Description: Thunder Emperor Zeno, prince of the Mamodo World, burns the book of Zatch Bell at the beginning of the 100-Demon fight to become Demon King. He thought the Battle Royale would be a breeze with Baou out of the way. Thanks to the existence of a single, nihilistic competitor, he was wrong. Very, VERY wrong.
Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Zatch Bell or any of the characters or settings within. I'm writing this for entertainment purposes under Fair Use laws.
A/N: MASSIVE spoilers for the Manga incoming. I recommend reading it online somewhere if you haven't already, because the ending is amazing and absolute gold. Next chapter is even worse in terms of spoilers.
This story won't be an alternate universe outside of the initial premise, but if you've only seen the anime, you might be a bit lost for the early chapters. The anime stopped at the Faudo arc, not to mention it did Dufort completely differently. All characters and their motivations will hopefully be canon-compliant, at least when they are each introduced.
I'm not sure how far I'll get with this story. I know not to expect this fic to get very much traction or attention due to the fandom itself being relatively barren on this site, so this is practically a pure passion project on my part, nothing else.
Chapter 1 – Ashron
A young child was smiling. He had just stolen the memories of that worthless idiot, burned his book, and condemned him to months of misery back in the demon world, and he intended to enjoy it.
"Where to now, Zeno?"
The voice of his partner snapped him back to the present.
"It doesn't matter," the child replied, still grinning in a sharp sneer.
Literally.
As in, his teeth were sharp.
"Now that we've taken care of that sniveling excuse of a Mamodo," Zeno sneered, "we can go anywhere."
He wore a white, dress-like mantle with an amethyst brooch and blue bow. His purple eyes glistened with malice, their star-like pattern refracting and reflecting with a dark joy. A pure-white bowl cut of hair outlined his face, shifted slightly in the breeze.
"Sounds fine to me."
Thunder Emperor Zeno Bell gave a snort at his partner's complete indifference.
That human hasn't shown an ounce of emotion since the day they met on that massive, frozen continent. It called into question how Dufort (A/N: pronounced Dew-fore, the 'T' is silent) could use heart power at all; demon spells were fueled by human passion, at least in this competition, but this human didn't seem to be passionate about anything. And yet, Dufort had no trouble powering even the strongest spell that Zeno had unlocked thus far.
"You know the human world better than I do," Zeno stated. "Take me somewhere interesting."
"Define 'interesting'," Dufort replied, still bored.
Just as Zeno was about to answer, he felt the presence of a powerful Mamodo enter his demon-sensing radius. "How about 500 demards in that direction?" he asked, pointing a finger at the presence.
"'Demard'?" Dufort droned. "That sounds like a unit for measuring distance. How long is it?"
Zeno frowned at his partner's ignorance, but almost as quickly he frowned even more at his own ignorance. Of course humans wouldn't use the same system. It was a blessing that they even used the same language, though the written aspects were different.
"A demard is a thousand mards," he answered. It was also convenient that they used the same numbering system. "And a mard is this long."
His white mantle extended away from his body, his hand indicating the cut-off point.
His partner eyed his mantle critically, then said out loud "Two point three seven meters." He looked in the direction Zeno had pointed, then at the sun. "Approximately one thousand, one hundred eighty-five kilometers north-north-east of Britain would put us in Norway," his human said without the slightest trace of doubt or hesitation. "What's so interesting about Norway?"
"I sense a powerful demon in that direction," Zeno shrugged.
Ingenuity was a fascinating thing, Zeno thought as they exited the 'plane'. Even without magic, humans invented ways to cross great distances in less than a day.
Only dragons and those capable of teleportation, like himself, could do that back home, though admittedly he couldn't go 500 demards in a single jump just yet. He could barely go fifty. And speaking of dragons...
"He's not far," Zeno said. "I think he's a member of the dragon clan, which would explain the amount of power I'm sensing. We only have four competing dragons this year, and only two purebloods."
Zeno, son of the current king of the Mamodo world, had seen and memorized the list of Demons who would be competing to become the next king. His father had given him that advantage: the ability to know his enemies before they knew him.
His father had given him every advantage, actually. Every advantage, except the one that mattered.
"Distance and direction?" Dufort prompted.
"A few demards that way," Zeno answered, pointing. " He's somewhere on that mountain, and he's not moving."
"A dragon in the mountains of Norway?" Dufort asked rhetorically. "How cliché."
"Ashron, prodigy of the dragon clan, wielder of the legendary scarlet scale," Zeno observed. "I thought you might be the one who set off my senses at such a great distance."
A great humanoid drake examined the small Mamodo standing before him. "Zeno Bell, prince of the demon world," he said after a pause. "It's an honor. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Hmm, powerful and polite," Zeno grinned. "We're both competitors in this battle royale. Isn't that reason enough?"
"Not quite," Ashron replied, shaking his massive head. "From what I've heard of you, I didn't expect you to challenge me so soon. Surely you know that your weaker spells would be unable to pierce my armor, just as I know that my weaker spells would not pierce your mantle. At this point, neither of us should have more than the basics unlocked."
"True," Zeno agreed. "Ordinarily, I'd sit back and wait for all the idiots to exhaust themselves while I quietly gained power in the meantime. But I was feeling bored and decided to have some fun. Besides, I don't need to target you, just your book."
"I can do the same," Ashron said, eyes narrowed. "You put your human at great risk, waging such a gambit. Especially against me."
"Then how about a friendly battle instead?" Zeno proposed, still grinning.
"What would be the conditions of this 'friendly' battle?" Ashron asked skeptically.
Zeno raised a finger. "We demons aren't allowed to target humans or books directly." He raised a second finger. "The first to inflict true damage upon their opponent's body wins." He raised a third. "Alternatively, if either of us runs out of spells, or is otherwise unable to cast any, that one shall lose."
"What are the stakes?" Ashron asked, still skeptical.
"That's for the winner to decide," Zeno declared. "Will he be noble in triumph, and leave the book of the defeated unburned? Will the loser have no honor and flee after the victor decides his fate?" Zeno's grin returned. "That's what makes this interesting."
The great dragon closed his eyes, deep in thought. "Very well," he said. "But should I lose, and should you decide to burn my book, I would speak to you before you do. There is a matter of great importance concerning the demon world that you must know. And if I win, I shall ask you a question before I decide the fate of your book, and you will answer honestly. Are my terms acceptable?"
Zeno's grin widened. "They're more than acceptable," he acquiesced. "They're perfect."
"You swear to abide by them?"
"You have my word as Prince of the Demon World," Zeno vowed and bowed.
"Then you have my word as Prince of the Dragon Tribe as well," Ashron said with a nod.
Zeno picked up a rock from the ground as he rose from his bow and threw it high in the air, directly above him. "When that rock hits the ground, we begin."
Ashron raised himself from four paws to two feet. "May the best Demon win."
A blue lightning began crackling around his opponent's outstretched palm, energy gathering there even before his human uttered a spell. It seemed that Zeno was proposing a clash of spells, an ancient dueling custom where both sides made their weakest spell as strong as possible. The purpose of this custom has traditionally been to see which demon holds more magical power without wasting too much energy.
The stone had yet to reach the ground, but it was getting close.
"Reen," Ashron called the name of his human. "Our first spell, as soon as the rock hits the ground. Give it as much power as you can."
He began charging up energy in his mouth, accepting his opponent's proposal.
Thud.
"Zaker."
"Buroa!"
The lightning spell came out a fraction of a second sooner than the dragon fire, and it traveled more quickly through the space between them. The two spells collided, creating a giant explosion that detonated nearer to Ashron than Zeno. The force was great enough to cause Ashron recoil, but not enough to force his body back more than a mard.
When the smoke cleared, he saw that Zeno was still standing in the exact same position. That, too, was part of the custom – the one who stands closest to their initial firing position wins the clash of spells, and his opponent hadn't budged an inch.
"Your spell is powerful enough to match mine," his opponent said with a grin. "But my human has a better reaction speed than yours."
Zeno lowered his hand, then got into a physical fighting stance.
"Dufort-"
"Rauzaruk."
Lightning came down from the sky, illuminating the body of the Thunder Emperor in blue sparks of strength.
"-body enh... nevermind."
His opponent gave a brief glance backwards in surprise, then settled his gaze on Ashron.
"Reen," Ashron shouted, "strength!"
"Digaru Kurou!"
The dragon claw spell enhanced the strength of his arm, the limb growing and glowing with power.
After the clash of spells came the battle of the body. This, too, was custom.
His opponent blurred forward, almost seeming to disappear, while Ashron's arm did the same. His eyes could barely keep track of his opponent, but if Zeno stuck to custom, then he should be dead center. Ashron had his fingers closed in a fist, instead of open and outstretched like the spell was supposed to be used. He refused to be the first to break tradition.
His fist met something that brought it to a dead halt.
His eyes once again beheld the Thunder Emperor, whose small fist had collided with his own, stopping the momentum of both attacks. But only the initial momentum.
His opponent took a step forward, and his own fist was forced back a fraction of a mard. Zeno took another step and pushed further.
But no matter how hard he pushed back, Ashron couldn't get his tiny opponent to budge in the slightest.
It seemed he had lost the battle of the body as well. He retracted his fist back to normal size while his opponent, still grinning, hopped back to his human, his body no longer bright blue.
"Enough of these games," Zeno declared. "I might be here to have fun, but I'm not here to play around."
"So be it," Ashron said.
"Dufort," Zeno addressed his human, though his eyes remained fixed on Ashron. "You claim to have the answer to everything. If that's true, how might I inflict lasting damage on my opponent?"
The human with wild white hair, who'd had a detached expression for the battle thus far, suddenly gazed upon Ashron with a piercing intensity. Ashron felt a shiver involuntarily and inexplicably go through his spine, but just as soon as the feeling came, it left.
"Our strongest spell could pierce his underbelly or wings if we fully charged it," the human answered, bored once again. "Otherwise, aim for the eyes, mouth, or anus."
Ashron might have laughed at that last part if it hadn't been delivered so clinically and cynically. It was as if the human was describing the biology of a fish that he understood thoroughly, but didn't particularly care for one way or the other because it was, after all, just a fish.
"Reasonable," Zeno replied.
"Oh no you don't!" he shouted. That was as much a break from tradition as any, and Zeno had essentially declared that he was ready to start the real battle, so Ashron felt no guilt as he called out to his human, "Reen, speed!"
"Digaru Kurou!"
The dragon claw spell came forth, functioning to its full potential now that he had his palm open. He heard his opponent's human say something, then saw Zeno get annoyed at his human and shout something back, but he ignored the interaction. He slammed his spell directly onto his opponent, the size of his hand temporarily obscuring his vision.
When the smoke cleared, revealing a massive imprint of a clawed hand, he was shocked at what he saw.
Without even casting a spell, his opponent had dodged his attack. Not blocked, not parried, but dodged. He had slipped between one of the gaps in Ashron's fingers, his body small enough to fit cleanly into the open space.
Seconds earlier...
"Zeno, when his attack obscures his vision, move one point one meters directly to your left."
"What?" Zeno shouted at his human, surprised, then angry. "No, cast a spell!"
"It would be a waste," Dufort replied mildly. "One point one meters is almost half a mard."
Before Zeno could argue back, the window for a counter spell closed, and he cursed internally. The window for dodging had also closed, and so he had only two options: follow the directions of his human or be crushed.
He hated this system.
Just as the attack cut off his opponent's line of sight, Zeno dashed into position and covered himself with his mantle. He felt the ground quake all around him, but nothing hit from above. He quickly retracted his mantle and regained his bearings: there were two massive fingers on either side of his body, and plenty of smoke in the air. The fingers withdrew, along with the hand to which they were attached.
When the smoke cleared, Ashron was looking at him in shock. Zeno was almost shocked himself, but he knew to keep it from showing on his expression.
"Warn me next time, Dufort," he said. It was bad form to argue with your allies in front of your enemies, but he needed to say that much. He could only hope that Ashron's attack had prevented him from hearing their previous one.
"I did," Dufort replied, still mild.
Zeno wanted to say more, but he held his tongue. He could reprimand his human later. For now...
"You dodged my attack without a spell," Ashron observed. "You waited until I could no longer see you and adjust my aim. But how did you know where to stand?"
"I gave him 'the answer'," Dufort stated plainly.
Ashron shifted his gaze from Zeno to Dufort. "And how did you know?"
"I know everything," Dufort shrugged. "Within reason."
Zeno gave a snort. "Ignore Dufort. I'm your opponent."
That was all the warning he gave before disappearing in a blur. It wasn't true teleportation, but it might appear that way to the untrained eye. With Rauzaruk earlier, he had applied the spell's strength-fortifying qualities to maximum effectiveness, completely disregarding the speed boost and relying solely on his own natural speed.
Now...
He appeared directly in front of the face of his opponent, palm outstretched and aiming for one of the two massive eyes. If Dufort was really as smart as he claimed-
"Zaker."
His own surprise almost threw off his aim, but he kept his palm steady.
His opponent slammed his eyelid shut a fraction of a moment before the attack could connect, protecting his eye with a red-scaled eyelid.
Zeno exploited the temporary blindness of his opponent to deliver a punch to his gut, testing for himself the hardiness of the body parts not covered in those red scales. The firmness he felt with his fist had him agreeing with Dufort's earlier assessment: only their strongest current attack would be able to pierce Ashron. IF they avoided aiming at his scales.
Ashron was thrown back by the physical blow, crushing a tree beneath him as he landed upon it.
Zeno didn't press the advantage, for his mind was currently occupied. That last attack had gone exactly as planned, despite the complete lack of warning his partner should have needed, and despite the fact that human eyes shouldn't have been able to track him until he reappeared in front of his opponent. Dufort would have had to start speaking the exact moment Zeno became visible again, and he would have had to know, in advance, exactly when that would be.
"We could have won just now," his human commented. "He landed on his back, leaving his torso vulnerable."
But as soon as Dufort made the observation, Ashron righted himself, exposing only red scales once again.
"Where would be the fun in that?" Zeno questioned automatically, more for Ashron's sake than his human's. Intimidation was as much a part of any battle as actual fighting. Give the image of absolute confidence and power, and your opponent can be cowed long before the fight actually begins.
"You said we weren't here to play around," Dufort said mildly.
"The thrill of the fight isn't play," Zeno disagreed. "And I was mostly referring to those opening gambits."
"Traditional demon world dueling?" his human deduced, just as perceptive as always, though he formed it as a question instead of his usual bland statements.
"Why do you even need to ask?" Zeno inquired. "I thought you had the 'answer' to everything."
"Within reason," his human automatically replied. "But I can't have 'the answer' if I haven't asked 'the question'. You've said nothing so far about Demon world battle customs. I had to piece it together from the fact that those first moves didn't make strategic sense, and that your opponent knew what you were doing in advance, unlike our last two moves."
Zeno would have snorted dismissively at his human taking credit for his moves, but in this case, his human could actually take credit for one of them. Instead, he simply turned his complete attention back to his opponent.
Ashron was now eyeing the both of them much more critically, especially Dufort. "You two make a powerful team," he complemented, his voice deep and rumbling. "But your human... who is he?"
"I'm nobody," Dufort answered, still devoid of emotion.
Ashron's eyes narrowed. "You refuse to show emotion," he observed. "You have clarity of thought and will. You are powerful..." he trailed off, his eyes going distant. "I have only met a single being like you in the past – a Mamodo, one participating in this very contest. His indifference is entirely genuine, and yet it conceals a great darkness and evil." His eyes refocused, directly upon Dufort. "What does yours conceal, I wonder?"
Dufort said nothing, though his eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"Reen," Ashron called to his human, "we're going to our stronger spell. I want to see this human's heart power on full display."
"Sure thing, Master. Ganzu Buroa!"
A multi-shot of smaller fireballs blasted forth in the direction of Zeno and his human. It wasn't technically breaking the rules of the duel, since he wasn't targeting the human directly. Any competent Mamodo could counter with a shield, or their own scatter shot. But to Zeno's complete stupefaction, Dufort cast no spell.
Zeno glanced briefly over his shoulder to see what his partner was possibly thinking, only to watch Dufort stroll casually forward, walking right past Zeno and directly at the spell. He was about to jump forward to guard his complete moron of a partner with his mantle, but-
"Rashield."
A great blue lightning shield sprang forth at his own feet, cutting off his line of sight and locking him in place.
Ashron watched his spell fly towards his opponent, hoping to see with his own eyes what fueled the heart of that human. He got his wish, though not at all in the way he had been expecting.
The human walked directly into the path of his spell, then cut off his Mamodo partner from aiding him. Ashron saw a hint of anger upon the human's face as he cast the shielding spell, answering his previous question.
And unfortunately, Ashron had no way of stopping the spell, now that it was already in the air. But just as he was about to mourn the loss of the human with no sense of self-preservation, who had an apparent death wish, he saw something impossible.
The human began dodging his attack, one fireball at a time, moving smoothly and efficiently to bypass each blast. The movements were so clean, it was as if he were watching a Master Martial Artist who specialized in Demonic perception and evasion. One blast seared the human's clothes, and another burned his skin, but none truly connected.
Well, none connected with the human. They all connected with the blue shield behind him. The shield spell appeared to struggle with the attack, beginning to crumble, but the human, still dodging, uttered "Zagurzem" without even a glance backwards and the shield seemed to rebuild and reinforce itself.
And that was how he learned that Rashield did more than just block attacks. Soon he was facing his own attack, charged with Zeno's lightning. The incoming fire-lightning balls probably weren't strong enough to pierce his red scales, but they would be more than strong enough against his underbelly, and in any case...
"Reen, shield!"
His human was standing behind him, so he couldn't just dodge.
"Dishirudo Doragoruk!"
Two shining red shield gauntlets appeared on his arms, and he began deflecting each blast. None connected with his underbelly, but it was a close call. It took his entire attention to block all the supercharged fireballs, little jolts of electricity jumping through his body at every deflection. By the time they stopped coming, he had dropped to a knee, panting. His sudden exhaustion had nothing to do with physical exertion, but everything to do with mental stress. He has trained to heighten his senses in battle, and heighten them further in times of great peril, but it wasn't his strongest skill and it took considerable effort to do.
He had the sense of mind to keep his eyes on his opponent's spell, even as his own shields faded. He was still on the lookout for more attacks, but it seemed Rashield didn't generate attacks of its own. It only reflected and enhanced the attacks of its opponents.
When the lightning shield disappeared, he once again beheld the Thunder Emperor of the Demon World, noting the look of fury within his eyes. Apparently, his opponent did not approve of the human Dufort's actions at all.
But just as quickly as Ashron perceived the rage, he saw the royal eyes of Zeno Bell go from angry to shocked.
Then, he heard a human voice from behind.
"We win."
Don't expect regular updates. I've got the next chapter written and the one after that started, but I'm not sure when I'll next update this story. I'm only uploading this chapter in the first place because I don't like leaving finished chapters on my hard drive. I'd recommend leaving a follow if you like this, so you get notified of updates.
Reviews are always appreciated!