Chapter 1

Would you like to Join my Guild?

"Gosh, this sure does look like a place a demon messed up..." The small red-eyed teen looked up the distorted town drained of all life. Even the sky above was darkened and gray.

"Kukukuku, this is a curse of a demon alright... A small plant-like creature slowly crawled from under his shirt giggling.

The teen scratched his head. He had a striking feeling the moment he stepped foot in the town. Though then again if it wasn't a struggle all joy from doing so would have been removed. You looked up at the sign that had been scratched out before shrugging.

Just as he assumed the moment he felt a strange force...this was magic, or the version demons used a curse.

The boy was never big on magic. He mostly found it useless, as a monster his sheer physical strength was enough. His eyes quickly scanned the area noticing most of the shops and houses were empty.

The boy stuck his nose into the sky take whiff of the air. "Flrea...do you smell that?" The teen looked at the plant like creature that simply nodded.

"Yeah, it smells like corpses. Do you think the demon here killed everyone?" The plant creature asked as the boy looked around sniffing the air once again.

"I don't smell any blood, and I don't think they have been here for too long. They probably just dug up the graveyard or somet-" The teen instantly stopped looking at a nearby church. His eyes widened as he took a stepped towards the building.

"That soul is a demons...that is our target..."

"Thi-this isn't enough." The woman leaned down holding her chest. Books and corpses were surrounding her.

"That woman...this form..." She was breathing heavily. Her golden horns were stuck on her head as she rubbed her face. That woman thought she was saving her life, but forced her into such a sorry state.

The fact that her mind and a fragment of her body was able to escape preventing her from being completely inactive wasn't enough. Her curse was greatly weakened to the point where the only thing that it was usable with was the worst candidates.

She was more of a fragment than anything else. Even while recovering she would sooner or later have to confront the woman and take her 'soul' back.

"I-I would have rather died than end up like this...if Madam Kyôka would see me like this." Before the woman could despair any longer the door to the church was forced open as she quickly raised her head,

She doubted it was any of the villagers. They were all too terrified to even leave their homes...which meant.

"Gosh, are you the demon that took over this place?" A teen with a small creature hanging off his shoulders entered the building as she chuckled. She quickly scanned his body, while it was impossible to tell what guild he was from it was clear he was from one.

The woman smiled her dress swaying ever so slightly as she put up a front. In her current condition even if the boy in front of her was a mere B Ranked mage she wouldn't be able to defend herself properly.

Her curse wasn't even functioning against the living, and she knew activating her Etherious Form in her condition was a bad idea...so the best thing she could do was bluff.

"Oh my, what would a mage such as yourself want with me...you do realize stepping in here means certain death."

"Mage...huh..." The teens' eyes wandered to the side. The clothing he wore was rather plain, the only thing separating him from an average person was the off colors and his red eyes.

The woman eyes narrowed glaring at him as a shiver went down her spine.

He wasn't human...but he wasn't a demon either. Even in her current condition, she could sense that much.

The teen took a step as she lifted her hand the corpses struggling to follow her command.

"STOP! What are you?!"

The boy's eyes widened as both he and the monster on his shoulder chuckled.

"My name is Monster Hud!" He waved as she tried to keep her composure.

"Well, Monster, if you want to challenge a demon you are free to do so...but it won't end well for you."

She sat up, one hand being raised as the corpses prepared to do their master's bidding."

"That's fine. I want to fight you to see if you are worth the trouble." The boy set the plant creature onto the ground as he took another step forward

The held her breath. This was going to end in a fight regardless, the best she could do was hope for a distraction and escape from there.

Without waiting any longer the corpses staggered forward before sprinting into a run. Their limbs twisting about.

Almost casually the teen tore through them as if they had been cut by a knife. She hadn't noticed before, but his nails were far longer than what a human's should be.

As the corpses feel apart, the demon lifted her other hand as the books that had surrounded her lifted from the ground flinging themselves towards her opponent. If they were normal books, this would have been pointless, however...

"Really, books?" The teen raised his arm swiping away the leather and paper as something strange happened. "Huh?"

The pieces of ripped and torn paper started to glow as scattered explosions enveloped Hud's body.

The demon didn't take it as a victory however as she rushed to a nearby window to escape...only to notice something.

"W-what?" Her eye twitched noticing all the walls and windows completely covered in roses, vines, and thorns. They weren't thin either, rather thick, thicker than the walls of the church itself.

"Nope, nope ~" A small head bloomed from one of the roses, the plant-like creature sticking its tongue out. "A demon that runs away from a fight should be decapitated! Hud should at least have a bit of fun with you considering all the trouble he had getting here."

The demon winced, but before she could think of something she felt something similar to a sledgehammer hit the side of her body. She was flung into the nearby wall hitting the vines nearly impaling her to the wall.

She finally let out a cry of pain as her eyes focused on the teen that was causing it.

"I thought demons and magic were supposed to be worth something..." He then started to take a deep breath. His chest puffing to an unnaturally large as he let out a distorted shout.

There was no magic to be found in the attack. It was just the sheer physical force of his shout and lungs that blew her away even further finally snapping the vines and blowing her out of the church.

And so her body laid broken on the ground looking at the sky above. She could hear the sounds of footsteps slowly approaching her as well as voices.

"See Hud? Demon Curses? Human magic? It's all worthless compared to physical might. Just crush her head and be done with it!" The cackle of the plant demon echoed as a shadow stood over her.

"Is this really your limit?" from his voice, it was a genuine question she was asked as she held her breath.

It wasn't going to work. She was just a fragment...but it would have been miserable, disgusting, soul-crushing to end in such a way...it would have been sad if the demon known as Seilah died with her head crushed.

So, even if she was only a piece...even if she hadn't recovered...

"I order you..."

The teen just tilted his head as she finished her statement.

"Release your limiters!"

At that moment a large spike of energy pushed him back blue and red danced about as Hud eyes widened as a smile slowly crept on his face.

"Wah, wah, wah?! I thought she was almost dead for sure!" The plant creature quickly ran to safety.

Hud widened is stance as the flames slowly vanished. What was before he was something that could be called a demon.

Her skin was black, her eyes were glowing yellow, and she towered over even him. The image made shook him to his core, but even something like that...

"I wonder how long it will last!" Hud laughed as Seilah body twitched.

His words were the truth. She wasn't supposed to use that in her condition. She had to finish it in the next few seconds.

"Gah!" Nearly vanishing from the teen appearing above him. Her palm was open as a harsh blue light appeared in her palm.

"W-what?!" An explosion as heard as the teen was blown back through the church and onto the streets of the small town.

He slid into the dirt his body covered in scratches and dirt...however.

"Owowowow! She managed to close that power gap quick." Hud staggered to his feet as the church started to shake. With a scream, Seliah busted through the building finally causing it to collapse once again appearing her arms raised.

"I order you...tear my enemy to shreds!" her arms started to move at unnatural speeds. However too much of Seliah's surprise none of her hits landed.

Rather the strange teen's arms started to move to match each one of her blows quickly. It seemed the first hit was a fluke. The battle wasn't going to be as simple as she first thought and she was already running out of time.

"Guh!" She was kicked away by the monster as he dusted himself off noticing the scratches on his body. He once again lowed his stance as Seliah stopped herself. She HAD to kill him in the next exchange.

"I order you tear my enemy to SHREDS!" Once again they clashed them exchanging blows. Scars and craters slowly started to form around them as finally...

"There!" Seliah reeled back of leg kneeing her enemy in the stomach as he staggered back before taking both of her hands and slamming him away into a nearby house. Her wings then spread apart flapping as energy started to be stored into her palm once again. Demon Release was unusable, and this was her final attack.

With a single gust, she shot towards him. Hud still staggering to his feet, but for some reason, he didn't appear in a hurry as he just stared at the bullet of death came towards him.

"Die!" Her hand was outstretched as another explosion echoed through the town...however.

"You magic users sure are impressive but..."

Seliah eyes were twitching, her power had run out, and she had reverted to her more human-like state. Her hand was caught by her opponent he continued his statement.

"...this is your limit." Hud then casually took another deep breath as he let out a shout point blank towards the demon as she was blasted away sliding a few meters across the town.

All the energy in her body had been drained. She couldn't even move her body as she was in a familiar position once again. Her vision was fading, but she caught the last thing her enemy said to her.

"So...would you like to join my guild?" That was the last thing she heard as she finally slipped away into unconsciousness.

"Wow, she passed out..." Hud looked at his enemy as the small plant-like creature came running up to him.

"G-geez, I can't believe a magic user demon or not had that sheer physical power." The plant creature replied as Hud casually relocated his shoulder and cracked his neck.

"Yeah, what's worse is I don't think she was fighting to the best of her ability. She was clearly hesitant to use that and once she did it was probably weaker than expected..."

"So, what do you want to do Hud?"

"We should probably collect our reward form the townspeople and take her back with us," Hud replied as Flrea frowned.

"Are you sure? She seems dangerous."

"If she wasn't dangerous then she wouldn't be work bringing back."

"You have a point..." The small plant creature then wrapped vines around Seliah as Hud slung her body over his shoulder.

He had taken his first step in creating his 'guild'...

Seilah's body twitched as her eyes slowly started to open. Her limbs bound in harsh vines as she looked around what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse of some sort. It seemed that at the very least that she was still alive.

"Hey~ Hud, she woke up!" The plant-like creature rose from the wooden planks as the teen slowly stepped inside of the main room with a smile on his face.

"Good to see that you're awake. I thought you'd be out for a few more days..."

"Who hired you to capture me?" Seilah took a deep breath. That was really the only thing she could think of why the so-called monster in front of her didn't end her life.

"Geez, I never really wanted to kill you in the first place. I just wanted you to join my guild!" Hud sat down on the ground, mostly due to the fact that there was no furniture.

"You're guild..." there was a certain bitterness in her voice as she repeated that statement. Guilds weren't something she was interested in. While she was once apart Tartaros that was less a guild and more of a group.

The only attachments she had with Madam Kyôka, and that hadn't ended well.

"Yeah, I was looking for strong people for it, and you certainly fit that description. Plus you probably don't have anything better to do." Hud laughed as Seilah eyes narrowed.

"You're making quite the assumption," Seilah replied as Hud looked over to his plant friend nodding. At that moment the vines that were covering her body slowly sunk into the ground.

"It's your choice, but you want something too right? While I understand wanting to do something alone, you can't really use your full power right?"

"So you knew..." Seilah pressed her fingers to her lip as Hud nodded.

"Yeah. You're recovering from something right, so at the very least until you ful-"

"Stop..." Seilah cut him off as she smiled. "I will happily join your guild, but there is a one simple thing that I ask."

"What?" Hud replied bluntly as the woman chuckled.

"My current condition is due to a mage stealing my... 'body' in a certain sense. If I would to join this guild, you must help me get the rest of my power back."

Hud remained silent as the plant-like creature grumbled.

"I'm not sure Hud...she seems shady," Flrea replied.

"Alright, that's fine by me. I want to fight you while you are at your best anyway so I can agree with that." Hud stated as Seilah nodded.

"Then it is decided...I assume I am now a member of." Seilah stopped herself as Hud finished her statement.

"Demon Fang! The guild is called Demon Fang." Hud laughed, it probably wasn't the most amazing name, but it seemed to have worked.

"Well, what is your name anyway?" Hud smiled as the demon brushed her dress off.

"Seilah and yours is Monster isn't it?"

Hud tilted his head, the first half of his name was technically Monster. Though most people he spoke to simply used Hud. He didn't really mind and just took it as her being proper.

"Yep, Monster is good enough, so Seilah if you don't mind me asking. Do you happen to know any other demons or monster that would be willing to join a guild?"

Seilah closed her eyes. She doubted any demons actually managed to survive the destruction of the Cube. Still, it could have been worth looking around the ruins for something...that was what the logical part of the demon was telling herself.

Rather she simply wanted to know if there was a possibility that even a part of Kyôka. Even if it was only a piece, she might have been able to do something.

"There is a place where I wish to look into depending on our location. Regardless of if there is an actual demon there, I think you may find something helpful."

"Alright, but first we should beat that mage up and get your powers back." Hud sat up as Seilah expression soured completely. Her elegant look turned into one that could only be described as disgust.

"Don't bother, you'd be killed instantly if you go after that person...or rather their guild."

Hud eye twitched as Flrea laughed.

"As if, demon or mage, there is no one who would be able to stop Hud."

Hud stopped for a moment scratching his head. "Ah, so she is apart of another guild? It's not like I can do anything until you tell me who they are and where they are located."

Seilah simply glared at the monster as he sighed. That was all he needed to see to realize she wasn't going to tell him anything.

"Fine, but you want to get your power back right? You can't get it back by doing nothing..." Hud pointed out as Seilah covered her mouth.

"Do you think I do not know that. You said you wanted to make a guild correct? At this moment it is best that we try to bolster our numbers and then strike them. A weakened demon and two monsters wouldn't be able to touch them."

The plant creature was about to snap again as Hud chuckled.

"Fine Iguess that's fine. If these guys are as strong as you say then I can't help but be excited! So I can wait a bit longer, you said you want to expect the ruins of a place right? Where is it?"

Seilah closed her eyes. "Where are we right now?"

Hud looked over to Flrea who widened his mouth as he vomited out a map. Hud then picked it up checking it.

"We are in the location humans call...Midi."

That...was a problem. If she remembered her map correctly, then they were further way from the cube than she thought. After all, the Cube's previous location was at the edge of the Pergrande Kingdom. It wasn't a short walk from Midi to there. They would have to pass at least three kingdoms to get there.

"This isn't going to be a short trip, but I have a way to make it shorter if you are willing to wait."

Seilah's curse still wasn't strong enough to take over those with a will. However, if she was able to recover more she may be able to command animals allowing their trip to at least be easier.

"Fine by me, it's not like me and Flrea had any other leads." Hud finally got up as the small plant creature jumped on his shoulder. "We're going to go hunting...you can do your demon thing here."

Without much of a sendoff, Flrea and Hud left the building leaving the demon to herself.

Normally she would have called someone a fool leaving her in their base of operations, but honestly, there was nothing their 'base' to steal just an empty building.

Regardless this left her to her own devices. It seemed that some fortune had smiled upon her. It would have been extremely difficult for her to get her power back by herself, but with the help of a new guild, it would be possible.

Of course, they were completely disposable. And Monster most likely knew that too, he needed a guild member and she needed her powers back. There was nothing else to it besides that.

She was apart of the nine demon gates after all. She had to make show to completely crush and erase Fairy Tail for what they had done. Still, she couldn't help but be a bit curious about Monster.

Why would a monster want to create a guild? Of course, their guild was going to be a dark one. Even if they bothered trying to register, no guild that had monsters and demons in it would have passed.

In the end, it didn't really matter. A guild was just a different name for a group of like-minded individuals. Perhaps it was just easier to call it that rather than something else.

She got up realizing that there really wasn't much in the building at all. The gloomy nature was her style, but the lack of substance was a bit unsettling.

So she took a step outside noticing the sheer amount of vines and trees covering the area. Despite that, there wasn't a single insect flying around or doing anything of the sort.

The demon placed her hands on the nearby vines tugging on them. She would have to push past the bushes to see anything from the outside world.

There was no magic placed around the surrounding area, but the overgrown plants clearly weren't natural. She circled the building finding out why there were no insects despite the lush nature of the area.

Large Venus flytraps were moving ever so slightly twitching the moment they sensed movement. Their stems allowed them to move like heads attached to a string attacking anything that got close.

"Perhaps this is that plant creature doing..." Seilah recalled it blocking off her escape during her and Monster's battle. Still to do something like that without magic was impressive.

She made a mental note to ask the two about it when they got back.

After that she went back inside waiting for the two to return, once they did they entered the building dragging what seemed to have been a large bore with them. Luckily they had sense enough to skin it before they got in.

"Welp...that didn't take too long, come on we are eating outside." It seemed that Hud only came in there to tell her that.

By the time Seilah got outside the boar was already strung up, of course, they still lacked a fire to burn underneath it. That was until Flrea gathered a bunch of old branches and leaves placing it under the creature.

Hud then cracked his fingers as his hands nearly vanished smoke slowly starting to build up before the mile of wood ignited under the boar nearly engulfing it in flames.

"How did you do that?" Seilah asked as Hud and Flrea looked at one another.

"Hmm, well I move my hands fast enough to cause enough friction to create heat. If you are wondering I can't actually use something like that in a fight or anything." Hud laughed as Seilah eyes narrowed.

"You two, truly are incapable of using magic?"

"Yep!" Hud quickly replied. "Most monsters abilities come from how their bodies work. Like Flrea here can control plants, but that is because his body works with them. A lot of monsters can breathe fire or regenerate from attacks due to their bodies natural system."

He explained it in the most monumentally way possible, but Seilah started to understand. A bird, after all, didn't need to use magic to fly, just like fish didn't need to use magic to breathe underwater.

Still, for the creature in front of her to match her power even if weakened just on natural ability was...strange to say the least. It didn't help that she still didn't know what kind of creature Monster was.

"I should talk about how monsters rank each other in terms of strength. But there is really only four ranks worth talking about and as a demon you probably don't care about that sort of thing."

"Go ahead and tell her anyway Hud, show her how impressive we are."

"Well, I guess showing off a little bit wouldn't do any harm. You see, monsters are separated into four groups. Building destroyer, Town Destroyer, City Destroyer and Country Destroyer. There is one more rank, but that doesn't exist so let's ignore that!"

Hud pointed out before continuing. "Like the names tell you, they tell you the destructive power of the monster. Flrea here is a Town destroyer because he can destroy a town without any help. My rank is a City Destroyer since...well I can do the same."

The fact that monsters bothered having ranks was somewhat humorous to Seilah. Even creatures that adored their most primal instincts couldn't help but rank one another in their strength.

Regardless if she found a way to use Marco on them, then they could be useful yet.