cellular level, leaving nothing behind as the wind blades did their deadly work.
As Naruto was free falling towards the ground, the force of the winds from the dome helped slow down his descent despite how high in the air he was, it was simply that powerful.
Naruto closed his eyes.
The battle was over.
Mio was watching the sky with trepidation, looking for any signs of her 'brother'.
Last she saw of him, he jumped high into the sky, drawing the attention of the phoenix away from them and to the sky.
All she knew from there, was that there was a lot of power being thrown around up there...
The damn clouds were making it difficult to discern what was really going on, much to her frustration.
So it came to no one's surprise that she was immediately locked on to the first thing that broke through the sky's clouds.
Besides the strange fire shower of course.
It was...
"That's the phoenix! It's crashing to the ground!" Rias called out, pointing to the falling bird.
Indeed it was.
Sona, who was still by their side, narrowed her eyes as she noticed something about the fiery creature that was crashing to the earth.
"...What is that...? That bright light on it's torso?" Sona asked quietly, noting that something was pushing the large beast to the ground.
It was bright alright, easily standing out despite nearly being covered up by the largess of the phoenix.
Many in the castle watched as the bird finally reached the earth, relief coloring most of their faces as they believed that the threat was finally over.
*BOOOOOOOM*
Everyone jumped as a loud explosion reverberated from the distance.
Then they all stared in awe as a large and bright dome of wind materialized out of nowhere, enveloping the surrounding area that the phoenix crashed to.
"...It's...beautiful." Mio couldn't help but note in awe.
But she would forget that opinion quickly.
Soon after the initial explosion, devastating winds hit the occupants of the castle, nearly knocking everyone off their feet.
Screams echoed the area as nobles scrambled to get a foothold or to grab something solid and hold on for dear life.
Mio, with her hair flying around her face, watched in amazement as the winds were practically pushing the castle back.
She felt the old structure shake and quake under the strain of the winds.
Then she saw the flames that had taken up residence in front of Grayfia's magic barriers begin to get snuffed out.
That was insane! The dome of wind was ridiculously far away!
It was only when the dome finally dispersed, did the powerful winds finally cease their oppressive push against everyone inside the castle.
Once she managed to get back to her feet, Mio only had one word to describe what just happened.
"...Wow."
Naruto trudged away from the destruction that he recently caused while ignoring the pain on his feet, moving towards a prone form.
A stray thought hit him.
What the hell happened to that clone he sent out to the clone that he tasked with unlocking their 'secret weapon'?
...Well, he'd find out after he talked to this asshole.
He was now standing over the fallen form of Riser Phenex.
"...Guess it's over...huh?" Riser asked quietly, his expression exhausted and gaunt from fatigue.
Naruto nodded, it was.
"Whatever power you accepted, it obviously left some bad shit behind. You nearly killed a friend of mine and a blond girl...she called you her 'onii-sama'." the shinobi muttered to his fallen enemy.
Riser's eyes turned to lock with Naruto's, urgency in his blue depths.
"...I...I didn't...right...?" the devil asked quietly, almost fearing the answer.
Naruto shook his head.
"You didn't. I managed to give them both some time to escape. Your sister is alive and well." the younger blond responded.
The Phenex breathed a sigh of relief, turning to face his mysterious enemy.
This strangely powerful human.
"...You saved me...right? Why...?" Riser asked after a moment's pause.
Naruto stared at Riser, unsure of whether he should answer or not.
He decided to do so.
"...If I killed off or thoroughly punished each and every arrogant asshole I've met throughout my entire life...then I would've lost some very valuable friends and comrades in the future. I guess...somewhere deep inside...I hoped that you weren't as bad as you made yourself out to be." the shinobi explained, his eyes looking at things that only he could.
Naruto then turned back to the fallen devil, giving him a small grin of approval.
"Glad to know that you at least give a shit about someone...caring about your sister is something that I can relate to."
Riser said nothing, continuing to regard his former enemy.
He then closed his eyes.
"...I surrender."
The second that Lucifer's creation was obliterated by the wind done, the devil decided that he has seen enough.
Via magic circle, the two devils against the current government of the Underworld returned to their hidden hideout.
The home base of the Old-Maou faction.
Lucifer thought about what he has seen.
Unlike those in the castle, he had prime seats to watch what the human could do, since the mountain he was standing on also pierced the clouds.
The boy was...far more powerful than he thought.
No wonder Diodora was crushed.
The boy may well be an equal to some of the more powerful ultimate-class devils, such as Tannin, or maybe even stronger...
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