Hello! The First Chapter is now up! And I hope that you guys will enjoy it! I will be taking suggestions and criticism so please do not hesitate to Review or PM me regarding a certain chapter! All forms of support is always appreciated!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

TATSUMI THE INFERNAL DRAGON

- General Inferno -

CHAPTER ONE

*The Capital*

A man with brown hair and burning orange eyes was walking towards his chambers, as he walked through the hallways of the Palace every guard that came across him saluted out of respect and fear. This man was one of the most powerful General's of the Empire, equal only to Esdeath and Budo.

As the man had his chambers in his sights, he was approached by a certain auburn haired girl who wore the attire of the Imperial Police. "General Inferno! Seryu Ubiquitous reporting!" Reported Seryu as she saluted the General. "Ah, Seryu... What is your business here today?" Asked the General as he looked at Seryu, giving her his attention.

"Well since it is my day off, I wanted to hear about your past! You did promise to tell about it a few days ago remember?" Replied Seryu, reminding General Inferno of a promise he had made. "Hmm, well I suppose I have the time..." Said General Inferno as he motioned for Seryu to follow him to his chambers. Seeing this, Seryu blushed intensely.

"G-General! I-I don't think I am prepared to do such acts with you..." Stated Seryu Nervously. The General looked at Seryu slightly confused before realizing what she had initially thought when he motioned for her to follow him into his chambers. "O-Oh... I didn't mean it like that Seryu, I merely wish to sit down and relax when I tell you about my past." Reassured The General, relieving the Imperial Officer.

"I-I apologize deeply for bringing up an inappropriate topic!" Apologized Seryu as she bowed her head down. The General nodded and opened the doors to his chambers, with Seryu following suite.

The General removed his coat as he wanted to feel the cold breeze within his chambers. Seryu blushed slightly due to the fact that the General had an amazing body and all that was concealing it was a plain white t-shirt. The General's attire looked similar if not identical to Esdeath's except with a more black tone rather than white. General Inferno then sat down on his bed and cracked his knuckles, he offered Seryu a seat beside him, which she hesitantly took.

"Now, which part of my past did you want to hear about?" Asked the General Curiously. "Ah... Well, General Inferno... I-" Seryu was cut-off before she could utter her words. "You may call me Tatsumi in private." Said Tatsumi. Seryu nodded at this and continued. "Well, Tatsumi... I would like to know what was your childhood like?" Asked Seryu Curiously.

"I had no childhood..." Uttered Tatsumi.

*FLASHBACK, 16 Years ago...*

Tatsumi was currently fighting a Danger Beast that looked like a scorpion the size of a bear. "Haha! I got you this time Danger Beast!" Said Tatsumi Confidently as he killed the Danger Beast with a spear in hand. The Danger Beast fell on the ground dead, and Tatsumi celebrated his first kill. As Tatsumi was cutting off the delicious parts of this certain Danger Beast, a man with brown hair and emerald eyes approached him.

"Tatsumi..." Uttered the man. Tatsumi looked at the direction where the voice had came from. "F-Father?" Uttered Tatsumi with fear and sadness in his eyes as he saw his father, bloody and missing an arm. "Father! What happened!" Asked Tatsumi as he ran to his Father worried. "Heh... We were attacked by a Clan from the Western Territories..." Replied Tatsumi's father as he fell to the ground, he was going to die soon.

"Father! What happened to everyone else! Where's mother?!" Asked Tatsumi as tears began falling down his face. "Your mother fell... She was weak... Along with the rest of the clan... I included..." Replied Tatsumi's Father as he coughed out blood. "W-Weak...?" Asked Tatsumi confused. "Tatsumi... The Weak die... And the Strong Live... But the Weak have a choice that the Strong don't..." Replied Tatsumi's Father Weakly. "A-A choice...?" Uttered Tatsumi confused.

"A choice to surpass the Strong... A choice to stop being Weak... This is a choice that you must choose Tatsumi! Right now you are WEAK! That is why... That is why you must live! Live and surpass the Strong! Never falter in the sight of someone stronger than you! Because deep down... You know you can beat anything and anyone... Become Strong... Tatsumi..." Encouraged Tatsumi's Father as he then handed a scroll to Tatsumi. Tatsumi with tears on his face took the scroll.

"What is this?" Asked Tatsumi looking at the Scroll. "That... Is your first step to becoming Strong... Follow the map, and retrieve what belongs to you! Inferno..." Replied Tatsumi's father, whispering the last part.

With his Father's last moments, Tatsumi stopped crying and stood up. "I will become Strong... The Weak die and the Strong live! I will live... No matter what..." Said Tatsumi with confidence, as his Father heard this he smiled and closed his eyes as he finally embraced death.

...

As the days passed by, Tatsumi had been training himself, fighting Danger Beasts everyday. But he couldn't fall, he had a goal to live and become strong. Which is why he had been following the map that his Father gave him, he was not aware of what would be waiting for him when he finally reached his destination, but he knew it would make him strong, stronger than his entire clan.

To reach his destination, he had to pass through the plains of a desert, hike a massive mountain and enter a passage within the mountain to find the "Sacred Treasure" that was mentioned in the scroll that had been passed on to him. Tatsumi being weak as he is right now, knew that this journey would only be suitable for the Strong, which is exactly why he was taking this journey.

It had taken him days if not weeks to get through the plains of the Desert, he had fought multiple Danger Beasts and his body had become more adapt to higher levels of speed and his physical state had improved as well, from the body of a mere three year old to the body of a young warrior. But even with these improvements, Tatsumi knew he was still weak.

As a few more weeks went by Tatsumi had finally reached the Mountain, now all that remained was to hike it and solve the puzzle to finding the Secret Passage that led to the Sacred Treasure that the scroll spoke of. But the impending storm didn't make it easier for Tatsumi to climb the mountain, in fact it made it all the more difficult. But Tatsumi wouldn't surrender, he would find this Sacred Treasure and use it to become Strong.

Tatsumi estimated that it would take days and maybe weeks to possibly solve this puzzle, but he wouldn't falter now, in front of him was where the Sacred Treasure laid dormant and he would retrieve it. Tatsumi had explored the exterior of the mountain within a few days and he had memorized most of the turns and curves that the mountain had. But there was one thing that Tatsumi had noticed about the mountain, there was a certain area that was slightly hotter than the other areas, and this lead to the discovery that the certain hotter area was not all that tough to break.

Tatsumi had brought out the fang of a Danger Beast he had killed, it was said this fang was as tough as metal, Tatsumi would see if that rumor was true. The young warrior repeatedly used the fang to break apart the exterior of the mountain, with enough attempts the hot exterior was broken down and revealed an ancient-looking hallway. Tatsumi smiled as he then entered the hallway and proceeded to explore. Inside were unlit torches and ancient writings, but it seemed that this hallway only lead to one area. As Tatsumi kept going forward he found a door that seemed to have lit torches.

'These torches are lit? Does that mean someone was here recently? No, that's impossible, the exterior of the mountain was in top shape when I got here...' Thought Tatsumi as he slowly opened the door. Inside was pure darkness, the only thing visible was a container that was open. Tatsumi approached the container surrounded by lit torches and looked inside of it.

What Tatsumi found was a simple eye dropper. 'An eye dropper? I-Is this the supposed Sacred Treasure?' Thought Tatsumi confused. But suddenly Tatsumi felt a tingling feeling inside of him, he felt horrified, he felt despair, and he felt pain. Tatsumi groaned at the sudden pain and his eyes started hurting. 'What's happening to me?!' Thought Tatsumi as the pain grew worse every second. Tatsumi's body was twitching, he felt like he was burning. But he had this urge, an urge to grab that eye dropper, his instincts were telling him that using it would stop his pain.

'Ah! Perhaps this is a test to see how much damage I can endure! P-Perhaps if I use that eye dropper! I can rid myself of this pain...' Thought Tatsumi Desperately as the pain was digging deep within his heart. Tatsumi's eyes were getting redder and his body was still twitching in pain. Quickly and swiftly, Tatsumi grabbed the Eye Dropper and opened his left eye for the drop. 'T-This should stop it!' Thought Tatsumi as he used the Eye Dropper. A single drop of water fell onto his eye and soon enough the pain within his entire body was dissolving slowly.

'I-It worked!' Thought Tatsumi relieved until...

"AHHHHHHH!" Screamed Tatsumi in agony as his eyes started burning literally, his body could feel the fire inside, Tatsumi was on fire inside his own body. Tatsumi fell on the ground and started shaking uncontrollably as the fire got hotter and hotter. "S-Stop! PLEASE!" Pleaded Tatsumi to whoever was out there listening and watching. But this got Tatsumi to ignore the pain for a few seconds 'Wait... Father is watching... He wanted me to be strong... If he sees me like this... Then... Then!' Thought Tatsumi as he stood up, his body still burning from the inside and his eyes still on fire.

"These Flames will not make me falter! I AM NOT WEAK!" Shouted Tatsumi with Pride and Confidence as he endured the fire. Tatsumi was shaking but he managed to keep standing, his fists more tighter than they have ever been. As Tatsumi fought the pain, he witnessed everything around him disappear and a massive dragon appeared before him. "A-A Danger Beast?!" Uttered Tatsumi as the pain was still present. The Dragon had three burning eyes on his left and right side of its face, and a massive amount of teeth. Tatsumi looked at the Dragon in awe, he felt the power emitting from it. The Dragon got closer to Tatsumi until they were face to face. But Tatsumi didn't flinch, he stared the Dragon down with confidence and the will to become strong. This stare down lasted for a few minutes before the Dragon roared extremely loud at Tatsumi. But this still didn't make the boy flinch. Tatsumi grinned as he saw the Dragon widen its eyes for a moment. Until the Dragon roared once more and everything returned to normal inside the chamber where the Eye Dropper was present.

Tatsumi felt his body absorb the fire and the pain dissolved completely. Tatsumi then fell on one knee and started breathing and regaining air. 'What was that Dragon? Could it be the cause of the fire within my body?' Thought Tatsumi as he stood up. He then turned his direction towards the container which no longer had the Eye Dropper and it seemed the Container itself was breaking down. Tatsumi was trying to comprehend what had just happened, but he felt a certain change in his body, he felt... Stronger.

He felt like he had gained knowledge, as multiple things came into mind, but there was one particular thing that invaded his thoughts. 'Infernal Dragon Chassis... Acronis.' Thought Tatsumi as he gripped his right arm that suddenly lit on fire, but what disturbed him the most was the fact it didn't hurt, he felt immune to fire. Tatsumi then grinned and slammed the ground with his right arm, causing the entire room to be engulfed with fire.

With Tatsumi's new found abilities he soon exited the Secret Passage and went to explore and increase his experience with his new abilities.

*Five Years Later*

Tatsumi was now the age of eight, and he was incredibly experienced with his extraordinary control over fire. But over the years he had also discovered that he was able to form armor with his flames, He realized that this was the true form of his Teigu, the Infernal Dragon Chassis. Tatsumi had found out what Teigu were as he read a book about it from one of the villages he scorched. When Tatsumi read that most Teigu had a physical form, he looked for his Teigu's physical form, but could not find it. Until he realized that his Teigu was fused within his very own heart, how Tatsumi figured this out is not clear to him, it just felt like his Teigu had given him this information.

As Tatsumi was headed towards a village, he heard the sounds of horses and marching behind him. Tatsumi curiously looked behind him to see a massive army was headed towards the village he had planned to set on fire. He scanned the army and spotted whom he assumed was the General of the army, Tatsumi spotted a tall muscular man with spiky blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a dark gray suit of armor with white pants and a red cloak. His shoulder guards were notably large and had yellow markings on them. 'Tough looking guy... He could serve as a good challenge...' Thought Tatsumi as his eyes flickered for a moment. His former emerald eyes were no more, after claiming Acronis for himself his eyes turned to an orange color.

Tatsumi waited for the Army to approach him, once the Army was right in front of him the General walked up to him. "Do you live in this village boy?" Asked the tall muscular man. "I do not... I was planning on burning it down though, I assume you are here to defend it?" Assumed Tatsumi as he stared at the General with no fear. "You assume wrongly... This village is filled with rebels and we had plans to take it out, but I am curious to know how a boy like yourself would've burned it down." Replied the General interested. Tatsumi smirked and set his right arm on fire. The General was surprised to see such a young boy be able to wield a Teigu. "A-A Teigu?!" Shouted one of the soldiers in surprise. "Interesting... Very interesting..." Said the General. "You seem strong... I'd like to challenge you to a battle." Stated Tatsumi with a sadistic smile.

'This boy... He suffered a tragedy, but perhaps he could make a great General...' Thought the General. "Very well... But I have one condition!" Said the General. Tatsumi was surprised at the sudden acceptance but nonetheless nodded. "If I win, you must serve the Empire under my guidance!" Revealed the General. Tatsumi was slightly shocked but nodded in acceptance. "Very well, I have no conditions if I win..." Said Tatsumi, surprising the Army and the General.

"Have it your way!" Said the General as he then removed his cloak and unleashed the power of his Teigu Adramelech. Tatsumi widened his eyes for a moment before jumping upwards to dodge the attack. Tatsumi then threw a fireball at the General, but it was easily blocked. Tatsumi landed and unleashed a wave of fire, which was cut-off by a more powerful surge of electricity that the General unleashed. "You are strong! But not strong enough to defeat the Great Budo!" Shouted Budo with pride as he charged at Tatsumi and punched him in the gut. This sent Tatsumi flying and he crashed into a tree.

Tatsumi roared in anger and fire completely engulfed his entire body. The General and the Army was surprised at what the boy did, but did not expect what was about to come out of the fire. Once the flames died down, what was seen was the boy wearing some type of armor. (It looks exactly like the Cover Image A.N)

"Armor? I see... So you can form armor with your flames? Impressive." Complimented the General as he unleashed multiple lightning attacks towards Tatsumi who flew up and formed a massive sphere of fire with one hand. "Face my Burning World Attack!" Shouted Tatsumi as he sent the massive sphere towards the General who widened his eyes at the power this young boy wielded.

Budo created a massive sphere as well and unleashed it to collide with the boy's attack. Once the two spheres collided a massive shockwave was created, it pushed the entire army down to the ground and caused the ground to shake for a few moments. The Shockwave caused the General to fall on one knee and Tatsumi flying towards a hill. Once the shaking stopped The General stood up and looked for the boy, he then spotted the boy within a crater on a hill.

The General motioned for his army to start raiding the village in which the army obeyed. The General approached the boy who was regaining consciousness.

"D-Did I lose?" Asked Tatsumi Weakly. "Indeed you did... But do not worry, with my guidance you will serve the empire and become one of the most powerful General's the Empire has ever had..." Replied Budo. "Can I ever become strong like you...?" Asked Tatsumi. The Great General Simply nodded.

*FLASHBACK END*

Seryu looked at the General with a sad expression. "So... You suffered through all of that just to become Strong?" Asked Seryu surprised by the past of the powerful General. "Of course... If you are not Strong then that means you are weak, and if you are weak then you do not have a place in the world..." Replied Tatsumi Cruelly. Seryu accepted the answer and would remember it in the future. "But! What if a person is weak but wants to serve justice?" Asked Seryu Curiously.

"If a person that is weak desires Justice, then that person should have the strength within to become Strong. The Weak have a choice that the strong do not... A choice to surpass the Strong." Replied Tatsumi, relaying the words his father gave to him years ago. "I... Understand... Then I will become stronger and serve under you General Inferno!" Stated Seryu with confidence. "For Justice!" Added Seryu. Tatsumi smiled at this and nodded to her. "That spirit of yours will make you a powerful soldier someday... I will be there to see it." Said Tatsumi Honestly.

Seryu smiled at this. But she remembered that she had some business to attend to soon. "Ah! I'm sorry but I need to go to a meeting with the Imperial Police!" Apologized Seryu as she left the room after the goodbye.

'A girl on the path of Justice... Perhaps I could get along with her someday.' Thought Tatsumi as he then sighed and lay down on his bed.

Tatsumi was about to fall asleep on his bed, until he heard somebody knock on his door. This slightly irritated him but he answered nonetheless.

"What do you want?" Asked Tatsumi impatiently as he opened the door to find a soldier. "I apologize for the sudden intrusion General Inferno! But your majesty calls for you, he is at the diner." Replied the Soldier, shaking in nervousness.

"Ah, I see... Very well, I shall be on my way there as soon as I get dressed." Said Tatsumi as he closed the door after seeing the Soldier nod. Tatsumi grabbed his coat and his Sword, Shinku No Ha. A blade crafted by the finest blacksmiths in the Capital and reinforced by Great General Budo himself.

Once Tatsumi was finished with his preparations, he headed to the diner to meet the Emperor and presumably the Prime Minister as well. He respected the Emperor and gave him his Loyalty, while he and the Prime Minister got along most of the time, he always disliked his eating habits, it reminded Tatsumi of a pig. But when it came to dealing with rebellions the two got along just fine.

Tatsumi had arrived at the entrance to the diner and he swiftly opened the door. Inside was the Emperor and the Prime Minister as he expected. "Ah! General Inferno, I'm glad to see that you made it." Greeted the Prime Minister as he bit down on a chunk of meat. "Greetings to you as well Prime Minister Honest, and you too My Emperor." Greeted Tatsumi as he bowed his head down.

"General Inferno, Please take a seat! A General such as yourself should not be given the stress of standing up for such a long time." Said the Emperor as he offered Tatsumi a seat. "Thank you." Thanked Tatsumi as he took a seat at the large table.

"Is there any specific meal you would like to have General?" Asked the Prime Minister. "Some Pizza would be appreciated..." Replied Tatsumi Honestly. "You over there! Get this fine man some Pizza at once!" Ordered the Prime Minister to a waiter nearby. The Waiter nodded quickly and headed to the kitchen.

"May I ask why I have been summoned?" Asked Tatsumi. "Ah, well you see General Inferno... There has been a problem that has been rising and its gotten our attention, it is urgent that this threat is eliminated." Replied Emperor Makoto. "I see, but why not have my fiancée deal with it?" Asked Tatsumi Curiously.

"We all know that General Esdeath is powerful, but everyone knows that you are just as powerful as her, General Inferno. And besides, she is currently dealing with the Northern Tribes." Replied the Prime Minister as he ate more meat. "What exactly is this threat if I may ask?" Asked Tatsumi Curiously. "Night Raid, I'm sure you've heard of them." Replied the Prime Minister.

"Night Raid? I've never fought them before, I doubt I would be the best option for dealing with them." Stated Tatsumi as his Pizza arrived and he excitedly grabbed one. "Untrue General! You are the Fire-King of Death, on par with the Ice-Queen of Death. You are the best option for Night Raid aside from General Esdeath herself." Said Emperor Makoto. Tatsumi sighed as he swallowed his Pizza. "If your majesty requires this of me, then I shall obey." Said Tatsumi as he accepted the task.

"Splendid! I shall reward you a price of 50,000 Gold for your efforts." Said Emperor Makoto. "Ah, you have my thanks. Kindly send it over to my troops who desperately need it." Said Tatsumi accepting the money, however similar to Esdeath, he has no need for money as he already has a sufficient amount.

"Always so kind to your allies, I wonder did you adapt that from your fiancée?" Asked The Prime Minister. "Perhaps..." Replied Tatsumi as he began eating another Pizza. "My majesty, I just remembered that General Inferno and I have to speak about certain countermeasures, you may return to your chambers if you wish so." Said Honest. The Emperor nodded and got off his seat. "Please work together to rid our country of rebels." Said the Emperor as he left the diner.

Honest sighed and bit another piece of meat. "Now, while the Emperor wants you to take care of Night Raid, I also have another task for you..." Said Honest. Tatsumi sighed but nodded. "What would that be?" Asked Tatsumi. "You see, I hear one of the Ministers that is visiting the Capital soon is... How do I say this... Rebelling, and I would like you to... Take care of him." Replied Honest as he had an evil smile on his face. Tatsumi smirked and laughed. "Very well, can I kill him and his subordinates in any way I desire?" Asked Tatsumi as he drank some water. "Yes you can..." Replied Honest as he bit down a piece of meat.

"Consider it done..." Said Tatsumi before he returned to his chambers.

*The Next Day*

The Minister had arrived on the outskirts of the Capital, they were only a few miles away. "Father... Are you certain about this? If we are caught then we will be killed..." Said a woman who was his daughter. "It is for the sake of making this country a better place, we must take risks like this to further progress." Said the Minister.

The Woman nodded before going outside to find a reason as to why the Horses stopped. "What's the matter?" Asked the woman. "There is somebody approaching us!" Replied a soldier. The Woman looked directly ahead and spotted a man with a black coat was approaching them. As the woman looked closer she widened her eyes in shock after finding out who was approaching them.

'Fire-King of Death?! Why is he here?!' Thought the Woman preparing her sword, which the soldiers did as well. "What is it my daughter?" Asked the Minister. "It's General Inferno..." Replied the woman. The Minister widened his eyes in the realization that the Prime Minister had most likely found out about his dealings with the Rebellion.

"We must retreat!" Said the Minister. "No! We can hold our ground here!" Said his Daughter confidently. "Have you any idea what you're saying my daughter? That man is a monster! Not even Esdeath can beat him on her own..." Said the Minister. "If we fight for the sake of a better future then God must be on our side right? Then that means that no demon will be able to ruin our plans!" Said his daughter as she prepared to fight.

'So it seems they wont flee... How boring.' Thought Tatsumi as he was engulfed by his own fire. The Soldiers were shocked to see the General burn himself, but when the fire died down he was nowhere to be seen. "Where is he?!" Asked the woman who was the Minister's daughter as she looked around the area.

She then heard a scream of pain inside the Chariot her father was in. When she looked inside she saw her Father, decapitated. "Y-You monster!" Shouted the woman as she tried to kill Tatsumi who was in the Chariot, but Tatsumi grabbed her sword and disintegrated her.

The Soldiers were scared and started running, but it was no use, nobody could escape the Flames of Hell. In merely seconds Tatsumi burned all of the soldiers who tried to flee, with a sadistic smile on his face.

"Mission Complete..." Said Tatsumi.

THE END

Hey! I hope you guys enjoyed that Chapter! Please tell me what you thought of Tatsumi's past and how he ended up becoming a General. And don't forget to Review and PM any suggestions for the story! Have a nice day!