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Chapter 155 He Who Commands Thunder
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Naruto stood at the threshold of the New Londo Ruins, watching with mild unease as hollows shuffled aimlessly through the gloom. Most were locked in looping motions: sweeping, reaching, twitching in place. But a few stopped and stared at him. Or more accurately, at the sparkling ring of light that circled him like a living halo.
"Calm down, Oscar," Naruto muttered, sweat beading down the side of his face as the crystal lizard zipped around him in tight, glowing arcs. "You're going to make yourself dizzy."
Oscar ignored him, his body a blur as he used chakra-enhanced bursts of speed to rocket around the room. His movements were smooth, agile—almost supernatural. Which made sense. With a chakra network built from purified chakra metal, Oscar did not just channel energy, he embodied it.
"Didn't even need shadow clones to get him to this level. Little guy is practically born for it."
Oscar skidded to a halt, panting excitedly, his scales glimmering in the low light. Naruto reached down and grabbed him gently by the tail, giving a soft tap on the lizard's forehead crystal. Oscar chirped once and calmed immediately.
"That's enough showing off. Come on."
They made their way down the steps to Rickert's hidden forge. The magic blacksmith had just finished scrubbing down the stone floor and was wiping soot from his hands when Naruto appeared.
"Rickert," Naruto called out, grin wide. "Good news! Oscar's new chakra network is working like a charm."
"Fantastic," Rickert said, voice dry as ever. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to preserve what little beauty I have left and get some sleep."
"Not sure there's much to preserve," Naruto muttered with a smirk. "But I've got one more question before you drift off into the void."
Rickert gave a long, dramatic sigh as he climbed into his makeshift bed. "Fine. Go on then."
Naruto held up Oscar, who blinked curiously. "How do I teach him magic? I mean, real magic. He's a crystallized soul, right? So there's gotta be a way."
Rickert did not even open his eyes. "Feed it souls."
"...I'm sorry, what?"
"Souls," Rickert repeated. "Crystal lizards consume souls to grow. That's their nature. It's why they run, hoard, and hide. Survival instinct. Eat or be eaten."
Naruto frowned, remembering the hollow that had absorbed a soul drop in the Undead Burg. It had gotten smarter.
Rickert reached under his bench and pulled out a rough sketch, handing it over without fanfare. Naruto unfolded it and stared. The creature drawn on the page made his breath catch.
It was hunched, feral, its humanoid shape warped and monstrous. Long, thin limbs clawed the ground. Spines of jagged crystal erupted from its back and head like a crown of thorns. Its mouth stretched wide in a permanent snarl, filled with rows of teeth far too sharp and far too many. Its thick tail bristled with razor-sharp spikes, fanned out like a weaponized fan.
Oscar chirped, excited, trying to climb the page.
"That," Rickert said with a chuckle, "is a Ravenous Crystal Lizard. That's what your little friend becomes if he keeps eating souls. That's his adult form."
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "So he'll evolve... into that?"
"If he survives the transition," Rickert said. "Or maybe he'll become something entirely new. Chakra's never been part of the equation before. Neither has chakra metal. You've basically turned him into a walking contradiction. Congratulations."
Naruto looked down at Oscar, who was still trying to bite the corner of the drawing. "Think you'll get that scary, buddy?"
Oscar gave a proud little trill.
Naruto chuckled. "Let's hope it's the badass kind of scary, not the 'eats me in my sleep' kind."
He folded the sketch and tucked it into his pouch, his mind already turning. "Can I still find more dragon scales in the Valley of Drakes?"
"Probably," Rickert said. "Though you'll have to earn them. And don't go thinking those drakes are just big lizards. They're not real dragons, but they're still nasty."
"I need the scales to reinforce the Drake Sword," Naruto replied, "but I'm also thinking..." He paused, petting Oscar's head thoughtfully. "If Oscar grows by eating souls, what happens if I feed him the soul of a drake?"
Rickert raised an eyebrow. "That's a dangerous experiment."
Naruto grinned. "I'm in the mood for dangerous."
"Well, at least you're consistent."
Naruto turned to leave, Oscar curled around his neck like a sentient scarf. "Thanks, Rickert. For everything."
"Don't thank me yet," Rickert mumbled as he pulled the covers over his head. "Just try not to break reality with that thing."
"No promises."
And with that, Naruto disappeared up the steps, one step closer to whatever mad evolution lay ahead.
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Naruto strode through the Valley of Drakes, the wind shrieking between jagged cliffs. The air was cold, damp with the breath of ancient stone and the lingering stench of stagnant water, an oppressive contrast to the sunlit cliffs above.
Beside him, Oscar scurried forward, his crystals shimmering faintly in the low light. Each step he took sent refracted glints dancing across the dark rock. Naruto reached down and idly ruffled the little lizard's head, his thoughts drifting toward the training he'd left behind.
Andre had his hands full. Hundreds of Naruto's clones were working alongside the old blacksmith, inscribing fuinjutsu seals, refining wind bullet, and sharpening every edge of his arsenal.
Naruto exhaled through his nose as he stopped at the edge of the bridge.
Without a word, he formed a shadow clone with a flick of his fingers. "Go bury him," he said quietly, nodding toward the rotted armor of the fallen Astoran knight.
While the clone moved toward the broken body, Naruto glanced toward his partner.
Oscar had wandered to the cliff's edge, peering over the chasm with his head cocked in curiosity.
Through the veil of mist, a massive stone bridge emerged, half-swallowed by fog, stretching between two titanic mountain faces. At the far end, etched into the rock itself, stood a colossally carved doorway. It wasn't just big. It was inhuman. Monumental. The arch alone towered over the surrounding cliffs, framed by ancient, finger-like pillars that climbed skyward like a hand reaching from the earth.
Naruto pulled out his binoculars, jaw tightening. "What the hell is that...?"
Through the lenses, the image sharpened. The doorway was real and ancient. Worn by time but untouched by decay. No vines grew across its surface. No cracks marred its face. It was like the mountain itself had parted to make way for it. The bridge leading to it, while massive, looked like an afterthought compared to the gateway it served.
A slow chill crept up Naruto's spine. His instincts screamed caution, but his curiosity burned brighter. He opened his mouth to call out to Oscar and the air cracked.
A sharp, splitting noise echoed through the valley like lightning against steel. The cliffs vibrated with the sound. Oscar bolted back from the ledge, his eyes wide, his tail spiked with panic.
Naruto's hand was already on his sword.
A faint blue flicker pulsed against the sheer stone of the valley walls.
Naruto tensed, his gaze sweeping the fog-drenched horizon until something moved.
A shape glided through the mist, its outline barely visible. At first, Naruto's heart seized at the thought of the Hellkite Wyvern but this was different.
As it drifted closer, the mist peeled away to reveal the full horror of its form.
Its wings were tattered like battle-torn banners, frayed and skeletal at the edges. The body was gaunt, almost corpse-like, with jutting spines that rose like jagged thorns from its back and shoulders. Each beat of its wings stirred the wind like thunder.
And its scales were blue, cold and shimmering with an unnatural light like frost-kissed steel.
Naruto's stomach dropped.
Then the drake's maw cracked open, and a corona of flickering yellow light began to bloom from its throat.
"It can use Lightning?!"
His instincts roared. He didn't wait.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In a burst of chakra, a dozen copies appeared around him, weapons already drawn, eyes locked onto the growing storm in the drake's jaws.
"Fan out! Suppression fire, now!"
The clones launched immediately, flinging shuriken wrapped in wind chakra. Razor-thin arcs of slicing air screamed as they carved through the valley. Naruto's own hands moved in a blur.
"Wind Style: Wind Bullet!"
He exhaled hard, chakra condensing in his lungs before he fired. A tight sphere of compressed wind rocketed upward, trailing spiraling wisps like a comet. The sheer speed of it split the air with a sharp crack.
But the drake responded with terrifying speed. It climbed, wings straining, twisting through the air as the wind-laced barrage shredded the mist below.
Then it fired.
A jagged bolt of lightning exploded from its throat. No, dozens of them, like wild, flailing spears of yellow death. The arcs split and splintered in midair, searching for targets with mindless fury.
One clone vanished instantly. Then two. Then six more. Each one blinking out in bursts of white smoke as the lightning danced through the canyon like a living storm.
Naruto dove sideways, just in time to avoid a sizzling arc that tore a trench through the ground beside him.
The young knight surged forward, chakra flowing into his feet as he dashed up the side of the valley wall, boots skimming over the near-vertical slope.
"Let's test your altitude advantage."
From his elevated perch, he weaved another set of one handed hand signs.
"Wind Style: Wind Bullet!"
This time, he layered the jutsu, shaping multiple wind bullets in his throat. With a forceful exhale, he unleashed them like a barrage from a chakra cannon. Four bullets compressed tighter than steel, hurtling forward in staggered intervals, each aimed for the drake's wing joints.
The drake screeched and twisted midair. Two bullets skimmed past, whistling through the valley. The third hit square on the shoulder but the drake didn't falter.
"Still not enough," Naruto muttered, even as he formed six more clones in the blink of an eye.
"Coordinate. Aim for the left wing!"
The drake screamed as wind chakra penetrated against scale. It faltered in the air, one wing sagging slightly, its balance momentarily thrown.
Naruto's heart pounded as he leapt.
Chakra surged to his legs as he sprang from the cliff face like a missile. Midair, he rotated, twisting his body with the momentum of the drop, a soul arrow forming in his left.
He closed the distance in seconds.
The drake snapped its head around, but it was too slow.
With a yell, Naruto slammed the soul arrow point-blank into the side of the drake's eye.
The explosion lit the air in blue flame.
It shrieked and thrashed, lashing out blindly as its flight path spiraled. Naruto hit the ground hard, rolling out of the way as the massive beast crashed against the rocks, trailing smoke.
Chunks of shattered stone fell around him, and the valley rumbled under the weight of the beast.
Naruto wiped a streak of sweat from his brow, chest rising and falling with controlled breaths. His muscles were tight, heart pounding, but his grip on the drake sword remained firm.
"Not so fun when you're the one on the ground, huh?" he muttered, watching the massive beast lying in a crumpled heap.
But he didn't lower his guard.
"I've seen enough corpses lunge back to life in this world to know better."
With a flick of his fingers, half a dozen clones shimmered into existence, darting toward the unmoving drake. Another two stayed back, forming hand seals to prepare long-range attacks.
BOOM.
A dense surge of ozone exploded outward.
The drake's body jerked upright as a ring of raw golden lightning erupted around it like a halo of wrath. The clones didn't even have time to think, just flared out of existence in puffs of white smoke.
Naruto barely had time to raise his sword.
The drake's maw cracked wide. Electricity surged, hotter than any fire, brighter than any sun. A dome of condensed lightning, sharp and screaming through the air.
Naruto didn't try to dodge. Even he knew that he wasn't faster than lightning.
Instead, he brought the drake sword up, chakra flooding the blade as a massive arc of wind chakra roared out in front of him, slicing through the air like a crescent blade.
Lightning met Wind.
The impact was immediate and blinding. The explosion cracked the sky itself. A shockwave split across the valley with a scream like the world tearing in half. Sparks and compressed air detonated outward. Pebbles became bullets. Stone split in deep, jagged lines. The cliffside quaked.
And Naruto, caught in the middle, took the full brunt of it.
The elite knight armor held for half a second too short. Then the lightning broke through.
CRACK.
The bolt struck him square in the chest, slamming into him like a hammer from heaven. Pain exploded through his body. Every nerve lit with fire. Every muscle locked in screaming resistance. His back arched as arcs of gold raced down his limbs. His skin smoked. The world spun.
He hit the ground hard, skidding across stone and dirt.
Everything went dark.
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A moment passed.
Crack. A sharp burst of sound echoed as something small broke from the earth.
Oscar burst free from a pile of rubble, dirt and grit tumbling from his shimmering scales. The young crystal lizard shook himself off, heart hammering in his tiny chest.
He saw it.
The battlefield was a ruin of torn rock and scorched ground. But that did not matter. Because there, sprawled in a smoldering crater, steam rising from his armor, lay Naruto.
His partner.
Still breathing.
Barely.
Oscar's body trembled. He chirped low—a sound full of fear. Of helplessness. His gaze flicked forward. The Lightning Drake dragged itself toward Naruto, its steps ragged, broken but determined. One wing hung in tatters. The other was gone entirely. Blood poured from a deep gouge along its side.
Yet it still came.
It would finish what it started.
Oscar felt fear coil in his belly. A primal scream in his instincts told him to run. Hide. Survive. But then he looked at Naruto. His friend. His partner.
Oscar's claws dug into the earth.
No.
Not this time.
Not again.
With a screech of defiance, Oscar surged forward. Chakra pulsed through his body, flowing like fire along the metal-etched pathways Naruto had built inside him. His back crystal flared—a brilliant white glow pulsing with power.
He planted his feet and let it loose.
FWOOOOOSH.
A beam of pure light blasted from Oscar's mouth in a straight line. It was raw, wild chakra refined through crystalline soul. It cut through the air like a divine lance. At the same moment, the Lightning Drake opened its maw.
Lightning met light.
Two forces collided midair, searing against each other, warping the very air as the ground shook beneath them. Oscar held firm, digging into the ground as the feedback from the clash nearly knocked him off his feet.
THUNK.
The sound broke the stalemate between the two lizards. Three massive prongs burst out from the drake's neck.
The beast choked, its attack faltering.
Naruto's muscles screamed, but he held on. The prongs of the Channeler's trident spun, rotating with brutal force, tearing through cartilage, sinew, and bone. The drake gave a final, guttural screech as Naruto tore his head free.
Its body collapsed.
Blood flooded the ground.
Silence.
Naruto slumped, breathing hard, coated in blood and scorched armor.
Oscar stumbled forward, chest heaving, his crystal dimming. The only sound was the crackle of dying lightning and the drip of blood from stone. A soul drop floated above the drake's corpse.
Naruto reached up, fingers shaking, and pulled it into his hand. He looked at Oscar, who flopped beside him, panting like a dog after a sprint.
"...That," Naruto wheezed, smiling through the pain, "was some damn good timing."
Oscar chirped, exhausted but proud.
But in Lordran, even victory was a lie.
Naruto barely had time to breathe before his instincts screamed. Beside him, Oscar stiffened, the crystalline ridges along his back humming with nervous tension. They both turned their eyes skyward and froze.
The sky was alive.
A stormfront surged over the horizon... not made of clouds, but wings. Dozens of them, each one crackling with raw voltage, flying in formation like a phalanx of death. Each one a monster. Each one a nightmare.
But none of the lightning drakes, none, compared to it.
[ Name: Stormrend Wyvern ]
[ HP: 5,520 / 5,520 ]
Naruto could not find words. They would not come.
Stormrend was a force made flesh. A titan cloaked in deep blue, battered scales that looked carved by the storm itself. His body was sleek and deadly, balanced perfectly between raw strength and aerial grace. His wings stretched wide across the heavens, ragged at the edges but immense, lined with lightning that slithered along them like serpents—alive and waiting.
His head bore curling horns like hooked lightning rods, humming with energy too old to name. His eyes burned red beneath his brow, watching the world not as a creature... but as a god staring down insects. His chest and throat were ringed in jagged, thunder-forged armor—rough, old, real.
Stormrend did not fly through the storm. He was the storm.
Clouds did not part for him. They knelt.
Lightning did not strike at random. It struck where he pointed.
Thunder did not follow. It announced him.
Naruto stood rooted in place, Oscar trembling at his side. He had barely survived one lightning drake. Now, a swarm was coming. And at their heart… this.
A king. A god. A storm given shape.
And yet… Naruto felt something stir. Not fear.
Awe.
So beautiful, he thought, even as death fell from the heavens.
The sky split.
A white pillar of light crashed downward—divine and merciless. It was not an attack. It was judgment. And in that instant, Naruto knew.
He had been playing. Every battle until now? A rehearsal.
This... was Lordran.
Not a land of the dead. Not a realm of curses. A world ruled by monsters. Creatures that killed without thought, ruled without mercy, and existed beyond reason. A world that had no place for the righteous.
It was a crucible. A forge.
Only the terrifyingly strong survived.
And as the thunder swallowed him whole, Naruto understood. Deeply. Instinctively.
If he truly wanted power—Lordran's power…
If he ever hoped to rise above the beasts, the kings, the gods...
Then he could not walk forward.
He would have to crawl. To suffer. To change.
He would have to become something twisted. Something feared. Something that survives not through hope… but through horror.
Let's see if he can pay the price for what he wants to protect.
Hahahaha...
Let's see if he still smiles... when the monster in the mirror smiles back.
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Author's Note
Whew… what a chapter! That was a wild ride, huh?
A lot went down, and if you've played Dark Souls, you might be scratching your head at some of the changes I made—so let's break it down.
1 – The Stormrend Wyvern
Alright, let's get this out of the way first: Stormrend Wyvern does not exist in DS1. Yep, completely original.
So why is he here?
Well, the Valley of Drakes has always felt underwhelming to me. It is just kind of there. You pass through it, maybe get a few items, fight a couple of drakes, and… that is it. It does not really mean anything narratively or emotionally. So I figured—why not change that?
Every major area in my fanfic has added something to Naruto's growth or to the overall plot. I wanted the Valley to do the same. It needed something big. Something dangerous. Something that feels like Lordran.
Enter Stormrend.
Now, fun fact: Dark Souls 1 has a ton of cut content. Remember when I brought in the Black Zweihander from the files? Well, one of the unused assets was a blue Hellkite Wyvern. It is in the files, never used. But think about it—the Hellkite Wyvern is connected to the Drake Sword, and the Valley houses lightning drakes. Maybe FromSoftware planned something more. So I took that spark and ran with it.
But I did not just want to slap another big boss into the game. I wanted Stormrend to be more than that.
He is not just a test of strength. He is a moment. A reminder that Naruto is not ready. That Lordran does not care about who you were. That power in this world has a cost.
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So now, I turn to you guys—what should Naruto do with Stormrend?
I do not want this to turn into another "beat the boss, get the cool dragon weapon" moment. That has been done. Naruto is not going to just overcome Stormrend—not easily, maybe not ever. Stormrend is a presence. A force. His lightning is canonically on par with Sasuke's Kirin, so let that sink in when you think about scale.
So give me your wildest ideas:
What should Naruto do with stormrend?
What should a Stormrend's Tail Weapon look like?
What should its ability be?
Drop your thoughts below.
Until next time—PRAISE THE SUN!
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[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Now, if you're interested in supporting me on P@treon, let me just say that over there, I post these massive 5k-word chapters. But heads up, if you're jumping to P@treon, you'll need to start from Chapter 75, since that's where this chapter lines up with the content there.
To everyone here just reading along, please don't forget to leave a comment! Honestly, your comments make my day, and they let me know you're as invested in this story as I am. So yeah, thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day!