At the Fairy Tail guild, near the counter, Erza sat quietly at her table, holding her precious strawberry cake. She took slow, deliberate bites, savoring the flavor the way she always did, as if the cake itself deserved her full attention. Around her, the guild buzzed with its usual noise — laughter spilling from one corner, the clink of mugs from another, members chatting happily as they went about their business.
On the surface, everything looked exactly as it always did.
Erza watched it all in silence, her eyes drifting from face to face. Yet despite the familiar warmth of the guild hall, she couldn't shake the quiet unease sitting in her chest.
Ever since what had happened a few days ago, there had been a subtle tension threaded through the guild — easy to miss if you weren't looking for it, but impossible to ignore once you were. Conversations that grew a little too quiet. Glances exchanged a little too quickly. And that tension always seemed to sharpen whenever Rudra's name came up.
Speaking of Rudra, Erza let out a long, slow sigh. She set her fork down beside the half-eaten cake, her appetite momentarily forgotten, and let her mind drift back to the conversation she'd had with Mira and Master Makarov.
Flashback
Inside the guild master's office, Makarov sat behind his desk, his sharp eyes fixed on the two women standing before him. The usual playful glint in his gaze was absent, replaced by something far more serious.
"Did something happen on the mission?" he asked.
Erza and Mira exchanged a glance before beginning to explain, recounting everything that had transpired throughout the mission in careful detail. Makarov listened without interruption, his expression growing more contemplative with every passing moment.
When they finished, a tense silence settled over the room. Both women watched their master, who remained deep in thought, processing everything he'd just heard. Finally, he let out a long sigh.
"Demons, huh," he muttered. "To think a simple mission would turn into this."
He looked up at them, his expression turning serious once again. "Can you two tell me why Princess Hisui specifically asked for Rudra, given that she knew what this mission involved?"
A darker thought crossed his mind, one he kept carefully off his face. Does she also know he's half-demon? If she knows, things could get messy — magic tied to demons is already looked down upon. And if word gets out that one lives among us—
His thoughts were cut short as Mira spoke up, relaying what Jura had told her — how Rudra had saved Princess Hisui from a demon during the mission.
The tension in Makarov's shoulders eased instantly. He let out a long breath and slumped back into his chair, a heavy weight lifting off him. Glancing at Erza and Mira, who were watching him with visible confusion, he asked, "Is there something you two wanted to ask?"
Neither answered. Seeing their silence, Makarov waved a hand, dismissing them. As soon as they turned to leave, he slouched over his desk, grabbed his mug, and downed it in one go before slamming it back on the table.
Watching their retreating backs, he knew they had more questions about Rudra — questions only he could answer, since he was the only one who truly understood the boy, thanks to his conversations with Rudra's clone.
The more he thought about those conversations, the heavier his heart grew. He poured himself another mug, drained it just as quickly, and turned back to the paperwork waiting on his desk.
End Flashback
Too many questions sat unspoken in Erza's chest, ones she hadn't been able to bring herself to voice even then. She picked up her spoon to resume eating her strawberry cake, only to find the plate completely empty. She rose from her seat, only to be stopped as another plate of strawberry cake was placed in front of her. Looking up, she saw Mira smiling at her.
"You seem to be in very deep thought, Erza. I was calling you earlier."
Mira sat down across from her. "So, what were you thinking so hard about?"
Erza took the plate and replied simply, "Nothing," before changing the subject. "So, how are Laxus and the others?"
"They're fine and have regained consciousness," Mira said. "They just need a few more days of rest, and everyone will be back on their feet."
Erza nodded, then returned to eating her strawberry cake peacefully. But only a few minutes later, that peaceful moment shattered as a large thud sounded at their table, making not just her but every Fairy Tail member turn toward the source — Levy, who had just slammed a large book down in front of them, shouting, "I finally found it!"
Lucy and Cana, sitting not far off, immediately joined the table. "What happened, Levy? Why are you shouting?" Lucy asked.
Levy apologized sheepishly before pointing at the book she'd just placed down. The title read: The Legendary Dark Knight.
Cana set down her alcohol bottle and looked at Levy in confusion. "A fairy tale book? Seriously, you're making all this ruckus over a fairy tale book?"
Levy waved her forefinger back and forth. "This isn't just any fairy tale book—"
"Then what is it?" Lucy cut in.
Levy shot her a look. "Lu, let me finish before you start questioning me."
Lucy smiled sheepishly and fell quiet. Levy glanced around at the other girls, all watching her curiously, before her eyes settled on Mira.
"Do you remember a few weeks ago, when Rudra arrived at the guild after disappearing, and you collapsed and kept repeating the name 'Sparda' over and over again?"
Mira's hand trembled unknowingly at the mention of the name. She gave a slow, hesitant nod.
"At the time, I thought I'd heard that name before but couldn't place it," Levy continued, "so I searched the guild's records and found this." She tapped the cover of the book.
Erza's gaze sharpened as she recalled what had happened at the capital — the demon calling Rudra "Sparda," and something about being "the last of his bloodline." She leaned forward. "So what's the story about this Sparda?"
"Well, according to this book," Levy said, "once upon a time, the gate to the underworld was opened, and demons began pouring into our world, causing destruction. A single mage named Sparda stepped up, defeated every demon, and sealed the gate, saving everyone."
Silence fell over the table as she finished. It was Lucy who finally broke it. "Mira... do you think the man from this story is connected to what happened to you?"
Mira opened her mouth to answer, but Cana cut in first. "Like hell it's connected. It's just a dumb story about some guy saving the world and becoming a hero."
"But, Cana—" Lucy started.
"No buts, Lucy." Cana turned to Levy instead. "Check the author. If it was written by some historian, as an actual historical record, then maybe I'd believe it."
Levy flipped through the book, searching, before closing it again. "There's no author name on it."
Cana stood, clearly annoyed. "Tch. To think I wasted my precious drinking time on a fairy tale storybook." She turned and walked off, Lucy trailing after her.
Watching them go, Levy glanced back at Mira and Erza, still seated at the table, lost in thought. Deciding to leave them to it, she picked up the book and headed toward the library, leaving the two of them behind — thoroughly confused, with even more unanswered questions than before.
---------
Meanwhile, back in the separate dimension, the once-barren wasteland had turned into something new. Some areas were now covered in ice, others in fire, with molten lava spewing from the ground, while some sections were blanketed in twisted vines.
Amid this, a slightly injured Rudra sat on a large boulder, surrounded by the corpses of Otsutsuki. He pulled a chakra rod from his shoulder and tossed it to the ground, muttering, "To think I'd have this much trouble just killing these fools."
Hearing this, System replied, "And whose fault was that, huh?"
Rudra didn't respond. He stood and looked down at his right shoulder, where blood was flowing out rapidly from the wound. Making his way toward one of the Otsutsuki corpses, he tore a strip of cloth from their clothing and used it as a makeshift bandage to stop the bleeding.
Once done, Rudra finally asked, "So, System, how do we get back? I can't use Yamato or Kamui to make a portal and yeet myself home."
System let out a sigh. "Host, just pop Dimension Shift already and get us to another universe. We can't stick around here — and 'bleed out' or 'starve to death' aren't exactly options I'm thrilled about either."
"System, activate Dimension Shift," Rudra said. And with that, he disappeared into another multiverse.
----------
At the same time, in the Naruto-verse, on a distant planet, a lone figure stood beneath a massive chakra tree, gazing up at its unripe fruit. He had pale blue pupils set against pitch-black sclera, long white hair that fell past his shoulders, and a single large horn curving upward from his head. This was Shibai — heir apparent to godhood among the Otsutsuki.
He remained still, deep in thought, until a servant appeared beside him, dropping to one knee. "Is there something troubling you, Master?"
Shibai didn't look away from the tree. "Tell me," he said slowly, "can somebody kill an entire elite squad of Otsutsuki without using any chakra at all?"
The servant hesitated. "I... don't believe anyone is capable of that, my lord. Other than you, of course."
"Hm." Shibai's gaze remained fixed on the fruit above. "Then answer me this — is there a way to travel the multiverse without consuming a ridiculous amount of chakra fruit?"
"No, my lord. I don't believe such a method exists." The servant chose his words carefully. "If traveling to another universe required so little chakra, our clan would have already claimed dozens of them by now."
Silence stretched between them. Shibai said nothing for a long moment, his eyes narrowing slightly as he turned the thought over in his mind. Then, slowly, a smile crept across his face.
"Interesting," he murmured. "Very interesting."
The servant glanced up, uncertain whether he was meant to respond. He said nothing — he'd learned long ago that Shibai's musings rarely required an answer, only an audience. What the servant didn't know was that Shibai had just absorbed the memories of every Otsutsuki that Rudra had slain recently — memories that raised far more questions than they answered.
Before Shibai could dwell on it further, hurried footsteps broke the quiet. A second servant arrived, breathless, dropping into a bow. "Master! Urgent news from the clan!"
Shibai finally turned from the tree, his expression calm, almost amused. "Go on. What's happened?"
"Sir—" The servant swallowed, clearly bracing himself. "Your sister. Lady Kaguya. She's fled the household."
For a moment, Shibai simply stared at him. Then he laughed — a short, quiet chuckle. "Now how did that happen, I wonder?"
Neither servant answered. Both understood, wisely, that the question wasn't meant for them.
Shibai turned back toward the tree, shaking his head slightly, still smiling to himself. "Fascinating," he mused aloud. "My obedient little sister, running away. Where did she find the nerve?"
The kneeling servant shifted uncomfortably. "Sir... what would you have us do about her?"
Shibai waved a hand, dismissing the concern entirely. "Do nothing. She'll come around eventually — she always does." His attention drifted back to the fruit above, the matter already forgotten. "Everything comes around, eventually."