Another day, another update. I think I'm starting to get the story moving along again. Hopefully, I'll be able to get most of this story done before Summer ends. As always, please review and thanks for reading!

Chapter 36: Tartaros Arc Part Three- The King of Hell

Franmalth was doing the countdown mentally and cackled when he hit zero, "The time has come! Magic will now be wiped out! You're all gonna die with it!"

The mages froze for a brief moment, waiting for their magic power to vanish as their enemy declared. A tense moment of silence passed by.

Sting glanced down at his fingers and clenched them into a fist, generating a sphere of light. He smirked, "My magic…hasn't been wiped out."

Franmalth blanched, "Hah?"

Lucy pulled out one of her keys and felt magic still flowing through it, "You're right…"

"That means Wendy did it!" Yukino gasped in delight.

"Yay!" Lector and Frosch cheered.

Franmalth was beside himself. The demon fell flat on his back and stuttered, "How could the plan fail? How could Ezel fail?! How much is his blunder going to cost us? How much?! How freaking much?!"

"And with that hazard out of the way," Sting sneered at the stunned enemy, "You guys in Tartaros are gonna get your asses kicked. Ready to meet your maker?"

"GAAAAA!"

Franmalth suddenly shrieked and lunged at Sting, attacking like a frenzied gorilla, "I'M GONNA TAKE A MILLION OF YOUR FUCKING SOULS! THEN I'M GONNA TAKE YOUR SOULS AGAIN! AND AFTER I TAKE YOUR SOULS I'M GONNA RIP OUT YOUR SOULS!"

Sting read his angry attacks easily enough and dodged, "He's snapped…"

Lucy reached for her keys, "We'll back you up!"

"Hold on, how?" Yukino stopped her, "He can absorb people and magic, remember?"

"Besides, did you forget?!" Franmalth dropped the crazy streak for a moment and started swiping his fingers through the air, "I still have Hades' magic, you idiots!"

Suddenly, the group was surrounded by a series of magic seals. Lucy froze and shrieked, "It's an Amaterasu Formula!"

"Shit!" Sting started charging for an attack, but it was too late.

"I'm gonna kill all of you!" Franmalth screeched, "Amaterasu Form Twenty-Eight!"

Before any of the mages could react, the seals generated a massive eruption of energy, bathing them in its intense power. Moments later, they were sprawled out on the ground, drained of magic to a serious degree.

Yukino was gasping for breath, "Th-this was…Hades…"

"Amaterasu formulas…" Lucy managed, "Drain..your magic…ugh…"

Sting punched the ground in an effort to get up, "Shit…I was already running low…"

Franmalth sneered in dark delight, "Time to feast on your souls!"

He extended his fingers and constricted them around Sting's throat, wrists, and ankles. A moment later, something akin to a massive electric shock went through the White Dragon and began to sap at his strength. Sting roared in pain.

"Sting!" Lucy shouted, struggling to get to her feet.

Franmalth launched his other hand at Lucy and Yukino, pinning them in a similar way. One finger went for Frosch and Lector, constricting them together and draining both at once.

"I'm gonna add your souls to my latest collection!" the demon cackled.

The pain was excruciating. It felt as though they were being split in half, which was pretty accurate given that their enemy was trying to tear the souls from their bodies.

Franmalth stuck his tongue out at them in mockery, "The draining process is already complete! I'll be taking those souls now!"

"Lucy!" Yukino shrieked, "We have to try and free Taurus and Aries! I won't let him have them!"

"Okay!" Lucy gritted her teeth against the pain and shouted, "Taurus, I close our contract!"

The desired effect was to send the spirit back to the Celestial World, but what actually happened was rather different.

Franmalth was suddenly stretched, eyes widening in astonishment, "What the-?! What did you do?!"

Lucy's eyes widened as the demon's assault on them stopped for a moment, "He's getting sucked into the Celestial World with Taurus?!"

"Ngh!" the demon gnashed his teeth, "I'm not going anywhere! Taurus, eject!"

The Bull Spirit was suddenly launched free of Franmalth's body, and then disappeared back to his home realm.

Yukino seized her opportunity as well, "Aries, I close our contract!"

"Grr! Aries, eject!" Franmalth growled, setting the Ram Spirit free.

An idea suddenly came to Lucy and she shouted again, "Sting, I close our contract!"

Lector's jaw dropped. Frosch looked on cluelessly while Yukino caught on and grinned. Sting blinked at Lucy like she'd gone crazy, "Huh?!"

Unexpected as it was, it worked on Franmalth, who instantly released Sting of his bonds, "He's a Celestial Spirit?!"

Now free, Sting realized what Lucy had been playing at and bared his fangs in a predatory grin, "Nice, Luce!"

Franmalth blanched as the Dragon Slayer got up and lunged at him, "Ehh?! She fooled me! You little bitch-"

Sting slammed his fist into the demon's face, sending him sprawling and simultaneously freeing the others. He cackled at Franmalth, "She's a lot smarter than you, dumbass!"

Lucy and Yukino got up along with the exceed, facing Franmalth as he sneered at them from the ground, "You still can't beat me! I'll absorb your magic…"

He trailed off as Sting lifted up a massive chunk of rock- rubble from the fight. The Dragon Slayer looked positively terrifying with his maniacal grin. Franmalth actually started to sweat at the sight.

Lucy smirked, "Absorb that."

"That's the last thing that would have a soul," Lector agreed.

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch waved at the demon cheerily, "Bye bye!"

Sting brought the boulder down with sheer physical power, creating an impact that not even Franmalth could ignore. But as if that first hit wasn't enough, Sting brought the rock up again and smashed the demon once more. A moment later, he was bashing Franmalth with his makeshift weapon as though he were in a pillow fight.

When the boulder eventually was crushed beyond any use, so too was Franmalth. The appearance he'd possessed with Hades magic attributed to him vanished, leaving the demon defeated and unconscious and for the most part, flat as a pancake.

"Whew…" Yukino sighed in relief, "That's one down…"

"He definitely won't be getting up after that," Lucy agreed.

Franmalth's body began to release small orbs of light, countless to the point that the hall was filled with them.

Sting watched them for a moment, "I guess all the souls he stole were set free."

"Yeah…" Lector murmured.

"It has only just begun…"

The mages froze at the voice. Sting and Lucy recognized it all too well. Very slowly, they turned around.

Hades stood behind them, arms crossed whilst observing Franmalth with the mild crease of a frown upon his forehead, "Tartaros' true goal was not Face."

Yukino stared at their once-strongest enemy, "What do you mean?"

"Face was meant to wipe out magic across the continent," explained Hades, "But it wasn't meant as a method of incapacitation for Tartaros to gain dominion. Their sole purpose for activating Face was to resurrect their Master, E.N.D. So long as there is magic around his seal, the demon will be contained."

Sting's eyes widened, "E.N.D?"

"That's the demon that Igneel tried to defeat…" Lucy breathed.

"E.N.D cannot be allowed to revive," Hades fixed them with a stern look, "If he is unsealed, his wrath will be unimaginable. We're talking about a demon that Acnologia feared in the ancient days."

The concept of a monster more terrifying than even the black dragon brought horror to the Fairy Tail mages' eyes.

Hades' form flickered as he began to vanish, "Tell Makarov…it may be time to release the light…"

And then he was gone.

Sting shifted uneasily, "Well that was…creepy."

Frosch jumped at Yukino in fright, to which she held the exceed protectively, "Yeah, but now we know that Tartaros is aiming for E.N.D's resurrection. The good news is that since Wendy and Charle stopped Face, he can't be revived."

"Still…" Lucy frowned, "It didn't sound like Hades thought that was the end of it. We need to tell Master. Release the light…I wonder what that means?"

"I'll go find him," Lector volunteered.

Sting nodded, "Alright. You be careful."

"Yeah, you too," replied the red exceed as he flew off.

Lucy looked at Sting, "So now what?"

"We should probably try and find the others. And defeat anyone from Tartaros on the way," growled the White Dragon.

Yukino agreed, "He's right. If this demon was so powerful, I can't imagine the others are having any easier a time. We should probably go provide reinforcements."

With a plan in play, the Fairy Tail mages started to head off. Meanwhile, though he was still crushed on the ground, Franmalth had regained slight consciousness.

Heehee…what a bunch of idiots…Us demons know not the meaning of life and death because we possess immortality! We can be revived countless times! Well, I think I'm due for a visit to the lab!

A moment later, the broken form of the demon poofed away.

At Hell's Core, the battle was at a stalemate. Despite numerous tag team attacks from Natsu and Mira, they couldn't land a deciding blow on Sayla. The demoness knew the layout of the lab like the palm of her hand and had formulated countless strategies to defend herself. On the other hand, it took all of Sayla's effort to avoid the pair's powerful spells, so she was forced to whittle away at their stamina with minor attacks that had little to no effect on the mages.

Natsu ducked under another book and spat a fireball Sayla's way, but she easily dodged it. He growled in frustration, "This'll go on forever!"

"It has become rather tedious…" Mira agreed with narrowed eyes, "Unless we can outmaneuver her and score a direct hit, it seems her stamina will last as long as our own."

Sayla suddenly paused, "I…do not agree with that statement. It would seem the odds have just tipped in my favor…"

"Oi, oi…"

The temperature suddenly dropped significantly. Even Natsu felt the difference as a figure appeared walking up from behind Sayla.

Close by where she still was grappling with Lamy clinging to her back, Lisanna shivered, "This magic power is…"

Sayla looked over her shoulder at the newcomer with a guarded expression.

"I was researching just below the lab when all this racket started," Silver muttered, then sighed, "I just can't concentrate with all this noise…"

Lamy blanched and sweated nervously, "S-Silver!"

Mira eyed the man with caution, "His magic power is quite high…"

"He's the Ice Devil Slayer who froze the Sun Village," Natsu informed her.

Silver took the situation into account and drifted his gaze over to Natsu, "I wondered who had Sayla's hands full. Two on one isn't quite fair, don't you think? I'll take the dragon off your hands, my dear."

"Don't call me that," Sayla muttered, "Only Lady Kyouka is allowed to grace such titles on me."

"Hahaha," chuckled Silver, "As you wish. But I'll still be taking this one off your hands."

Natsu returned Silver's gaze with a steely look, "You're on. I'm gonna get payback for what you did to Atlas Flame."

The Devil Slayer cracked a smile, "That look in your eyes…it's a good one. Now, shall we begin?"

Without waiting for another word, Natsu launched himself towards Silver in an explosion of flame, "You're damn right!"

"Natsu, wait!" Mira shouted after him, but suddenly Sayla was upon her with a ferocious physical strike from one hand. It took all the Take Over mage had to block the rapid attack.

Sayla's eyes were cold, "Now it's one on one. I'll show you the wrath of a true demon, human."

Mira had to change form to her Halphas Soul just to fully defend against the attack. She gritted her teeth with the effort. Damn, she really is powerful!

"Mira!" Lisanna cried out in alarm.

Lamy snickered, "You sure you should be focused on someone else's battle?"

"Let me go, you bitch!" Lisanna growled and smashed Lamy against the wall behind her. The force stunned the small demon, momentarily loosening her grip.

Natsu sucked in a breath and bellowed, "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

Silver grinned and swiped his hand to the side, instantly freezing the flame attack. However, his eyes widened when an orange glow appeared behind the curtain of ice he'd created, followed swiftly by a violent explosion.

"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" roared the Salamander as he crashed through the ice and straight into the Devil Slayer's chest.

But Silver stood his ground and smirked, "Let's lower that temperature you've got…"

Natsu's eyes widened as Silver snapped his fingers. The cold in the air intensified in a single moment, leaving him barely enough time to lunge sideways and avoid the instantaneous freeze. As it was, a wave of ice ripped through the lab towards Lisanna and Lamy.

Lisanna saw the ice coming and scrambled to avoid it. She wasn't fast enough to move Lamy out of the attack's path, so the small demon was forced to relinquish her hold and leap away.

Lamy gave Silver a terrified look as she ran off, "Watch where you're throwing Devil Slayer Magic! I don't wanna die!"

Silver took no notice of her, having been attacked by Natsu once more. He caught the Dragon Slayer's fist with ease and continued to smirk, "I'm impressed you managed to dodge that."

"Sting told me about that move," Natsu growled, igniting his entire body to negate the freezing effects Silver was creating, "I'm not gonna fall for it."

"We'll have to see about that," replied the Devil Slayer in amusement.

Now free of Lamy's grip, Lisanna glanced between the two battles and decided that Mira needed help more than Natsu did. She charged in with her Tigress Take Over, scratching at Sayla from the side, "Tigress Slash!"

Sayla glanced at her in momentary surprise, but managed to defend against the attack. She flicked her fingers and launched a book at Lisanna whilst leaping back from Mira's follow-up attack. The demoness eyed them both warily, preparing a counterattack mentally.

Suddenly, a test tube beside her began to bubble and roil, catching the attention of all the battling mages. Ezel's monstrous upper body appeared with a furious snarl from the demon, "BUAH!"

Sayla's eyes widened, "Ezel?!"

"I'm back dammit!" roared the demon, "Hurry up and fucking revive me!"

Silver gave his bestial guild mate a disinterested look, "You got your ass handed to you at the most crucial site of the Face Operation and you expect us to actually put effort into bringing you back?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP, SILVER!" Ezel screeched in fury, "THAT BRAT THAT BRAT THAT LITTLE SHITTY BRAT! WHERE THE HELL IS LAMY!?"

The Devil Slayer looked around innocently, "Oops, I scared her off."

"BASTARD!" Ezel swore at Silver.

Silver grinned in amusement, "Well, as it turns out, your failure might not be so bad…for both sides."

Natsu was giving Ezel a disgusted look, "That asshole is hurting my ears with all his griping."

"What's this about?" Lisanna wondered.

Seeing that Lamy was nowhere to be found, Ezel snarled, "Sayla, hurry up and revive me!"

"I'm in the middle of a battle. Be patient," replied the demoness.

"I DON'T CARE!" snarled the furious demon.

Mira arched an eyebrow, "Revive?"

"You heard right," Silver actually yawned, as though explaining was a bore to him, "This place is Tartaros' respawn point. We call it Hell's Core. Because of a contract made with the Demon King, if our bodies are destroyed, we can be brought back to life here. It effectively makes us immortal."

Lisanna's mouth hung open, "That's insane…"

"You've said enough, Silver," Sayla murmured sternly, "Loose lips sink ships."

Silver shrugged, "It's an awfully big ship, though."

"I think I get it," Mira said slowly, ending her Take Over to take on her normal appearance, "It would be quite a problem if our enemy could come back fresh every time we defeat them. That makes the annihilation of this place our first priority."

Sayla cast a glare at her, "Do you seriously believe you're capable of that?"

Natsu grinned maniacally, "Do you have any idea who you're talking to? Us being Fairy Tail mages, destruction is our middle name!"

Mira's eyes took on a sinister light, "It's going to be even easier than that."

Suddenly, the test tubes around her exploded.

Sayla froze, "What?"

All around the lab, every test tube burst, eventually destroying the catalyzing Ezel and Franmalth when he tried to reform as well. Within moments, each respawn point was completely ruined.

Silver's eyes widened, "The lab…"

"Awesome, Mira!" Lisanna gasped.

"How did you…?!" Sayla stared at Mira in alarm.

"Take Over," Mira answered, "I use Satan Soul Take Over as my primary magic. When you threw me into one of these test tubes, I took over the tentacle demon that allows you to respawn."

Sayla was taken aback, "You can Take Over demons?!"

Natsu bared his fangs in a smirk, "That's what our S-Class mage, the Demon Mirajane is capable of!"

After her moment of shock, Sayla recovered and became much more guarded, "I see…that explains why my Macro hasn't had any effect on you."

"That being said, it seems you're too high a level of a demon for me to gain control of in the heat of battle," Mira replied as her body glowed, "So that restricts us to our physical abilities."

She took on her Satan Soul: Sitri and confronted Sayla again with a confident smirk.

Lisanna grinned, "Mira's Sitri form is her strongest Satan Soul! The strongest demon!"

Silver laughed out loud at that sentiment, "Strongest demon? Oh little lady, you have no idea…hm?"

Natsu suddenly lunged at Silver with his fist cloaked in flames, "Alright, the break's over. You're getting too chatty for my liking."

The Devil Slayer blocked with an amused look, "Suit yourself…"

Sayla's eyes grew dark, "I invoke an order…"

Mira faced her fearlessly, "Your Macro Curse won't work."

"My Etherias Form…" Sayla pressed two fingers to the mark on her forehead and swiped them away rapidly, "Release!"

A surge of intense power blew through the room, giving pause to the other combatants.

Lisanna guarded her face with her arms, "She used it on herself?!"

Sayla's entire appearance changed. Her pale skin darkened and tattooed with black markings around the Tartaros brand on her lower stomach. The dress she wore vanished, completely exposing her upper body save the cloth around her arms. In addition, her legs transformed into stilt-like blades with wings along her back thighs. Her horns grew in size and her dark hair became wild.

She looked the polar opposite of her usually-calm disposition. Now Sayla was a monster beyond reason, fighting for a single, sole purpose: to destroy her enemy.

Mira was frozen to the spot at the sudden rise of magic power around her opponent. I can't believe this! Just how powerful is she?!

In a sudden blur of speed, Sayla was gone. Inside the same second, she landed a devastating blow to Mira's stomach, causing the Take Over mage to spit up blood. The force of the attack launched Mira into Lisanna with violent force, sending both sisters flying.

Sayla was not done. A rotating, double magic circle surrounded her palm, creating an open eye within her hand. The second it opened, a massive surge of energy exploded towards the Fairy Sisters.

"Gorgon Pulse!" Sayla screeched.

The sheer force of the blast caused devastating damage to Mira and Lisanna, while simultaneously destroying a large chunk of the lab itself.

Natsu whipped around in alarm, "Lisanna, Mira!"

He was suddenly struck in the chest by Silver, who smirked, "You have other things to worry about."

The Devil Slayer tried to generate another instantaneous freeze, but Natsu's body started to crackle with lightning as he ducked down and rose to deliver a fierce uppercut, "Lightning Flame Dragon's Firing Hammer!"

Silver was lifted into the air and backflipped to regain his balance, facing the Dragon Slayer with a guarded expression. He rubbed his jaw and grimaced, "That's quite the right arm you've got there…"

On the ground, Lisanna struggled to get on her hands and knees with a gasp, "What the…what is she…"

Mira's Satan Soul: Sitri vanished with a groan, "Ugh…"

Sayla watched coldly, showing not a hint of mercy.

Elsewhere in Tartaros, Erza and Kyouka's battle was still raging. Both of the warriors had sustained injury, but no decisive blow had been made. However, now that Face had failed to activate, Kyouka was worried.

She retreated a short distance and ran the information through her head. If Operation Face failed, Master won't be able to be revived…This is an unsettling development. I must confer with the Demon King.

Kyouka turned and leaped away from Erza, who shouted after her, "Where do you think you're going?!"

"I'm leaving your destruction to her," Kyouka cast a glance at the individual who had been watching from the shadows for a while. She muttered to her guild mate, "This is your task."

"I would have attacked her even if it wasn't an order," grinned the new demon.

Erza paled at the sight of her new opponent, "What the…"

"It's been a while, Erza," Minerva smirked down at Titania mockingly, "Ready for a taste of a demon's power? I've discarded whatever humanity was left of me and accepted the strength of Tartaros."

"You…" Erza gritted her teeth, "How far you've fallen, Minerva…"

"Silence," Minerva ordered, "Your end is nigh, Titania."

In the very core of Cube, a dark haired man sat upon a black throne of bones. In his left hand was an ancient book with E.N.D inscribed upon the cover. He spoke softly to the book, as though having a conversation with it.

"A human's attempt at matching the power of the Etherias is nothing but a mockery…they stand no chance, Master…Soon, a darkness will flow from hell's maw…a dark to swallow the light of the world…"

As he quieted, Kyouka appeared in the room and knelt before him, "My lord, Marde Guille. The enemies are much stronger than we anticipated. With the failure of Operation Face, we have also lost Franmalth and Ezel."

"Hell's Core has also been annihilated," Marde informed her, smirking at the shocked expression she bore.

"In a situation as dire as this, surely Master must be-"

"-no. I cannot do that," Marde rejected the idea, "We lack the Curse Energy necessary to revive E.N.D. With all this magic power about, resurrecting Master is impossible."

Kyouka protested, "But Face has failed to eradicate that magic power…"

The Demon King sighed in mock defeat, "You just can't see our full goal, can you, Kyouka? This is but a minor bump in the road. Marde Guille is the perfect tactician. Even with Face gone, there are other ways to revive E.N.D. Magic in the world will disappear soon."

"I don't understand…" Kyouka said.

Marde Guille regarded her with half-open eyes, "Kyouka, what are we?"

"The demons of Zeref's Books. The Etherias," she answered instantly.

"And what is our goal?"

"The revival of our Master E.N.D and to return at the feet of Zeref."

"Humans are…?"

"Insects. Below insects."

Marde sneered.

Suddenly, massive vines covered in thorns erupted around the room to entangle Kyouka and slice into her. The demoness shrieked in pain.

"Idiot. You had several humans as captives and merely toyed or imprisoned them," Marde rebuked.

"Th-that was to get information- gahhh!" Kyouka screeched as the thorns pierced her flesh further, destroying the gem atop her forehead.

"It pains Marde Guille to think that his subordinates are playing with trash lower than ants. This is your punishment. Not for playing with humans, but for causing pain to Marde Guille."

Kyouka managed to bow her head, "Th-thank you for the lesson my lord…"

Marde Guille appeared satisfied and rested his chin on his knuckles, "Those little worms…not that they present a significant threat in the big picture…however, I'm rather irritated that they have seen fit to run riot in my garden. Hmm…perhaps I'll make use of Alegria…"