Normally I would be going on some type of rant that would make you wanna pull your hair out, this time, not so much. I will say it's a bit of a explanation as it deals with the poll, but it shouldn't take up to much of your time before you can move on to the chapter, so here it is.
So, I asked for you to vote for where you would like the S-Class Promotion Trials to be held, but nobody has and those that have show a inconclusive result for 4 locations to choose from (A lot of you seemingly all want all locations so I have to break down how the trail will go) for the arc to proceed.
1st would obviously be held on Tenrou Island where it would consist of the usual trial where they would find a cave, enter it and combat somebody (with the S-Class Wizards fighting among them) in order to see where they stand. Then it would move on to finding the 1st Master's grave and then that person would be declared S-Class.
Next would be a version of the Promotion Exam held in the Domus Flau Colosseum (it'd be a trial by combat/Naruto chunin exams mimicry) It would consist of the written test that shows they are competent enough to handle a high ranking job without trouble, then it would be a fight between members of the guild to see if they can handle dangerous situations and then the final fight would be between the last two winners who could fight and the winner would be declared S-Class.
After that the exam would be held in a place called the Fire Falls of Zircon (essentially it's a item Retrieval and fight of the strongest) and this means that the first half of the test would be a test to see if the examiner could handle situations where if they were hired by important clientele that they could do whatever was necessary to complete the job. The fight would consist of passing examiners and the strongest wizards of Fairy Tail (All S-Class Mages, Erza-Mira-Olivia-Gildarts) and the one that remains after the smoke settles is the new S-Class fighter.
Finally is the trial held on Sacred Mount Etna and consists of a Trial of wits, survival, fight for the win. Meaning they have to stay there for several days and show they can handle the strain of living off the land for long periods of time and overcome hardships and at the top of the mountain they would of course duke it out and see who would win and the last man standing is the new S-Class Wizard.
I hope this cleared everything up cuz I do not wanna be explaining this again. And before you ask, yes I have already decided on a location regardless of the poll results but I would still like your opinions regarding a place it can happen in future chapters (There will be 3 trials held and the second version is going to be used based on the poll results)
Also, I have added a couple extra girls to the harem (next arc should introduce them but more than likely not)
Previously: When they left Naruto allowed the full strength of his devil fruits to run rampant in the physical plane. Lightning thundered through the heavens above in the heavens, the earth shook and rumbled as stone began to float up off the ground and into the air. A feeling of dread seemed to fill all who looked upon Naruto who glared ahead with glowing eyes as his Haki began to leak out of his body at full force causing the air around him to tremble in fear.
From a distance, Olivia felt her heart beat erratically as the blonde male readied himself to utterly annihilate Surtur and his horde of demons. Mira felt her entire being shriek at her to flee, to turn and run. The very air seemed to shiver at a unknown entity beginning its rise to power, but Mirajane knew, she just knew that it was Naruto. The blonde's Conqueror's Haki wasn't flaring out fully but it was very noticeable by Surtur and his horde of monsters. Knowing that if he allowed Naruto to gather anymore power it would most likely spell the end for him and with a roar he commanded all his subjects to attack, only to cry out as he was suddenly launched onto his back by a unseen attack.
Olivia felt herself stumble as the earth shook, "W-What was that?" she asked.
Mirajane had fallen on her butt when the ground had shook so suddenly, but when she noticed that something wasn't right, "O-Olivia, look at the sky!" she cried out causing her female companion to gaze upwards, only to gasp.
"W-What is this?" she asked herself in shock.
"I don't know but it's almost like everything around is shaking in terror. The ground, the sky, the forest, everything is trembling." she said in shock.
Naruto looked at Surtur with eyes brimming with power, "I think I'll end this charade cuz I'll be honest, you're pissing me off!" he roared out as he gave a roar as a explosion of light blinded the world for a moment causing everyone that was nearby to look away. When the light died down, all that remained, was a god of thunder, "I'll tell you like I told that overgrown lizard I fought a few weeks back, come at me bro." he said motioning for Surtur to attack him.
And just like that, the battle between Titan's had begun. Who would win, Lightning or Flame, who would carry on and tell their tale to the next generation.
Earlier on the train-
Naruto felt himself shake his head, "So you're saying that this job has been on the board for close to a year and yet nobody has finished it?" he asked Mirajane.
"Yea, it's one of the reasons me and Olivia wanted to bring you on the job, to see if a solitary mage was what was always getting taken. Sure a couple teams would go, but not one as strong as ours. It's ultimately up to whoever posted the job and the situation that determines the difficulty of the request." Mira told him.
"Damn, this complicates things. If people are going missing then we need to find them." Naruto told Mira.
"I'm afraid that's where the trail goes cold. Apparently any wizards that take the job always never get seen again, I have a hunch but I hope to god it's not true." Mira sighed.
"Me too, me too." Naruto said to himself.
-Back at the battle-
A powerful stomp shook the ground as Naruto marched forward to stand in front of Surtur, his form sparking wildly with powerful energy. A powerful fist made of lightning lashed out almost instantly and Surtur had no time to block and the fire demon stumbled away, a strike to the gut forced Surtur to hunch over before Naruto's knee struck him in the chest before a elbow planted itself in Surtur's back. Surtur remained hunched over and roared as he charged forward and proceeded to ram himself into Naruto's gut and push him back several dozen yards, the ground tilling under the incredible force of their power.
Naruto growled as he wrapped his arms around Surtur's body and proceeded to lift upwards surprising the fire demon. When he was sure Surtur was fully off the ground, Naruto proceeded to drop to his knees and felt the earth shake as Surtur's head crashed into the ground. With a push, he shoved the fire demon away and watched as he rolled across the ground and groaned from the headache, he'd be feeling that one. Reaching down, Naruto took a leg belonging to the fire demon and proceeded to pull him around and around in a series of circles, and then let go and watched as Surtur learned how to fly on his own.
Surtur crashed on his back and sunk down into the ground. Looking up, the fire demon felt his eyes widen just in time to watch as a giant made of lightning came falling out of the sky with his fist drawn back. Rolling out of the way, Surtur was spared from the explosion that ripped the land apart as his fellow giant struck with the impact force of a meteor. Rising back up, Surtur was prepared to counter, only to stop as something happened.
"Ghack!" Surtur gagged on his own bile as a fist was lodged into his gut before he and any others watching could even blink or comprehend. It was from his opponent. The blonde with his attacking arm stretched, however, couldn't help but watch as the fire demon shakily stumbled backwards before he dropped to the ground on his knees, and held his gut in pain.
Naruto mocked his opponent kneeling before him, "Aww what's the matter… did I catch you off guard? 'Cuz ya know, I thought you were ready for this."Naruto told Surtur.
Surtur didn't answer and instead just got up on his two feet, wiped his mouth, and shook away whatever drowsiness he felt from that punch, "You'll pay for doing that." Surtur growled out as he rushed at his opponent after that with a jab of his own but the man of lightning saw this and blocked with his forearm, and seeing that his initial attack didn't work, Surtur had followed through with a punch with his other hand that was also blocked, before he pulled back and moved around the lightning giant and attacking him with a powerfully magic enhanced kick. Once more the strike was blocked.
Not giving up, Surtur continued to push as he sent punch after punch, with each one increasing in speed. However, Naruto was able to easily keep up as he blocked them all, all the while staying firmly in his place. Beginning to get annoyed, Surtur leaped up and threw a kick at Naruto's head. Lifting his arm up, he blocked it with his forearm. Surtur then threw a punch, but Naruto just caught it with his other hand. However, Surtur smirked, and with both of his opponent's hands occupied, kicked with his other leg. Not having a way to block it, or react in time, Naruto was sent skidding backwards as the kick landed on his chest.
Sliding back, Naruto stopped, and looked at his opponent, rubbing his chest. He smirked at the fire demon, "Not bad. So you can fight back." he said with excitementin his voice.
Surtur scoffed as he got into a fighting stance, "Then I hope you can do more than just run your mouth." he challenged.
Naruto smirked, also getting into a stance, "Come and find out." The two stared at one another in silence, watching each other for any movement, muscles tensing. Before long, they shot at each other and engaged in a dance of fists and blocks, their arms disappearing in blurs, with each hit sounding off throughout the area, powerful blasts of wind blowing throughout the area as the two titans clashed in a all powerful bout of the ages. Smirking, Naruto caught the wrist of the fist thrown at him by Surtur before it reached and smacked him on his face, "Okay, now it's getting fun. You're not half bad when you decide to start getting serious." he said.
Surtur grunted, "Oh believe me, human." he stated mockingly, "You haven't even seen half of what I can do."
"You know you are currently composed of pure lightning based energy." Kurama told him, "And yet I find myself curious as to why you areletting this little match-shtick fire spewer land solid blows on you. Why are you letting him land such solid blows on him?" Kurama asked him.
"The girls are nearby. If I let his hits blast through me, then they might get hit by the shockwave his hands release out and they could get hurt. I can't let that happen.' Naruto responded as he kicked the Fire Demon back a few meters.
"Well I was only curious as to know why." Kurama stated before coughing, "You should also know that your time in this form is almost up today. And we both know what happens when you get out of this form. You'll all be sitting ducks." Kurama stated factually.
'Yea, I know that, thank you very much for the commentary Kurama, it's not at all distracting!' Naruto growled out as he stumbled back from a hit to his gut.
Surtur's body tensed before he ran forward, crying out in rage as he did so. Naruto's grin widened and he mimicked the fire giant's action, only blurring forward in a giant flash of crackling electricity. As they reappeared, they drew back their fists simultaneously where the resulting collision sent out a massive shockwave that forced Olivia and Mirajane to the ground to not be sent flying off. Mira looked up in shock and awe, "This is insane, he's doing all this so easily, there's no way he's a human!" she cried out as another blasted struck them, "G-Gah, when is this bullshit going to stop?" she cried out.
Naruto took the opportunity to feint a backhanded left punch, following through with a right fist to Surtur's gut. The demon doubled over at the strike, slightly winded. Naruto retracted his right hand and brought down his left elbow to the middle of his enemies' back. The Fire Giant took one step forward at the strike and tried to counter with a blind left backhand of his own. Naruto ducked under the attack and brought his left leg up to strike Surtur in the chest. causing him to be sent sprawling onto his back. His landing wasn't hard, but by no means was it gentle either. The crashing demon hit the ground hard enough to crater the earth with a rippling motion of energy as he struck the earth below.
Surtur growled as he got back to his feet and spat to the side, the lava-like blood landing in a small splotch that lit up that portion of the earth. He growled in annoyance, he shouldn't be feeling this much pain from this human. But then again, it was Naruto Uzumaki. So he wasn't surprised. Rushing forward, the two once more engaged one another. Surtur struck like lightning and jabbed Naruto in the solar plexus so hard the lightning giant was airborne and had completely knocked the wind out of him. It would have been over after that but Surtur kept him from flying out off by grabbing the man by the shoulder and bringing him back down to earth roughly.
After a fifteen hit combo Naruto felt like he was about to collapse like a puppet with its strings cut but Surtur landed a brutal scissor kick on the other giant's chin that literally sent him flying off where he crashed into a distant hill that was erased by his crash landing. Shaking the ache's in his head, Naruto got back up and looked to his opponent in annoyance. This annoyance fueled his second wind and he once more ran forward at his opponent, Naruto lashed out with a savage kick that crushed Surtur's kneecap and caused him to cry out in pain. As the demon fell forward Naruto lanced him in the eyes with two fingers.
Surtur reflexively lurched back and covered his pained eyes with his hands, "YOU LITTLE RAT!" he roared out. He left himself wide open for a wicked kick in the groin which caused him to buckle forward again. Surtur was totally disoriented and in a world of pain now. Naruto then boxed the fire demon on the ears and gripped his head in one motion before he pulled Surtur's down and used his knee to break his nose. The cartilage made an awful crunch and burning blood went everywhere. Surtur stumbled back and growled in annoyance before rushing forward again, faking a right hook and instead delivering a left gut punch that knocked the wind out of his opponent.
Surtur, taking advantage of the human's moment of recovery, drew both his fists back, throwing them forward in a united effort to punch the teen. Naruto's arms crossed over his face taking the brunt of the strikes and skidding backwards to the end of the clearing. Naruto lowered his arms while he glared at Surtur before his face was covered in a, not arrogant, but an excited grin. Opening his left hand, a ball of light started to grow in his hand. As it started to grow, it began to lengthen out until it had taken on the qualities of a actual spear, no... a actual bolt of lightning! The lightning darkened considerably as Naruto gave a roar while drawing his arm back, "YYYYEEEERRRRAAAAGGG!" and then hurled the bolt at his enemy where it stabbed itself deep into Surtur's gut!
The explosion was blinding, and the blast that went off sent both Mira and Olivia flying back where they crashed through the tree's that remained, "EXCELLENT! IT'S ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!" laughed out the demon before he brought his two fists up, "NOW WE FIGHT UNTIL ONLY ONE STANDS!" he laughed out with a maniac grin on his face. Naruto shifted so that his right leg was set a foot behind his left, his right hand loosely making a fist before his chest while the left hand extended out and remained open. The two opponents stayed opposite one another for what felt like and eon, before Naruto turned his left hand and gestured for Surtur to come at him.
Surtur's manic grin widened and he pushed off the ground, making a large indent as he did so. Naruto's blazing irises shone brightly before he also shot forward, a trail of lightning sparking up behind him. The two powerful forces brought their right hands back and punched, their fists colliding and sending a shockwave through the mountain range that was felt all the way in Crocus. Olivia watched as the two traded blows, neither speaking nor taunting the other, but creating shockwaves on their impacts. It was like something out of that old Dragon Ball cartoon she watched as a kid, something she thought would be cool to see first hand. She however retracted that thought as she realized her whole body was shaking just from the impacts that were made.
"Olivia!" Mira's voice cried out as she called out to her.
"Mira! Are you OK?! AHH!" Olivia cried out as another shockwave caused her to stumble. She turned to see Naruto catching one of Surtur's fists and countering with an elbow to the face.
"I'll BURN THIS WORLD TO ASH! AND I'LL START WITH YOU!" Surtur roared out.
"YOU'LL FIND THAT IT TAKES MORE THAN A LITTLE FIRE TO KILL ME! Naruto roared as he smashed a fist into the demon's gut before he spun around and elbowed Surtur in the diaphragm before he spun around to hit Surtur in the face with a backhanded punch.
The two fighting beings traded blow after blow, neither giving the other an opportunity to take a small breather. While stuck in a head clinch, Naruto had driven his elbow sharply into Surtur's gut. Surtur of course stumbled for a moment, but quickly recovered and drove his massive right fist into Naruto's stomach, making the teen double over and allowing Surtur to grab hold of the lightning giant's shoulder and leg, lifting him up before dropping him down onto a knee, and while his body was composed of lightning, he could still feel pain. Naruto had needed a second to come back from that, catching Surtur's foot when the demon tried to kick him in the already broken ribs.
Pulling his foe off his feet, Naruto gained a few seconds to breathe easy before he began a long combo filled with a brawler's favorite attack, mean punches. To top it off, Naruto brought his left fist back and delivered a nasty left hook that dislocated the giant's jaw. Surtur stumbled into the cavern's wall with a muffled cry as he coughed up more blood, before a sickening crack filled the area. Surtur snapped a grin on Naruto before rushing him with his fists back and ready to strike. Naruto managed to block a few, but another left punch to his gut -should really work on watching that left side, Naruto absently thought- had knocked him off guard.
Naruto's head snapped up as Surtur delivered a powerful right uppercut, causing him to stumble back a few feet. He ducked under a following swing, but it was a feint and a damn left strike caught him off guard again, getting Naruto right in the gut. Gasping, Naruto stumbled back, only to be cracked across the face and sent tumbling. Rolling to his feet, he caught the next kick aimed at his side and tugged, dropping the violent demon to his back. Surtur responded with a snarl and a kick to the electric giants face. Naruto's head snapped back and the blond was pretty sure he chipped a tooth.
"You're running out of time. Less than five minutes. Hurry the hell up!" Kurama roared out.
"Then I'll just finish this fight before then." Naruto growled out mentally. With that, Naruto blitzed towards the demon. Surtur was caught off guard with speed displayed his enemy, having not seen him move this fast before. He barely turned around, but without having time necessary to react efficiently, a fist made of lightning smashed into his head, breaking apart his nose, lips and horns, alongside entire ground on which they were standing. He was launched backwards, spinning across the ground that got painted with his molten blood as he crashed into the hills that broke apart and landed on top of him.
"Bastard." He hissed, trying to get up, though Naruto wasn't going to lighten up on him. Without further words he raced towards him and landed a quick jab from which Surtur leaned backwards, he ducked under Naruto's left hook, but was caught off guard by a roundhouse kick that he half blocked with his single arm, the force of the kick sending him across earth with a resounding clash. Naruto flung into action again, as Surtur blocked his punch with a forearm, a left cross hit him across his cheek followed by short curt elbow on his chin that made him bleed a little. the Fire Demon staggered a few steps backwards, his features showing concern for the first time. With him distracted this way, it was a perfect opportunity for Naruto to deliver a punch to his solar plexus, winding him for a bit.
Naruto then grabbed Surtur by his horns and slammed his head into the ground several times, breaking ground underneath and one of his horns, leaving traces of blood across entire portion of the earth in which they fought, "Gah!" Surtur coughed up blood as he rolled across the ground trying to get up, in spite his injuries. Maneuvering in a spin, Surtur dodges a three strike combination before countering into a four strike combo that Naruto evades, guards, and counters himself. The sound of snapping wind and heavy muscle thudding flood their ears. The pair dance and somersault around each other, each of their fists chasing for that elusive flaw in the other's defense, however, after nearly a minute of sliding, leaping, and sidestepping between repeatedly speeding punches, elbows, knees, and kicks, neither willingly relenting in their prowess.
Absolutely aching to show his opponent who he really is, Naruto's driven heart demands his body move faster, and with each blow exchanged, he begins to perceive more and more of Surtur's fighting style. Surtur caught his hands, hitting a point located near his ribs. He winced, pain flaring through his body, but Naruto endured it, countering with cross left cheek as he blocked Surtur's venture to damage his thigh with his leg immediately after, but was still hit in his midsection, losing his balance for fraction of a second. Surtur was quick and twisted his left foot at 360 degree, aiming for a head kick that Naruto avoided by the skin of his teeth. As he turned to face him again, Naruto managed to push him back with his front leg and land a devastating strike when he was at his arm's length.
As Naruto landed open-hand strikes with both of his hands on each side of Surtur's head, using all strength he had at the time. Surtur's head is ringing like a bell from the hit. He clenched his teeth and was barely aware of Naruto curling his hand into fist and going for another punch, which connected, making him spin through the air and harshly falling onto the hard ground causing it to shake once again. He steadied himself, ignoring pain that flared up in his nose and ears. Naruto carried on with his assault, this time Surtur dodging by moving to the side, as second punch barely missed his face.
He leaned his body forward, disappearing in blur and emerging in front of his opponent. Surprise is written on Surtur's face as Naruto punches him meters away harder than he's ever been hit before, to the point the demon ignores the skin-scrapping pain of his body skidding on the ground tearing at his flesh, as well as hitting the ground, for the terrifying sensation radiating from his face, like his fractured skull and torn facial muscles were melting off. "Less than three minutes, hurry up!" Kurama orders him desperately. Surtur was to weak to move, to injured to call upon his immense strength. His fight was taking its toll on his body and he didn't have much left to draw upon.
"THIS ENDS NOW!" Naruto roared as he summoned all the power he could, the sky began to rumble as lightning began to charge the heavens up above. The thunderclouds began to shake and tremble as their creator commanded them to gather as much power for the final event to come, "Now die, Sango (Lightning Flash)" Naruto's voice growled as he unleashes a massive charge of electricity from the heavens up above that forms a wide blast used to devastate large areas with no specific target in mind. The world is bathed in a bright light that is blinding and could be seen for miles around. Many would wonder who or what had caused the flash, but none could determine who.
As the light died down, the girls could see a smoldering hole, Naruto stood at one end of the hole, Surtur's shrunken form took up residence on the other. Naruto was quick to look back and called out weakly, "H-Hurry... be-before he g-gets up..." and then he fell down to the ground.
"You fool. Doing that while in that form drained all of your stamina. No wonder you're on the brink of blacking out. Back in the day this fight would have been over in an instant, but you just wanted to let loose and show off. Pathetic, especially since it's my Jinchuuriki." Kurama snorted out apathetically.
'S-Shut up. It wasn't that bad.'Naruto retorted.
"No no no, it's not that bad. It's horrendous for you to waste your time fighting hand to hand when you could have eradicated him in a instant using pure lightning." Kurama huffed out.
As Naruto was having his internal debate, Mira and Olivia were looking down at a unconscious Surtur. His fire was burning even as he slept showing he was still holding power deep inside him. Olivia nudged Mira, "Go ahead. Do your thing." she told the beauty.
Mira shook her head, "It's not that simple, but I guess I could give it a shot." she muttered as she placed a hand on the demon and watched in fascination as the fire demon broke down into particles of light and quickly latched onto Mira's body. Her body glowed a deep orange for a moment before quickly dying down. Mira had to shake her head to clear it. She would definitely have to train herself to control this power. It was stronger than Sitri, and Sitri was her most powerful transformation. If she attempted a Full Body Take-Over she would no doubt lost control and go on a rampage. Not a pretty idea to think about from her point of view.
Now she knew why Naruto was desperate for her to try and take Surtur over with her magic. He was already so powerful, but to be this powerful was nothing she imagined before. Oh yea, she also had to make sure that when the time came, she'd crush Erza in a all out spar. Naruto was grinning as he walked up to the young woman, "Now, you'll be almost unstoppable when you manage to gain full control over Surtur. Not bad Mira, not bad at all..." he said smiling at her which caused her to give a light blush at his words.
Alright, that's gonna be my stopping point, was gonna go much further, but I didn't feel like it. Anyways, LIKE/FOLLOW/FAVORITE and don't forget to write me a nice long REVIEW/COMMENT to tell me what you thought of this chapter and its available content.