Chapter 25
Mard Geer jumped back as Natsu charged forward, the demon summoned his thorns but without missing a step Natsu dodged every one of them. Kalex appeared behind the demon and gave him a kick in the back, sending him towards Natsu, the fire dragon sent the demon king flying with a powerful punch to the face.
"I'm gonna take that book of yours" Natsu said as Kalex appeared next to him
"this fight will only end one way, soon millions of faces will activate and killing you will be a simple task" Mard Geer stood up and brushed himself off
"taking away my magic won't make me any easier to kill" Kalex cracked his knuckles
The two charged the demon and started throwing punches but the underworld king was wise to their strategy and managed to dodge their fists. The two slayers and the demon fought as the dragons shook the earth with their own battle. Natsu focused on an all-out frontal assault on the demon while Kalex attacked his blind spots and countered for the fire dragon's son. Natsu jumped up to kick the demon in his face but Mard Geer ducked, Kalex appeared above the demon and brought him down with an axe kick. The underworld king jumped back as the two mages regrouped.
"LET'S FINISH THIS!" Natsu screamed as he craged straight for the demon
"you're an idiot" Kalex mumbled as he followed the dragon slayer to battle
"you are pests" Mard Geer said as a he produced a glowing orb that swallowed the two up, "I only need to be worried about the dragons"
"fire dragon talon" Natsu jumped out of the sphere and attempted to kick the demon
"you are now where near a dragon" Mard Geer caught Natsu's leg and punched him through the ground and down in to a deep abyss
"then how about me" Kalex appeared behind the demon a brought both his lightning fuelled fists down on him
"you might be weaker that the hot headed one" Mard Geer caught the lightning slayers fists before swiftly kicking him and then throwing him down the same hole as Natsu
"time to end this charade" the underworld king watched as the two fell and summoned his cursed thorns to finish them off
The two mages dodged the thorns as best they could but soon they were coming from every direction and there was no escape. The two braced for the attack when suddenly all the thorns were destroyed, Natsu looked up to see Sting and Rouge falling beside them.
"Sting, Rouge" Natsu exclaimed as they landed, "thought I smelled you guys"
"we're here to help" sting said
"that's great but who are these guys?" Kalex asked
"just some old friends of ours" Natsu told him before turning back to the white dragon slayer, "appreciate it but we've got this covered"
"but Minerva told u…."
"yeah now's not the time" Natsu interrupted Sting as he looked up at Mard Geer, "we've got other business to handle"
"yeah with all four of us he won't stand a chance" Sting said
"yes we'll definitely be stronger together" Rouge chimed in
"you make a good point but I'll have to pass" Natsu said, "my dad gave me this job and I'll finish it by myself, the only reason Kalex is here is because my dad told me to bring him"
"I'm just waiting for a slot to fight Acnologia to open up" Kalex admitted
"how about this our two teams will fight that demon together and the team that beats him wins" Sting proposed the challenge with a smile on his face
"I'll beat all of you" Natsu jumped up towards the demon king
"hey wait up I'm on your team flame brain" Kalex jumped after him along with Sting and Rouge
Natsu flew out of the hole and straight towards Mard Geer, with his fists ablaze, the demon dodged the fireball as he crashed in to the ground like a flaming meteor. Natsu charged and threw a punch as the underworld king swatted him down but Sting soon appeared with his fists alight, the underworld king duck under the white dragons attack and kicked him away. Rouge appeared below the demon while Kalex appeared above and together they managed to land hits on his stomach and face. Mard Geer was overwhelmed by the constant barrage of the dragon slayers, Sting dealt a decisive kick that sent the demon right through several walls.
"two dragons in the sky and four dragon spawn at my feet" Mard Geer stood as he gripped the book of E.N.D tighter, "you fly about my home and disturb my peace, I am reminded of a feeling I had long forgotten, anger"
"I take offence to that" Kalex stepped forward as he surrounded himself with black lightning, "I wasn't raised by no mere dragon"
"we never perfected that unison raid did we" Natsu stepped out next to Kalex as he became engulfed in black flames
"how about we try and do it now" Kalex smirked as Natsu nodded, "I doubt there will be anything left of him"
"demonic flame dragon god" Natsu drew his head back as he breathed in
"demonic lightning dragon god" Kalex did the same
"ROAR!" the two let out a torrent of black, red and white that combined in to a devastating beam
Mard Geer jumped just as the beam was about to hit him, "seems I underestimated you" the demon said as he landed, he walked over to some rubble and set the book down before walking over to his throne, "anger is a powerful emotion, it has the power to completely change a person but one must wonder who would this changed me be, who is Mard Geer the underworld king master of Tartaros, I must remain these things so I will banish these emotions and you along with them"
The underworld king took a seat on his throne as he started giving off massive amounts of power, suddenly thorns shot up out of the ground all around the mages. Natsu climbed the thorns as he jumped out of the maze and rocketed towards Mard Geer only to be thrown back by a shield. Natsu charged again, this time hitting the demon with his fire dragon sword horn but he only managed to throw the demon up in to the air.
"Sting, Rouge now" Natsu said as he flew over the demon's head
"let's do this" Sting put all his power in to one hand
"I'm with you Sting" Rouge did the same
"holy shadow dragon flash fang" the two dragon slayers combined light and dark to create a powerful beam of energy
"light and dark can never exist together" Mard Geer said as he absorbed the attack
"watch you back, lightning god bellow" Kalex appeared above the demon and rained black lightning down on him, throwing the demon to the ground
Mard Geer soon stood up and jumped out of the way as Kalex fell to the ground, the demon king jumped up and landed perfectly on his throne as the ground around Kalex was destroyed, "if that is all you've got then give up now"
"never gonna happen buddy, I have a contest to win" Natsu said
"is that really the only reason?" Sting and Rouge asked
"it'll be a cold day in hell when I lose to you guys" Nastu answered
"besides that why do you want to erase magic, you could defeat most wizards easily?" Kalex asked
"that book you want to steal contains E.N.D and it is sealed by magic" Mard Geer explained
"so you need to erase it all to free your friends is that it" Sting put it all together
"yes once E.N.D is released then we can return to Zeref"
"why go through this much trouble why not look for Zeref in your own?" Rouge asked
"have you ever questioned why Zeref created us and why did he give us this urge to return to him?" Mard Geer answered the question with another question, "I alone know the answers to these questions"
"why then?" Natsu asked
"we were created to give Zeref the one thing he could never have" Mard Geer smirked as he answered, "we were created to kill our Lord Zeref and the only one who can fulfil our one purpose in life is Zeref's masterpiece, E.N.D"
"if you wanted to kill him so badly we weren't going to stop you" Sting said, "couldn't you have left us out of it"
"when you walk down the road you don't avoid the weeds you crush them" as Mard Geer said that vines grabbed and held tightly; Sting, Rouge and Kalex as Mard Geer summoned a giant flower
"what the hell is that?" Natsu asked
"a prison flower freshly picked from the underworld" the flower flew right towards Natsu as vines held him in place
Natsu struggled to free himself as the flower approached to claim him, but just before the flower could swallow him up it froze along with all the vines. Natsu watched as the vines shattered and the frozen head of the flower crashed to the ground. As he was processing what just happened, he felt his scarf land on his neck.
"wow I thought I had lost it for good" Natsu said as he wrapped the scarf around his neck
"you're welcome" Gray suddenly stood beside Natsu
"thanks" Sting said as he helped Rouge up
"what" Mard Geer looked down to see his right arm frozen, "who are you?"
"I'm the last face you'll ever see" Gray held up his right hand as a tattoo appeared on it
"you're a devil slayer" Mard Geer said as he realised what was happening
"so he's just what we need right now" Rouge said
"you know us two are devil slayers as well" Natsu point to Kalex
"THEN WHY THE HELL HAVEN'T YOU BEEN USING IT" Rouge shouted as the two looked at each other trying to come up with an answer
"it didn't want it to be too easy" Kalex turned towards Mard Geer with his fists charged
"yeah same" Natsu lit his fists as they faced the underworld king
Gray struck first, completely encasing the demon king in ice but he soon escaped and sent his thorns after the mage. Gray froze every thorn as Mard Geer sent more, that were also frozen as all the wizards looked on in amazement.
"my old man send his regards" Gray's ice threw the underworld king throught the air, "I've come to finish what he started"
"you screwed with the wrong family you bastard, now die, ICE DEVIL ZEROTH LONGSWOR…" Gray jumped up and fell towards the demon but as he was about to strike an elbow came down on his neck and he was thrown back
"wait a sec I know this smell, it can't be" Natsu said as he looked up at the figure standing between him and Mard Geer
"no way" Sting said as he stared at the figure before him
"he's dead" was all Rouge could say
Jiemma, the former master of Sabretooth, stood before them as a demon, "they turned him in to a demon" Natsu observed
"yeah but it suits him more than Minerva" Gray said
"of course that's why I demanded to be transformed" Jiemma spoke up, "now I am the most powerful demon that ever existed"
"was it really worth it to abandon your humanity just for power?" Rouge asked
"he's gone insane" Sting said
"I have no equal, my power exceeds that of the heavens" Jiemma started to let off massive amounts of power, "I will crush all of you bugs"
"I'll show you the power of a bug" Natsu charged at Jiemma and the two clashed but soon Natsu was thrown back and through a wall
"you should have stayed dead" Sting charged with Rouge by his side
With a single motion Jiemma threw the two dragon slayers back, "you are weak, too weak to even fight me" Jiemma advanced on the two as they stood up, "you claim to be raised by dragons, are you sure they weren't just lizards"
The two dragons jumped forward and punched Jiemma in the face, "leave him to us guys" Sting told the other mages
"yeah this won't take long" Rouge said
As the two dragon slayer were fighting their former master, the other three mages stood against the demon king, "powerful isn't he but I simply must do something about that arrogance" Mard Geer said as he watched the fight unfold
"nobody left to protect you" Gray said
"ad do you really think I need protection?" Mard Geer asked as he started to glow, "our Master E.N.D is rising from a long slumber, it is time for me to rise as well"
The demon started to morph and change before the mages eyes as he took on his etherious form. As the smoke cleared the demon stood before them looking like a demon should; 7 foot tall,with sharp teeth, completely black skin and black wings on his back.
"behold I am Mard Geer Tartaros, absolute demon and king of the underworld" he announced himself as the mages steeled themselves for battle
"WE DON'T GIVE A CRAP WHAT YOU CALL YOURSELF" Natsu shouted at the demon with his fists alight
"yeah cus we'll take you out all the same" Kalex smirked as lightning crawled over his fists
"that's just how fairy tail does it" Gray finished off as ice mist formed around his hands
"then come and give it your all for this shall be you last fight" Mard Geer readied himself for battle
This was the final part of the battle, with dragons fighting above, Natsu and his friends faced off against a demon in the truest sense but they were not going to die without a fight. The three mages charged head long towards the demon. Mard Geer summoned countless thorns to stop them but Gray froze half of them and Natsu burned the other half while Kalex jumped through the middle.
"lightning devil claw" Kalex upper cutted the demon, who only stumbled back
Mard Geer grabbed Kalex and flew up, "hey come back here with him" Natsu shouted after the demon
"you get the privilege of not seeing you friends die" the demon said as he dragged Kalex along the ground
"yeah cus we ain't planning to die" Natsu appeared as he punched the demon in the face with his flaming fist
The demon went flying toward Gray, who slammed him in to the ground with an ice hammer. Mard Geer soon sprang up and threw Gray in to a charging Natsu and Kalex. The demon flew over the battlefield and shot at the mages with a beam of energy. The wizards scattered as they dodged the attack.
"fire devil rage" Natsu shot at the flying demon
"lightning devil rage" Kalex shot as the demon dodged the first breath attack
"ice devil rage" Gray finally managed to hit the demon and send him falling to the earth
"ice make, hammer" Gray put the demon further in to the ground with his ice hammer
The underworld king stood in the crater and with one flap of his wings, cleared the air of dust, "your attempts to kill me have been amusing" Mard Geer said, "now I shall entertain you with a story about the primordial magic"
"you mean that stuff Grimoire heart was looking for" Natsu mumbled to himself
"from that origin all magic's came in to this world, E.N.D studied this evolution and realised the potential for a new kind of power, curses" Mard Geer told them, "a power fuelled by the most negative emotions; spite, envy, pain and even hatred, these negative emotions manifested and gave us incredible power"
"that sounds like a bunch of bullshit" Natsu said, "but if it is true then magic will always be stronger"
Mard Geer outstretched his arm as the ground became consumed by darkness and surrounded the three mages, holding them still, "the era of magic is over welcome to the era of curses, welcome to hell" Mard Geer said as the wizards struggled against the darkness, "now I will use the ultimate curse designed to kill Zeref himself, now cease to be, Memento Mori"
Dammed souls completely consumed the mages and formed a pillar reaching for the sky as the three struggled against the curse, "you are now and forever will be nothing" as Mard Geer said that a pillar of blinding light over took the darkness as the curse was completed
Mard Geer transformed out of his etherious form as the dust settled on the battlefield, "the ultimate curse has been perfected, soon Master E.N.D will be revived and then we will kill Lord Zeref" Mard Geer said to himself
The underworld king looked around the batelfield, Jiemma was dead and the twin dragons were unconscious, he smirked as he turned to leave but the ground in the crater he made started to rumble. Bursting out of the ground, Mard Geer was shocked to see all three of the mages were fine, half of Gray and Kalex's skin had turned black, but they were unaffected by his curse.
"how have they…?" Mard Geer looked on in shock
"your skin?" Natsu looked at the two
"I believe in you Natsu" Gray fell to the ground
"yeah go kill that demon, show him how good a teacher I was" Kalex fell alongside Gray
"yeah sure guys" Natsu adjusted his scarf as he got ready to face Mard Geer
"fine I guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way" Mard Geer re-entered his etherious form, "once I kill you the mongrels are next"
"I won't let you lay a finger on either of them" Natsu drew on all his power as scales started forming around his eyes
Mard Geer flew towards the fire dragon slayer and was greeted by a flaming fist to the face, that sent his straight though a building. Natsu rocketed after the demon as his body was consumed by fire.
"Igneel style dragon slyer secret art, crimson lotus phoenix sword" the fireball rammed right in to the demon, crashing through the flying rubble
As the two fell to the ground, Natsu finally ran out of power and his dragon force subsided, Mard Geer grabbed the falling mage, "when I am done with you there won't be a body left"
"that's all my magic" Natsu said, "you're pretty tough for a demon"
"DIE YOU HUMAN FILTH" the demon shouted as he grabbed Natsu's neck
"but unlike you I'm not alone" a smile spread across Natsu's face
On the ground, Gray and Kalex stood up as Gray created an ice bow and a black lightning spear appeared in Kalex's hand, "NOW GUYS" Natsu shouted
"LIGHTNING DEVIL GOD SPEAR" Kalex used all his strength to throw the spear
"ICE DEVIL ZEROTH DESTRUCTION BOW" Gray shot the bow straight at the demon's heart
The lightning spear hit him first and then his chest exploded as the ice arrow hit. The underworld king left his etherious form as he fell to the ground, with Natsu following not far behind.
"we did it" Natsu said as he sat up
"no this won't be over until I have destroyed E.N.D" Gray walked over and picked up the book
"yeah sorry bud but Igneel told me to get that book for him" Natsu said
"sorry but you ain't getting it"
"stop screwing and hand it over" Natsu said as he stood up
"I'm not messing around Natsu this is the most powerful demon in Tartaros, this might be our only chance to kill it" Gray tried to reason with Natsu
"I made my dad a promise so hand t over Gray before I make you"
"let Gray destroy it" Kalex spoke up as he dusted himself off, "why does Igneel even want the book anyway"
The fire and ice mages were staring each other down when the ground started to shake, "what the fuck is it now?" Kalex asked fed up with the constant fighting
"is this the faces?" Natsu wondered
"what the hell" Kalex said as he tried to bring out a lightning, "I can't even make a spark"
"me neither" Natsu said
All over Ishgar mages and magical items started to lose their power, it was chaos as everything from lights to trains stopped working and no one could do anything about it.
End of chapter 25