Another chapter is out!

Before we start, I would like to thank all those who liked, reviewed and are following the story. I really do appreciate it. I'm still trying to get used to people liking the stuff I write, so I guess I'm not doing it that bad... right?

Anyway, without further ado, let's get into it!


It was still night in the Underworld. A place that housed a great variety of supernatural species: Dragons, Grim Reapers and even some deities, but the most relevant ones were of course Devils and Fallen Angels. Whereas Grigori didn't exactly have principalities under its rule and would let anyone in the organisation regardless of their race, it worked the other way round for the Devils, their society was feudal, meaning that the various territories were divided among the Devil families of the 72 pillars who had survived the civil war.

The only place left neutral and unoccupied by the major powers in the Underworld was that very area. That place was the Demilitarised Zone, also called no man's land.

At the moment, two flashes of light emerged from the sand. The two former Oracion Seis wizards found themselves in an area that seemed to be a Gobi Desert replica; the sky had a weird purple tint with a dark hue filled with glowing stars that appeared to be exactly the same as the ones that could be seen on the regular world. That didn't surprise the mages as Azazel explained concepts such as 'day and night' wouldn't exist in the Underworld, at least originally, but since the Evil Piece system was implemented in Devils' society, both main species agreed to include it, adjusting the flow of time for the former humans now reincarnated into Devils.

"So this is Hell, huh?" Erik commented glancing around the area. "Thought it was a place surrounded by fire and damned souls, not some poor rip-off of the human world."

Macbeth somewhat agreed, he had a thoughtful look and rubbed his chin with his hand. "Finding someone won't be an easy task. Perhaps our chances would be greater if we reached a town and ask some outsiders for information. If we can find any that is."

"Yeah, pretty hard to miss a smugly looking pony-tailed asshole and an old man on steroids." Erik agreed.

"Now let's simply concentrate on scoping the zone. Maybe we find something useful." The reflector user pondered. "Keep your guard up; you never know who or what you could run across in a place like this." Macbeth then added.

"I hear ya, I'll give you the nod when someone's approaching." Erik said.

-Sometime later...-

To say this wasn't their lucky day would be an underestimate. For at least an hour, the two ex-dark wizards were now ambling over the desert in relative quiet, unable to spot any signs of life. No Devils, no Strays, no rogues to ask for some info, nothing at all. Luckily, the climate was favourable and allowed them to bear all of this.

"Well, this place's sure full of life, isn't it?" Erik sarcastically put.

Macbeth didn't respond right away; a bewildered expression could be seen on his face. The Dragon Slayer took notice of this and called for him a couple of times but the reflector mage seemed completely lost in his mind.

"Hey Macbeth." Erik snapped his fingers in front of his face. "Did your ears stop working?"

Shaking his head, Macbeth snapped out of it and regained his composure. "Eh?"

"Something's wrong?" Erik asked.

The Nightmare Mage gave his friend a silent slight glance, but Erik could tell by his look that something definitely wasn't right.

"It's been over a week already." Erik claimed. "Do you miss her?"

Macbeth half-closed his eyes without even trying to hide it. "I... I think so. How did you...?"

"That look in your face is louder than words, Macbeth." Erik replied as it was obvious. "Plus, the way you two have been acting lately only made things clearer."

"I see." The Nightmare Mage admitted, his lips lifting in a little half smile. "I suppose I can really not hide anything from you, can I?"

"Damn right." Erik affirmed before asking. "So how long, Macbeth?"

"I'm not sure myself. She was my first friend ever since we were cellmates in the Tower of Heaven. The day we met was the brightest I ever had ever since I was captured and enslaved." He revealed to his friend. "I still think about it even now..."

- FLASHBACK: Year X772, Earth-Land, Tower of Heaven -

The sounds of rock-splitting pickaxes were high-pitched, the screams of men and women echoed throughout the quarry, and the cries of punished and hunted down children were loud. This was the way innocent people's lives were torn apart, and enslaved in the Tower of Heaven. The food was scarce and the only time sleep was granted was 4 hours per day. Only the confines of their cells, which typically housed one to six convicts, were the only kind of freedom the prisoners could experience. Inside one cell in particular, a young little girl was preparing herself to sleep after a long 'working' day. The girl had white hair with a bob haircut and blue eyes. She was just wearing a shabby, soiled dress that reached her knees, she also had a blue headband with a white feather on it.

As the girl continued to fight her boredom, she heard the sound of the door to her cell opening, and then saw one of the guards holding another child in his right hand.

"Alright brat, you got a new cellmate from now on." The dark wizard told her tossing the little boy harshly on the floor making the boy hiss.

"Hey you!" She narrowed her eyes at the dark mage guard as she quickly ran to the boy to help him. "You could at least help him to sit! His leg is injured!" The girl spat at the man.

"And do you think I give a shit, little girl?" The guard retorted mockingly. "Just don't piss me off and don't make noise." He turned around, locked the cell door and left without a care.

Still huddled on the ground, the young boy let out a hiss, a look of pain and despair on his face. The girl with white hair gave him a second and more interested look… the boy had spiky dark hair, red eyes, with pale skin and wore a dirt tank-top and dark green pants.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked the unknown boy, but gained no reply from him. "Don't move. I have some extra bandages I stole from the guards." She instructed noticing his injury.

The white-haired girl walked over to the pile of rocks, removed a couple of them and picked up the bandages. Approaching the young boy again, she proceeded to wrap them around the wound on his knee.

"It's not much, but it should stop the bleeding." She said with a smile.

The dark-haired boy hadn't pronounced a word yet, maybe out of shyness or uneasiness.

"Alright, It's getting pretty late. I think we should get some rest." She stated with a yawn. "Tomorrow it's going to be a long day, and…"

"...thank you." The boy finally muttered.

The girl looked back at him with a quizzical look, but soon she formed a smile. "I'm glad I could help you, uhm..." She cut herself off. "What's your name?" The girl asked trying to crack a conversation. Again, no response from the boy. "Sorry, forget I asked..." She said as she lied down a makeshift bed. 'I guess I should really try to get some sleep...'

"Macbeth." Her thoughts were interrupted.

"Huh?" She turned her face around.

"My name is Macbeth."

"Macbeth..." The white-haired girl repeated. "I like it!" She smiled. "My name is Sorano. It's nice to meet you Macbeth!" She beamed at him. She then gestured to the right side of her 'bed', which was just a pile of leaves and what remained of a ruined blanket. "If you want, you can sleep with me. It wouldn't be healthy for you to sleep on the floor, not to mention rude from me." She offered with a smile.

To say that Macbeth was hesitant was an understatement; even in his day he was rather reserved and had difficulty interacting with strangers. After a few moments, the boy accepted her offer. In silence, he approached Sorano, lying down on the side opposite her. Having difficulty falling asleep, Sorano tried to make small talk.

"Did you have a family before being taken here?" She asked trying to crack a conversation.

Again, he didn't answer immediately.

"…I don't really remember my parents." Macbeth muttered. "They were killed when I was very little. I was sent to an orphanage, where I spent the rest of my life." He told her with a bit of difficulty. "…you?"

"I had a sister. And parents too, but she was everything to me…" Sorano said. "When the R-System attacked, they destroyed my village, killed people… I don't know if they're still alive." A sob escaped out of her mouth that Macbeth didn't fail to notice.

"I'm… sorry to hear that."

"I don't know why, but I feel it. I feel she's still alive… somewhere." Sorano kept on telling with clear sadness in her voice. "I do really hope we will once have our freedom, so I can go out and hug her again." She finished with a hopeful smile.

Macbeth was silent once again.

"What about you? What would you want to do if we ever get out of here?"

"I have no idea… all I wanted was to sleep quietly…" Macbeth responded somewhat reluctantly.

The girl blinked her eyes while staring at the ceiling. "You're a strange boy, Macbeth." She said making the boy flinch a bit. The girl shifted her head at him. "But you're interesting, in your own way." Sorano smiled at him.

- FLASHBACK: end -

"Hm..." Erik muttered under his breath as he kept listening to Macbeth's story.

"She was the first person to show me kindness. More affection than my 'father' ever showed me." Macbeth continued.

"Macbeth, you already know that. Brain never was the one he pretended to be." Erik reminded his friend. "He's never shown you love 'cause you, as well as everyone else, were just puppets in his game. It's a totally different story."

"Yes, I know. He violated our trust, manipulated our lives and turned us into his drafts." Macbeth said while clicking his tongue at the memories. "Sorano was no exception to that... She was initially a so kind-hearted girl who looked after the people she loved. To be honest, I kind of envied her, she wasn't afraid to show her kindness."

"Jeez Macbeth, you sound like a lovesick teen." Erik half-teased with a smirk.

Macbeth blushed slightly, but he tried to shrug it off and kept on.

"You know, Richard told me something during our first battle against Fairy Tail." Macbeth mentioned the Earth Wizard. "People's hearts aren't meant to be bent and changed with magic. Even love has the power to make even the weakest of hearts become strong."

Erik glanced at him rising a brow, he honestly was expecting that quote from Richard, but not from Macbeth for sure.

"At first I paid it no mind, I was just concerned with helping my father and his ambitions... eventually I started to understand what he meant by it, I recalled the same sensation I felt when I first talked to Sorano when we were young. After thinking about it for a while, my emotions for her became to grow and they've been evident ever since you helped us escape from prison."

Macbeth knew that Sorano had her obvious flaws; over time, during the Oracion Seis period, she had developed quite a vain personality, which he and his companions sometimes found irritable. Especially the time she called herself an angel, yes, that was too much even for her. However, with the help of her sister, Jellal, and Meredy, the angelic wizard was occasionally able to revert to her former self while retaining some of her sassy persona.

"You never told this to the others, right?" The Dragon Slayer inquired.

"No, I haven't. Not even to Jellal." Macbeth replied.

"Still, you acting so fondly is rare. Some days ago you acted so gloomily every time we mentioned her." Erik considered. "I get it, you're bummed 'cause you didn't get the chance to tell her how you feel." He almost immediately understood.

"That may be true..." Macbeth smiled a little. "It looks like I've got more regrets in my life than I thought."

"Guess you can't do much about it right now." The scarred slayer said with a shrug.

"And... do you think I'd still have the chance eventually?" The Nightmare Wizard asked in a curious tone.

"The hell do I know? Do I look Cupid to you?" Erik answered.

The two remained silent for about a minute as they were walking, until Macbeth started speaking.

"What about you?" The reflector wizard inquired.

Erik was taken aback by this. "What're you trying to say?"

Macbeth smirked at his friend. "Weren't you getting closer to that purple-haired woman from Fairy Tail?" He asked causing Erik to frown slightly. "Is there something more between you two or?"

"Fuck no." Erik responded with a half blank stare as it was obvious.

"Wait." Macbeth paused genuinely surprised by his statement. "Are you serious? You don't feel anything?"

"She was my goddamn snake, man. Who in the hell would date someone who was their pet?!" Erik exclaimed loudly.

"But she is human now, isn't she?" Macbeth countered bluntly. "True, she was transformed into a snake, but..."

"I just can't alright?" Erik interrupted him while stopping to walk. Macbeth halted giving her friend a look for explanation. "Look, it's just, I don't know what to think of her... I mean... Jesus, you're starting to talk like Richard. What's gotten you so mushy?" He told him with a sigh.

"What can I say? I guess love does have the ability to change people a bit." Macbeth said. "But yes, you make a valid point indeed, if you're insecure about that, then it would be difficult to deal with." He agreed.

"Yeah..." Erik sighed again rolling his only working eye. "All this soppy crap is pretty new to me, y'know? Also… being insecure about your feelings with someone who obviously has a thing for you isn't exactly easy. Point is, I'd rather take my time and think about it before getting delusional."

Macbeth was honestly somewhat impressed by how seriously his friend took the whole thing.

"Fair enough." Macbeth said in agreement.

/Kyoto, Japan/

Back to the human world, the sun was slowly rising in Kyoto, and the morning sunrays were dazzling the former Japanese capital. The resident humans and youkais began to awaken and begin a brand-new day. At the Youkai's Palace, a certain blue-haired wizard was currently standing outside near the yard, he was leaning against a wall and had his arms crossed, sporting a pensive gaze.

A lot has been happening lately, it was a lot to take in, but seeing how things were going he couldn't really complain... despite being forced onto a new world, they did find allies and new friends to rely on. He was indeed glad about it... But what about the rest of the guild? What if they failed to locate Tartaros? How could Jiemma revive Mard Geer? And most importantly, how were they supposed to go back home once the situation will be settled? Still too many questions were left unanswered.

To relieve some stress, he put his hand into his coat's inner pocket and pulled out a picture. It was a group photo from a few months ago, it depicted his guild, Crime Sorcière. It was taken after a mission right in front of the Mercurius Palace in Crocus, Fiore's capital. In the centre of the photo were Jellal, Richard and Meredy, the latter waving towards the lens while she was sitting on Richard's shoulders, Jellal stood beside the two, all of them were smiling. On the right side were Erik and Sawyer who went for a side hug while grinning like madmen. On the left, Macbeth had a small smile with his right hand in his pocket while said arm was embraced by Sorano, she also was smiling happily. Sadly, there was one person missing that deserved her place in this photo, and that person was the Time Wizard herself, Ultear.

'Did she really deserve such fate?' Jellal thought remembering what had happened to her during the disaster with the Eclipse Gate and the Dragon invasion caused by the Future Rogue. True, she committed many sins when she was a member of Grimoire Heart, maybe even more than the three of them combined, and it probably all stemmed from her. But deep down Jellal and Meredy were aware that Ultear's heart wasn't really rotten, she was nothing but a victim of a greater evil, like all of them. Ultear herself realised her mistakes and tried to correct them by the birth of Crime Sorcière.

Did she really have to use that spell? True, if she didn't nobody would be there in the first place, but still…

'…please, continue on this path. Keep the spirit that brought us together alive. Don't forget your sins, learn from them. Don't let them destroy you. But most importantly, never stop having faith in the people you hold dear…' Ultear's last wish flooded into his mind.

'Could I really forgive myself after all of this?... I never would've imagined it would be so hard.'

"Well, good morning Jellal."

The wizard took his eyes off the picture and spun to glance the person approaching him. Shaking his head, he smiled. "Good morning to you as well, Yasaka." He greeted her with a nod. "How are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm feeling well, thank you. I hope you rested well last night." The blonde-haired beauty said.

"We did. Thank you for letting us stay." Jellal spoke in a grateful tone.

"You're very welcome." She replied gently. "So, Cobra and Midnight departed earlier in the night I take it?"

"Yes, they likely awoke a few hours ago, ate a short breakfast and then left. They probably wanted to speed things up." Jellal answered.

"Cobra's initiative?" Yasaka wondered in fake confusion.

"Definitely." Jellal confirmed with a chuckle. "What about Azazel, did he return to Grigori earlier?" The blue-haired mage wondered.

"He did. He said it was a significant matter he couldn't miss." Yasaka informed the wizard.

"That makes sense." Jellal said in response. "What about Asia and Kunou? Are they alright?"

"Yes. They're still asleep, it's still early in the morning after all." Yasaka then graciously blinked her eyes and made a curious look. "Is that a picture?" She asked noticing him holding the piece of paper.

Jellal nodded. "Yes, this is a group photo of my whole guild."

"Oh?" Yasaka murmured while tilting her head.

Jellal chuckled knowing she was curious. "You can have a look if you want." She faintly blushed at his unexpected claim, but gave him a nod. He then handed her the photo.

The Youkai leader took the picture as she viewed it with interest; the people photographed looked very different from each other, yet she could tell they were clearly close despite their differences. All of them were smiling, of course some of their faces were new to her. "So they are all your guildmates. They seem good people." She commented.

The blue-haired mage smiled heartily. "All of them are. We have all had different stories, but at the same time very similar. Though only one of us is absent; she departed the Guild about two years ago due to issues..." Jellal paused remembering Ultear's last words.

Yasaka didn't want to pry about it, but she was still curious to know more about his guild. "I see." She looked back at the picture. "What are their names?" She asked instead.

Now the question was whether he should tell her their real names. He knew the others had no problems with their real names more often than Erik and Macbeth, so there shouldn't be a problem for him to tell her. He pointed at every person in the picture and spoke. "The ones next to me are Richard and Meredy. The blonde guy in speed suit with Cobra is Sawyer. And the woman with white hair hugging Midnight is Sorano." He told her, there was a certain measure of pride in his words, which Yasaka immediately perceived, Jellal must have been very proud to have them at his side.

Looking closer, however, she noticed a detail. "Oh. They seem pretty close, is there something going on between them?" Yasaka observed with playfulness.

"Well, the two of them had a special bond as children, but over time their relationship has drifted apart. Fortunately, in the last few months their connection has been restored." Jellal told her with a small smirk on his face, that Yasaka didn't fail to notice. "To be honest, I'm surprised those two are yet to become a couple." He laughed lightly.

"I see." Yasaka chuckled in amusement.

"But you didn't hear that from me." Jellal said jokingly.

Yasaka nodded while giggling softly. "Truthfully, I certainly didn't expect Midnight to be interested in love in general, he seems to not get involved in romance and such."

"Trust me, I was surprised to learn that as well." Jellal quipped.

Even though Yasaka was amused, she couldn't help but think about their 'problem'. In all fairness, she had intended to ask the blue-haired wizard about their past given their reaction to the Evil Pieces' explanation, as she shared his daughter's genuine concern. But she knew this wasn't the right time, and questions could wait. But from what little Kunou had told her, their story was definitely not pleasant, especially for him to tell.

"It will be morning soon, and I believe you have a job request to handle. So…" Yasaka turned to him. "Would you want to join me for breakfast before you leave?" She offered.

"That would be great, thank you very much Yasaka." Jellal accepted with a smile as he slipped the photo back into his pocket.

Once the breakfast-time with Yasaka was over, Jellal decided to take advice from the Youkai leader on the easiest way to get around: apparently, as on Earth-Land, the easiest and fastest way to get from city to city in Japan, as in most places in that world, was by train.

Currently, Jellal and Yasaka were standing in front of Kyoto Station, which happened to be one of the largest stations in the country, differing from the Earth-Land stations in how modern it looked.

"This place is massive. I would've never imagined Kyoto had a station of this magnitude." Jellal commented in awe making the blonde Youkai giggle.

"You should look at your face, you look like a child who just received his favourite toy as a gift." Yasaka teased.

Jellal respobded with a wry smile feeling a bit embarrassed. "Hehe, I guess I'm merely shocked considering how small our train stations are compared to yours." He scratched his head.

"Don't worry, I'm just teasing." Yasaka said with a small smirk. "Now, I think you have a train to catch, allow me to accompany you to help you get your bearings." Yasaka stated as she and Jellal entered the station.

"I have to thank you once again for your helpfulness." Jellal thanked the maiden.

"You know you don't have to thank me." Yasaka responded with a reassuring honest smile. "You can always ask us if you need help, we are allies after all."

"Well, you know that one day we will compensate you for all this." Jellal laughed a bit.

"You already did when you saved my daughter's life." Yasaka spoke with gratitude.

"I would do that again if needed." Jellal said.

Yasaka's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Y-you would?" She asked, her cheeks hitting a rosy colour.

Jellal smiled and nodded to her. "Yes, of course. It's the least I can do. You and Azazel lent us a hand with almost nothing in return. You and the other Youkai offered us hospitality in your city and welcomed us with open arms. Showing you my gratitude is the least I can do."

Yasaka's blush intensified a bit, but smiled sweetly. Not only was Jellal very handsome, but he also was a mature, collected, noble and kind man. What was enough for him to be happy was seeing happiness in other people, especially those closest to him, that was proven by how he immensely cared about his guildmates. Seriously, how could this guy be still single? He was practically every woman's dream. 'You surely know how to speak to a woman, don't you Jellal?' She thought.

/Underworld, Demilitarised Zone/

Meanwhile in the Underworld, the two former dark wizards were still searching for signs of life, all they could find were small ruined buildings and old abandoned houses with absolutely nothing inside. After walking for hours in the middle of the desert dunes, the two decided to take a break near one of the hundreds of ruined houses they found.

"Damn..." Erik complained while sitting on the dirt floor of the house. "Is this for real? We've been walking around for hours and haven't found shit."

Macbeth sat before his friend sighing. "We can't do much about it, Azazel and Yasaka did tell us this is an unhabituated area."

"And I thought we'd manage to get a move on by waking up before dawn, dammit." Erik grumbled as he leaned against the nearby wall of the house.

"Waking me up as well." Macbeth said with a flat stare.

"Ah, give me a break. You knew that coming in any case." Erik replied placing his sack on the floor. "By the way, I brought some grub. It's lunch time." He said as he took a sandwich out of it.

"I could use some food too." Macbeth arranged while pulling out his own meal from his sack.

It took a few minutes before the two finished their meal. Erik ate his extra-large submarine sandwich while Macbeth had a bowl of instant noodles.

"Holy shit, Yasaka sure has a flair at cooking, even a mere sandwich tasted like heaven." Erik remarked licking your fingers satisfied by his meal. "To think not even two weeks ago we had to work an entire day to get us decent food." He continued.

Macbeth agreed with a nod putting away. "Erik, speaking of which, what do you think about our situation generally speaking?" He asked making his friend look at him.

"I think we kinda lucked out of this one. If there weren't those guys covering our backs, who knows for how long we would've been wandering around." Erik replied as he picked up a bottle of water. After drinking he went on saying. "How about you?"

Macbeth thought about it for some moments, before replying. "I won't lie to you; I was quite uncertain at first, but my doubts were gone the moment they offered us a place with barely nothing in exchange."

"Except that babysitting thing…" Erik grimaced.

Macbeth mildly chuckled. "You can't deny you had some fun too. I myself had to admit I didn't have a bad time."

"Yeah… they're all pretty cool." Erik admitted sighing. "Asia is a peace-loving person, Kunou is an annoying pipsqueak but she's not that bad, Yasaka is as sweet as pie and Azazel can be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he's not a bad guy." The Dragon Slayer listed off. "If something was wrong I would've noticed, but they're fine. I can hear it."

"Though, I'd say I didn't expect such treatment from two Factions leaders like Yasaka and Azazel." Macbeth admitted.

"Yeah?" Erik hummed.

"Think about it, according to what we've learned so far, the supernatural world is usually accustomed to look down on humans in a similar way to our counterparts, you know, dragons, demons..." Macbeth said. "But Azazel, Yasaka and Kunou didn't, they didn't discriminate us for being humans. Which I honestly appreciate."

Again, Erik was honestly astonished by his friend's words, it wasn't every day that Macbeth spoke so well of people he had met not even two weeks before. "Didn't see that coming from you, but I'm down with that."

"Hmph." The Dark Wizard slightly smirked. "You're right about that, honestly me neither." Macbeth confessed.

Erik hummed and checked the phone to look at the time. "Alright, I think it's time to head out." He said getting up on his feet.

Macbeth nodded and followed Erik out of the house.

After another hour's trek, while on top of a high dune, the two ex Oracion Seis members spotted an abandoned town in the distance that was not entirely new to them. The place looked like an ancient city in decay, totally abandoned like the rest of the buildings they came across. It was filled with mud-brick houses in ruins with a high-rise building to the centre of it.

"Is this like… a straight up copy of Nirvana?" Erik asked in disbelief as he was looking in the distance.

Macbeth had his eyes widened for a few moments, reminiscing their huge involvement in the Nirvana Incident. "It seems so, just without the Royale Throne in the middle."

"Tch. Honestly, felt like a decade ago." Erik clicked his tongue, sounding distressed by their past.

"Technically, it was." Macbeth said with the same tone. "Either way, we mustn't let our past distract us from the task at hand."

"Yeah… right." The Dragon Slayer nodded. "So now what?"

Macbeth put his hand under his chin. "I think we should split up, this city seems as big as Nirvana, if we split up we have a better chance of finding something."

"Works for me." Erik agreed shrugging.

-Half an hour later…-

The Dragon Slayer let out a sigh while patrolling the streets of one of the abandoned town's neighbourhood.

'What is this…' Erik widened his eyes lightly stopping walking. 'I can hear it. They're screams of fear and despair...' Erik thought.

Seconds later, he sprinted toward at the source of the voice, but it started to fade away.

'It came from that building! I gotta hurry!' He exclaimed in his mind.

The house he stepped into looked almost the same as the others but it was more spacious. The interior of the house was nearly identical as the rest, but the few remaining remnants were destroyed, and there was a pungent odour. After a few seconds, the screams ceased.

'Wait a minute, this is...' He smelled it. 'Blood. Crap… I'm too late.'

Before he could hear anything else, he covered his nose with both hands because of the strong stench in the house.

'Ugh…' Erik grunted wrinkling his nose. 'What the hell is this? Smells worse than the latrines back at the Tower of Heaven.'

"My, my, look what we have here." A feminine voice spoke up.

Erik turned his gaze to the source of the voice. The coming person appeared as a beautiful young woman with vampire-like appearance, long dark-brown hair, deep red eyes, pointed ears and a curvaceous figure. She seemed to be wearing only a tight black dress that emphasised her curves.

"What's a handsome man like you doing here in my domain?" The woman asked in a sultry voice.

"And you are?" Erik ignored it, trying to speak and not vomit. 'Holy shit, this woman stinks…'

"Oh. Pardon my rudeness, my name is Elliades." The she-Devil introduced herself smirking.

"You don't smell like a human." Erik observed.

"That's because I'm a Devil." Elliades clarified. "And I just happened to feast on the body of a poor helpless young man whom I lured into the human world." She declared with a mix of sadism and happiness. "Hmm. His blood was so delightful."

'Crap, so she was the one to kill the person… that explains that putrid stench… ugh, not that she smells any better.' Erik thought with disgust but did a good job at hiding it. "I see." The Dragon Slayer said, hands in his pockets.

"You don't seem surprised." The Stray remarked surprisingly.

"I mean sure, that's yucky and gross to boot, but I've seen the likes." The Dragon Slayer shrugged as he clicked his tongue.

"Interesting... it's unusual for a human to react like that. Especially when you're faced with a hottie as gorgeous as me. But then again you did arrive in the Underworld despite being only human." She noted.

"Yeah…" Erik answered with a sweatdrop. "Look I ain't here to waste my time, so I'll get to the point: I just came here to get answers to some questions."

"Oh? And what makes you think I'm going to have a chat with a human?" Elliades trailed off as she was thinking. "Hmm. Perhaps I'll make an exception for a hot hunk like you... you see, lately I've felt very lonely. And to be honest, hunting humans has become boring in these days... so how about we have some fun?" She leaned forward showing more skin and cleavage. "...wouldn't it be better for both of us, handsome? It's a win-win after all." She asked with a sultry smirk while licking her lips.

"Yeah, it would be fantastic if you didn't smell like shit." Erik pointed out bluntly not fazed by her attempts to 'seduce' him. "I mean, you ever had a shower in your life, lady?" He asked making a mockery, totally ignoring her 'request'.

"It looks like that I have been rejected, what a shame…" She said falsely offended. "Well, in that case..." She smirked and was engulfed by her demonic aura. She was changing her form.

"What the...?"

The 'woman' in front of him was the exact definition of abomination, while her upper body remained unchanged; her lower body was now gigantic and spider-like, with eight dark-red coloured legs. Her mouth bearing piranha-like teeth with a snake-like tongue.

"What the fuck are you?!" Erik shouted in disbelief.

"The one who's going to kill you and taste your flesh, human!" She yelled cracking a wicked smile.

Opening her jaws wide, she shot a beam of demonic power from her mouth. Erik stood still without moving a single centimetre, he looked as if he would take the whole blow. Immediately after the beam hit its target, a large explosion erupted, sweeping away the entire house. The Devil woman's snickering became louder until she was laughing evilly, believing the human was already dealt with.

"HAHAH! This is what you get when you step into big dogs' territories." Elliades laughed at the spot where Erik was.

"HAha…!" The she-devil halted her snickering, now wide-eyed once she spotted a certain human's silhouette.

"Was that supposed to hurt me?" The Dragon Slayer asked with his eyes closed as he walked out of the dust. Hands on his pockets. What left her most dumbfounded was the fact that he didn't even have a single scratch or bruise on his body.

"How did you survive that?! You're just a puny human!" Elliades exclaimed.

Erik opened his eyes to look at her for a second and grinned. "You're gonna need more than that if you want to kill me." He taunted ignoring her demands.

"You dare mock, you vermin?!" She snarled losing her temper.

"It's not like I can do much… I mean, have you looked in the mirror?" Erik countered nonchalantly, his smirk still on his face.

"Be silent! Once I kill you, I'm going to tear your body a part and swim in your blood!" She shouted madly.

Firing multiple beams once again, Elliades tried to catch the human in front of her by surprise. This time she aimed at the floor, putting up a dust cloud trying to obscure Erik's vision and sneak up on him. Unfortunately for her, he had more than one ace up his sleeve.

The Dragon Slayer bounced high up, front flipped and hit the woman's head with a swift heavy kick causing her to spill up some blood, followed by a backhand elbow and a second kick on the temple, slamming her on the ground making it shake.

"Heard that coming from a mile away, better luck next time, Spidey lady." The scarred slayer mocked.

"YOU!..." She snarled. Rising up, she put her hands in front and suddenly they stretched her arms forward to the Dragon Slayer. Cobra only laughed at her attempt to hit him, he rushed forward and easily dodged her arms with great speed. Once again, he jumped off and brought out his feet, landing one more kick knocking her face-first onto the floor. To add insult to injury, Erik landed straight on her back causing a loud crack to be echoed.

"AARGH!…" Elliades growled in pain.

The scarred slayer hopped off the Stray, not before grimacing because of the bad stench she was giving off. She was still able to move, despite the immense pain she was feeling.

"What?" Erik spoke gaining a glare from the woman. "Finished already?" Erik rose a brow, his smirk still there.

'How... can he…? He's only a random human...!' Elliades thought gritting her teeth. 'His hits are stronger than they should be...'

"The first sign of desperation. I can hear it." Erik said seeing the she-devil's confused expression.

Despite the grave damage sustained, the Stray devil threw herself into the air, unfurling her bat-like wings. The she-devil bulged her eyes and wide opened her mouth firing multiple beams of demonic magic. Erik just snapped his finger, creating wall of sounds that completely blocked her offence. Without even letting her the chance to retort, the scarred slayer shot up in the air, smashing her in the neck with a flying knee with one leg, as he spun around he quickly kicked her again on her cheek sending her back on the ground.

After touching the ground, he shook his head. "Like I've said, I can hear everything." The Dragon Slayer repeated as he glanced down to her. "You can't catch me by surprise."

Elliades tried to rise up "What... what are you...? You can't be a normal human..." The Stray accused weakly.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I am human. The name's Cobra." Erik replied. "And I'm a Dragon Slayer." He then walked up where she was lying. "So, are you gonna answer to my questions or what?"

"As if, lowly little man!"

Erik sighed. "You still have the guts to call me that despite the fact that I just effortlessly kicked your ass?" He inquired genuinely exasperated.

The Dragon Slayer nearly facepalmed in exasperation, there was no longer point in talking. Then he put his right hand forward, channelling his magic into it.

"Disturbed Screech." He snapped his fingers.

Manipulating even minor sounds in the spell, Cobra conjured up a loud screeching noise that thundered inside the she-devil's ears. As a result she tried to cover her ears, but to no avail, the soundwaves were too powerful for her.

"Ngg…AAAARGHH!" The Stray cried out in agony as her eardrums were tormented by Cobra's Sound Magic.

That continued for a half minute, until she lost her senses.

"Hmph, looks like it was just a waste of time." Cobra leaned against the house wall. 'That must've been a Stray.' He thought.

Apparently, according to Azazel, Stray Devils were servants who broke the leash between them and their masters to fulfil their own desire. And even if in some cases it was true that many reincarnated devils abandoned their king to pursue evil ways, it was also true that they were often individuals reincarnated against their will who simply wanted to live free. Of course, that rule didn't work if a Devil was pure-blooded. That honestly didn't seat really right with him.

'I can hear it… Someone's approaching.' The Dragon Slayer thought looking up.

On the other side of town, the Nightmare Mage was in a similar situation with another Stray. This one had the same spider-like appearance, the only difference was her hair was green and her eyes were violet. At the moment, she was in the air, her devil wings out, as she was shooting her own demonic beams towards the wizard repetitively.

"Why can't I hit you?!" She yelled in anger.

Macbeth has been standing motionless for now five minutes. Reflecting and distorting any of her attacks effortlessly.

"Why do you keep on wasting time with the same attack?" The wizard asked.

The Stray devil woman boiled with rage; she didn't seem to give up on it. "Just die already!" She fired another beam out of rage. By twisting the air around him, the reflector wizard reflected the incoming attack toward the sky making it disappear.

'Impossible! Why the fuck can't I hit him?!' She snarled in her mind.

"You should realise by now that no matter what kind of attack you throw won't hit me." Macbeth stated calmly. "So, will you answer my questions?"

"Like hell I'm going to answer your demands, you worm!" The green-haired Stray barked.

'Looks like there's no way out of this.' The Nightmare Mage simply said. "Very well… Spiral Pain!" Macbeth swept his arm, summoning his vortex of twisted air which immediately engulfed the she-devil.

"AAAAAHHHH!..." The Stray yelled in pain. However her screams were muffled by the tornado that was slowly sapping her strength.

The tornado soon dissipated and the unconscious body of the she-devil crashed into the ground.

"I sincerely hope Erik had better luck than I did."

/Railway Route between Kyoto and Tokyo/

Jellal was occupying his seat on the train that would take him to his next destination. His head rested on his hand as he was looking out of the window admiring the beauties of Japan. The landscape was verdant and mountainous, decorated with several rivers and lakes. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and clear clouds rolling across it.

'Japan is such a fascinating place, definitely different from Fiore.' Jellal thought. 'Though, looking on the internet, I noticed that Fiore shares several similarities with Europe, it would be nice to visit there in the future.'

The mage's smile fainted a bit. 'I wonder… how would we handle this situation if the others were here.'

The blue-haired wizard shifted his gaze, unlocking his phone to check the time and noticed a couple of messages; one was from Azazel, the other was from Yasaka. He decided to open Azazel's first.

Although Jellal was the only one in the guild who was capable of using Telepathy magic, he opted to use his phone to communicate with others, using said magic only in emergencies. After all, the use of any kind of magic meant spending some of your magic power, even if it was very minimal.

"Yo Jellal, how are you doing with your job?" Azazel's message said.

"Out of luck so far. I haven't found or sensed anything significant and I've already visited and checked 3 cities so far." Jellal texted back. "Oh now that I think about it, Yasaka told me you got something to deal with at Grigori, is that something important related to this?"

"That's a bummer." He responded to the first message. "About that, I don't think it has anything to do with your situation with Tartaros. However, what I can say is that a number of members of Grigori went rogue recently, and some of them happened to be Stray Exorcists."

"Stray Exorcists?" Jellal messaged.

"Yep. Basically, they're Exorcists who were kicked out of the Church for going against God's teachings. Some of them have nowhere to go, so they come to us in Grigori." Azazel replied.

"I see. If I happen to see one of them, I'll be sure to contact you immediately." Jellal assured.

"Thanks, for now we just focus on preventing things don't get out of control. Who knows what they'd do if they step in the wrong territory. Anyway, where are you heading now?" Azazel asked.

Jellal checked the next stop before replying. "Nagoya."

"I see, you're lucky then, from what I know, there shouldn't be much supernatural activity there. But still, don't take things for granted and be careful."

"I will. Thank you Azazel."

"Stay frosty, Jellal."

Now Jellal opened Yasaka's message.

"Good afternoon Jellal. I hope your mission is going well."

"I've been unfortunate, sadly. At the moment, I haven't found anything interesting. My next stop is Nagoya, hopefully, I'll find something useful." Jellal typed his reply.

"I'm sure you will."

"Thank you."

"Listen Jellal, when your job is over and you'll come back… I would like to have a word with you about something. Is that alright?" The blonde Youkai texted after a brief pause.

Jellal didn't see this one coming and stared at his phone for a few seconds before giving his reply. "Yes, sure. Whenever you like."

"Thank you. Now I have to get back to work, and I think I have already wasted enough of your time. I'll talk to you later." Yasaka messaged.

"Certainly." Jellal finished replying.

"Attention passengers, we will be arriving in Nagoya Station in two minutes." The announcer voice said.

Jellal pocketed his phone, got up from his seat and made his way towards the exit of the carriage.

Once out of the train and heading for the station exit, Jellal took a moment to look around and observe the new city. Nagoya was one of the most important Japan's centre as well as one of the largest metropolitans city in the country. Like Kyoto, Nagoya was also known for its exotic appearance, from the most typical visitor attractions to the classic skyscrapers that characterised any kind of metropolis.

Looking around, the blue-haired mage detected a dark evil presence, something not new to him that he wasn't able to sense in the other cities he visited. Something that made him think of a sole person…

'…Zeref.'

/Underworld, Demilitarised Zone, Ghost Town/

The Poison Dragon Slayer was still hearing those odd distant murmurs. "Those voices again..." Several magic seals appeared under his feet. "Huh?"

Suddenly, multiple beams of demonic power shot out of the magic circles, causing various explosions in the process turning the surrounding area into a wasteland; the buildings in the vicinity were almost all razed to the ground, except for a few pillars and walls here and there. Cobra however remained unharmed. The moment the dust cleared, he dismissed his sound barrier, only to find himself surrounded by a small army... they were all Devils. Not that he expected anything different, he was technically in hell. Their faces resembled dark brown demonic goat skulls, with the upper part being covered with a helmet of sorts. They all had their wings out, and wore the same black armour, armed with long axes or jagged spears.

"Just great." Cobra turned around eying the Devils before him. "Guess they didn't come all this way here to have a lovely sit-down with me." He commented, being able to hear their killing intent. "Right?"

The Devils surrounding him weren't expecting the human surviving that one. Unbeknownst to him, they that had encircled him swung between low-class and middle-class, hence nothing more than minor annoyances for the poison user.

"How did you survive that attack, human?!" A soldier immediately demanded.

Cobra sighed and pocketed his hands with a bored expression. If that really was their best shot, this fight wouldn't even be a warm-up for him. Turning towards his interlocutor… "You call that an attack? Felt like a tiny little tingle to me." He replied with a taunting smirk.

"Are you making fun of us, lowly trash!?"

"This is not place for the likes of you, your kind is just as despicable of the Angels and the Fallen Angels!"

"Your sole existence is an insult before ours!"

"Woah, woah, easy there, buddies." Cobra held up his hand in a mocking manner. "Let's not start off on the wrong foot, alright?" He said while blatantly jerking them around with mock politeness. "So, why did you guys try to harm a regular passerbyer like me?" He asked with clear sarcasm.

"You dare inquire such questions when you were the first to enter our territory, human?"

"Yeah, this world is off-limits for you!"

"Really, your territory? HA!" The scarred slayer laughed at them. "Please, don't give me that shit. 'Cause last time I checked; this ain't none's territory." Cobra shrugged.

"Be silent, you scum! You're contaminating our world just with your mere presence!" One of them shouted.

"Precisely, as such we shall remove your presence right away!"

"Oh, talkin' high and mighty, huh?" The Dragon Slayer snickered at their racist comments. "Then let's see what you can do."

"We'll just kill you and..." The speaking Devil had no time to finish his sentences, with high-speed, Cobra brutally socket punched the armed Devil in the guts sending him to a surviving wall. Cracking his knuckles and his neck, the slayer shifted back his gaze to the rest of the soldiers and grinned, making them growl in irritation.

"'Kay, who's up next?" Cobra asked.

"You damn human!" Two of them pointed their axes at the human while firing their own demonic power beams only for Cobra to slap them away with his bare hands like.

"W-what?!" Both Devils shouted in shock.

"I've been underestimated before, but this is just lame. Can't you guys get serious?" The scarred wizard taunted shaking his head.

Another soldier gritted his teeth. "You won't get away with this!" He yelled.

"Prepare to meet your doom, lowlife!"

"Oh, I'm so scared! Go ahead and try your worst on me, ya pricks!" Cobra exclaimed, his grin widening. "I can't wait to tear you all a new one!" He readied himself.

"Grr… we will annihilate you!"

Four Devils attacked instantly with their spears. The first duo swung their spears only to be grabbed by the heads and smacked into each other, not after effortlessly avoiding several axe slashes from the second duo. With a sweep of his legs, he knocked them both off balance and threw two powerful hooks on their faces, making the bones in their skulls crack.

"Let's take him down!" They all screamed.

Immediately afterwards, a large group of Devils threw themselves into the fray to try and take out the Dragon Slayer. At least a dozen soldiers tried to rip the human apart, whether it was with demon beams or shots at close range did not matter. But their weapons stopped from swinging clashing into something that seemed like an invisible wall.

"What the hell?!"

"What is this?!"

"How is he doing it?!"

"I can't get through!" The attackers cried.

No matter how much force they put into it, how hard they tried to pressure with their weapons on the strange defensive spell, none of them could overpower it, much to their discomfort.

"Now get lost!" Cobra shouted unleashing his Sound Wall with great force. Several Devils in the area were blown away with a single attack as they were sent flying away.

At some point, two pairs of soldiers simultaneously attacked and swung their weapons forward, but Cobra took a leap in mid-air and agilely dodged them. But he was met by another group of Devils, well ready to take him down with their long axes. Dodging their offences with ease, the Dragon Slayer let out a smirk as he threw both his arms open and his palms open, by touching both Devil's chests, he emitted a very powerful sound wave from his palms, causing them to be blasted away.

'Damn, they're so weak. That freak-show of a woman put a better fight than these chumps.' He commented in his thoughts. "Is that the best you can do?" Cobra asked with a dark smirk.

"AHH! Damn you!"

"Die you cockroach!"

Cobra wasn't scared in the slightest. On the contrary, he still displayed that smug smirk on his face, which angered the Devils even more. He caught both weapons that were aiming for him from both sides.

"I heard that too you know?" Cobra reminded. From the palm of his hands he emitted his Dragon Slayer Poison, corroding the Devils' weapons in a matter of seconds. Spinning his feet out, he performed several kicks to his attackers' skulls, knocking them unconscious onto the ground. Rising up on his feet, Cobra noticed that there were other henchmen charging towards him.

"Hmph." The Dragon Slayer uttered. 'Looks like these guys don't know when to give up. Oh well…' He thought. "Time to show you something more!" He exclaimed.

"Poison Dragon Roar!" Cobra gathered and fired his own draconic element. The dark-red stream just made a clean sweep of them.

Realising there were more Devils coming to his way he grimaced in annoyance.

"Tch. Untiring motherfuckers." The Dragon Slayer commented clicking his tongue.

Deciding to go for his Dragon Slayer Magic again, he took a stance as he spread his arms to his right. "Poison Dragon Toxic Wave!" With a swing of both his hands, he sent a huge wave of dark-red sludge-like poison that decimated the entire Devil army. A lot of them were lying unconscious, others were simply dead probably from the powerful poison emitted by the him.

The remaining troops of Devils slowly retreated, although their faces were half-covered by their helmets, Cobra could hear that they were starting to panic.

"I can hear it." Cobra said ominously. "Your mind's beginning to be pervaded by shock and fear. What an amusing sound."

"N-no… this can't be real!" A Devil panicked.

"How…" Another one added.

"This must be a nightmare!" One more of them exclaimed.

"Looks like I was right." The scarred wizard mused.

"Well, well." A voice uttered from above.

Everyone, Cobra included, looked up to the source.

The Devil who spoke had the same armour as the others, but a decidedly different appearance to that of the soldiers, he had a more human-like face, with spiky hair, a black mask covering half his face. He also wielded an axe.

"It would appear that we underestimated your power, human." The new Devil said.

"So, you're the one who calls shots, right?" Cobra asked.

"Indeed I am. I have to compliment you, human, your strength is impressive for a human being, you managed to knock out all my men without breaking a sweat, that says a lot about your full power." The Devil leader continued. "That being said, I have an offer for you."

"Hm." Cobra already saw where this was going, but remained quiet as he wanted to listen his reasons, who knows, perhaps it might turn out useful.

"You see, ever since the Devil Civil War came to an end, our faction has gone down the drain; our old rulers driven out and our former glory thrown away. Our desires for total domination of this world have been shattered by powerless beings and a few self-proclaimed Devil Kings. How shameful." The Devil told him with clear repulsion. "As such, we need to gather powerful elements on our side. As much as I dislike the idea of such offer, I can't help but acknowledge your strength. A truly impressive feat for a human. So... would you like to join us, the real Devil faction?" He offered. "Of course, in return you will receive whatever you wish."

The two had a brief staring contest, but it was soon interrupted due to Cobra's snickering. His chuckles turned soon into amused laughter. Those idiots didn't even realise how idiotic and hypocritical that sounded.

The Devil's eyes furrowed. "Care to say what do you find so amusing?"

"Oh man, you guys really are a bunch of morons, aren't you?" The Dragon Slayer smirked in response.

"What did you say?!" A Devil nearby exclaimed angrily.

"I mean, you serious?" Cobra laughed as he turned to him. "You find out I'm strong and we're suddenly buddies?" He then turned back to the leader. "Plus, do you really think I'd give a shit about your faction drama?"

"What did you say?!"

"Oh and one more thing… I always hated power control freaks like you. And I certainly couldn't care less about your lame superiority complex." He finished.

The last standing Devils growled at him in fury.

"You shitty huma…" As they were about to attack again they were stopped by their boss.

"So, I'm assuming you're refusing my offer." The Devil in charge stated.

"At least you're not as retarded as your goons."

The Devil twitched his eye in annoyance at the human's comment, but didn't lose his temper yet. "I should have imagined that your answer would be this, in that case then..."

With a snap of his fingers, the Devil Leader made a tiny figure appear lying next to him. Taking a better look, the Dragon Slayer realised, it was a small boy, he was rather young, maybe the same age as Kunou. He had pure crimson hair of medium length. He appeared to have been badly beaten, his clothes were torn, and he had several burns and bruises all over his body. Fortunately, he seemed to be still breathing, which meant that he had just lost consciousness.

Two axes blade close to the boy's neck. "…we'll have to persuade you." The Devil finished with a smirk.

"What the hell is this shit?!" Cobra exclaimed replacing his grin with a sharp scowl.

"Giving you an ultimatum, of course. Let's put it simply…" The same Devil threatened gesturing to his men to put the blade of their axes close to the neck of their hostage. "…you'll join us if you want him to live."

These individuals, no, these scumbags had the guts to blackmail him using a young boy as bait. Did they seriously kidnap a child so they could threaten people to join them? Or maybe there was more?

"I've got a better idea. How about you leave the brat out of this so I can beat you black and blue, you cowardly piece of shit?" The Dragon Slayer asked angrily.

"Do not test me." He said while they were bringing their blades closer to the boy's throat. "It would be wise of you to not try anything to save him. As you can see, you're not in the position to make threats. This is a warning. Make one more move and he's dead."

"Grr…" Cobra narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists in frustration, but hasn't moved a muscle yet. He went quiet trying to work out a strategy to get out of this situation.

'The hell am I supposed to do now?!…'

"Hahah! What? Cat got your tongue, human?" One of his bodyguards taunted.

"He's not as cocky as he was just some minutes ago, huh?" Another one added.

'These dickheads are not messing around. If I screw up this kid'll be a goner…' The Dragon Slayer thought clenching his teeth as he had his back to the wall. 'This ain't good… shit…'

In the meantime, the little boy slightly opened his teal eyes, having regained consciousness. Shifting his gaze towards the Dragon Slayer, the crimson-haired boy uttered a single word.

"…please sir… help me…" The boy whispered. 'I want to see my family again…' He finished in his thought. His whispers were so faint that even the Devils could hardly hear his call for help. On the contrary, Cobra heard perfectly what he had requested. Sadly, there couldn't many chances in his situation.

"Well human, have you made up your decision?" The Devil asked in a demanding tone as he ignored the small boy's murmur.

"Tch…" Cobra's glare intensified gritting his teeth as they were about to crack.

"How tragic, to think you could potentially turn out into a valid source… Unfortunately, you're at a dead end, there's nothing left you can do but join us." The leader said.

"Not true." Someone else's voice echoed.

"Huh?!"

"Who's there?!" Two of them exclaimed.

"Invisible…" The Nightmare Wizard suddenly appeared in a blueish flash. "Scythe." By twisting air, Midnight generated enormous blades through the entire field slashing with precision the Devils that threatened the life of the boy. Counting the boss, not even a dozen was left standing.

"What just happened?!"

"Who are you?!"

A new figure the Devils failed to recognise appeared, however it didn't take much for the slayer to identify him.

"Hey there, Midnight. Took you long enough." Cobra greeted, his smirk returning.

The Devil leader however grabbed the young boy by the neck and raised his weapon. "Stay still! Or else I'll…"

Midnight had a cold gaze and didn't let him finish; he waved his hand horizontally as they glowed in a shade of greyish-red. The Devil leader's armour suddenly tightened his whole body. It didn't take a genius to notice the human was responsible.

"What have you done to me?!" The Devil in command demanded.

"Enough clowning around." The Reflector Wizard said coldly. "Release the boy this instant." Midnight threatened, his eyes glowing in a mix of red and green.

"Aargh… grr…" The in-charge Devil shot a glare at the human mage while still trapped in his own twisted armour, which grew tighter and tighter. The pain was getting more intense, his breathing became laboured and his skin paled from the lack of air.

"We can go on all day until you drop dead or until you free the boy, the choice is yours, Devil." Midnight continued; his gaze still fixed to him.

The Devil scowled, but he was left no choice. He couldn't move and if his men tried anything, he would surely die by Midnight's hands. "…step back." He ordered his men, which they grudgingly obeyed.

"Cobra, pick him up. I'll make sure he won't move." Midnight told his guildmate.

"On it." Cobra replied. 'What the?'

At that right moment, despite his condition, the Devil summoned two magic circles from both hands. Several tentacle-shaped beams of energy were fired out and wrapped themselves around him, increasing his magical aura.

'For the sake of our kind, we shall wipe you all out of this world: Humans, Fallen Angels, Angels and any other lowlife who will stand in our way!' The Devil leader bellowed in his thoughts. 'But first, let's start with this Gremory brat! And then with these pesky humans!'

Cobra's eye suddenly became wide as he read the enemy's mind. 'Shit! He wants to one shot the brat!…'

Suddenly, his demonic aura somehow skyrocketed, allowing him to free himself from his own armour that was squeezing him on the torso by ripping it in half.

"I have grown tired of you!" The Devil exclaimed as his patience clearly ran out. "I'll kill this bugger right now!"

"Oh no, you won't!" The Poison Dragon Slayer immediately dashed forward. "Sound Wall!" Releasing his defence wall of soundwaves, the scarred wizard was perfectly able to counter and overcome the demonic attack much to his anger.

"How did he?!" He spat.

"Damn, were you really the toughest guy around they could send?"

"You…" The Devil in command growled. "All of you! Take them now!" He screamed to his men.

"Cobra." Midnight eyed him.

"Heard ya." The Poison Dragon Slayer responded with a quick nod. Dismissing his Sound spell, Cobra turned around to the rest of the devils. "Time to decompose you into mush! Poison Dragon Fang Thrust!" A large-fanged snake head made of poison was released and shot towards the Devil grunts, killing them on the spot.

Meanwhile, by twisting the air around him, Midnight darted among the Devil's soldiers at an unimaginable speed. Having reached in seconds where the small boy was lying, he didn't waste time and grabbed him by the wrist as he picked him up.

'Got him.' The Nightmare Mage thought.

Turning around, the Reflector Wizard cast his invisible spell once again, wearing off their sight and reappeared in his previous spot. He then cautiously laid the little boy down next to a nearby pillar, between him and his guildmate.

Midnight spread both his arms wide, dark-green dread faces swirled around him. "Dark Rondo!" He shouted firing his beams of darkness toward the Devils rushing to him.

"Resign. Your army was defeated and you're clearly outmatched here." Midnight warned turning to face the Devil in charge.

"Yup, what he said." Cobra grinned as he let go of two beaten up soldiers.

"Enough!" The Devil shouted in anger. "In honour of our long-lost glory… we will obliterate you, humans!" He shouted spreading his wings.

"Midnight, you take care of the grunts. I deal with this chump." Cobra told him smirking darkly.

"You got it." Not intending to waste time dealing with them, Midnight decided to go the hard way and get rid of what was left of the army with one blow. "Dark Night Outbreak!" With a shockwave explosion of pure darkness, a good number of the Devil's guards in command was taken out.

"NO!" The Devil took off into the air at high speed, his axe covered with his demonic power. "I won't allow myself to lose to the likes of you two!" He exclaimed to them.

Cobra crossed his arm as he looked up to the Devil. "How funny. Is there nothing more you guys can do than swagger around your title? Because to me, it looks like you're all hat and no cattle."

"You…" The Devil glared angrily at him. "This is the Underworld. No human can ever get to it without outside help! How did you two get here, tell me!" The commander demanded trying to ignore the fact this human was deliberately mocking him.

'This moron was so focused on me joining them and didn't even ask himself how we got here in the first place… not the brightest bulb in the box I see.' The scarred wizard pointed out in his mind. "Ha! Like I'd tell to the bastard who's tryin' to kill me." Cobra scoffed.

The Devil grimaced annoyingly. "Such insolence from an inferior being!" He brought out his axe and his free hand. "In the name of Lord Beelzebub, I will destroy you and purify this world…!"

Without letting him finish, the poison user sprang up from his spot, his fists engulfed in his Poison Dragon Slayer magic.

"You talk too much." Cobra said still in mid-air. "This'll shut you up!" He drove his fist into the Devil's face, followed up by a hook in the guts. That caused the Devil to cough some blood.

'What?! I didn't even see him!' He thought.

"Now take this, you bastard!" Cobra shouted preparing for his next move. "Poison Dragon Gouge Horn!" The Devil received one more strike to the face, which unleashed a massive flood of poison. The Devil let out a grunt of pain as Cobra's hit was already doing significant damage.

"AARGH!" The leader screamed in pain.

Cobra then swung around and round-kicked the Devil in the face, sending him forcefully crashing to the ground creating a crater.

The Dragon Slayer returned on the field and cracked his knuckles in satisfaction.

"So, these are your names… Mr. Cobra, Mr. Midnight. Thank you very much." The boy said weakly forming a small smile on his face.

From another side of the battlefield, Midnight was facing the last remaining guards, and like the Stray Devil he had faced earlier, they weren't doing well at all. No matter how many times they tried to slice him in half or hit him with their Demonic power, every one of their attacks seemed to bounce off the mage.

'This is boring, are they really that dense?' Midnight sighed. "It's time to put an end to this."

"Spiral Pain!" Midnight exclaimed. The powerful whirlwind was overwhelming the whole army of Devil soldiers in seconds. Soon he ceased his spell as several bodies dropped off the ground without motion.

"Well, guess this is it, huh?"

"Yes, they were the last one of them." Midnight responded.

In a matter of seconds, a white magic circle with slight violet hues appeared beneath the little boy. 'Thank you again... for saving me.' The boy thought with a weak smile before disappearing in an unknown magic circle.

"The boy just disappeared." The Nightmare Mage commented noticing the vanishing seal.

"Don't worry." Cobra reassured glancing up.

"Huh?" Midnight rose a brow.

"I can hear it." He spoke. "Some distant voice, it's fuzzy, but... yeah, this person is related to that brat."

"Hm." Midnight only nodded entrusting Cobra's excellent hearing. "So, he's in good hands."

"Yup." The Dragon Slayer nodded. He then turned to his comrade. "Might as well go back, Azazel may want to hear what these Devil assholes are up to."

"Yeah. We've got to get back." The Reflector Wizard agreed. "Let's just hope Jellal had more luck than we had."

Summoning their Sacred Gears on loan, they left the Underworld in a flash of light.

/Nagoya, Japan/

Evening was drawing near and the sun was beginning to set. Yet Jellal was still looking around the area as he strolled through a district on the outskirts of Nagoya. He was following the trace of that strange, yet volatile, dark presence he had perceived just outside the station. Others would have found it difficult to find their way around a city they have never visited, but thanks to his great ability to perceive Dark Magic, the ex-Wizard Saint could follow a pretty clear path.

'The trail has gone cold.' Jellal pondered as he walked down the pavement. 'That strange inimical presence… it did feel like Zeref's somehow, but it differed at the same time… so, that means I may come across someone from Tartaros.' The wizard halted pondered as he continued to walk.

'Looks like to be coming nearby.' Before he could notice anything else, he suddenly froze as he heard a scream of terror coming from inside the house in the neighbourhood.

Jellal ran up the driveway, but sensed something else.

'Is this a barrier?' Jellal wondered. By observing it, that didn't even seem that strong.

As expected, he passed through the barrier effortlessly, grabbed the knob and went inside. Strangely enough, the door was already partially open.

"What?!"

As he entered the living room, he couldn't help but stare in shock and horror from what he had just witnessed. On the sofa was a female body lying with its head severed, while on the floor was a second body, this time belonging to a man, with its fart skinned over a pool of blood.

"What the hell happened here?!" Jellal practically yelled.

Approaching the deceased corpses, Jellal's eyes widened noticing what the woman was holding.

'No! It can't be…' He stammered.

The object was in the shape of a wooden flute almost a metre long. At the end it had a skull with three eyes, while on the opposite side it had root-shaped cut-outs.

'That's the flute of… Lullaby!? How did it come here?!' He shouted in his thoughts. 'And also, how do these people have it? That Demon was supposed to be dead too...'

Before he could do or theorise anything else, someone else walked in the room.

"Ow. Would you look at that? Looks like you just stepped in the wrong house, my friend."

The voice belonged to a young man in his first 20s, with white hair, red eyes. He was wearing church clothes and had an insane smirk on his face. From his body language and facial features, Jellal immediately realised that this guy wasn't exactly sane.

"And who might you be?" Jellal inquired.

"Freed Sellzen, expert Devil-killer Exorcist, at your service." The priest named Freed bowed at him.

'Exorcist? So, he's with the Church… no wait, there's something not right, maybe he's…' The wizard wondered.

Looking near the kitchen entrance, there was the body of a girl no older than 11, brutally beaten and with several cuts on her body. Judging from the bodies, those had to be her parents. Jellal's eyes shadowed at the horrifying view.

"You're the one who did this?" The mage demanded as his anger started to boil.

"Oh? Am I on trial now?" Freed laughed sticking his tongue out.

Jellal scowled at him. "Answer my question."

"Hehe. So what if I did huh?!" Freed smirked manically while shrugging. "Someone who starts relying on Devils means they're no longer humans! Sooo, I chopped them into little tiny pieces, that's what I do to sinners who make deals with shitty Devils!"

'Just as I figured. A Stray Exorcist...' Jellal thought trying his best to keep his boiling anger on check. "You have ten seconds to leave this house before things start to get difficult, you scum."

"Ooh… AHAH! So, coming here and boss me around?" Freed laughed.

Jellal didn't respond. Seeing this horrible spectacle, he certainly wasn't in the mood to indulge someone like that.

"Aw! Not in the mood to chit-chat, pretty boy?" Freed snickered drawing out his holy swords. "The fact you're here shows you're another Devil sucker! So I'm afraid I've got to kill you too! Sorry not sorry HAHAH!" He laughed.

The blue-haired wizard didn't even waste time pondering how he came to that conclusion. The maniacal priest readied himself to attack Jellal as he swung his light-based weapon aiming at his neck. However, the ex-Wizard Saint effortlessly blocked every blow of his blade with his index and middle finger.

"What?!" Freed exclaimed in disbelief.

"Tch." Jellal just wordlessly glared at him.

Freed leapt backwards as he pulled a pistol-like gun that from his arsenal and shot the mage. But before the bullets could go anywhere near him, Jellal extended his arm and the bullets suddenly stop moving in mid-air.

"What the hell?!" The psychotic priest yelled.

With a hand-swing, Jellal used his Telekinesis Magic to reflect the bullets straight back to their shooter. Freed escaped them just in the nick of time, only to be confronted by the wizard once again. The Stray Exorcist tried to strike him down with his sword, but Jellal shot him back to a bookcase using his Telekinesis. Freed jumped out of the mountain of books that had dropped on him.

"So, you really are hot stuff, aren't you? That's how you got through my barrier so easily." Freed noted with a wicked smile as he pointed his sword to the mage. "Now, let's…"

The Exorcist was caught unprepared, when Jellal suddenly appeared before him with unparalleled speed. In a matter of milliseconds he struck him in the face, causing him to flinch. Freed was sent back but was barely able to land on his feet. If only he knew how much Jellal was holding back…

"Get out of my sight. I have no time to deal with scum like you." Jellal told him drily.

"HAHA! You think I'm scared of you huh!? Like hell I'll let you off the hook so easily!" Freed shouted madly. Not before drawing his second holy sword out of his coat. "Time to die, you shitty Devil lover!" Once again, he rushed forward with the hope to slash Jellal into pieces. The Wizard ducked the first swing with ease and threw a hook in Freed's face, causing his nose to bleed.

The insane priest shook his head and growled. "You bastard!" He screamed slashing his sword upward.

Jellal sidestepped the second blow with ease, and quickly grabbed Freed's arm with a firm grip. With a sudden sweep he broke Freed's arm causing him to grunt in pain. The priest jumped back while glaring at the blue-haired man. Just what the hell was this guy? How could he injure a well-trained Exorcist like him without breaking a sweat? Was he really human? If so, how could a human parry his strikes like they were nothing? Freed began to sweat from the tension, taking small, nervous steps backwards.

"You fucking…" Freed snarled while clenching his teeth.

Jellal didn't even spare him a second glance, he once again vanished in a flash and reappeared right next to Freed and delivered a well-struck punch right in the face sending him flying to a wall. That punch was enough to knock the Stray Exorcist out momentarily.

"Hmph. A minor nuisance." Jellal finished.

"I'm sorry for your loss, kid." The wizard murmured in a low tone. It was too late to save her parents, but maybe he could still get her to safety.

Jellal turned slowly towards his now dead parents, an anguished expression of grief and sadness was painted on his face. Slowly shaking his head, he checked on the girl again sighing in relief.

'Thank goodness, she's still breathing.' Jellal thought. Now, all he had to do was taking back the flute and destroy it before anything dangerous happens.

Picking up the demonic flute, he thought. 'I'd better contact Azazel and the others.'

A sudden gunshot boomed throughout the room, but Jellal's immense senses allowed him to perceive the shots, they were heading right towards the little girl. Quickly taking the child in his arms, the former Wizard Mage managed to save her from being killed.

"Nice save! HAHAHA!"

Turning around, the mage could only glower as Freed somehow managed to stand up.

"You… It would seem I should've hit harder." Jellal glared back at the priest.

Jellal instantly noticed something was missing in his other hand.

"HAHA! Looking for this?" An injured but still upright Freed laughed, but with the demonic flute in his hands. He must've accidentally dropped while saving the girl.

"From the look of your face, looks like this flute's important to you, casanova!" Freed snickered.

"Give it back now before I break your other arm." Jellal remarked, his patience was starting running out.

"Scary!" The Exorcist mocked, "Sorryy! Not gonna happen! First come, first serve!"

"That object is dangerous, I won't ask again. Hand it over." Jellal demanded while slowly unleashing his magic aura.

"HAHA! Then I'll have double more fun using it! But for now…" Freed taunted, still laughing like a maniac. Having stopped laughing, the insane Exorcist put the flute put the flute in his mouth while holding it with his teeth.

Jellal was caught by surprise as Freed tossed something off his sleeve with his only working hand, the object looked like a small white grenade, once caught he quickly threw it on the ground. Not before mockingly saying…

"…see ya pretty boy!"

A cloud of gas released by the grenade clouded the entire room, but it was enough to make Jellal lose concentration for a few seconds. The mist dissipated, but of Freed and Lullaby's flute there wasn't the slightest trace.

"Dammit. He's escaped... and with the flute of Lullaby..."

He then looked down to the girl he was carrying, he chose to feel the pulse once again for insurance. At least she was saved.

"I have to contact Azazel right away. This girl needs help." Jellal said in hurry.

Without wasting any more time, Jellal immediately grabbed his phone and gave a call to Azazel. Under these circumstances, his Telepathy Magic couldn't work as the distance between them for communication was too large. Once the Governor General replied back, the wizard didn't beat around the bush.

"Azazel, I've got important news. I entered a house here in the suburbs of Nagoya, I found something that might connect with Tartaros, in the meantime a family was caught up with a stray Exorcist. Unfortunately only their daughter survived, her parents are both deceased. The girl's conditions aren't the best, I need your help."

["Shit… Hang on in there, I'm gonna send some aid right away. We'll discuss about all of that later."] Azazel immediately replied ending the call as soon as he acknowledged the news.

Jellal increased his magic aura slightly, so that Azazel's agents could pinpoint his location more easily.

"So, that confirms Tartaros is here. Do they know we're here too?... I've got to inform the others." Jellal concluded.


Damn, this was probably the longest one I've written.

One of the most difficult things to write, and which I'm trying to improve, are the fighting scenes. Every time I hope something well written will come out, but then I realise I could do better. In fact you have no idea how many times I have read and re-read this chapter lol.

Anyway, as you could've noticed from both this and the last chapter I gave new spells to both Cobra and Midnight. Because of course, Hiro had once again to sideline our wizards... I mean, just watch the battle vs August, that old man got rid of them like they were ants (plus, Copy Magic is kind of a lame type of magic if you ask me, like come on, all you do is copying others' spells). Perhaps it's just me, but the Fairy Tail's last season was kind of shitty, all characters developments were thrown out the window, random power levels, Zeref has proven to be a wimp and the supporting characters such as Crime Sorcière were nothing more than laughing stocks with barely any important role. Everything is Team Natsu-centred. Or nearly everything. My boy Cobra was the only slayer to not obtain Dragon Force, just saying. Either way, opinions aside... I know I focused more on them than Jellal in this chapter, but I'm planning to give all three of them their fair share in later chapters.

In the meantime, Jellal was the first person to meet with one of the antagonists I personally find more funny, Freed. Yeah, Jellal meets Freed in a similar way with Issei, of course with different circumstances. Honestly, I was initially planning to let them meet later on when 'canon' starts, but then I said screw it. I wasn't planning to follow perfectly canon anyway.

And that's pretty much it, I hope you enjoyed this one. Leave me a review, if you'd like. And see you the next chapter!