Chapter 81: A Drink With Ancestors

The clash between Sparda and Rudra tore through the city like a localized hurricane. Buildings crumbled into dust, streetlights snapped like twigs, and the landscape was reshaped with every swing of a sword or blast of raw energy.

A few dragons, unluckily caught in the crossfire of their duel, were flattened into collateral damage before they could even roar. Neither fighter cared; Sparda kept up a relentless barrage of attacks, while Rudra barely managed to dodge or reflect the onslaught. Every so often, Sparda pull off some absurd, unorthodox move that snapped Rudra’s Observation Haki entirely, forcing Rudra to switch to Future Sight just to keep his head attached. Sparda noticed the sudden shift, offering only a dark smirk before pressing the attack even harder.

Then, mid-clash, Rudra abruptly froze and put up a hand.

"Time out!" Rudra barked.

Sparda halted his blade inches from Rudra’s chest, lowering it slowly as he gave him a look of utter bewilderment. "Time out? We’re in the middle of a deathmatch, kid."

"Look up," Rudra said, staring at the sky with an unreadable expression. "Just... look up."

Sparda tilted his head back, squinting toward the clouds.

High above the ruined city, Lucy—who was supposed to be destroying the Eclipse Gate—was currently pinned inside the massive claw of a dragon. But the real kicker wasn’t the dragon. It was the fact that she was completely, inexplicably naked. Meanwhile, Wendy was darting through the sky with Carla, while Future Lucy flew alongside Happy, both recklessly picking a fight with the airborne beast.

A heavy, bewildered silence hung between the two combatants.

Sparda rested his massive sword against his shoulder and pointed up with a genuinely confused look. "Is... is this kind of thing normal in the future?"

"No," Rudra replied, turning to Sparda with a completely deadpan stare. "Would you kindly allow me to go check what the actual fuck is happening up there?"

"Sure, go ahead," Sparda said, waving a dismissive hand. "A naked girl getting abducted by a giant reptile is a bit too weird, even for me."

"Appreciate it," Rudra muttered.

Rudra activated his Rinnegan. Gravity warped violently around him, launching him skyward like a surface-to-air missile straight toward the chaotic spectacle.

Down on the shattered pavement, Sparda cracked his neck, stretched his arms overhead, and let out a long, satisfied yawn. "Man... I haven’t had a good warm-up like this in ages."

High above the city, Lucy squirmed in the dragon’s iron grip, her face burning red. "Let go of me, you perverted lizard!"

"There is nothing perverted about preparing a meal," the dragon rumbled, its voice echoing like thunder. "The wrapper gets in the way."

Before Lucy could scream, a familiar voice cut through the rushing wind.

"What in the hell is going on here?"

Lucy gasped, snapping her head around. Rudra hovered in mid-air right beside them, arms crossed, squinting at her in sheer bafflement.

"Lucy? Why are you stuck in a dragon’s claw?" Rudra asked, raising an eyebrow. "More importantly—why are you naked? Shouldn’t you be down there destroying the Eclipse Gate?!"

"Rudra!" Lucy shrieked, instant relief washing over her—until she caught his sharp glare. "Wait, I can explain—!"

"Another human?" the dragon interrupted, turning a massive eye toward him. "A bite-sized snack!"

The beast opened its jaws and unleashed a torrent of scorching fire.

Rudra didn’t even flinch. With a lazy flick of his wrist, he slapped the inferno completely off-course, sending the flames crashing harmlessly into a distant cloud. He didn’t take his eyes off Lucy for a second.

"Piss off, mate, I’m asking a question," Rudra snapped, darting a cold glance at the dragon. "Wait your turn, bitch."

He turned back to a stunned Lucy. "Go on. Explain."

Rudra pinched the bridge of his nose, slowly massaging his temples. "I leave you lot alone for twenty minutes..."

"How dare you!" the dragon roared, its scales shuddering in rage as it realized its attack had been swatted away. "A mere insect dares insult a mighty dragon?! You will burn to ash!"

The beast threw its head back, charging a blinding Dragon’s Roar deep in its throat.

Rudra stopped. His gaze shifted, pinning the dragon with a wave of suffocating killing intent.

"Shut the fuck up."

Before the dragon could register the shift in the air, an invisible wave of spatial force cleaved through the sky. In a fraction of a second, the roar died as the creature’s massive head and both wings were severed cleanly from its body.

The grip loosened instantly. The dragon’s corpse, its severed wings, and a screaming, naked Lucy tumbled into free-fall toward the shattered pavement below.

Wind whipped her hair into a frenzy as the ground rushed up to meet them. Lucy squeezed her eyes shut, screaming at the top of her lungs. "I’m gonna die! Someone save me—!"

Before impact could claim her, gravity yielded.

"Relax. You’re not dying on my shift," Rudra said, looking down at her.

Lucy cracked an eye open, her chest heaving as she swallowed the lump in her throat. She buried her face into his shoulder, letting out a shaky breath. "Oh god... Thank you, Rudra. Seriously."

"Don’t sweat it," Rudra replied smoothly.

Instead of looking ahead, however, his eyes shamelessly drifted down, taking in the full, unhindered view. He let out a low whistle.

"You know, for a noisy trouble magnet, you’re actually stacked," Rudra smirked, meeting her eyes again. "Solid eight out of ten. Nine if you weren’t coated in dragon spit."

Lucy’s relief instantly curdled into pure outrage. Her face flushed a violent crimson.

SMACK!

The sharp slap echoed through the air. "Pervert! Keep your eyes to yourself!"

"Ow! What the hell?!" Rudra barked, rubbing his stinging cheek. "I just saved you from becoming a street smudge! Blame the reptile for stripping you!"

"That doesn’t give you a free pass to stare!" she shrieked, frantically crossing her arms over her chest.

"Right. Message received," Rudra grunted.

Without a shred of chivalry left, he tossed her sideways through the air like a sack of wet laundry straight toward the flying Exceeds.

"Whoa—hey!" Happy yelped, straining as he caught her waist, the sudden weight nearly sending them into a tailspin. "She’s heavy!"

"I am not heavy!" Lucy yelled, flailing to keep her balance on the cat.

"Careful with her!" Future Lucy called out, swooping in with Wendy and Carla to catch the chaotic pile-up.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Rudra muttered over his shoulder, waving them off as he descended toward the ruined streets. "Go find a blanket, do your job, and smash that damn gate!"

Having dealt with the sheer absurdity, Rudra descended back to the wrecked city blocks.

He found Sparda perched casually atop the edge of a half-collapsed skyscraper. In his human form, the Dark Knight looked every bit the refined nobleman—dressed in his sharp, purple-and-red Victorian coat, with silver hair slicked back and a pair of piercing, intelligent blue eyes that belied his true, ancient nature. Beside him, his iconic broadsword, Force Edge, rested cold against the cracked stone.

Rudra flickered into existence right beside him, landing with a quiet tap of his boots. "Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long. Shall we pick up where we left off?"

Sparda didn’t answer right away. He simply patted the ledge next to him, gesturing for Rudra to take a seat.

Rudra raised an eyebrow, but complied, lowering himself to sit beside the Legendary Dark Knight with his legs dangling over the drop.

High above them, another massive dragon engaged with Natsu broke off from the fight, winging its way back toward the direction of the Eclipse Gate.

"My time in this realm is limited," Sparda said smoothly, gazing out over the broken skyline. "So how about we talk instead of swinging steel?"

"Works for me," Rudra replied, leaning back on his hands. "Though heads-up—I’m not answering anything about your future."

Sparda gave a soft chuckle. "Fair enough. First off... I realized I never caught your name."

"It’s Rudra."

Sparda nodded, letting the name settle before turning his sharp gaze to the young man beside him. "Tell me, Rudra... are you a descendant of mine?"

Rudra paused. He wasn’t surprised the old man had figured it out—Sparda was far too sharp to miss it.

"Truth is, the answer is both yes and no," Rudra said.

Sparda raised a quiet eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate.

"I wasn’t born," Rudra explained, staring out at the smoke rising in the distance. "I was created."

A look of quiet clarity replaced the curiosity in Sparda’s eyes. "I see. Well, technicalities aside, my blood runs through your veins. Which makes me your...?"

"Grandfather. Or great-grandfather, depending on how you count it," Rudra smirked.

The slight smile on Sparda’s face faltered. His gaze drifted down to Force Edge, resting cold against the cracked stone beside them.

"I put a blade through you," Sparda said quietly. "More than once."

"Yeah. You did."

"And you let me."

Rudra shrugged, looking completely unbothered. "You didn’t know. Besides, trying to explain family history mid-swordfight is a fast way to end up six feet under."

Sparda remained silent, his jaw tight as he stared out over the smoke rising from the city. After a long moment, he let out a slow breath through his nose—a sound somewhere between a wry laugh and a sigh.

"Mundus sent me here specifically to execute you," Sparda muttered, casting a sideways glance at him. "So, what did you actually do to get under his skin that deeply?"

"It’s not so much what I did," Rudra replied, a lazy grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "More like what someone will do to him down the line. Though in my defense, I just have a natural gift for pissing off powerful bastards. It was only a matter of time before he took it personally."

A genuine smile broke through Sparda’s solemn expression. Extending a hand, he flexed his power; the air shuddered and tore open as his demonic energy cleanly fractured the surrounding space. Reaching into the dark void, he pulled out two unlabelled, glass bottles filled with a glowing amber liquid straight from the depths of the Underworld.

He tossed one across the gap. "Fair enough. How about a drink, then?"

Sparda popped the cork with a flick of his thumb and took a heavy swig.

Rudra uncorked his and took a solid swig. The liquid hit his throat like molten sulfur and battery acid, hot enough to melt a mortal’s stomach. He choked back a cough, forcing the burn down with a sharp exhale.

"Damn," Rudra muttered, wiping his lip. "That shit actually bites back."

Sparda gave a low, quiet chuckle, resting his forearms on his knees as the sky turned crimson above them. "It’s demon liquor, kid. It wouldn’t be worth drinking if it didn’t try to kill you first."

"You guys sure know how to relax," Rudra said, taking a smaller sip this time and letting the heat settle.

"When your whole existence is fighting, you learn to appreciate the quiet moments," Sparda said, gazing out as a dragon spiraled through the distant clouds. "They don’t come around often."

Rudra followed his gaze, taking another swallow. "Fair enough. Then we might as well enjoy this one."

Sitting together atop the edge of the skyscraper, the two demons shared the rest of the bottle in a comfortable silence, content to just sit back and watch the night drift by.