Chapter 348: Respective Opponents
The air inside the floating fortress of Tartaros was heavy, thick with a suffocating demonic miasma that seemed to pulse from the very walls. The fleshy, biomechanical corridors echoed with the chaotic cacophony of an all-out war.
Amidst the destruction, Erza Scarlet stood tall, her sharp gaze locked onto the towering, imposing figure before her. The woman exuded an aura of pure, unadulterated malice, her demonic features highlighted by a pair of sweeping horns and avian talons.
"Who are you?" Erza demanded, her voice cutting through the heavy atmosphere like a blade. Her hand naturally rested on the hilt of her sword, magic power already flaring to life as her Requip space hummed in anticipation.
A sadistic, almost intoxicating smirk crawled across the demoness's face. "Kyoka, the Goddess of the Slave Star. A demon born from the Books of Zeref."
Erza's eyes narrowed, her grip tightening on her hilt. A cold thrill of battle washed over her. "So you're an Etherious? One of Zeref's legendary nightmares? That's perfect; let me see exactly how strong you truly are."
Without another word, Erza lunged. A blinding flash of silver illuminated the dim corridor as she swung her sword, initiating a breathtakingly fierce clash. Steel met hardened demonic flesh, sending a shockwave of sparks and localized tremors echoing down the halls as the two formidable women began their deadly dance.
Not far from that explosive clash, Natsu Dragneel watched Erza dive into combat. A wide, battle-hungry grin stretched across his face. "Take this! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Seeing Erza completely engaged with Kyoka, Natsu immediately pivoted, locking his sights onto the bizarre, one-eyed, armor-clad creature known as Franmalth. Compared to the hordes of uniform-wearing lackeys swarming the area, it was infinitely more satisfying to sink his fists into someone who clearly reeked of authority.
With a burst of blazing propulsion, Natsu crossed the distance in a fraction of a second, his fist wreathed in roaring, hyper-condensed flames.
Bam!
"Ugh!!"
Franmalth's single eye bulged grotesquely as the fiery uppercut connected squarely with his jaw. The sheer kinetic force of the Dragon Slayer's strike sent the demon hurtling backward like a cannonball.
Boom!
A biomechanical wall shattered into jagged pieces as Franmalth's body plowed right through it, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris.
Natsu landed gracefully, shaking the embers from his knuckles with a confident smirk. But his triumph was exceedingly short-lived. From the settling dust, Franmalth stood back up almost immediately, casually dusting off his spherical torso.
"You bastard! How dare you hit me!" Franmalth shrieked, his high-pitched voice grating against the ears. "That really hurt, you know! My beautiful armor is scuffed!"
Natsu blinked, visibly taken aback. The guy had just taken a direct, point-blank Iron Fist that shattered a reinforced wall, yet he was acting as if he'd merely tripped over a rock. Is this what the durability of a demon from the Books of Zeref is actually like? Natsu thought, his fighting spirit burning even brighter.
"I don't care if it hurts!" Natsu roared back, his fangs bared in a feral grin. "Anyone who dares to lay a hand on our guild members is an enemy! I'll turn you into ash!"
"You arrogant brat!" Franmalth's singular eye twitched with pure rage. "Let me show you the absolute finest Soul in my magnificent collection!"
Suddenly, a suffocating, almost gravitational magic pressure erupted from Franmalth's stubby frame. The ambient magic in the air twisted violently as his body began to warp and stretch, morphing into a completely different entity. The dark magic was so dense it felt like drowning in an ocean of black sludge.
Natsu braced himself, expecting a towering, horrifying monster. But as the blinding dark light faded, his jaw dropped.
"Master Hades?!" Natsu blurted out, utterly bewildered.
Floating beside him, Happy tilted his head, his tiny paws rubbing his eyes. "But... Natsu, something feels really off about him?!"
The opponent standing before them was an absolute visual anomaly. The body was still entirely Franmalth's—thin, spindly limbs attached to a round, bouncy, pudgy torso. But sitting squarely atop that comical body was the stern, bearded, and incredibly intimidating face of the Second Guild Master of Fairy Tail, Precht Gaebolg, infamously known as Hades. The juxtaposition of the terrifying dark wizard's head on a stubby, marshmallow-like body was unbelievably ridiculous.
Natsu couldn't hold back his deadpan critique. "The body proportions are way too weird. You look like a bobblehead!"
"Body shape doesn't matter, you imbecile! This is Hades! THE Hades!!" Franmalth shrieked furiously, waving his stumpy arms in indignation.
"The former master of Grimoire Heart, once known as the undisputed strongest Dark Guild! A genius mage who delved too deep into the abyss of darkness! Seven years ago, I happened upon this exquisite corpse while searching for Lord Zeref. As the human closest to being a true demon, do you have any idea just how unfathomably strong this man's magic power is?! How strong it truly is?!"
"That guy was already defeated by us years ago!!" Natsu barked, refusing to be intimidated. Without a second of hesitation, he ignited his boots and blitzed forward, throwing a devastating haymaker aimed right at the bearded bobblehead.
Bam!
Franmalth was sent flying instantly, his rotund body bouncing off the architecture.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three consecutive walls exploded into shrapnel as Franmalth crashed through them.
Yet, from the rubble, a dark, sinister chuckle echoed. "Heh. He was indeed defeated by Fairy Tail... but let us be entirely accurate. That was only because of Ren alone. For pathetic little kids like you, you have absolutely no power to resist the might of Hades!"
As Franmalth spat the words, he kicked off the ruined floor with terrifying, explosive force. Despite his ridiculous proportions, his speed was blinding. He lunged directly at Natsu, closing the gap instantly.
Bam!
A heavy, magic-laced strike slammed into Natsu's gut.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
This time, it was Natsu who was sent flying backward like a ragdoll. The sheer concussive force of the blow shattered several layers of the fortress walls, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake as he coughed up a splatter of saliva.
"Natsu!" Happy cried out in alarm, his wings flapping frantically as he chased after his partner.
Natsu skidded to a halt, his boots carving deep trenches into the floor. He wiped his mouth, his onyx eyes narrowing. He's fast... Regardless of the stupid appearance, this magic power is the real deal... This is the oppressive magic power of someone who fully stepped into the abyss of the Demonic Path!
"Die!"
Dark, ominous magical chains suddenly erupted from Franmalth's outstretched hands, whistling through the air with lethal intent. It was Hades' signature chain magic.
Natsu relied on his sharp instincts, ducking and weaving through the barrage of chains, his body moving with acrobatic fluidity as he rushed toward Franmalth once again.
But Franmalth simply sneered. His spindly arm suddenly dislocated and lengthened with a sickening squelch, stretching out like a rubber whip. Before Natsu could react, the elongated hand clamped down hard on his shoulder, the grip like a hydraulic press.
"Come here, connect! Your Soul is mine!" Franmalth cackled, a weird suction force beginning to pull at Natsu's very essence.
"In your dreams, cyclops!!" Natsu roared defiantly. He raised his free hand, igniting it with a blinding, roaring pillar of dragon flames, and blasted it directly point-blank into Franmalth's face.
Instead of burning, Franmalth unhinged his jaw to an impossible degree. "What a fine, spicy Soul! Absorb!!"
With a sickening slurping noise, the demon inhaled the entire blast of fire. Franmalth patted his belly and laughed uproariously. A second later, roaring flames that looked entirely identical to Natsu's began swirling around his own spindly hands.
"What?!" Natsu gasped, his eyes wide.
"He actually absorbed the Soul of the magic?!" Happy panicked, gripping his own head. "But what even is the Soul of magic?! How does that make sense?!"
"He-he-he-he-he! It is the conceptual core of your power!" Flames erupted from Franmalth's bizarre body, mimicking the Dragon Slayer's aura perfectly.
Natsu stomped his foot, pointing an accusing finger at the demon. "Hey! Eating someone else's fire is totally cheating! You can't just steal a man's meal!"
Happy hovered beside him, deadpanning immediately. "Natsu... you're probably the absolute last person on earth who should be saying that. You eat people's fire all the time..."
Franmalth's singular eye locked onto them, gleaming with sadistic amusement. "Kid, I'll admit you're pretty strong! However, please do not underestimate us. We are the Nine Demon Gates. We are the demons of the Books of Zeref, biological weapons forged from the grimoires written by the legendary Dark Mage Zeref a long, long time ago. Please don't forget... a single one of us possesses enough raw power to utterly annihilate the military forces of an entire nation."
Meanwhile, in a different sector of the sprawling Tartaros fortress.
"Hahahaha!! Someone actually dared to invade the Underworld of Tartaros?! How incredibly interesting! Kill, kill, kill!!"
A monstrous, multi-armed demon roared with maniacal glee. This was Ezel, one of the Nine Demon Gates. His massive, grotesque form loomed over the corridor, his tentacles and appendages twitching with bloodlust.
"Tenga Goken! Onimaru!!!"
[Akarin's Note: 'Tenga Goken' (Five Great Swords under Heaven) is the Curse used by the Etherious Ezel. It allows his appendages to effortlessly slice through almost any material, mimicking legendary demonic blades.]
Ezel swung his cursed appendages in a devastating cross-shape. A massive, vacuum-sealed slash of pure kinetic energy tore through the air.
Swish!
The reinforced biomechanical walls of the Tartaros base were sliced open like soft tofu. The sheer sharpness of the shockwave was incomprehensible.
"Aaaaagh!!" Several Tartaros soldiers who had been unfortunate enough to be in the crossfire were instantly bisected, their blood painting the metallic floors in a gruesome display.
"Eek!"
Levy McGarden stood frozen in the center of the corridor. The petite solid-script mage hadn't noticed the monstrous demon unleashing such a catastrophic slash until it was already tearing through the space toward her. The air pressure alone made it hard to breathe. It was too late to dodge; the cross-shaped blade of air was going to cut her in half.
"Watch out!!"
A towering shadow violently shoved her backward. A solid, muscular figure suddenly appeared right in front of Levy, crossing his arms defensively. Iron scales, thick and black as midnight, instantly materialized over his skin, covering him in an impenetrable armor.
Boom!!
The devastating slash collided with the iron scales. The impact was deafening. The ground beneath the newcomer's boots shattered entirely, cratering inward from the sheer kinetic force, but his body remained absolutely motionless, a steadfast iron wall firmly blocking the path of death in front of Levy.
"Gajeel!" Levy gasped, her heart hammering against her ribs. She looked up at his broad back, overwhelmed by the intense physical closeness and the protective heat radiating off his body.
Gajeel slowly lowered his arms, the iron scales on his forearms smoking and sparking slightly from the friction, but entirely unbreached. He glanced over his shoulder, his crimson eyes locking onto Levy's with a fierce, protective glint.
"Go deal with the others, shrimp," Gajeel rumbled, his voice a low, gravelly growl. "Leave this freak to me."
Gajeel's piercing gaze slowly turned back toward Ezel. This guy clearly felt different from the fodder underlings they had been smashing through. The sickening density of his curse power confirmed it. If Gajeel wasn't mistaken, this multi-armed freak was likely one of the core demons from the Books of Zeref.
"Okay..." Levy swallowed hard, clutching her magical pen to her chest. She knew her own combat strength was insufficient for this tier of battle. Staying here would likely just become a fatal distraction for Gajeel. It was agonizing, but she had to trust him. "Then please... be careful, Gajeel." With a final, lingering look, she dashed down the corridor to find a terminal she could hack.
"Hahahaha! You actually managed to block my Onimaru slash! You're quite impressive, human!!"
Seeing Gajeel tank his attack head-on, Ezel became completely unhinged. Spit flew from his maw as he trembled with twisted excitement. It had been a painfully long time since he'd met flesh that didn't immediately turn to ribbons beneath his Curse. Fighting this iron-skinned man would definitely be fun.
"Hmph! Don't underestimate Fairy Tail, you overgrown squid," Gajeel spat, a feral, metallic grin spreading across his face as he aggressively cracked his knuckles.
Deep inside a sterile, dimly lit control room of the Tartaros base.
"Stop! What's going on?! Why won't my arm stop moving?!"
"I... I don't know! Get back! I can't control my magic!"
Two young Fairy Tail mages, who had been separated from the main assault group, suddenly found their bodies entirely stripped of their own autonomy. It was a waking nightmare. Their limbs jerked and twitched like macabre marionettes, violently attacking each other against their will.
Sitting elegantly on a raised dais in the center of the room was a breathtakingly beautiful yet terrifyingly serene demoness. She possessed a pair of dark horns and an aura of absolute aristocratic authority.
Seilah looked down at them, her gaze perfectly indifferent. "This is my Command Curse, Macro," she stated, her voice smooth and chilling. "It allows me to command all humans, forcefully depriving their bodies of self-control. Your muscles, your magic, your very nervous system will involuntarily follow my absolute orders."
[Akarin's Note: 'Macro' is the signature Curse of the Etherious Seilah. It grants her absolute control over the bodies of her victims, forcing them to obey any verbal command, regardless of their own willpower or morality.]
Seilah raised a slender, pale finger. "Both of you, do not resist. It is pointless. Now... kill each other."
Hearing Seilah's cold command, the two young men wept in utter despair as their hands involuntarily began to gather lethal concentrations of magic power, aiming directly at each other's hearts.
"No... please... someone help us!"
"Stop... Wakaba, please, stop it!!"
Tears streamed down their faces. They were best friends, partners who had joined Fairy Tail together to chase their dreams of grand adventures. They loved their guild. They would rather die a thousand times over than be the ones to murder their closest friend.
"Darkness Stream!!"
Suddenly, a violent torrent of pure, concentrated dark magic—shaped like a massive, monstrous claw—tore through the reinforced doors of the control room and lunged directly at Seilah.
Seilah's elegant expression shattered into shock. She quickly raised her slender hands, coating them in her Curse power to block the sudden ambush.
Bam!
Despite her guard, the sheer concussive weight of the dark magic overwhelmed her footing, sending her delicate body flying backward until she crashed ungracefully into the wall.
The moment Seilah's concentration broke, the absolute grip of her Macro curse snapped. The two young mages collapsed to their knees, gasping for breath as they immediately deactivated their magic, sobbing in overwhelming relief.
From the shattered doorway, a terrifying silhouette stepped through the smoke. Her pristine white hair flared wildly, but her body was transformed into something pulled straight from the deepest layers of hell. Covered in dark, scaled armor with a thick, reptilian tail sweeping behind her, the majestic demoness fixed her cold, glowing blue eyes on Seilah.
"Miss Mira!"
Seeing the newcomer in her legendary Satan Soul form, the two young mages couldn't help but breathe a massive sigh of relief. They hadn't expected someone so terrifyingly powerful to come to their rescue in this remote room.
Mirajane Strauss didn't look back at them, her gaze locked squarely on the demoness pulling herself out of the rubble. Her demonic aura flared, wild and suffocating.
"You two leave," Mirajane ordered, her voice layered with a distorted, demonic echo that commanded absolute obedience. "I'll handle this one."
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