A War God Amongst Men

Naruto spent a month long of peace and preparations for the engagement party and war. It was two things at once, but both preparations had gone around smoothly without any troubles. He had managed to put up barriers around the royal castle to avoid attacks that might come from magical weapons or any attack from above. Even certain people could not pass through the barriers had he put up unless someone with special magic rewrites the laws of the barriers he placed. With everything going smoothly, you'd be forgiven if you forgot that very soon Fiore would become a battlefield of war with the Alvarez Empire.

The royal hall had a handful of people within it. Naruto could recognize every one of them. There was a reporter, taking photos. Toma hadn't stopped going all out to invite such people who take pictures and write good things about his daughter's marriage to Ishgar's most powerful wizard. The date for the wedding hadn't been sorted. Toma was only concerned about making such an arrangement. At this point, it might even be some years before the marriage is even planned. After the war, there would be the process of rebuilding and Naruto would have his many duties to handle. There would be no time to concentrate on the wedding. Naruto was sure this wasn't Toma's concern though. As long as he was tied to the royal family, the man didn't have anything to complain about.

"You don't look like someone who is celebrating," Mirajane said to Naruto – she was sitting with the blond along with Erza. The other people were dancing in the floor while some stood in groups, whispering things to each other. Princess Hisui was chatting with people while her father observed everything that was happening from his throne.

"How does a celebrating person look like?" Naruto asked with a curious eye brow.

"He smiles and dances around," Mira said calmly. "You've hardly put on a large smile since the evening started. You are making Erza look concerned that something might be wrong," she said with a smile.

"I'm not concerned," Ezra said quick to say.

Naruto smiled, looking between the two wizards. His eyes turned towards Hisui – she had a broad smile on her lips. She seemed truly happy. Then again, this was her night. But an even better night was going to come soon: Maybe not tomorrow, but it would come and she would be wearing a bigger smile than she had today. "There has just been a lot for me to do over the past month. Rest didn't come easy. I'm actually sitting because I am truly tired."

"You do put yourself in different situations," Erza said. She stared for a moment. This was just awkward for her. She really didn't know how she was going to behave here. She hadn't even spoken to Hisui yet but Naruto had said the princess would speak to her on this night.

"My input is always needed somewhere and I feel a lot better when I am doing something," Naruto said with a shrug. "There are just days the work is too much," he said. "I think th-" he stopped talking when he felt a familiar presence walk in behind him. Aika hugged him from behind, pressing her bust on his back before she kissed him right cheek while smiling slyly.

Both Mira and Erza just stared at the scene without saying anything. Aika watched the two with an amused look before pulling a chair and sat beside Naruto. "So this is the competition," she said looking at Naruto.

"Competition?" Mirajane asked.

"What does she mean by that? Mira and I are not competing on anything," Erza said.

Naruto smiled, waving his right hand dismissively. "She is just fooling around. She does that a lot. I have warned her to behave herself but since I have a soft spot for her, she takes advantage of it by disregarding everything I tell her to do," he said while staring at Aika. His eyes turned back to both Mira and Erza. "She is a former colleague of mine when I was still working at a bar. Mira, you know that, don't you?"

Mira nodded. "You did mention that when we came here for a date," she said.

Naruto looked at Erza just to see her reaction but there was nothing. He smiled towards her before trying to change subject but Aika beat him to the punch. "Before I forget, Hisui wants to speak to you, Naruto." She said with a smile on her lips.

Naruto frowned and stared at Aika for a moment before shaking his head. "You are really a troublesome person, you know. I don't know why you came into my life. You've been nothing but a bother," he said in a quiet tone. "Well, ladies, if you will excuse me. And Erza, we shall talk. The night is still young. I'm just going to see what Hisui wants."

He walked towards Hisui who was now standing alone. She smiled at him warmly before she spoke. "You seemed to be enjoying the company on that side," she said.

Naruto smiled, "A jealous princess is something else," he said quietly. "Aika said you called for me. She could have been lying but I didn't want to risk ignoring your call on our special night."

"She didn't lie," Hisui said. "I was getting bored. I'm actually just tired of all this and would just like to leave this place. I'm not the one for parties. I have met people, said a few words, I think I can disappear now."

"You should lighten up princess," Naruto said with a slight shake of his head. "You want me to walk you to your sleeping chambers? We are getting married, we might as well start doing what married people do when they are alone in their beds," he said with a sly smile.

Hisui thought about it for a moment before blushing. "Don't tease me like that," she said. "You'll make me wish the wedding date was already set so that I can look forward to it," she said with a smile. "I want to speak to Erza."

That had been the agreement. She had said she would speak to Erza tonight. Naruto knew that he would not be invited in those talks about he would only get to see the result of the talk. Perhaps he could take a peek, but he wasn't that kind of person. He could give the ladies their privacy. They deserved it. He was the one who was putting them in this position in the first place after all. "I will talk to her about it… are you going to see her in your quarters?"

Hisui nodded. "Yes," she said. "Give it ten minutes. I want to have a couple of words with my father before disappearing. He will be suspicious if I just leave this place without saying anything."

"Understood," Naruto said.

Hisui smiled. "You don't sound happy," she said. "You shouldn't be afraid about anything. It isn't like we are going to fight. We are just going to talk and you should be happy that we are finally talking. I know you'd wished for this to happen earlier, but it is going to happen and you have nothing to fear."

"I really can't help it, Hisui," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "I worry that things might blow up. When emotions are involved, nothing is predictable. But I will trust your word," he said before turning away from the princess.

Hisui's Quarters

It was just silence as Hisui stared at Erza and the Fairy Tail mage was returning the stare. Both didn't know how they were going to start the conversation. Hisui had been ignoring the situation, thinking that it would just go away. But she had known that Naruto was making time for Erza. He had told her. This was when reality struck and she made the resolve to speak to this person, but now that Erza was before her, she didn't know how she was going to start the conversation. The silence was a bit awkward, not what she had expected. She had pictured things going far better than this. Perhaps she should have invited Naruto in the room with her. He would have already broken the ice.

"Did you enjoy the evening?" Hisui finally spoke, breaking the silence in the room.

Erza nodded. "It was pleasant." She said. There wasn't much noise that usually accompanied events hosted by Fairy Tail and she didn't get to do much but it was still nice. Perhaps it had been a good idea to keep Natsu from coming here. He would have certainly needed some lecturing to get him to behave. She could even see him taking the king's crown and putting it on his forehead, saying he was now king. "I have actually been waiting for this day to finally arrive."

Hisui was silent for a couple of moments. At least one of them has been waiting for the day. She hadn't. She had dreaded this evening because she was afraid. She was afraid that she might lose Naruto. She was afraid that things might not go well and she would have a miserable Naruto living beside her. "I have not, but we are going to be together, we may as well get used to it."

Erza blinked. "Together?"

"Well, I am not going to let Naruto go and you have already accepted him," Hisui said in a quiet tone. "This is something new to him, but I love Naruto and I don't want to lose him. I want to keep him but you are also there. I have to accept that is what comes with loving him. So long as no one gets hurts in the process I will be content with things." She paused for a moment before asking. "What is Naruto to Erza?"

Later

Naruto looked up from his desk and saw Erza walking towards him. He stood up, a bit surprised to see her in this place. She wasn't familiar with the quarters. Perhaps the guards had showed her around. He shook his head. It must have been Hisui. Guards didn't play around his quarters. He smiled towards the redhead before speaking. "You haven't cursed, so I guess things went well," he said.

Erza nodded before sitting on the chair in front of the desk. She looked around the study as Naruto settled down. Once she was facing him, she spoke. "Is this where you spend most of your time?" She could see the many books and scrolls in the study and his desk was a mess of papers.

"Yes," Naruto said. "I have been doing studies in terms of magic. I want to learn new magic, create new spells and do things that people haven't seen. It is a good hobby but it demands time and mental focus," he paused and stared at Erza, watching her expression carefully. "Something wrong?"

Erza shook her head. "No," she said. She then smiled. "Overwhelmed, a little, but things went just fine."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing those words. They made him happy. He could look forward to the future now with a wide smile. Things appeared to be going well. He didn't have any personal worries. He had both Erza and Hisui. He was content with that. He didn't need anything more to satisfy his love. "Come," Naruto said motioning for Erza to come to his side.

Erza stared for a moment before standing up. She walked over to the blond who motioned for her to sit on his lap. She did so without saying anything. Naruto wrapped both his hands around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "Thank you for loving me, Erza."

A moment of peace and quietness; what was better than this? Naruto felt complete sitting like this, he felt that the worries of this world would no longer be a bother. War was nothing for him at least. Those weak would suffer – that is certain. It was nevertheless the part of growing up. To become stronger, it wasn't just training, but experiences in battle, life threatening situations; they helped you understand your limits as a person, your limits in fighting and your mental capabilities. Not everyone could stand torture, but those who experienced it came back stronger if they don't break down.

The Following Day

Just away from Mercurios

Jellal looked up into the sky as he saw airships heading towards the direction of the capital – they were just coming from there and were now heading away. He knew those airships where from the Alvarez Empire. This was war. The war had begun. The empire was attacking Fiore. Perhaps not at the expected time but they had been expecting the empire to strike any time as Naruto had already said that the emperor had declared war himself. It looked like they were going to be busy. He counted them, there were nine air ships and they were certainly not going to greet the people in the capital.

"This is the empire, right?" Meredy asked, looking at the airships that were flying over them.

Ultear nodded. "There can be no one else. Those are warships," she said calmly. She smiled thinking that it was fitting for Naruto to have been celebrating his engagement to Hisui yesterday and then only to be greeted by war the following day. He was certainly going to throw a fit seeing the attack.

"Should we go back?"

Jellal shook his head. "The people in the capital will handle it," he said firmly. "We must move. At this stage, we can assume that there will be more attacks coming. We have to look out for those attacks while searching for Face devices."

"Besides, Naruto should be able to handle this," Ultear added. She wasn't even the least worried for the blond.

They agreed to turn their backs on the attack. Jellal did hope though, that he was not wrong and the attack would be handled by the people there. With Naruto there, there was no need for them to go there. Besides that, they also had their own jobs that they needed to do. The group of three started walking away from, letting the airships go to the capital without doing anything.

"Do you think the Council will do something now? I heard it has been reformed completely," Meredy asked as they walked. She wasn't comfortable with the idea of a war, but they had to fight this battle.

"Unlikely," Jellal said. "The members will most likely just fight themselves. There has been an abuse of weapons from the Magic Council in the past. Those weapons do more harm than good. But we will see what happens with this Council."

Royal Castle

Naruto was walking through the passages of the royal castle with Hisui beside him. He had just helped Erza with her journey back to Magnolia along with Mirajane and the other Fairy Tail mages who had come for event hosted the night before. Perhaps it was the change of status in him, but Naruto felt like he had a pleasant glow about him. He felt he could do almost everything. He felt like he was lord. His chest was certainly puffed up with arrogance and the mighty power he kept hidden away to keep normal people from running away from him when they come across him.

Hisui glanced at him for a moment; it was as if she was trying to steal a glance. He caught her and smiled. "You know, I am yours to do as you please, you don't have to steal a look," he said.

"Up until yesterday, it has felt like a dream but this is reality. As I am walking with you, I am thinking that one day we are going to marry. The promise has been made, and I accepted it. People know about it already," Hisui said in a quiet tone. "It makes me nervous just thinking about it," she said.

"You worry too much," Naruto said with a wave of his right hand. "You know me well enough and I know you. We have pretty much been doing things ourselves since we met. Those were the pleasant little innocent days, weren't they, dear?"

Hisui nodded. "They were," she said. "At least you don't tease as much as you used to…"

Naruto thought of the reactions Hisui used to give back in the days. She had always been funny. Perhaps it was because she was an innocent girl who has grown up only focusing in magic. Her revealing attire certainly made it easy for the teasing thoughts to come. If his sensei was in this world, he would certainly think he was in a harem dream land. The women in this world really did like revealing their skin. It was unlike the shinobi world. Then again, shinobi were corrupted snakes that could do anything in the blink of an eye.

"You just made it easy those days," Naruto said with a smile. "I must thank my curiosity in magic for making it possible for me to meet you. If not for that encounter in that library, I wouldn't have grown to know your personality. You simply just don't like someone from afar without knowing how they are. But I have grown to know you for all these years and it is because of that moment…" he paused for a moment before shaking off some of his thoughts. "Hopefully, we all survive this war," he said.

Hisui looked at Naruto curiously. He had never used 'hope' in anything that included him fighting for survival. He was always sure about everything. What brought this on? Why was he speaking about something that was different? It made her a little worried. "You don't sound confident…"

Naruto shook his head. "I am confident. If anything I can only be faulted for being overconfident in my abilities. I have walked through my tough situations and lived through life threatening situations. I am alive, because I have survived. I have fought the good fight. But you don't know what happens tomorrow, Hisui. I don't want to worry you, but I cannot do everything. But what I can promise you is that, I will protect you. I will fight to live for another day, to return to you."

Hisui smiled warmly, "I can live with that," she said. "But we shou-" her words were cut off when the castle shook silently.

Naruto stopped walking and looked up to the ceiling. This kind of thing, it was apparent that someone had fired something on the barrier. This castle was under attack. Of all the time to attack this place, someone chose to attack now. What a way to ruin the moment. Naruto frowned deeply before creating a clone. "Go to my study, your father will join you there," he said.

"What is happening?" Hisui asked, a bit anxious.

"We are under attack," Naruto said calmly. "Don't worry; I will deal with it quickly. I am in the mood for crushing things anyway," he said with a smile.

Moments Earlier

He had begged Zeref to allow him to do this and the man had finally agreed. Perhaps there was another reason he had decided to allow him to do it even when he had said that he could not beat Naruto. But God Serena didn't have any doubts in his strength. He was quite confident that he could defeat Naruto. He was in an airship; there were eight more ships that were behind him. He was leading the charge to the capital to destroy it. They wanted to take over Fiore, so the King and his daughter would have to die for there not to be anyone who could rise up to claim the throne and challenge the emperor.

The airships were still a distance away from the royal castle when he ordered a weapon to be fired. He didn't want to get too close before doing anything, lest Naruto is given a chance to react before they could do anything. God Serena frowned when the magical weapon blast didn't turn the castle into a cloud of debris and flames; a barrier formed around and seemingly absorbed the blast. This was unexpected. It would have been pleasant if there hadn't been anything standing in the way. But at least he was able to tell that Naruto had this place protected.

"There is someone who just appeared below," someone announced to God Serena.

"Halt the ships!" He ordered.

"Hai!"

God Serena looked at the lacrima screen displaying Naruto standing in the ground. His eyes were not looking up towards them up in the sky. He snorted thinking that the blond probably thought he didn't have to look up to them. That god complex – it annoyed him dangerously. "Point the cannon towards the target standing below!"

Naruto didn't have to look up to know that there was something being directed towards him. He might not be looking up into the airship, but he could see. He just would not look up to a man who made a mockery of gods. When a huge stream of energy was shot towards him, he merely raised his right hand. "Gakido," the jutsu activated and began to absorb the energy. There was much energy within the blast, but there was no danger of having too much energy. It would only revitalize his body if he absorbed too much energy. He had Uzumaki blood in him, and that counted for something when using this ability of the Rinnegan.

Once he was done absorbing the attack, Naruto glanced back at the scenes behind him. There were worried people. He would not have to take long with this, but he would still have to get rid of all the ships. He didn't have to worry about them dodging the attacks since they would not be able to move fast enough. He didn't want to worry people for longer periods, but he would decimate this army – it was going to be a massacre. They could not walk out of their celebrations and be welcomed by someone who desires nothing but destruction.

He removed his coat, and shirt, leaving himself naked from waist upwards. When another blast was fired towards him, he held out both his hands and held them together. "Magic Reflector," a large seal appeared in front of him and completely absorbed the magic blast.

God Serena seethed silently seeing the second blast being absorbed. He had thought that if the blond absorbed the first one, he wouldn't be able to absorb the second one. But he didn't expect the blond to use two different types of magic. There wasn't any magic seal in the first one but in this second one, it was different. He stood up and prepared to abandon ship when the seal in front of Naruto glowed.

The massive stream of energy was released from the magic seal and sped towards God Serena's ship. Within a second, it collided with the ship. Boom! There was a cloud explosion when the blast shot through the ship, piercing through it like a bullet and went on to hit one of the ships that were directly behind his ship. God Serena's ship then started a chain of explosion that tore through it, causing it to burst and turn into pieces of debris that started falling down the ground. The ship that was hit behind his ship also exploded, before falling down the ground as well.

God Serena landed on the ground, the debris was falling all over around him, but he didn't mind it as he stared towards Naruto's form. It was perhaps safe to order everyone to abandon the ship but he didn't need them to fight for him. He could do this himself. "I wanted you to watch as I turn everything into smokes," God Serena said with a grin. "No matter, I will destroy you and make you watch as I destroy this place and the royal family!"

"Arrogance," Naruto muttered in a cold tone. Then again, was he the one to say? He shrugged mentally. He was strong and until someone stronger appeared before him and beats him to a pulp, they would be permitted to call him on his arrogance.

"I heard that!"

Naruto didn't respond to God Serena. He did several hand seals and clasped his hands together while releasing sudden burst of potent magic. "How long will you continue to stand tall above me, humans?" He asked as massive gravity seals appeared below all the airships in the sky. "You don't get to look down at god. You look up at him; get down from there," the moment those words left his lips, the remaining seven ships crashed down to the ground.

Boom!

There were several explosions when the airships hit the ground, bursting into flames as they crashed into the ground. Naruto didn't get to enjoy the fireworks as God Serena flashed in front of him, slightly above the ground. He tried to punch him straight on his face. "Shinra Tensei!"

Boom!

God Serena was blasted away from Naruto along with everything else that was surrounding the blond. The jutsu sent the former Wizard Saint flying backwards in a heap but he was able to regain his balance by flipping twice before landing on the ground in a graceful manner. When he looked towards Naruto, he saw debris flying to the side with the blond standing in a crater, not having moved a muscle.

The blond had the ability to repel all things away from him and had the ability to absorb magic spells. This was certainly going to be a challenge, but he could do deal with it. He was after all the strongest Mage in Ishgar.

"Serena, you will kneel before god, today."

God Serena laughed. "Ain't no gods in this world. If there is a god, it is me! When I'm through will with you, you will be ashes!" After saying those words, his eyes looked behind him to see that the mages he'd come with, at least some of them were still alive and moving towards him – that was at least good. He had some back-up in case things got too hot.

"Laughable," Naruto said with a stern look his face.

Meanwhile

Toma knew they were under attack, he had already been told that there were ships spotted in the air. He was concerned about this attack. This looked very real. This was indeed war. He was sitting on the chair behind Naruto's desk in the study. He was staring at his daughter and the clone of Naruto. The Prime Minister was also present. The guards couldn't enter the study because of some sort of a barrier.

"Is it the empire?" Toma asked, looking at the clone of Naruto.

"It is," the clone said with a nod. "It isn't its full army, but some small part of it. But you need not worry about it. It will be handled soon."

"I don't want to worry but this means that the war has already began," Toma said with a small frown. It was moments like this that he worried for his kingdom. What was going to happen in the war? This wasn't like the games of the in the Grand Magic Games, this was war. There would be destruction and chaos.

"Yes; it means that," the clone said. "We will probably have to keep the things safe in the capital and the royal castle. Unwanted people shouldn't be allowed in just to be on the safe side. While you are safe in the castle as long as the barrier still stands, it can still be destroyed. I didn't think they would attack the castle like this, but this is war, we have to expect anything."

"That worries me," the Prime Minister said. "How safe is it in here? There isn't even a lot of room."

"I wasn't expecting the war to start at this time. Besides, we just had a celebration last night. I didn't think things would change so quickly. In any case, I will put measures around the castle for you to be able to move around. But if someone attacks the castle, you'll have to be moved into confined spaces such as this," the clone explained.

The King nodded. "Why can't we see the battle?"

The clone shook its head. "It is safer this way," it said.

Back at the battle

An oppressing magic started to pour out of Naruto while the ground trembled slightly. The mages behind God Serena stopped walking, frozen in fear at the amount of magic power they could feel from the blond. Powerful gusts of wind picked up around the blond before blasting into all directions, picking up large amounts of dust that obstructed his view of Naruto.

When the dust cleared, Naruto was standing still, face looking up into the sky. The blond now had four arms; his chest had a pale blue metal circle that was undoubtedly used for launching energy blasts. God Serena hadn't thought the blond would be this powerful. He hadn't thought this person would have so much in him. He took a step back slightly.

Naruto suddenly vanished, only dust remained behind. God Serena stared in a hardened gaze when the blond suddenly appeared in front of him. The air was thick; it was slightly harder to breathe. "You have declared war on me, this kingdom; I shall face you as a war god. There will be no mercy!"

"Told ya' ain't no such thing as a god!" God Serena shouted driving a punch towards Naruto's chest. Naruto caught the punch with his left hand. There had been so much strength in the punch that there was a slight shockwave produced when Naruto caught the punch, but he didn't move. God Serena released a burst of flames from his fist. The intense flames he had released hit Naruto dead on, consuming his entire body but they were immediately dispersed.

Naruto tried to punch God Serena with his right hand, but the former Wizard Saint caught the punch. The moment he did so, he cursed loudly as he felt pain shooting through his entire body. Naruto's extra hands slammed into his gut with so much strength but he was lifted from the ground but could not go anywhere because Naruto held both his hands.

While God Serena was still in the air, his eyes snapped towards Naruto's chest as the wheels spun and an energy blast hit him on the chest, sending him flying into the air.

Naruto didn't bother looking towards the former Wizard Saint. But he knew the man would be back soon – that hadn't been enough to do damage to a mage of his caliber. His eyes turned to the mages in front of him. They were afraid of him. He could understand their fear. But he wasn't going to let them leave this place. They came here with all intension to cause damage. If there hadn't been a barrier protecting the royal castle, people would have died. It was only fair for him to return the favor.

What did people say? Ah, yes – an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth.

"I'm afraid none of you are worth the effort for me to engage you," Naruto stated in a silent tone. "There will only be this," he said before slamming his right foot on the ground.

The ground shook for a couple of seconds before large pillars of earth burst out. There were many of them and some of the mages were carried into the air by the pillars while some managed to avoid them. But those still on the ground, were stuck between the pillars. Naruto closed his left eye and made a motion of a gun with his right hand while two more hands were clasped together. "Explosive Tags," he said in a whisper.

Explosive marks started appearing around the pillars he had raised from the ground. When the mages realized them, there was panic and they started trying to run away, but Naruto activated the tags before they could go away. The tags burst into flames one by one, forming a chain of explosion that picked apart the earth pillars one by one. It was nothing but chaos as rubbles flew around the air, and flames started to pick up.

Naruto watched this occur for a couple of moments before clasping all four hands together. "Wind God's Fury." Above the mages, wind started picking up, twirling around dangerously before forming a tornado. The tornado was spinning in such a fast way that it started catching what looked like flames. Clouds began to form in the sky before the massive tornado started to pull things towards it. Even Naruto had to brace himself to avoid being dragged up into the air. The Tornado then dropped down the ground in speed.

Boom!

The collision with the ground caused a violent reaction that caused an explosion to occur. Powerful gusts of winds blasted through the air, hitting Naruto with debris. A large column of rubble picked up into the sky, visible from the people in the capital. Naruto just watched it until it died down after a couple of minutes.

His eyes glanced behind him before speaking. "That was rather cold of you," he said. The man had just watched this happen to the mages he was leading. Where was the leadership in such a cold and uncaring behavior from the commander? Perhaps it was nothing but cowardice and indifference that led to the choice.

"Ain't no thing I could have done to save 'em," God Serena said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Naruto slowly turned to face God Serena; he slowly started walking towards the Spriggan. "Wind Bullet," he said before an invisible bullet of wind slammed into Serena's chest. The wizard felt something crack as the air left his lungs for a moment when the bullet hit his chest. He was sent flying backwards, but like last time, he flipped several times. He landed on one knee, hand on his chest.

A pillar of earth burst from the ground, lifting up into the air. Naruto appeared above the wizard, his body twisting while in a horizontal position. He drove a flame engulfed punch towards the head of God Serena. The punch slammed into the wizard's head with so much force that his upper body snapped, and he crashed into the pillar with his face. When his face collided with the pillar, it shattered, breaking into pieces of rubble.

Naruto's chest glowed slightly before it released a stream of energy that slammed into the back of God Serena. The energy collided with the mages back, before sending him crashing into the ground. There was small explosion when the blast hit the ground along with Serena who hit the ground with his front.

A second after God Serena hit the ground, Naruto crashed beside the downed wizard before slamming a brutal punch on the mages back. The punch caused a loud boom as it hit, burying Serena deeper into the ground. Naruto didn't stop there; he picked up the mage by grabbing him on the back of his neck before lifting him up into the air. He twirled the man around to have him face him before grabbing him by his throat while strangling him. "I have fought Acnologia and Zeref, who do you think you are to challenge me?"

He placed the palm of his right hand on God Serena's chest. "Shinra Tensei." He let go of God Serena before the concentrated jutsu slammed into God Serena's body, sending him flying away like a bullet. While he was still airborne, a gravity seal formed above him before slamming him down the ground.

When God Serena tried to stand up, Naruto flashed in front of him and slammed his right foot on his forehead. God Serena felt like his entire body had been shook when the kick connected. He felt a massive migraine hitting him before he took off like a bullet, rushing through the air. Earth pillars lined up behind him and he crashed through just one with his back before he stopped on the second one. His body slid down and he landed on his butt, he was beat and the blond wasn't giving him time to recover or use his magic.

He coughed slightly and tried to breathe evenly for a couple of moments before slowly getting up. At least this time around, he was being allowed to breathe and recover his energy. He looked towards the blond who was standing a distance away, waiting for him. Was he being toyed with? Naruto had the magic to turn him to ash but he wasn't using it. He was settling to just punishing him like this.

"I am bullying you, yes," Naruto said calmly. "But I am still giving you a chance to hit me with your best; to do your best. Who knows, you might do a good job? I won't absorb it. Perhaps you can call it arrogance, but I want to see the look on your face when you hit me with your strongest attack and I just get up like that before crushing you. Then, I can put you out of your misery. Don't worry, there will only be ashes that remain after we are done."

God Serena couldn't believe that things had come to this point. The blond was looking down at him as if he was some small creature he could squash with just raising his foot. He felt insulted. He felt mad that he would allow himself to be brought to this state. Yet, he could not have avoided it. But he could avoid a situation where he ends up dying. He didn't lie to himself, the situation was very clear to him – if he messed up, he was going to end up dying. There was no doubt about it. But Naruto's overconfidence would be his downfall. He would show the blond who was god. He hadn't become the strongest in Ishgar without having the power to back it up.

He slammed his fist on the ground, causing the ground to shake violently under Naruto. The ground exploded, causing rubble to pick and along with large boulders all around the blond. Naruto wasn't given any place to stand. He was even put off balance by the attack. While he was still grappling with a place to stand, God Serena appeared in front of him, above the ground and sent the swords floating behind towards Naruto, all of them. The swords hit Naruto dead on and sent him flying backwards. He managed to land on the ground gracefully.

When he landed down, his senses picked up as he sensed magic spiking behind him. "Rengokuryu no Ennetsu Jigoku," God Serena shouted, his right palm facing Naruto. He released a stream of flames that sped towards Naruto. The flames exploded into a colossal inferno that surrounded Naruto, burning everything that the flames touched. When the flames died down, Naruto was standing in a large crater, with burns around his body but they appeared to be healing.

God Serena nearly shouted in fury seeing that the blond was still standing on his feet. "Boufuryuu no Ginpuu Rougetsu," He took a sharp breath and released a destructive gust of wind. The gust tore through the ground in front of him, raising debris as it peeled through the ground in its march towards Naruto. Destructive gust slammed into Naruto, sending him flying a distance away.

The blond was quick to regain his balance before landing on the ground. He had a frown on his lips; he had multiple cuts on his body and was bleeding. "How disappointing but I imagine for Acnologia to kill you, he wouldn't even need to fight you. He'd just swing his hang and cut you in half. You are strong, but still not quite strong," He stated while walking towards God Serena.

As he walked, his natural hands started going through hand signs before three magical seals appeared above God Serena. When the mage tried to move away, his artificial hands moved slowly before forming a gravity seal below the mage, stopping him from moving away.

"Had you been a little stronger, I would have been using my most powerful attack, but I feel it is pointless to do so. You are not worth that effort and you have displeased me," Naruto said in a cold tone.

The second the gravity seal was dispelled, Naruto's foot slammed into God Serena's face, forcing the man to fall on his back. Naruto then stomped on the man's chest, palm of his right hand just away from the man's face. "Disappear, human."

And so, God Serena disappeared.

Naruto waved his right hand, dispelling his spell before the artificial hands started to crumble. He looked up into the sky for a moment while his body returned to normal. This only meant that war had begun. There was no time to rest now. He had to look over at his shoulder. Perhaps he shouldn't have focused too much on things on this side. Either way, it was war now and he had to fight. He was ready for it.

Naruto teleported from the battlefield and appeared inside his quarters. He went to his room and put on a shirt before going to his study. He found his clone sitting with Toma and his daughter along with the Prime Minister. He smiled at the group but didn't get to say anything as Hisui threw himself towards him, smiling happily. She hugged him tightly.

"I'm happy you came back, Naruto," she said.

Naruto smiled as he returned the hug. "Was there any doubt? You should have some confidence in me, dear."

Toma cleared his throat to disturb the two. "I hope you keep you contact at this level," the king said staring at the two.

Hisui let go of Naruto and looked at her father with an embarrassed look on her face. "Of course, father," she said a bit quickly. That was not the kind of thing that she wanted to talk to with her father and the Prime Minister. She glanced at Naruto to look for help but he just looked at her with an amused look on his face. She wanted to hit him for that. "I'm just happy that you came back." She ended up repeating those words because she didn't know what else to say.

"When I leave, you shouldn't worry about me, Princess. I am more than ready to defend myself," Naruto responded in a firm tone. "It is natural for you to be concerned, but don't lose sleep over anything. We will get through this," he reassured her with a warm smile.

"I hope so," Hisui said.

"And I hope I will still have a country even after the war," Toma said. He was certain that the wizards would be letting loose more so than they do when they are fighting in the magic games. It was going to be chaos out there. He just hoped that the towns were safe and his people were protected. It would be unfortunate if things turned south and ended up losing his people.

"You will have your country," Naruto said.

Toma eyed Naruto curiously before asking. "You don't sound confident," he said.

Naruto shook his head. "I know you will have your country. We are going to win this war after all. But we cannot forget that there will be collateral damage. This is something that we cannot avoid when fighting a war," he said. "But you can rest assured, your majesty, you will be protected."

Alvarez Empire

Things had gone more or less in the way he had predicated – it was just a massacre. God Serena had never stood a chance against Naruto but he had insisted on fighting – The arrogance of the man. He would think that he could fight and defeat Naruto when Acnologia had fought the blond before and failed to win? Perhaps the Dragon King had underestimated the blond before. Certainly, Acnologia would not have thought that Naruto be able to fight him evenly. But the dragon was languishing in the sky, sealed away. He was braking from the seal and it was now just a matter of when he does completely free himself. It was just going to be chaos when the dragon does free himself.

Zeref wasn't a bit concerned at losing God Serena. He wasn't the strongest but at least they were able to learn something from the battle. It wasn't just a waste of resources. He hadn't sent much anyway. Serena had felt he could defeat Naruto and he let him go, but he did have his own reasons for doing so. He looked at his shields, "That is Uzumaki Naruto," he said calmly.

Naruto's strength no longer surprised him. He had seen it in both levels. He had seen it when he fought Acnologia, he had seen it when he they fought. Admittedly, that form was something that he hadn't seen before. It was new. He would have to speak to Naruto about it. The blond had an arsenal of techniques, and magic power to make use of them all without exhausting his magic reserves. He didn't even have to worry about that because he could simply absorb magic from his opponents.

"An opponent who makes magic useless against him is dangerous," Invel said. "At this point, we will have troubles getting through to Magnolia if he is in the way," he said.

Zeref nodded; he knew this and he had been thinking about it. If Naruto put a stop on things and said there was no going anywhere, they would be have a difficult time getting through to Fairy Tail. The Guild still had its own capable wizards. "Naruto has something that we can use against him. We just have to keep him in Mercurios."

Invel thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Even if he does make magic useless, August should be able to fight him. We can at least delay him until we have managed to get our hands on the Fairy Heart," he said. "But will it be enough?"

"I'm not sure about his spells, but I can at least hold him until his majesty is able to achieve his goal," August said. It would be something that would prove challenging but he could do it. He was strongest of the Spriggan and would at least fulfill something in this war.

"Irene has an idea and it will be effective to stop things." Zeref said. There was a problem with Naruto's use of teleportation magic but there could be an arrangement to counter that. If Irene's plan works, there will be nothing to worry about – he would obtain the Fairy Tail and Naruto would know defeat.

Magnolia

Mira looked at Naruto strangely. She wasn't expecting to see him so soon and he had said that he would not be coming to Magnolia because he had things to do in the royal castle. She had understood that – he had just been engaged to princess Hisui after all. He needed time to be around her for anything happens. She would certainly love to have him around and his attention on her. Mirajane would have also taken things in that view if she was in the position. But she had rejected things. She had put a stop to things. A stupid decision and she couldn't take things back. Naruto had moved on after all.

If she could take things back, she could take back that moment. What wrong had he done to her? He had been a gentleman; he had expressed concern – genuine concern. Naruto didn't do fake expressions and emotions. This was something she liked about him. He had his secrets, but he was certainly not the one who pretended to like you when did not. He hung around her because he did like her company. It has always been that way. She smiled at the thought.

Ah, her thoughts were becoming depressing. But she had brought this upon herself. No one could be blamed. No one could be faulted. She just had to nurse her wounds and move on with her life. That was the best option for her wasn't it?

Mirajane smiled warmly as Naruto sat on the stool. He returned the smile. She noted, he always did that. He always tried to match her smile. "Missing someone already?" She asked.

"Maybe," Naruto said with a smile. "Something just happened. But you are back at your job again. You really can't stay away can you?"

"When I stopped fighting, this was the only thing I could do to help the Guild." Mira said in a quiet tone. "What happened?"

Naruto looked around instead of answering. He could not see Makarov or even sense him. He had been hoping that he would be able to see the master before returning to Mercurios but not before seeing Jellal. He did need to speak to the old man about the war because this did affect Fairy Tail. The Alvarez Empire was only after something which belonged to the Guild.

"Where is the master?" He asked Mira after looking around the hall.

Mira stared at him with a curious look on her face. "He went to the Alvarez Empire," she said before tilting her head to the side. "Didn't you know about it?"

Naruto frowned. Makarov had said that he would end up going to the empire but he has been thinking that it was something that could be avoided. He was in this position now. Well, if the old man did go to that side, he would know that the empire has struck and is going to increase its efforts. It was a bit of a problem since he didn't know what was going to happen there. He could not even say that the empire wouldn't try to kill the Third Master. He shook his head, they would try it and if they do succeed, it would be a huge blow to Fairy Tail.

He wasn't going there. He would not go there. Not when there was a chance that he could walk into a trap that would keep him locked up on that side while the empire lays waste to Fiore and other nations in the continent of Ishgar.

"Who did he leave with?"

"Mest," Mira said.

Naruto nodded – that was at least good. That was the same man who worked with the Council as Doranbolt. He was a user of teleportation magic. If there was trouble, they should be able to escape into safety. "That is at least some good news," he said.

Mirajane looked worried as she stared at Naruto. He had said that something had happened. It was why he was here instead of enjoying his moments with Princess Hisui. "What happened, Naruto?"

Naruto gave Mira a look. He wasn't going to hide anything. The look was merely a question of her concern. He smiled. "I wish I had a kind heart as you do, Mira." She was kind, but she did have her moments. When those she loved were harmed, she put on the mask of a demon looking for vengeance. Maybe he liked that about her. Maybe he liked that she could turn her kind heart into a fit of rage and power in the blink of an eye.

"Don't you?" Mira asked. He has always been nice and pleasant. She could say he was a kind person.

"I don't know," Naruto said with a sad smile on his lips. "I have done many things in my life. I have done things that are horrifying and I willingly choose to put them aside to be happy while other people suffer. There are things that should affect me that no longer do…"

If anyone in Fairy Tail was killed, Naruto wouldn't blink. Death was a consequence of war. It happened on both sides. Perhaps not to him but he had seen it too many times that it was just another normal thing for him. It had nothing with his ability to bring the dead to life. It had everything to do with his inability to care for many people and his often disregard for the lives of many people. He shouldn't have revived Zeref when he knew there was going to be war. But he did it anyway. It was for his amusement.

He was not kind like Mira. He was a god who sometimes forgets what it means to be human.

Mira stared Naruto; she wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't know what to say to him. "But, you have always been kind to me. To my experience and memories, you are a good person. I am sure princess Hisui feels the same."

"She does…" Naruto said in thought. "You asked what happened: just after you left, we were attacked by the Alvarez Empire. I had come here to talk master about it."

"You were attacked?"

Naruto nodded. "It is nothing serious," Naruto said with a shrug. "I handled it effectively." He was certain the reports would be hitting the streets from the newspapers. But he could afford to be indifferent about it. It was indeed nothing serious to him.

Mira smiled, relieved. "Well, if you hadn't handled it, you wouldn't be here, would you?"

Naruto returned the smile, "No," he said. "Since both Gildarts and Laxus are around. I guess you are secured. I will also come if things get dangerous. But be safe, Mira. If something happens to you, I will cry." When was the last time he did that anyway?

"I will be safe," Mira said. "Are you?"

"I'm going to be reckless and it's going to be chaos," Naruto said with a wide smile on his lips. "But at the end of everything, we will still sit like this."

Tenrou Island

Mavis was swinging her feet while sitting on a tree branch. The air was changing but it wasn't because she had felt Naruto's presence, it was because there was something that was coming. She could feel it and with Naruto here, she assumed something had happened. Last time they spoke, she wasn't to see him again unless something happened. When he stopped before the tree and looked up to her, she saw the expression on his face – danger.

"Is it time already?" Mavis asked in a quiet, yet stern tone.

Naruto nodded. "I should have known that these people have no care for innocent people. There is going to be collateral damage and I wouldn't be surprised if they end up destroying some country in Ishgar," he said with a shake of his head. He was concerned that they would most definitely concentrate attack the royal castle. There was no way that Zeref believed God Serena was a match for him. This meant that he had another reason and it worried him.

"Has something happened?"

"They attacked my side," Naruto said. "Naturally, I crushed them – all of them without mercy. It has come to my thinking that because of these 'homes' that I have, I won't be able to stand in all sides of the war. They are going to exploit that weakness and I don't know how I will counter it. I am not omnipresent and admittedly, the Spriggan are strong."

Mavis frowned upon hearing this. She would always count on Naruto because she knew he was strong. She knew he was someone who had the capabilities to fight Zeref, and yet there was this that he was saying. "But you will be there," she said those words a bit slowly.

Naruto nodded. "Yes," he said. "I will be there. It is an entire country that we have to face. In terms of numbers, the Alvarez has an advantage and it has many powerful wizards that are known as country destroyers. The others are just children. I could simply send clones to a battlefield and wipe them out within minutes," he said. "Are you going to stay here or will you be there by the Guild?"

"I will go," Mavis said. She simply could not just sit here and sit while the guild she founded ran the risk of being destroyed. She had to be there to confront those people and over strategic support.

"Then I will see you there soon. I assume they have already marched into other nations and will soon be making their way to Fiore. Once they arrive, Zeref will probably reach Fairy Tail – that is his ultimate goal after all," Naruto said calmly. "If there is anything that happens, I will inform you as soon as possible."

"You are going to be stationed in the royal castle?"

Naruto didn't want to say. "My place is where the battle is, Mavis. Wherever I am called to release my weapons of war, I will go there. I cannot be stuck around playing guard duty. My clones can handle that," he smiled. "Don't tell anyone I said that," he said.

Mavis looked amused for a moment before shaking her head. "You'll surely get in trouble," she said.

"At least you understand," Naruto said.