While writing this chapter I've realised two things.
1. I already had barely any time to write as it is
2. This chapter could be either 6000 words or 15000. The outline for this chapter was written in a way that there could be no in-between that wouldn't be awkward, or out of place. And while I realise this is my problem and mine alone, I've decided to cut it short and make sure the other part is polished and not as long. That way I can for once NOT cut something due to length and instead deliver everything I've wanted.
This chapter is heavily action based, so it should be satisfying, even if it's short. The usual dialogue and lore vomit will come with the next update. I hope you guys like it! I've listened to Doom 3 Theme and Steel for Humans on repeat while writing this. Hope it even licks the hype those two soundtracks provide.
8:20 PM, The Cube
Seilah stared at the radar with sweat running down her face. The signal picked up two little dots, both of which approached the base at rapid speed. She quickly pushed one of the lesser demons out of the way and began to type commands on the deck's keyboard. An image popped right next to the radar and revealed two Exceeds approaching the base, both of them holding something with their paws.
"Shoot them down, now!" she commanded with a glimpse of panic in her voice. She knew very well that Fairy Tail was not to be underestimated and letting those cats land would result in trouble.
Back outside, Carla panted heavily as she made her way towards the base.
"Don't push yourself! You've done enough for the day." Pantherlily said to her with concern, as he tried to support her in case she slowed down.
"We need to get them aboard! Once we're there, I'll rest!" Carla declared and picked up the pace, which Pantherlily matched.
Suddenly, bullets of magic began to fly towards them, as Tartaros opened fire on the intruders. The Exceeds, although startled, successfully outmaneuvered the attack and made contact with the base. They threw what was in their paws towards the base, which turned out to be cards that scattered all over the upper wall of The Cube. Shortly after the cards began to pop with a flash and turn into members of Fairy Tail, who landed on their feet one by one.
"Good thinking, Cana!" Lisanna praised the woman with a smile. "We would've been toast without you!"
"You really saved our asses back there." Macao added. "What the hell is this?" he then asked as he looked around the base. The exterior was soft, like skin, which creeped everybody out.
"It doesn't matter." Gray declared. "We're getting inside!"
"Warren, get in contact with someone inside!" Makarov ordered the man.
"Already on it!" he said.
"We have to protect the wounded!" Lucy said and helped Elfman and Wakaba with Laxus and the Thunder Legion. They gently laid them down on the surface, all of them still sleeping and recovering from their injuries.
"Master, we should contact the Council." Cana said to Makarov.
"I'm already trying." said the elder from over the communication lacrima, clearly unsuccessful. "Maybe their line is overrun...I have another idea that I will try in the meantime!"
"How the hell do we enter this thing?" Gajeel clicked his tongue and kicked The Cube.
As soon as he said that, the entire base began to shake. The skin they were standing on now began to harden into material as hard as steel. The islands and structures spread all over the base began to sink into the ground, and become covered by the steel skin. Before long the entire base became totally square, as it fortified itself into what could only be called a siege mode.
Back in the control room, Seilah cursed under her breath. She felt responsible for this mistake, it was her bomb that failed to wipe them out.
"Get to the surface. Stop them at all cost!" she ordered the available troops, who ran out of the room and made their way outside.
All of a sudden, the entire base began to blast an alarm that was so loud it felt as if the sound could penetrate the brain of everyone on the ship. Fed up with this day, Seilah growled and stormed out of the room in order to find out the culprit behind this annoyance. On her way she met with Torafuza, whose heavy steps echoed throughout the base like the omen of death that he was.
"What is happening?" Seilah asked him.
"Someone destroyed the Hell Spawn." he revealed, which made Seilah pale. She knew exactly who was responsible for this mess.
"Where is Miss Kyouka?" she asked.
"I don't care." Torafuza snarled. "Her foolishness and greed caused this mess to begin with. Who told her to kidnap those women? She should have disposed of them and be done with it."
Seilah frowned. "Watch your tone, Torafuza. Remember who you're speaking of."
The demon stopped in his tracks and grabbed Seilah by the throat. He slammed her against the wall and lifted her in the air, as she gasped for air and wiggled her legs. He looked furious.
"You may be her dog, but do not, for even a second, think of me as one." he growled into her face with anger and tiredness in his voice. "I answer to Mard Geer and E.N.D, not your mistress. Speak to me this way again and I shall have your head, Seilah."
"Don't you lot have anything better to do?"
The two turned their necks to see yawning Silver, who strolled through the hallway as if it was yet another quiet evening. He looked groggy, clearly having been asleep until very recently.
"Why don't we put this energy into catching the troublemaker?" he suggested.
Torafuza exhaled loudly and let Seilah back to the floor, as she coughed and massaged her sore neck. She gave the fish demon a glare that could kill, but he shrugged it off and continued to be on his way to find and kill he intruder.
"You alright?" Silver asked Seilah and tried to help her up.
"I do not need your concern." she scoffed and knocked his extended hand away, clearly humiliated, and followed Torafuza. Silver sighed and did the same with yet another loud yawn.
Mirajane yelled out and kicked away yet another minion. She was still in her human form, unwilling to waste her magic on small fries. She did tap into it for an occasional blast of dark magic here and there, mostly to destroy as much as she could. She knew with the alarm going off she'd be found either way, so she decided to use this opportunity to destroy as much as she could. She was currently in the middle of a giant hallway, that must have acted as a joining point between several paths. The ceiling was very high, easily 10 meters, and there were at least four different exits to take. She charged yet another blast and launched it deeper into one of them, but instead of blowing it up, it'd been stopped and dispelled.
At the end of the dark hallway stood Tempesta, who was also in his human form. He moved his blond hair out of the way and made a noise with his mouth. Mirajane barely managed to jump out of the way of a wall of flames that nearly swallowed her. Cursing, she blasted at him yet again, but he stopped it again. Seeing as it was no ordinary demon standing before her, she tapped into her Satan Soul and attacked again. This time, the demon showed visible struggle and, upon enough pressure, was blasted away by Mirajane's blast of dark magic. He crashed into a wall and broke it, buried by bricks immediately afterwards.
Mirajan sent one more blast for good measure and tried to run away, but her path was blocked by a wall of black particles that quite literally reeked of death. She covered her mouth and jumped away. The wall began to turn into a humanoid shape and soon, a demon with a skull for a face, a long cloak and a staff stood before her, as he chuckled to himself.
"The tale of this lower demon is...a tragic one." he said with a deep voice and attacked Mira with his fog. She dodged out of its way and began making her way towards the only available exit, but as she made her way through the doorway, she felt someone grab her face, which then blew up. Mirajane was sent flying across the corridor back to where she started. She flipped herself in the air and landed on her feet, her face smoking but otherwise undamaged. Jackal entered the hallway with a grin on his face and joined the other two Demon Gates, who have blocked all exits.
Mirajane grinned nervously. "Looks like I really poked the nest, huh?" she asked. "That room important to you, I presume?"
"Yes." Tempesta said.
"Hey." Jackal blinked and looked at him. "You're not supposed to say shit like that, Tempesta," he said.
"Why not?" Tempesta asked with almost child-like innocence.
Jackal sighed. "Every god damn time you regenerate... Look, she's the enemy. She destroyed somethin' very important to us. If you admit to it, she could tell those pricks upstairs and they'd know, that we can be killed now. This is exactly why we didn't let ya in on the plan after ya died."
"You do see the irony here, right?" Mirajane asked, dumbfound. "I had no idea what that room did. Thanks, buddy. I'd give you a treat if I had any on me."
Jackal scowled. "The fuck did you say, bitch?" he growled.
"Control yourself, Jackal." said a sultry female voice in the distance. "It was foolish of you, indeed, but this woman will get no more opportunities."
Another voice cackled next to her. "Yes, indeed! As expected of Jackal, your intentions are pure, but the outcome is always the same! Partial failure is assured!"
Kyouka entered the room with a subtle smile on her face and Franmalth to her right, his cane echoing across the room with an almost grating sound. "She will die here quite shortly." she finished and licked her lips.
"Franmalth, once this is over, I will kill you." Jackal declared.
"No, you won't." said a sleepy voice from behind him. Silver, Torafuza and Seilah have joined the party, making the situation even worse.
Mira grinned, but deep inside, she was nervous. There was now eight of them. "So you're just gonna discard me like that? How cruel. We didn't even get to know each other, mommy. You were the one who put me in that tank, right?" she asked Kyouka.
Kyouka chuckled. "You're as insolent and irritating as the rumors say, Demon Mirajane." she said. "While it repulses me to even call you that, I must admit that you do hold some unique power, for a human, that is. What a shame you've decided to become unruly before I could proceed with our experiments."
"You should have known who you're messing with before you put me there. This is as much your fault as it is mine." Mira said with a smirk.
"You insolent-" Seilah growled and took a step forward in an outrage.
"Hurry up and kill her already." Torafuza said with an annoyed tone and took a step forward. "Destroying the Hall Spawn is a death sentence. We've got intruders on top to care of as well."
Mira blinked. So, they made it. "Where's Erza?" she asked.
"That is none of your concern." Kyouka said and licked her claws. "You won't live long enough to make use of this information."
Torafuza and Tempesta both kicked the ground and charged at Mirajane at the same time. The woman planted her back leg firmly on the floor and blocked their punches, although with difficulty. They began to exchange in a barrage of blows, which Mira found herself on the receiving end of. She managed to kick Tempesta away and dodge out of the way of Torafuza's wide hook, but before she could strike back she was blown back by Jackal. Just when she recomposed herself, she'd noticed her right leg was frozen and stuck to the floor. Her head was then swallowed by dark fog that quickly began to take her breath away. Her momentary lack of focus cost her a powerful right hook from Torafuza, that shook her entire body. She grit her teeth and broke the ice, then kicked the demon in the chin. His knees buckled, which gave her enough room to make some distance, but as she was jumping back, she did it straight into Franmalth's arms, which began to suck her magic power out. She yelled out and blasted him with a beam of dark magic, which made him let her go. She then dodged underneath a flurry of sharpened books that plunged themselves into a wall behind her, and flew to the opposite end of the hallway, where her only way out was. Unfortunately, it led her back where she came from, which was most likely flooded with enemy soldiers by now.
Mirajane wiped the blood of her face and made sure to keep all the demons in her line of sight. They have all already regrouped and readied themselves to attack once again. Cursing in her mind, she found herself instinctively taking a step back, as she tried to come up with some plan of escape. There was no way she could defeat them all, not by herself.
"When was the last time this many of us fought the same enemy?" Silver asked, as he attacked Mirajane with a few spikes of ice, which she barely dodged.
"It was ten years ago, when we tried to kill Hades, yes!" Franmalth said as he tried to catch the ever so agile Mira with his arms.
"Wasn't it eight years ago, when that slaver prick tried to bribe us?" Jackal asked as he threw continuous explosions at Mira,, before finally hitting her with one.
"No, that was just six of us." Tempesta said as he scratched his head with a gentle frown on his face. "It looks like my memories are coming back."
"Thank fuck for that." Jackal scoffed.
Mira grit her teeth. She was now getting pissed. These pricks thought they could just treat her like some prey? Well, they were about to find out the truth the hard way.
Mirajane swiftly flew under Torafuza's right hook and got his back, before kicking him in the back of the head. The demon crashed to the ground and as he did, Mira blasted him with a point blank spell. She then looked at the remaining seven demons and aimed her hands at the, a black sphere forming in her hands.
SOUL EXTINCTOR!
A black torrent of energy cut through the hallway like butter and crashed into the group of demons. The explosion destroyed most walls and a part of the ceiling, which only made the room bigger. Mira panted gently and awaited the result of her work. To her dismay, they were fine, with Silver's wall of ice still standing before them, supported by Seilah's books and Keith's black fog.
Mira was just about to curse, but got struck in the back instead, She crashed into a wall and got buried by debris, as Torafuza dusted himself off. He was injured, but said wounds were already healing. "Pointless." he scoffed.
Mira climbed her way out of the debris and grit her teeth in frustration. She was screwed.
"Who gets the honors?" Silver asked.
"Miss Kyouka." Seilah said without hesitation.
The others groaned but didn't have enough care in them to argue. Kyouka smirked and approached Mirajane with her claws hanging by her right side, ready to strike. Suddenly, her face dropped. All the color began to leave her already pale face, along with every other demon in proximity, which confused Mirajane.
Until she felt it, too.
A wave of heat came from behind her, as if someone set the air on fire. She watched Kyouka's eyes widen and shake as she stared ahead, just past Mirajane, and she slowly turned around to take a look herself.
His footsteps echoed throughout the hallway, irregular in sound, for one of his shoes was long missing. His magic power, that surrounded him like a bubble and burned everything it touched, caused the walls to develop scorch marks and heat up to various colors, from bright white, to orangish yellow, and anything that was not made out of stone began to melt as he simply walked past. His face was covered, partially by his hair, partially by the shadows, but one could read his strong emotions like an open book, despite all that. His arms were occupied, as he carried Erza like a bride, with care and love almost not matching his current exterior. Her face looked peaceful as she slept, despite all the cuts, bruises, and lacerations that spotted her naked body, which he covered with his torn jacket, best to its ability.
With each step he took, the pressure grew, yet it looked like the only person unaffected by his magic was Erza, almost as if he declared war on everything and everyone but her. Mirajane felt her throat dry out and her lip crack from the heat, and as she simply watched him approach her, her initial shock began to turn into pure fury. It wasn't until he stepped into the light that she saw the extent of Erza's torture, and her blood began to boil.
The Demon Gates looked shocked, unaware there's been more than just one intruder. Regardless, they shook it off and put on their mean faces once again. At least some of them did. Jackal began to take steps back, the fear on his face twisting it so much it almost made it look like he aged. He was unable to make a sound and simply stared at that cursed head of pink hair in pure terror. Kyouka did not fail to notice this and quickly put the two together.
"You dare break into Miss Kyouka's private chambers?!" Seilah hissed at Natsu, who said nothing. He simply stood there in silence.
"This has become quite problematic..." Silver sighed and scratched the back of his head. He looked and sounded nervous.
"The tale of this false demon is full of twists. An unexpected outcome, to be sure." Keith said as his staff shook with a rattling sound.
"One more trespasser makes no difference." Tempesta said. "Let's kill all three and be done with it."
Natsu blinked. He turned to Mirajane and bent down. His magic and heat, although lowered for her safety, still made it hard to breathe, as she found herself taking shallow, quick breaths. Anything larger brought only pain. Natsu's eyes did not represent the same anger his magic expressed, probably because he was facing a friend. Instead, they were piercing, clear. Almost as if he'd just woken up from a very long dream. His anger was still there, stashed away and momentarily dormant, ready to be unleashed with the strength of a thousand suns at any given moment. Not once did Mirajane see him like this in the long few months they've known each other and it made her hair stand up on its own. She found herself taking a small step back, her mind uneasy and scared even. And yet, despite all this, there was immeasurable sadness behind his gaze, one that took the last of her breath away.
"Take care of her for me, will you?" he said softly and handed Erza over to the mute Demon, who simply nodded. "I will, with my life if I have to." she finally said with a dry throat, which made the Dragon Slayer glad.
"Ignoring us? Oh, this insolence shall cost you hundreds of souls!" Franmalth screeched and pointed at Natsu with his cane.
"It appears a hunt awaits us." Keith said with a chuckle. "A tale of a demon and its prey shall be read once again."
"Just one more thing." Natsu said to Mira, who was about to leave the room. "Which one is Kyouka?"
The demon froze.
Mirajane took her sweet time with answering, as she made direct eye contact with the demon in question. "The whore with claws." she said with partially regained composure and a smirk. She felt it widen as she noticed Kyouka's already pale skin take the color of fresh snow. The smirk died quickly, however, replaced with an angry scowl. "Give them hell, will you?"
Natsu turned away from her. "Yeah. Thank you."
"Always."
Mirajane immediately began to fly away from the place, as fast as she could in her current condition. The Demon Gates became agitated, feeling insulted.
"Surely this human does not expect to face all eight of us by himself?" Tempesta asked in disbelief.
"Maybe he's one of the brave ones. A hero type." Silver said with a chuckle.
Torafuza, who'd remained silent this entire time, growled and took a step forward. "If we are to do this, let's begin. I'm tired of my base being infiltrated because of somebody's selfish mistakes."
"Agreed." Seilah said, although she agreed with only one part.
The demons were just about to attack, before they received a very painful reminder, that this was no ordinary human standing before them.
With Erza and Mirajane gone, Natsu could finally give release to all of his pent up anger and grief, and he did it in the shape and form of his magic power, now unleashed in its full potential. The gravity in the room changed so much the demons felt as if they'd become twice as heavy. The room, or rather the entire base, has begun to violently shake. Lamps began to explode from the pressure. The room heated up so much, that sweat began to pour from the demons' faces, but not for long, for it quickly turned to steam. The ground and walls began to crack from both heat and pressure, and some of the smaller stones began to rise in the air and heat up, almost like very small meteors. All the while Natsu just stood there, his face covered by the shadow of his own hair, combined with the new darkness of the room, and glared at the demons with hatred and sorrow in his onyx eyes that shined in the dark, his pupils turned to slits and his teeth gently grit and bared.
Kyouka, who'd snapped out of the shock as the first one, quickly turned to Seilah. "Seilah! Use your curse!" she ordered.
Seilah regained her senses upon hearing her mistress' voice and nodded. She looked at Natsu with hatred and pointed at him with her finger, ready to give him a command.
Which never came.
Within a blink of an eye Natsu cut through the room and kicked her in the stomach. He did it so fast none of the demons realized what'd happened until Seilah was launched back like a bullet and crashed into the wall with enough force to pierce through it and land in the room on the other side, unconscious. The stones that were launched into the air by Natsu's feet hadn't even landed on the floor yet when he was already throwing another kick directly at Kyouka's face. For a very split second the demon's life flashed before her eyes, as the kick made its way towards her head, with the intent of decapitating it.
Suddenly, she felt a tug on her shoulder and a flash of light blinked before her eyes, as the combined effort of Franmalth and Torafuza saved her life. The former pulled her out of harm's way and the latter blocked the strike with his hard arm, which cracked upon impact.
"Take Seilah and leave!" he snarled at Kyouka, his anger finally finding its release. "We'll clean up your mess, as usual. Take her and leave, before I change my mind and let him murder you for your stupidity!"
Kyouka gulped and nodded. She quickly ran out of the room, her legs still shaking, and grabbed Seilah, before exiting.
Seeing this, Natsu quickly pulled his leg back and unleashed his flames in a large circle that effectively pushed away every demon trying to stop him in his tracks. They were all pushed back and burned by the flames. He then dashed after Kyouka and reached out for her throat with his hand. The demon's pupils narrowed as they watched his fingers stop just shy from her throat, with the tips of his nails scratching her cheek and leaving cuts on her skin. The combined effort of Franmalth's extended arms and Silver's ice stopped him in his tracks for long enough to let the two distraught demons leave the room. Natsu unleashed his flames and melted the ice. He then once again gave chase after the women, but another thick wall of ice that blocked the only way out stopped him. He quickly turned his head towards the culprit and unleashed a Roar so powerful and hot it would have burned Silver to a crisp if it wasn't for a barrier he raised at the last moment. He managed to block it for just enough time to move out of harm's way and watched with fear he'd never felt before as his creation was turned to mist within just mere moments.
Franmalth attacked Natsu with his arms once again, which the Dragon Slayer dodged. He maneuvered between them and struck the demon with his fist, which knocked him back. He then dodged out of the way of Tempesta's wind attack and landed safely some distance away.
"Don't let him chase after them!" Franmalth said. "We shall kill him here, yes!"
Silver stomped the ground and launched a chain of ice spikes at Natsu. The Dragon Slayer did the same, only his stomp created fire that shattered Silver's ice like thin glass upon contact.
"Easier said than done..." Silver chuckled nervously, as yet another of his attacks was shattered like it was nothing. He ducked under a torrent of fire sent his way and regrouped with his comrades.
In the meantime, Jackal was biting his lip so hard he drew blood. He was still terrified, the memories before his last death still vivid and haunting. But damn if he didn't want payback, even if it meant being struck once or twice more. With a loud roar, Jackal unleashed a chain of explosions at Natsu. The Dragon Slayer jumped over and dodged them all, with the exception of the last one, which hit him right in his chest. The explosion raised a cloud of dust and smoke, and as Jackal awaited any movement in the smoke, he failed to notice his target was already behind him.
The other Demon Gates could only watch as Natsu clenched his fist and punched Jackal in the face. A loud crack echoed throughout the room, as Jackal's eyes lost their light and his head began to tilt to the right at an unnatural angle, his neck broken like a twig. He collapsed to the floor and laid there, motionless.
"This shall cost you a million souls, indeed!" Franmalth yelled out in anger upon seeing one of his comrades dropping like a fly.
Both Torafuza and Tempesta attacked Natsu at the same time with their fists. He blocked their strikes with his right arm and blasted them away with his left hand. Both demons grunted from pain and jumped away to make room for Silver's ice, which encased Natsu. The demons regrouped together and awaited the results of their teamwork, which proved to be fruitless, as Natsu'd already started to free himself from the ice. Before he could get out fully, however, he'd been blown up by a powerful explosion, courtesy of Jackal, now in his Etherious form. He looked scared and shaken, but overall fine, his neck healed and back in its usual place.
"Good thinking, Jackal!" Franmalth said. "How unusual!"
"Shut up!" the demon growled and threw several more explosions at Natsu. Smoke and dust surrounded the Slayer yet again. After a moment he stepped out, with very gentle burn marks on his body and an unchanged expression of a hunter chasing after its prey.
"Keith, poison him already!" Jackal growled to the skull demon.
"My attempts are futile." the demon said. "The heat he produces is hot enough to burn my particles. The tale of this human is a fascinating one."
Tempesta clicked his tongue. "This human is different from the one I thought...We'll have to think of something-"
His dialogue was cut off by a kick to the face that quite literally made his face bend under its weight, as Natsu had taken the offense once again. He kicked Tempesta away, with a rich trail of blood and knocked out teeth following his flying body, and then threw another kick, this time at Torafuza. The fish demon blocked it with his already damaged arm and grunted in pain, both from the impact of the blow, as well as the flames that burned him on top of that. Franmalth grit his teeth and began to shift his body, with spikes growing out of his head, elbows and knees, and his overall figure growing in size. While he did that, Natsu plunged his fist into Torafuza's stomach, as he pierced through his armored abdomen like a hot knife through butter and dropped him to the floor like a sack of flour. The speed of the arms Franmalth attacked Natsu with increased, which forced the Dragon Slayer to jump away before he could deliver the finishing blow.
He retreated right into Keith's open arms. The demon shook his staff and encased Natsu in a ball of thick, toxic black fog. Much to his surprise, the Slayer burned through it and punched his hand through Keith's face, albeit with no results, for the demon was made out of the fog himself. Silver created an iceberg that managed to gently cut Natsu's side with its tip. Jackal then finished the attack by blowing up both the iceberg and Natsu, which sent bits of ice flying all over the place.
Jackal growled and awaited to see the results of his work. His reward was a devastating punch to the stomach that shook him to the very core, followed by a right overhand to the jaw, that blew him away.
Natsu casted aside the piece of cloth he used to cover his fist with and dodged under the now slightly recovered Torafuza's punch, with Tempesta, whose face was still bashed in and slowly healing, trying to hit him as well. He kicked him away into a pile of debris and grabbed Torafuza's arm, twisting it behind his back and rendering the demon practically useless. He then swallowed the torrent of flames Tempesta sent his way and returned the favor with one of his own, only thrice as big and hot. Tempesta barely dodged it and tried to follow the attack up, but his legs refused to work. He danced like a chicken and collapsed to the floor, momentarily knocked out.
Torafuza growled and tried to free himself, but felt his arm break instead. He grunted in pain and did it again, as Natsu kicked him in the knee and then stomped on his back, nailing him into the ground. Before he could do more damage, however, he had to jump away from Franmalth's arms. Their speed increased greatly, thanks to his Etherious form, and now Natsu found himself struggling to cut the corners during his dodges.
"This blasphemous attack on the guild of Tartaros shall cost you your soul, human!" he croaked in anger. "No one dares lay hands on the Nine Demon Gates and live to tell the tale!"
Natsu ducked under his right arm and charged straight at the demon. He punched him in the gut with everything he had, but to no avail. Franmalth grinned and let out a loud cackle. "Magic has no effect on me! No matter how hot your flames are, they are useless against me, yes indeed-"
His boast was interrupted by a punch that broke his jaw, knocked out half his teeth, and made him wail in pain. Taking the very gracious advice Franmalth had given him, Natsu decided to switch to the same tactic he'd use against Zancrow. He was just about to throw a follow-up punch, but felt himself being caught in a full nelson. He immediately coated himself in a cloak of flames that badly burned Tempesta.
"Do it now, Silver!" Tempesta roared on top of his lungs through the pain.
Silver placed both his hands on the ground and sent a chain of ice spikes towards the two. The last, and the biggest one, made its way towards Natsu's exposed stomach. Much to everyone's despair, Natsu managed to catch its tip in-between his feet and stopped it from piercing his abdomen by just a few inches. The ice had already begun to melt, and once the threat was neutralized, Natsu headbutted the now burnt to a crisp Tempesta in the jaw and blasted him away with even more flames in order to ready himself for another joined onslaught of the demons.
He swiftly maneuvered between Torafuza's giant fist and Jackal's claws and punched Silver right in the face. He then blasted the two with his flames, before dashing across the room and kicking Franmalth in the stomach so hard he threw up. He then launched a point-blank Roar at Keith that nearly evaporated him and it was only thanks to Silver's ice that he got a chance to slip away and start his recovery. Jackal unleashed a barrage of explosions upon Natsu that immobilized him. He roared on top of his lungs as he continuously threw one curse after another, whilst Natsu could simply block them, unable to find an opening to escape. Or so Jackal thought.
A giant pillar of flames erupted from underneath him and stopped his onslaught. He screamed in pain and began to toss himself on the ground to extinguish his burning fur and skin. Natsu wasted no time and tried to finish the job with a fire enhanced stomp to his skull, but a powerful punch that rang his head like a bell prevented him from doing that. He was launched across the room and recollected himself with a flip. He took a look at his attacker and noticed that everyone in the room, with the exception of Silver and Keith, has changed.
Both Torafuza and Tempesta have grown, easily doubling in size. The former was covered by even more armor, that appeared to be as thick as reinforced steel. His eyes have become even more fish-like, his nose appeared to disappear and he spotted gills on his neck. Tempesta, on the other hand, grew fur all over his body and his face changed into that resembling a lion. Both demons showed no signs of their previous injuries, their transformation bringing them back to their peak condition.
"Let's finish this." Torafuza said to the demons, who readied themselves for another joint attack.
Natsu gently bent his knees, like a predator about to pounce on his prey and set himself on fire. Both sides fought to kill, and neither was willing to give ground.
It was a battle for survival.
End of Chapter 54. To be continued in Chapter 55: A Deal With The Devil.