Chapter 349: Hell's Core
"Miss Mira, please be careful. I would hate to ruin such a pretty face, but this body of mine can control the very will of others."
Seilah's voice was sickeningly sweet, laced with the arrogant confidence of a predator toying with its food. The Etherious demon stood tall, her dark eyes locking onto the white-haired Fairy Tail mage. The air inside the Tartaros stronghold grew heavy, suffocating under the sheer weight of Seilah's demonic pressure.
"I order you," Seilah commanded, her voice suddenly dropping into a resonant, authoritative echo that seemed to vibrate directly against the soul. "Kill your comrade!"
Seilah raised her delicate hand, unleashing the full invisible force of her Macro Curse directly at Mirajane. The oppressive energy washed over the S-Class mage, designed to seize her nervous system, overwrite her consciousness, and turn her into a helpless puppet.
A tense second passed. Then another.
Seilah lowered her hand, a frown marring her flawless features. She waited for the horrifying sound of flesh tearing, for the screams of betrayal. But as the dust settled, she found that Mirajane hadn't moved a single inch. Her white hair fluttered gently in the stagnant air, her blue eyes devoid of any mindless submission.
"What is the meaning of this?" Seilah's composure fractured, genuine shock bleeding into her tone. "Why isn't my Curse working on you?!"
It was an impossibility. Seilah was one of the Nine Demon Gates. Her Macro was absolute. In her entire existence, it was the very first time her Curse had ever failed to completely dominate a human target.
A shadow fell over Mirajane's face. The sweet, gentle aura she usually carried vanished in an instant, replaced by something ancient, dark, and utterly terrifying. The air around her began to violently warp.
"Full Body Take Over: Satan Soul!"
A pillar of pitch-black and deep purple magic erupted from Mirajane's body, shattering the floor beneath her. The sheer concussive force of her magical pressure blew Seilah's hair back. Mirajane's physical form morphed dramatically. A reptilian tail lashed out behind her, heavy demonic wings tore from her back, and her delicate hands transformed into razor-sharp, lethal claws. A dark, jagged scar-like mark materialized across her face.
Seeing Mirajane's horrifying transformation and feeling the unmistakable, suffocating miasma of the underworld pouring off her, Seilah finally understood why her ultimate command had fallen completely flat.
"I see..." Seilah muttered, her eyes narrowing in dark realization. "You possess Demonic Factors yourself. You are no ordinary human."
"Come on. Let's fight!"
Once Mirajane had fully settled into her Satan Soul state, her entire demeanor shifted. The gentle barmaid of Fairy Tail was gone entirely. In her place stood a ferocious, battle-hungry demon, sporting a wicked, bloodthirsty grin that promised absolute violence.
Deep within the subterranean bowels of the Tartaros floating cube, far from the chaotic battlefields above, lay a massive, pulsating laboratory.
Hell's Core.
[Akarin's Note: Hell's Core is the central laboratory and resurrection facility of Tartaros. It houses advanced, demonic Regeneration Pods filled with specialized amniotic fluids that can reconstruct and revive any Etherious demon that has been killed in battle, making the dark guild effectively immortal as long as the Core remains intact.]
"Lalala la la la la la la!"
A grating, excessively cheerful voice echoed through the damp, dimly lit cavern.
"Regeneration complete! Lalala la la la la la!!"
Lamy, a bizarrely hyperactive Etherious with a manic grin and large, unblinking eyes, hopped around the grotesque, glowing vats. The massive glass tubes bubbled with thick, translucent green fluid, illuminating the dark stone walls.
Inside one of the pods, the fluid began to drain. The heavy glass doors hissed open, releasing a cloud of foul-smelling steam.
"This is my body..."
A tall, incredibly handsome man with dark skin and sharp, aristocratic features stepped out of the pod, dripping with the viscous resurrection fluid. He raised a muscular arm, clenching his hand into a fist, before lightly punching his own chest.
Although it was his own flesh and blood, a deep sense of wrongness washed over him. He felt completely unfamiliar with his own limbs. Every time an Etherious died and underwent the resurrection process in Hell's Core, the trauma caused their memories to violently reset, effectively wiping out vast portions of their past.
"Yes, Mr. Tempester!" Lamy squealed, doing a little spin.
"Tempester..." The dark-skinned man frowned deeply, staring blankly at his own hands. "Is that my name?"
He couldn't even recall his own identity, let alone how he had died.
"Nyah nyah, aren't you just so handsome?! I tried my absolute best to make you extra gorgeous when I remade your body!" Lamy looked at Tempester with a wildly lovesick expression, swaying her hips and batting her eyelashes dramatically.
"Appearance doesn't matter," Tempester replied coldly, his voice a low, indifferent rumble. He couldn't care less about his aesthetic appeal; he only cared about the missing pieces in his mind.
"What's this? Only focusing on Tempester? How biased."
A sharp, arrogant voice cut through the damp air. From a neighboring Regeneration Pod, another figure stepped out into the dim light. His body was fully regenerated, unmarred by the gruesome death he had recently suffered. Jackal rolled his shoulders, his golden eyes flashing with a predatory, volatile light.
Lamy immediately abandoned Tempester, rushing over to Jackal with stars in her eyes. She shamelessly nuzzled against his bare arm. "Because Jackal-kun is already so cute~~! Lalala!"
"That feels disgusting. Don't come near me!" Jackal roughly shoved the eccentric demoness away, his face twisting in sheer revulsion.
"Jackal-kun...?" Tempester looked uncertainly toward the explosive demon, his brow furrowing as he tried to dig through the hazy fog of his shattered memories.
"What's wrong? Tempester, did you seriously forget me again?" Jackal let out an exasperated sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was beyond tired of having to reintroduce himself to Tempester every single time the man blew himself up.
"Tempester-kun loses his memory every time he regenerates. Is it because of the magical barrier particles he uses? It's so tragic and sad, but don't worry, I'm right here with you!!" Lamy dramatically wailed, instantly running back over to Tempester and clinging to his leg.
"..."
Tempester stared down at her in deadpan silence, entirely speechless at Lamy's theatrical display.
Jackal, however, completely ignored the annoying demoness. He clenched his fists so hard his knuckles popped. The humiliating memory of his recent death burned hot in his mind, fueling a blinding rage.
"Ren... that damned guy. Absolutely unforgivable! I swear I'm going to crush them all!" Jackal growled through gritted teeth, sparks of explosive energy crackling dangerously around his fingertips.
Having lived for over four hundred years as an elite Etherious of the Books of Zeref, this was the very first time Jackal had suffered such overwhelming, degrading humiliation. He had been completely outclassed, toyed with, and slaughtered.
"Ren?" Tempester tilted his head, the confusion deepening in his golden eyes. "Who is that?"
Jackal scoffed, his gaze hardening. "You don't know that guy. You don't need to remember him, and with your brain wiped, you can't remember him anyway. Just know that he's a dead man walking."
"Oh my gosh, your angry expression is totally amazing too!! I feel like my heart is about to burst!!" Lamy screeched, her face flushing crimson as she practically vibrated with excitement.
"Shut up!!" Jackal roared, kicking a loose wrench across the stone floor.
"Are you talking about Ren?"
A smooth, sultry woman's voice suddenly echoed from the shadows of the laboratory, cutting through the bickering.
"Who is that?" Tempester immediately fell into a defensive stance.
"Hmm? Who the hell are you?" Jackal's eyes narrowed dangerously as he looked suspiciously toward the newcomer.
Lamy rolled her eyes, her obsessive enthusiasm vanishing instantly. She gestured lazily toward the shadows without an ounce of respect. "Oh, her! She's that former human named Minerva that Sister Kyoka captured and brought down here. By the way, I'm not interested in female bodies at all, so don't expect any special treatment from me."
Minerva stepped out into the ambient light of the glowing vats. She looked down at her own hands, tracing the dark, jagged demonic marks that now stained her pale skin. Her dark hair cascaded down her back, and her eyes burned with an unnatural, sinister violet glow.
"Is this what it means to be an 'Etherious'?" Minerva whispered to herself, clenching her fists. "It's intoxicating. I'm practically overflowing with boundless power."
"You said you know Ren?" Jackal completely ignored her musings, his gaze locking onto Minerva. Just hearing the name Ren made his blood boil and his explosive instincts flare.
"Of course," Minerva smirked, crossing her arms elegantly over her chest. "Who on this entire continent doesn't know Ren? He is, without a doubt, the strongest man in Ishgar."
Rumble————!
Before Jackal could retort, a massive, deafening explosion shook the very foundations of Hell's Core. The thick stone ceiling cracked, raining dust and debris down upon the pristine laboratory equipment. Everyone present stumbled, frowning deeply at the violent tremor.
Jackal steadied himself, looking up at the ceiling. "What the hell is going on upstairs?"
Lamy gasped, clapping her hands against her cheeks. "Ah! That! Fairy Tail broke into the base just now! They are fighting everyone upstairs!"
"What?!" Jackal and Minerva's expressions shifted drastically.
Even Tempester, who had absolutely no memory of his past, felt an inexplicable, blinding surge of anger when he heard the words Fairy Tail. It was as if his very soul, corrupted and stained by the guild's defiance, instinctively resented the name on a biological level.
"Damn it! They actually dare to launch a direct attack on Tartaros?! They're courting death!" Jackal roared in sheer outrage. The explosive magic inside him flared wildly, and he immediately turned to rush toward the exit, ready to blow the invaders to ash.
Whoosh————!
A distinct, sharp sound of displaced air echoed through the cavern.
"Who is it?!" Jackal spun around, his hands raised and glowing with deadly explosive runes.
Everyone in the room immediately looked warily toward the center of the laboratory.
There, standing calmly amidst the demonic machinery, was Ren.
Ren had secretly tracked Jackal's magical signature the moment the demon began regenerating. He had arrived at Hell's Core much earlier, but to avoid alerting the enemy forces and ruining the element of surprise, he had held back, watching from the shadows of his spatial dimensions.
But now that Fairy Tail had launched a full-scale, chaotic assault on the upper levels of the Cube, there was no longer any need for stealth. He had come down to personally handle the trash.
"Huh?" Ren's glowing blue eyes shifted from Jackal, landing on the dark-haired woman standing nearby. He blinked, slightly surprised. "You are... that Sabertooth mage... Minerva?"
"You know me?" Minerva's dark eyes narrowed in deep confusion. She scrutinized the man before her.
He had spiky blonde hair, striking blue eyes, and wore a pristine white cloak adorned with red flames along the hem. She didn't recall ever meeting a man who looked like this, yet his imposing presence felt terrifyingly familiar. But it was entirely normal for a powerful mage to know who she was; after all, she had once been one of the strongest of Sabertooth's elite five members.
"You forgot me so quickly?" Ren chuckled darkly, shaking his head.
He ignored Minerva's confusion for the moment, turning his cold, playful gaze directly onto Jackal. "Yo! You revived pretty quickly, didn't you, mutt?"
Jackal took one look at Ren's incredibly annoying, mocking smile and heard that condescending tone. His expression instantly morphed into one of unhinged fury. The blood drained from his face before rushing back in a fiery flush of hatred.
"Damn it! It's you! REN!!" Jackal screamed, his voice cracking with pure venom.
Minerva was badly startled by Jackal's outburst. She whipped her head back to look at the blonde man. She studied his facial structure, the curve of his jaw, the overwhelming, suffocating magical pressure radiating off him. Indeed, despite the blonde hair and the strange cloak, the underlying facial features looked about fifty percent similar to Ren's original appearance.
Thinking about the terrifying rumors of how Ren possessed a unique magic that allowed him to Take Over entirely different powerful entities and transform into various forms, she immediately understood. This wasn't a stranger. This was simply another one of Ren's god-like transformations.
"So, this must be where the Etherious of the Books of Zeref are reborn within Tartaros," Ren observed casually, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he surveyed the glowing green vats. "Let's destroy this miserable place first."
"Don't even think about it!!"
Jackal completely lost his mind. Driven entirely by vengeance and rage, he charged frantically toward Ren, thrusting both his palms forward. A massive wave of highly condensed, volatile explosive curse power erupted from his hands.
Boom————!!
A fierce, blinding explosion tore through the laboratory. The devastating shockwave ripped through the stone floors, instantly shattering several of the massive Regeneration Pods. Gallons of green amniotic fluid and broken glass flooded the facility.
"Whoa! Be careful, Jackal-kun! So many were totally destroyed!" Lamy shrieked, dropping to her knees and desperately covering her head to shield herself from the flying debris. "Although the remaining ones are enough to use, this is the main modification base! Rebuilding these vats will be a huge hassle! It costs so much money!"
Lamy felt her heart breaking. This was her pristine workshop, and the raw materials required for Etherious resurrection were insanely expensive.
"Shut up! As long as I can take down this bastard, everything is worth it!" Jackal roared through the smoke, scanning the wreckage for Ren's charred corpse.
Thwack!
A strange, three-pronged kunai suddenly shot out of the smoke, burying itself deeply into the stone floor right between Jackal's feet.
Before the demon could even blink or process what the weapon was, a blinding flash of yellow light illuminated the cavern.
Ren's figure instantly materialized directly in front of Jackal, completely bypassing the physical distance. In the palm of his right hand, a violent, swirling sphere of highly compressed blue chakra roared to life.
Without a moment of hesitation, Ren drove the Rasengan violently forward, pressing the grinding, destructive sphere directly into Jackal's abdomen.
"Aaaaarrrghhh!!"
Jackal let out a blood-curdling scream of pure agony as the sheer rotational force of the Rasengan tore through his flesh and organs. The impact launched him backward like a cannonball.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Jackal's body crashed through the laboratory, violently smashing through one expensive Regeneration Pod after another, shattering glass and metal in a spectacular display of destruction before finally slamming into the far cavern wall.
"Eeeekkkk—!!" Lamy wailed in pure despair, tears streaming down her face as she watched her precious, incredibly expensive life's work get completely pulverized into scrap.
"You bastard!"
Although Tempester had completely lost his memory, his combat instincts remained terrifyingly sharp. He didn't know the blonde man's identity, but he knew the person standing amidst the ruin was a deadly enemy.
Whoosh!
A bizarre, howling sound erupted from Tempester's mouth. In an instant, a violent, localized hurricane rapidly manifested, wrapping tightly around his muscular body. With the speed of a raging gale, he charged directly toward Ren, intending to tear him to shreds with the sheer pressure of his wind.
Swish!
Just as Tempester's fists were about to connect, Ren's body simply vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind except the three-pronged kunai still embedded in the floor where he had stood.
"This guy ran..." Tempester skidded to a halt, the violent winds dying down as his eyes rapidly darted around the cavern, frantically searching for Ren's magical signature.
Whoosh!
Another flash of yellow light.
Ren instantly materialized directly in front of Tempester, practically chest-to-chest. The air between them instantly dropped by several degrees. The playful, mocking demeanor Ren had displayed earlier was entirely gone, replaced by a suffocating, murderous intent.
Ren's glowing blue eyes locked onto the demon's confused gaze, his voice dropping into a deadly, chilling whisper.
"Did you do this to Laxus and the others?"
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