I tried broadening my horizons, first of all by changing Username when signing-up in a new forum, you know? Starting from zero with a clean slate: new name, new stories (I abandoned Naruto and Harry Potter there) and new system; hopefully this "New Beginning" will help me not abandoning fanfics completely like I initially planned to.

And to be perfectly honest, it is giving nice results, so I am both glad and grateful for this breath of fresh air.

And my haters can still go fuck themselves.

But I am not fully satisfied yet, not in a long shot.

Whatever! XD

Have a good day!

" You bastard" - demon talking / jutsu

"Let's finish this" - dialogue

" Can it get any worse? " - during flashback/thoughts

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or whatever I will use here in this fic.

A certain blond in an RPG World Chapter 10: Gods hate him! He found a way to not be screwed over by their selfish plans, learn how he did it!

Heaven – Land of the Gods – Celestial Council -

The palace was built in pure gold and marble, a scene of utter richness the likes of which the Mortal Realm had never seen, not even in the wildest dreams of the most daring artists; and the main room of this immense palace of Gods was the Celestial Council, the giant round room where the Gods would meet and plan whenever there was the need for all of them to be present in the same place, and in the far end of the room stood the gargantuan gold throne of Elrune herself, mother of every God and Goddess, a throne that was still empty after eons have passed and that no God dared to sit on, too respectful of their absent mother to even just think about usurping her position.

"You still miss her, Zaleus?" a Goddess wearing robes made of water with its currents moving restless around her body asked with a tender smile as she looked at her big brother, the first born of Elrune and the God of war.

"Wouldn't any child miss their mother? Her absence is tearing my soul apart, Katelia. No sense in hiding it." the God embodying War and Violence answered to his sister, the Goddess of the Sea and the second born of Elrune, with a distraught expression one would not expect from a being like him embodying such fierce concepts.

The fire composing his robes was dull as well, testament of his dark thoughts.

"I miss her too, but the Mortal Realm still needs our guidance, we cannot forget our duties. She would be sad to know we abandoned her creation just to look at her empty seat in sorrow." Katelia said.

"I have every right to mourn my mother! Especially since her disappearance is directly linked to her Creation!" Zaleus spat back in blind fury while summoning in the middle of the room a giant round map containing the entire world of Elrune, but contrary to any ordinary map, in there one could see every living being on Elrune going through their lives, from the smallest bacteria to the biggest demon.

No mortal being could hope to follow such a chaotic map, but to a God, that was as simple as looking at a mere picture, they could observe every detail of every life at the same time without missing a single detail with absolute zero effort.

"Small and simple lives, a mere instant when compared to our timeless existence...I still find it fascinating, Mother really outdid herself in creating such a perfect example of the precarious equilibrium between Good and Evil to then encapsulate it into beings as frail as these." the Goddess of the Sea commented in wonder.

"Bah! Mere toys, nothing more." the God of War commented, scoffing, and with a touch of his finger in an isolated corner of the map, two small cities soon declared war to each other, one he instinctively knew will soon eradicate both cities from the map with no survivors left behind.

"Toys they may be to you, Zaleus, but please, do not break Mother's creation." a third Goddess, this one dressed in leaves, asked with a whisper of voice smelling like the forest.

"Ikava." both Gods welcomed the Goddess of Nature (and third child of Elrune) with a respectful bow of their heads.

"Big brother, big sister. Please do not fight, there is no need for it...Mother will soon return, you know this." Ikava the Goddess said with a calm tone, as usual acting as peacekeeper between the two Gods whenever they started arguing.

"Tch! Fine!"

"Only because our beloved Little Ikava asked." both Gods answered as one, as always treating the Goddess of Nature like the apple of their eyes and doing as she asked.

"By the way, are you sure Mother will return soon?" Zaleus asked.

"Sister Suhira is certain of it," Ikava answered, mentioning the name of the Goddess of Wisdom with pure trust.

"I'll trust her. But what about the Mortals? And the Sleeping Titans?" the God of War asked, spitting the word 'Mortals' and 'Titans' with badly-hidden distaste.

"Just ignore them and leave what is happening in the Mortal world to them, we have a totally different agenda to bring forth, everything must be ready for Mother's return. Nothing else matters. Nothing." Ikava answered.

"Even the Titans?"

"Especially them, let them sleep if they want to...If they care so much about their nap, they can keep it up until the end of time for all I care! I never understood what mother saw in them to let those three do as they please." the tiny goddess said, scoffing in derision.

"Do not fret about those three 'Pets',you are right. Mother's return has priority." the Goddess of the Sea replied.

"..." it was then that a sorrowful moan echoed in the room, making the Gods present shiver faintly.

"...Miraak..." Zaleus muttered coldly.

"What do we owe the visit of our esteemed little brother?" Ikava asked with narrowed eyes, annoyed by how even the leaves of her own dress turned brown and dying because of the new arrival's mere presence.

Who entered was the very last child of Elrune: Miraak the God of Death; normally overseeing the Afterlife and the souls traversing to there to then introducing them to the Wheel of Rebirth, and the only being that in the past could kill even his own brothers and sisters with a mere whisper, before their father cursed him into his present form with his dying breath.

Death happening at the hands of Miraak himself, thing that further drew a chasm between him and the other children of Elrune, his brothers and sisters.

What was once a normal God like them was now a towering living Skeleton dressed in robes made of pitch-black smoke eternally billowing around his flesh-less body, all because his father before dying cursed him in a manner that stripped him of his flesh and voice, weakening him to the point that only Mortals could be affected by his powers and die, as he now could talk only by guttural whispers coming from the tiny rotten stump of tongue still left in his mouth.

Originally, by Elrune's own will, Miraak's voice could cause whoever heard him pronounce their name to die, God or Mortal alike, and that power had been took away from him, and if he still possessed a small stump of tongue and a single cerulean eye left on his skeletal head's left eye-socket, that was because the God's father had perished before finishing chanting his curse.

Zaleus was once the tallest God in the entire pantheon, standing at Six meters of height, but now Miraak greatly surpassed him, to the point that the giant skeleton could easily wrap a single hand around the entire head of the God of War and lift his body effortlessly; he may have been the youngest son, but the other Gods still kept his every move under scrutiny out of paranoia and dread towards his strength and powers, even after the curse happened.

"..." a cold rattling voice, too feeble for Mortal ears to ear, came out of his mouth in answer.

"Those are heavy words, little brother. Do you have any proof?" Ikava asked back, annoyed.

"..." the giant skeleton answered.

"Hn! He calls us Blind, big words for somebody with just one eye!"

"Why are you here?" Katelia asked with crossed arms.

"…" the voice was a rasping growl, low and dull.

"Whatever we do is not your business, and you should very well remember that," the Goddess of the Sea replied, eyes narrowing and gaining a sharp edge.

At that a blood-chilling rattling of bones filled the room as Miraak "laughed" at the poor threat, he was clearly unafraid of his older brothers and sisters, and they knew it.

"…?" the God of Death asked with a mocking tone while pointing at Zaleus, making the God flinch at being singled-out.

"…?" he then said to Ikava, his lone eye full of mirth as he lowered himself down to a squat to meet the gaze of the way smaller Goddess of Nature.

"You know nothing! And stop getting this close! You smell of decay and sickness!" Ikava answered with a petulant tone, as expected from the most spoiled of all the children of Elrune.

"..." Miraak just gave her a look and pointed at his robes of smoke.

"I KNOW you are the God of Death and everything Decaying!" Ikava hissed in answer, clearly insulted by the other God's pointed remark about her intelligence.

"…?" Miraak asked, mockingly.

"It's the principle of the thing! I am the Goddess of Nature! The Goddess of everything beautiful, fresh, alive and pleasant! Of course I don't like the smell clinging to you!"

"..."

"I know I did not 'Wound your feelings', you don't have any!" Ikava rebutted angrily.

Waving the tiny Goddess off with an uncaring gesture of a hand, the giant skeleton walked towards the giant map of the Mortal world and let his right hand hover above the two cities Zaleus had cursed into a giant bloodbath just as a joke.

"...Hn!" the clacking of his skinless jaw alerted the other Gods that the God of Death found the 'Joke' utterly unfunny, and with an imperious gesture Miraak erased the War that was about to start, returning the situation back to normal.

"Hey!" Zaleus hissed in anger.

In answer the skeleton gave him a one-eyed glare that froze him.

"…!"

"So it was not their time to die, so what? They are just Mortals! The place is full of them, a hundred thousand less will hardly make a difference!"

Wham! At that a back-handed slap of the giant skeleton sent the God of War flying until his back collided with one of the columns on the room, heavily cracking what was up until that moment thought to be indestructible and turning the mighty God unconscious with his face reduced into a mask of bruised flesh bleeding golden blood.

"HOW DARE-"

"SKRIEEEEEEEEH!" The sound was merely air rushing through empty bones, but it still produced a loud, ear-piercing shriek that silenced the Goddess of the Sea, and the woman only barely noticed that at his 'scream' the sea forming her dress turned still and lifeless in an instant.

"..." Whatever Miraak threatened her with, while pointing a giant bony finger as straight as a sword at her throat, was enough to have the only two Goddesses present, and conscious, turn deadly pale.

"We-" The Goddess of Nature tried saying with a small voice, only for her cutesy trick to fail miserably at the glare she got in answer.

"..." Miraak hissed as he grabbed one of the leaves of her dress, making the entire thing rot to the point the dress disintegrated, leaving the tiny Goddess in her underwear and making her shriek in embarrassment.

"Mother's return is essential. Everything must be ready for when she will come back." Katelia said with a distraught voice.

"…?"

"YES! Mother will return! Don't you want her back? Even if others find your current form repulsive, she never stopped loving you with all her heart!" she answered.

Giving a longing look at the empty throne, Miraak walked towards the empty seat and delicately passed a hand on it, murmuring something sounding like a low grunt filled to the brim in sadness.

"We are ignoring our duties towards the Mortal Realm, yes, I cannot deny that...But it is only temporary, once mother is back, everything will go back to how things once were. I promise you, on my Life and Honor."

"..." the answer of the God of Death came after an extremely long pause of silence, finally making the two Goddesses relax slightly.

"Thank you, little brother." Katelia answered with a more relieved expression.

"..."

"Of course! I will call you as soon as she gets back, you will be able to be the very first to welcome her back, I promise." the Goddess reassured him, getting a nod in answer before the giant skeleton faded away and back to his domain.

"That-that-that FREAK! He can't be our brother!" Ikava shrieked in fury while still trying to regrow her dress and failing miserably.

"He is our brother instead, and Mother chose him to be the God of Death because she trusted his judgment. You may insult him all you want, but remember, he is your exact opposite, and thus, your worst possible choice for an enemy: he rules over Death while you rule over Life...With the only difference that you can't revive what he killed, come, I'll help you find a new dress."

"Umpf! Fine!"

At the same time – Land of the dead – Kalamitas' Domain -

The tall gates leading to the Land of the Dead were enormous, made of dark stone entirely covered in engravings of begging souls and tall enough to dwarf even the tallest mountain of the Mortal Realm of at least ten times.

Those doors were untouchable and mighty, unmovable to anything and yet Miraak still slammed them open effortlessly in his haste to get away from the MORONS he was forced to call Brothers and Sisters, and at each step of his the souls of the deceased present and his own attendants could not move away fast enough, scampering over themselves to not annoy the pissed giant God further just by standing in his way.

Only once he reached his personal chambers he finally relaxed, his own palace was built inside the giant skull of an enormous dead creature with tusks similar to an elephant, only big enough to easily hold inside its mouth a small town of the Mortal World.

"Still crying for her? A Mortal's Sorrow really is a sight to behold." Miraak thought as he passed in front of a small crystal ball on top of a short table next to his personal throne containing a single soul, the soul inside the small ball was a mortal man eternally crying for his missing lover, and once given a last look at the crying soul, the God of Death sat down tiredly while massaging his temples.

"As if I don't know what those idiots are planning. Imbeciles, the lot of them would not have enough brains to fill a teaspoon even should I mash their heads together!" Miraak thought in agony, letting out a long dull groan while studying the suffering soul inside the crystal ball, and making its wailing just a tad more miserable whenever he lightly shook the thing.

"What they are doing is barely about Mother's return, and more about satisfying their own Overblown Ego...That is why you choose me to be the God of Death, Mother? Because you saw in me somebody able to understand the true worth of the gift called Life?" the God wondered as he watched the endless stream of souls of every kind obediently waiting in line for their turns to enter his realm to be judged once he put his paperweight back in place.

To be fair, Miraak had been a good candidate for the position of God of Wisdom and of Nature as well, but before departing, the Goddess Elrune decided that Miraak would have been the only one able to fulfill the role of God of Death, not only thanks to his deadly gift, but also because she said he was the only one with the right 'attitude' for it.

"You have always been able to see far ahead, Mother, farther than everybody else of us...So I know there must be another reason for choosing me for the position as God of Death, and for categorically refusing to have other children after me, no matter how much father insisted...After all...If I killed him it was because he was trying to force himself on you, among other things." Miraak thought, grunting-out a short laugh of pleasure at the memory of his Father melting to death while his hands strangled him, it almost made the Curse that reduced him to such a sorry state bearable!

"Lord Miraak! The Guardian of Fate is throwing another tantrum." a near devil, a tiny humanoid creature with pale bubblegum-pink skin and big bat wings, reported as soon as it entered the throne room from the window.

"What a surprise! As if she had been doing anything different as of late." Miraak thought with zero surprise, and rolling his only eye.

"Should we continue spying on her?"

"..." The giant skeleton merely nodded while sending the tiny devil away.

"It will be as Master commands!" the thing answered before flying away fast.

"She has become surprisingly restless, it can't be somebody refusing her offer for a better Fate in exchange of them sleeping with her, she usually recovers fast from that, especially by screwing them over by cursing them with the absolute worst Luck a Mortal can meet...This must be something way bigger." Miraak guessed, as he thought about the old hag managing the whole course of Fate of the Mortal World.

A super-old, obscenely fat, bald and unpleasant wreck of a 'woman' that normally managed Fate fairly and professionally...Until a mortal would catch her fancy, then she would shamelessly offer a chance to get a change of Fate giving them fame and riches beyond their wildest dreams in exchange of them sleeping with her, and that without having the decency of changing herself into a form appealing to normal tastes instead of her normal 'Rotten Bloated Corpse' look; very few could stomach that offer, and yet she would act offended if somebody declined, getting petty and vengeful in answer to her wounded 'Womanly Pride'.

"Ugh!" Miraak managed to gag a little in disgust even as a skeleton as the image of the old woman's naked body appeared in his mind's eye, until he managed to banish the horrid image from his head an instant later with enormous efforts.

"Still, for her to get so angry...What happened?" Curiosity getting the better of him, Miraak summoned a sphere of black smoke in his hand and focused his Will on it to spy on the Guardian of Fate; even if he could no longer kill everything like he used to, his ability to observe whoever he wanted to, alive or dead or God or Mortal, never went away.

He just hated watching that woman in particular, so unless his spies reported something peculiar about her, he preferred to not look at her, especially in fear of catching her in the act with some iron-stomach Mortalplowingher.

"WHY! WHY A THREAD IS SNAPPED!? WHO IS IT!? WHO DARES BREAK FREE OF MY GRASP! WHY CAN'T I SEE THEM! GYAAAAAAAAH!" the distorted voice of the old hag cut through the silence of the throne room like a searing-hot blade, making the God of Death flinch at the shrill noise, to the point he momentarily muted the thing.

"Still unpleasant. But this is interesting! A snapped thread is definitely something new! Usually whenever that happened she could track-down the perpetrator and set them back straight under her control, but for her to not only fail, but also be unable to track them down or repair the thread itself...It means that they either were helped by a God to break free of her clutches...Or that they were born Free. And the latter would be even more interesting! Maybe I should try to find this strange Mortal myself, they may be what I need..." Miraak thought, amused by the woman's expression of fury, since he knew that such a thing happening to a control freak like her was the worst torture.

Deciding that maybe this strange Mortal free from Fate's bindings could be the missing piece of his personal plan, the God of Death moved to cast his eye on the Mortal Realm in great interest, determined to find him or her and get in touch with them.

"...No, the Hero certainly isn't that guy, even if having the thread of Fate tied around his neck is still peculiar, I hope for him that is not a bad omen..." Miraak thought, a bit worried by the golden thread of light tied way-too-tight around the neck of the holder of the Hero Title; before dropping the issue completely as uninteresting so as to focus fully on his own search.

At the same Time – Mortal Realm – Serena City – Monster Star Guild -

The Monster Guild was at the moment going through an intense session of training, either through mock battles or simpler exercises to polish their abilities just a bit more, just like they did every single morning whenever not on a Mission.

"Good! Keep your eyes on me, overdoing it in the thrusts leave your sides open for counters, so always check the space between us and try to control your reach. Speed too is important, take too long to attack or pull back and you'll be in trouble, it's the basics." Lars instructed while momentarily lowering his shield.

"Spacing, Reach, Speed. I got it." Alice answered slowly before giving a nod.

"This goes for you too, Albedo, you also tend to overdo with too wide swings, it can spell disaster if you are not careful." he then added.

"Okay." the young Succubus answered, nodding.

"Ready to go again?"

"Yes!" both girls answered.

Not too far away, Mi kept shooting arrows at the humanoid targets with an extremely focused expression as she tried to use one of the new Skills she had learned after their visit to the Dwarves.

"[Drill Arrow]!" she chanted, and a small wind current wrapped around the arrow she had cocked-back to turn its head into a tiny drill already spinning in her hand.

"Ah!" With a short cry, she let the arrow loose and watched as the thing traveled at high speed straight at the mannequin, only to lightly scratch the things' cheek and then get embedded into the wall behind it instead of hitting its forehead.

"Damn it! It's hard to aim!" she said with a furious growl.

Sigh! "Do you want me to give you some pointers?" Tanya offered with a sigh, although while never moving her eyes away from her rifle, having disassembled it for maintenance just like Andre had taught her before leaving.

"Thank you." the hobgoblin girl answered with a grateful tone.

"There is a difference between a rifle and a bow, girl. I am teaching her myself, she doesn't need extra help." Azal the Elf uttered with an offended frown.

"There is also a difference between being a good teacher and being sub-par, Azal." Tanya replied, unimpressed.

"HOY! Watch your tongue!"

"I know you can do it, Mi-chan!" Naruto said with a smirk while exchanging blows with Fist, as the tall Monster was the only one able to not be sent flying whenever training with the Oni.

"Augh! Little brother hits hard, Fist hands are all tingly." the Mountain Troll admitted while waving around his hands once momentarily put down his giant war hammer to fight-off the shivers.

"Sorry, sorry. Another round?" the reborn shinobi asked.

"Of course! Fist loves challenges!" the troll answered, and once again the spiked club and war hammer kept slamming together with loud clanging noises hiding being enough strength to tear a normal human to shreds.

"That club is a nightmare, it may not need maintenance, but I have to repair everything else that comes in contact with it!" Olaf said with a whine, he was using a rather big rock as a weight for his weight-lifting.

"It's all a matter of materials." Gibril answered while cataloging the potions she had forced Rimuru to produce.

"Can I take a break now?" the Slime asked with a whine.

"A couple bottles more than you will have a five minutes break, we need more Coagulation Potions for our stock." the Guild's Librarian/Potion Mistress replied, mercilessly feeding the Slime herbs and crystals.

"Guh! Why do I have to do this?!" Rimuru asked while his body regurgitated the finished product for the Flugel to bottle and mark.

"Because it's cheaper to buy the materials in bulk than the finished product, and your Copying Skill has almost a 100% success rate in creating the potions we need. It was Tanya's idea."

"WHAT?!"

"It saves money for the Guild Treasury, adding a training ground and enlarging our Guild building blew a hole in our finances." the tiny girl answered without a shred of shame.

"Okay..." the Slime answered with a defeated tone.

Sigh! "I promise that the next expense will be about adding an artificial onsen in our basement," Tanya said while rolling her eyes.

"Thank you." the Slime answered with a slightly happier voice.

Dling! Dling!

A small bell chimed, attracting everybody's attention, signaling that somebody was at the front door looking for them.

"Did you put on the sign saying we were in the back training?" Naruto asked.

"Fist forgot." the Troll admitted in shame.

"I did it, so this must be something important, otherwise they would not disturb us." Lars answered.

"Important is a very subjective term, let's see who is looking for us, hopefully it will be actually worth our time." Tanya said as she finished re-assembling her riffle and moving towards the door soon followed by the rest of the Guild.

At the same time – Outside the Guild Building -

"They even enlarged the Guild..." the lance-user of the Hero Team muttered in disdain.

"I heard they went to some eventful Missions lately, and that they helped stop whatever catastrophe destroyed Trevaria." the Paladin answered.

"They ever discovered what happened?" Tim asked.

"Some evil ritual going high-wire and summoning a bunch of lesser devils, there were no survivors as the city was utterly obliterated, the only witnesses are the adventurers that took part to the mission. The Wyverians there documented everything for the Mission Center, if you want we can ask for a copy." he answered.

"If it is not a problem." Tim answered.

"Of course!"

"I refuse to thank them for taking the Mission before us." the Black Mage of the group uttered, annoyed.

"They said the place was pretty much Hell on Earth, no matter how much it hurts my pride, I fear we could have not been able to do much there to help. Yet." the Lancer answered.

"I am not convinced yet there was no foul play involved to steal our Mission," Bella the Cleric admitted, huffing annoyed.

Click!

"Ah here they are, finally!" the Paladin said elated as the door opened…

To show the towering form of Naruto dressed in his old orange-and-black jumpsuit, forehead protector and shinobi sandals (all 5XL in size to fit his giant body) looking down at them.

"A-A-A-A-A ONI!" the Paladin shrieked with wide eyes.

"Hoy! It's still me, thank you." Naruto answered, annoyed.

"You really evolved into an Oni?" Lily the Black Mage asked in dread.

"I jumped the evolutionary line, is not unheard of. What do you want?" he answered while rolling his eyes.

"We may need your help." Tim admitted with an innocent smile.

"...What kind of help?" Naruto asked with narrowed eyes.

"Come in, certain talks best having them in the privacy of magic-strengthened walls." Tanya cut-in, smaller enough than Naruto to peek outside from between the Oni's legs.

Sigh! "Get in," the reborn shinobi offered with a groan as he moved aside to let the small group enter the Guild's main room.

"Thank you!" Tim answered, grateful, as he and his friends sat at one of the small tables of the Guild's hall.

"So? What do you need from us?" Rimuru asked while taking his blue-haired human form.

"We are looking for the Stars of Calamity, and we may have a lead about their location." Bella the Cleric answered.

Nobody of the presents saw the way Naruto, Rimuru and Tanya's backs stiffened momentarily at that admission, they only watched the guests curiously.

"And how, pray tell, do you know about that Legend?" Azal the Elf asked with narrowed eyes.

"We made contact with a reliable source." the Paladin answered, clearly as distrustful of the Elf as the Elf was of them.

"Please calm down. Where should those Stars of Calamity be located? And why are they so important?" Lars asked.

"We believe those Stars are what is making the monsters act crazy, increase in number and also develop more violent Variants as of late. Those artifacts should have surfaced not too long ago, and that is the first sign of something BIG being about to happen. If we can find those artifacts and destroy them, maybe we will stop a real, world-ending Calamity from happening! Especially if they end in the wrong hands!" Tim answered.

"And you believe this is also the reason why you have the [Hero] Title." Naruto added.

"It can't be just a matter of chance, I am sure my Fate is deeply linked to those Stars of Calamity, I can feel it." Tim answered, honestly.

"Let's say we can be swayed into helping you. Where would we be going? What will be our compensation? And why us have we been taken in consideration for this thing?" Tanya asked with her coldest tone to date.

"What's in for you?" the Paladin asked, appalled.

"Ideals don't pay the bills, young one, and the satisfaction of doing the right thing won't fill your stomach." Olaf answered with a sigh.

"Cynical much?" the Lancer answered, huffing.

"More likely 'Down to earth'." Lars admitted.

"I can understand, but at best I can promise that if we find some relic you will have full rights on them to sell them later, where we are going is an abandoned place so I can't tell if we'll find treasures or not. This isn't even an official Mission, so I can't promise you money, we are on a tight budget ourselves." Tim admitted.

"So we are supposed to come with you with only a vague idea of payment?" Tanya asked, scoffing.

"It's important, I know ideals have no monetary value...But this may be an important step into saving Elrune." Tim said with heartfelt honesty.

"The main problem is that you, Rimuru and Tanya are the so-called 'Stars of Calamity', every son of a bitch with a bit of prescience vaguely saw in a Vision. Whatever info those kids have has been largely misinterpreted just like the Fairy Queen predicted. So, at best, those brats are going on a limb based on mistranslated and vague visions mixed with half-baked conjectures they had on their own following who knows what Legend. And legends usually have a dozen of versions all contradicting each other." Kurama said with a dreadful tone.

"So, what do you suggest?" Naruto thought in answer while watching Tanya and Rimuru coming to the same conclusion of Kurama, based on the looks they discreetly exchanged with him.

"There is little to suggest here. We have no reason to waste time with a hunt for some answer we already know will be utterly wrong." The former Biju answered, sighing.

"Where did you want to go, exactly?" Rimuru asked.

"We decided that our starting point should be the final battleground between the previous Hero and the Lords of Calamity, where he killed them once and for all: Thalas." Tim answered.

"The cursed kingdom?!" Olaf yelled in horror.

"We Elves call it 'The Sunken City'. Nobody with a sane mind goes there, that place is the pure definition of a Cursed Land." Azal added.

"What did I tell you? They think that the 'Lords of Calamity' are dead instead of sealed away, they got it all wrong!" Kurama said with a tone of dismay.

"Never heard of that place," Naruto admitted.

"Thalas was once a powerful land, but it became the final battleground for the sake of the world once the Demon Lord summoned there the Lords of Calamity as a last ditch effort to kill the Hero before fighting him personally. Over seventy thousand soldiers died as soon as the Lords of Calamity showed-up, and I mean that their mere presence killed them all, they didn't need to use a single attack. They appeared there together in the same place and those soldiers died immediately." Tanya answered.

"Then the real calamity: at each breath of those Monsters plants withered, the water became putrid and toxic, men succumbed to madness and animals had their psyche and soul twisted to the point they just ceased to be and died on the spot as empty husks. Only the Hero and few others wearing special charms survived the sheer Madness following the Lords of Calamity. And then the real battle between them started, soon turning a land twice as big and powerful as Serena city into an utterly dead city devoid of life for years to come." Lars added.

"By now the place is enveloped in a dense fog of lingering hatred, regret, sorrow and more. There are rumors of ghosts roaming about, but worst of all, swarms upon swarms of Monsters live there, all of them Variants that are completely insane, powerful and attacking everything on sight, or even themselves if they have no targets to focus on." Azal finished saying.

"So after all this time, what those Lords did still stays there?" Mi asked.

"That stain will never go away, or so, many believe." Lars answered.

"Then, why us?" Naruto asked.

"We asked around, and both the Wyverians that were with you in that Mission and the other Adventurers said the same thing: that as for now, when it comes to raw strength, you and your Guild are a step ahead, and we might need some serious help to investigate Thalas." Tim admitted.

"I am a monster, won't I go insane in there too?" Naruto asked.

"Unlikely, the aura of Darkness covering the place caused all those insane Variants to show-up after several generations of Monsters kept being born and raised there, if we make this quick, neither you or Mi should be in danger. And you personally have a force of Will I have hardly come across in a Hobgoblin, and now that you are a Oni, that has increased exponentially; you will be able to help Mi in there as well." Azal answered.

"You also have a very high defence against Dark Element Magic and Alterations," Olaf added.

"Just in case, I will keep an eye on you and forcefully drag you away should you and Mi or Rimuru start to show signs of madness." Tanya added, sighing.

"So I will go?" Rimuru asked.

"Please, I know we might be chasing ghosts, but maybe we'll find the clues we need in there! The last place where the Lords of Calamity ever were before being destroyed could hide the secret of where the Stars Of Calamity will appear again. Legends say that they are what created the Lords, and we may need to stop the birth of three new Lords of Calamity that will threaten every Life on Elrune." Tim said, his voice full of passion and sincerity.

Sigh! "What do you think?" Rimuru asked with a sigh.

"If we go there, we'll need a damn good practitioner of Healing and Support Magic. Buffing and De-Buffing will be the key to victory." Lars said.

"Then we'll come!" Alice said immediately.

"Alice is a great Support while I am a specialized Saboteur, we'll help!" Albedo added.

"Saboteur?" Naruto asked.

"Magic users specialized in casting status ailments and de-buffs on enemies." Tanya answered.

"I will come too, some of the Elven Spells I know are the best around to deal with undead monsters, and purifying the place enough for us to create a temporary safe zone to rest will help too." Azal added.

"Undead?" Mi asked in dread.

"In places like Thalas where Life and Death have their rules thrown down the drain? They will be the kind of monsters we'll encounter the most...I'll prepare a few extra Holy Bullets." Tanya answered with a sigh.

"Fist will come too, Fist blessing makes Nature a friend, Fist can find Nature help everywhere." the Mountain Troll added.

"So what's the formation?" Naruto asked.

"No formation, you'll all go. I will go alert uncle Ainz of this for some extra equipment, he is an expert in undead, he'll know what to bring along and what to do. If you depart tomorrow morning I will have everything already packed and prepared." Gibril answered.

"We all?" Lars asked, confused.

"Thalas is no walk in the park, and if the Hero brat dies, our heads will be on the chopping block before the sun even sets." she answered.

"Sorry..." Tim had at least the decency to look down bashfully.

"We are really going...I can't believe it..." Naruto muttered in dismay while face-palming.

"It's for the sake of the world, you know? Try not to be selfish for once, beast." the Cleric Girl said with a glare.

"It's not about me being selfish, I just see this as a form of suicide with extra steps..."

"Please, this is important. The one that alerted us of the return of the Stars of Calamity is reliable, the signs are all there for everybody to see...If those things end in the hands of some power-hungry fool, nobody will be safe, we must find them and destroy them. We have no clue where to start looking for them, and maybe Thalas is the last place we should visit at our current level, but this world is too vast to just look everywhere! Thalas is a place where the power of those Stars still linger around, if we can study that power still in the air, then maybe we will figure out how to find them again as soon as they return!" Tim begged him.

"We'll help you, we'll help you." Lars answered.

"LARS!" Naruto hissed.

"We either go with them and help them, or they will go alone, and we will have to live with guilt should the worst happen." the former soldier answered.

"So we have no choice?" Mi muttered.

"Guys...No..." Naruto tried saying.

"May as well go, I don't trust the people in power to not spin things as being our fault if they fail and die, even just because we were not there with them." Azal added with an angry sigh.

"Guys, please listen to me..." the reborn shinobi tried again.

"Naruto, later." Tanya whispered with a knowing look in her eyes.

"FINE! Let's do things your damn way!" the Oni growled while marching away towards the training ground with a furious expression.

"What's wrong with him now?" the Lancer said, huffing in contempt.

"Contrary to you all that think to be some immortal and invincible heroes, he actually worries about his friends dying for some half-assed and poorly executed plan. We depart tomorrow, get ready and take this seriously. We won't be your baby-sitters, you either pull your own weight or die." Tanya answered, freezing him solid with a look.

"...Ok..." the boy answered meekly.

"Thank you, we will work hard and not be a burden. Between us working together, we will do it. I swear on my life." Tim promised.

"You better."

"Let's go, we have a lot of things to prepare." the Paladin declared as he and the others hurried outside.

"I'll go alert uncle Ainz, you others get ready." Gibril said as she too rapidly left the Guild building.

"Me and Rimuru will go talk with Naruto. You too, Mi, you too need to hear." Tanya declared while dragging the Slime Boy behind her.

"I'm coming too!" Mi said as she hurried behind her, already worried sick for her beloved Oni.

"What's happening?" Olaf asked, worried.

"There are secrets about them that you are not ready yet to know. Please be patient, they will tell you once they feel ready." Azal answered.

"I hope at least it's not a damn big one, he is acting too strange for this to be just him worrying..." the dwarf muttered.

With Naruto -

"You are worried, eh?" Tanya asked as soon as they joined him.

"Uh-hu! We three know what the Stars of Calamity are in reality, so I find all this to be a dangerous and utterly useless trip in a god-forsaken land."

"People are starting to hunt those things down, and most of them are not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. Most of those visions have few common details, the most important one being on the lines of 'The one that controls the Stars of Calamity WINS'." Tanya said.

"So we'll have some competition if rumors get out that 'The Hero' may have a lead to the Stars." Rimuru added with a defeated sigh.

"Competition until somebody somehow figures out WE are the Stars of Calamity, then they will become Head-Hunters." Tanya added.

"Uh? What are you talking about?" Mi asked, confused.

"We'll explain, Mi. Because we'll need your help as well in order to keep this hidden." Rimuru answered.

"Okay."

"Also, there is something else I am worried about." Naruto admitted.

"What?"

"It's only a conjecture for now, but me and Kurama are seeing a pattern in how things are going ever since we three have been summoned here."

"You mean?" Tanya asked with narrowed eyes.

"Rimuru and me are summoned here by two of the three Titans to fulfill a mission: protect their cores from the hands of the King of Barad-Se, first Rimuru and then me, with a week time separating our arrival, but even before Rimuru himself arrives a boy is born with the Hero Title, something that usually happen when the kid is destined to save Elrune. Or this is how that Title is said to work."

"Yes, it is taught that the Hero Title is the only one with no conditions to get it, at the death of its owner a new one is chosen as a 'Substitute Champion' until the Mission is over; when that Mission is done instead the Title disappears because Elrune does not need 'The Hero' anymore, leaving behind a commemorative one in its place signifying that the Champion fulfilled their destiny." Tanya lectured, remembering well the lessons she took in the war college.

"You are actually the same age as him, isn't it?" Rimuru asked.

"One year older, to be exact, that bastard took me here way before you all so to enact his own personal agenda." Tanya answered.

"That is part of the problem: The Gods choose The Hero, always have and always will, but this time the one that appears lacks one or more key skills, at the same time a mad King learns how to find the Titans that by norm should be impossible to find...And in answer the Titans themselves find their own three Champions, thing that goes against the Gods. This smells of trouble."

"So a power struggle between Gods and Titans?" Tanya asked.

"It would explain why people have started having visions about the Stars of Calamity as soon as we got a mark on our bodies linking us to them. We did obtain a Calamity [Sub-Alignment] from that after all."

"And we may get in the way if the Gods have some plan ongoing." Naruto answered.

"Problem is that they are trying to remove both us and the Titans, and if the Titans are gone, their dream-made prison fades-away and we all die because some unknown monstrosity will break free and destroy everything, Gods composed." Tanya said.

"Unless they think they can kill that thing." Rimuru answered.

"...Guys..." Naruto whispered with a pale face.

"Yes?"

"What if the Gods want that thing to break free only long enough to destroy the world so to remake it from scratch?" the Oni said with a faint voice.

"Then why not destroy the world it themselves then? Why leave the job to something as wild as that living catastrophe?" Tanya countered.

"Maybe they can't?" Rimuru asked.

"I was of the idea that Gods were omnipotent." the girl replied, scoffing.

"I mean not physically, but like, they are prohibited from doing it." the Slime explained.

"The Gods are the sons and Daughters of the main Goddess Elrune, SHE created the world and everything else and only then she gave birth to them, so they either lack the specific power to do it, or she imposed some sort of Law that establish they cannot destroy the world..." Tanya guessed.

"But if they can't, it doesn't mean they can't have something else do the deed, and then sneak-in the changes they wish for when Elrune acts to recreate the world." Naruto added.

"It's a dangerous gamble, if they miscalculate, they too risk getting killed."

"But it's worth it if they really want to reshape this world to their liking...IF Elrune herself does not notice her own sons and daughters are moving behind her back. If she discovers them, they would be screwed."

"Is Elrune the only one able to recreate the world?" Naruto asked.

"If the teachings of the church are actual facts instead of just legends, then yes, one of her names is 'The Creator' after all. She only has the power to create and destroy everything. The other Gods only oversee certain things, like War and the Sea, and that just because she gave them permission." Tanya answered.

"And what if they want to usurp that power too?" Rimuru muttered with a low voice.

"I have no clue of the inner workings of a God's power, so I can't answer that, but I would not be too surprised, considering how self-absorbed the so-called 'Gods' can be." Tanya answered, unsure.

"Sorry, but...I don't understand..." Mi admitted with a troubled expression.

"Sorry, sorry! We'll start from the beginning, Mi-chan." Naruto answered.

"Thank you." the hobgoblin girl answered with a grateful smile.

"Just remember that this is a secret, you cannot tell a soul." Tanya added.

"Of course!"

Meanwhile - Thalas – Throne room -

In the empty halls of the abandoned royal palace surveying the dead city, a long, deranged cackling laugh resounded in the empty corridors, and the owner of said voice was a decrepit old man sitting on the half broken remains of a throne and sporting an overly long beard and dressed in rags.

"Khkhkhkhkh!" his laugh echoed again the ample and half destroyed room as with a gesture of his bony hands the various bones filling the floor rolled around to form skeletons that then danced for him.

"Hihihihihi! Dance mooore, dance moooore!" the old man asked, clapping his hands at the spectacle.

"Stop playing around, you fool." a tall creature with chalk-white skin and muscle build growled as he entered the place.

"Don't spoil my fun, Berlung! I want to see them dance! Hihihihi!" the old mad man answered.

"I left you alive to create me an army! Not to make you play!" the giant creature roared back.

"And I did it! You sent me lots of Hobgoblins and I turned them into undead Variants! Then you took here dead men, elves, dwarves and more and I took away the useless parts and put them back together to make them better! Then I used only the best parts that were left to make even better undead 'Amalgam Soldiers', so why are you always angry?" the old man answered, his smile now dropped as a frown took its place on his face.

"I have plans, you old fool! And I need warriors to take back my place as master of the Ogre Clans! So do as I tell you or your flesh will get in my stomach!" the super-violent Ogre Variant, [Albino Ogre] answered furious.

"Khkhkhkhkh!" at that in answer came the same cackling laugh, chilling the bones of even that monster that recoiled slightly out of instinct.

"Come with me, I'll show you something!" the old man said as he returned to smile, grabbing his tall staff made of spinal cords fused together to help him walk.

"Where are you going? We have not finished talking!" the albino Ogre hissed as he followed the old man down a ramp of stairs.

"You ask and ask and ask and ask and ask! And I work tirelessly to give it to you! And yet you are so ungrateful...It hurts my feelings, you know? Why do you enjoy hurting your father like this?" the old man said, laughing in amusement and moaning in sorrow at random intervals.

"You are not my father, old man!"

"Don't lie to yourself, Berlung! Everything you are, it is thanks to me! It was thanks to my abilities as a Necromancer and my powers over Death that I saved your life! I was the one that created the concoction that made you Evolve from a simple Hobgoblin into an Ogre!"

"I owe you nothing! You just paid back the favour I did you in not using you as food!" the Ogre answered, offended.

"Hihihihihi! You will love this! The last steps are almost done! I only lack the main ingredients and everything will be ready!" the old man answered, and the deeper the two descended underground, the more the Ogre could feel his skin crawl.

"What are you talking about now?!"

"A grand project! The greatest one! One that will make Lord Miraak descend on this world!"

"Who's that bastard now?"

"HE IS THE LORD OF DEATH AND DECAYES! THE ONE TRUE GOD OF THIS WORLD! SO YOU BETTER WATCH YOUR TONGUE WHEN TALKING ABOUT HIM!" the old man answered with a loud, mad scream as he foamed at the mouth like a rabid dog.

"You watch your tongue when talking to me, old man!" the Ogre roared in answer while lifting the old man by his neck and slamming his back against the wall.

"You humans and your silly Gods, useless fairy tales. Strength is real, Power is real! Not stupid guys sitting high in the sky!"

"Silly fairy tales...You don't know... You don't know, you don't know, you don't know, you don't know. But you want proofs! Non-believers always want proofs...But It's not a big deal, I will give you proofs...I need you there anyway." the old Necromancer said with soft, cold laugh as he made his way through the dungeons of the castle once released from the Ogre's grip.

"The cages were full, where are they?" the Ogre asked, confused.

"I needed the extra parts, and I needed a lot of them...And sadly your little friends were not enough."

"My Fr-YOU DEVIL! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY UNDERLINGS!?" the Monster roared in fury.

"Watch yourself! Behind that door there is my lab! Where I create my toys and where I am about to create a body for Lord Miraak to inhabit as his avatar to cleanse this world!" the old man answered while opening the last, heavy metal door.

"What...What's in there...WHAT'S IN THERE?!" the Ogre yelled with wide eyes of horror as he looked at the horrifying mess of pulsating flesh filling the entire giant room, and the enormous devilish soulless eyes staring back at him.

Thunk!

"Guh!" the Ogre then grunted as a long blade pierced his back and exited from his stomach, making him fall on his knees as the blade itself rapidly stole his strength.

"That is the biggest golem ever created, the future body of my Lord Miraak, the vehicle of his descent in this rotten world. And once he will descend, me and every other Necromancer will march on this world and purify it as Miraak's chosen disciples." the old man said with a joyous voice filled in madness.

"You...Devil..." the Ogre tried saying as he felt his eyelids become heavy.

"It's okay, my son! Soon your heart will become part of my creation as one of its main ingredients, but you won't die! I perfected the Undead Transformation, so you will become the perfect being I promised you to become! I will upgrade your entire being in exchange for your generous donation of your heart and Life Force. I have not forgotten my promise, my son!" the Necromancer said as the Ogre finally died in the old man's arms.

"Khkhkhkh! The Heart of Evil is ready! Now I need the Heart of Good and my creation will finally enter its final phase! I hope that idiot managed to talk that foolish Hero into coming here soon, I cannot wait any longer! I want my beloved Lord Miraak to descend between us now!" the Necromancer said with a longing moan while watching the ungodly mismatched mess of flesh inside the room with loving eyes.

"Soon, my Lord! Just be patient and you will be able to descend on this world!" the old man promised while kneeling.

"I just need the heart of a pure soul...And they say that the holder of the Hero Title is the Champion of Light, so there is no better candidate, I just need his heart...I just need his heart..."

"Khkhkhkhkh! KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAH!"

Another chapter done, so many more to go.

I hope this chapter was of your liking, thank you for reading this story.

Have a nice day.

Tr230.