Well hello there everyone! I totally did not disappear again. I tend to do that, as I'm sure y'all have realised by now. I get bad seasonal depression this time of year, so that doesn't help. I do my best though! Anyways, onto the main purpose of this A/N.

Speaking plainly, I am going to spend this chapter setting up the final fights and then, from this point on, I will be covering these fights as fast as possible. However, these fights themselves will be longer, and I will do my best to make them the best fights I have written thus far.

The reason for this is that, quite simply, I do not want to spend the next year of my life trudging through fights that are taking WAY to long. This is supposed to be a blitzkrieg against the Demon Lords, I don't want to waste time not actually doing the fight! So let's not waste time meandering around.

I also missed the story's eight birthday because of my mental health. God Damn it! Happy belated birthday 2nd Generation!

Enjoy!

Gray was disturbed.

As if getting sucked into that portal hadn't been bad enough, now he was thigh deep in blood and surrounded by darkness. He couldn't see anything no matter how hard he squinted.

"This is so annoying," he called out. "I'd really rather just find the Demon Lord around here and get going. And I am so sick of my boots being wet!" Jumping in the air, he lowered his hand and froze the blood, creating a surface for himself to stand on. He froze down deep, but he somehow couldn't find the bottom. That was odd, considering he'd just been standing on it. This place was already confusing him.

"I know you can probably hear me, Demon Lord!" He shouted, "just come out and fight me! Why the hell do I have to sit here and wait?!" He got no response, which only irritated him more. "Great. Do I just have to keep freezing blood until you come out, or what?" Again, no response.

He felt a vein pop in his forehead.

"If you don't show yourself, so help me God I'll kill you instead of seal you!"

"Would you stop your shouting?" A voice asked. "It's grating on my ears." Gray whirled towards the voice, a bow of ice forming in his hands that he aimed directly at the source. Standing behind him, walking slowly on the ice, was not a Demon Lord. It was someone he recognised.

"Nemesis, right?" He asked, "a Child of Nyx." It was the one of the same women who they had entrapped some time back to invade Tartarus. Nemesis looked the same as she did then, with curly black hair falling down onto a leather bikers outfit. Her blood-red eyes focused in on him, looking indifferent.

"I'm tickled that you remember me, Gray Fullbuster," she said.

"Remembering people's names is a nice trait I suppose," he replied, not moving his bow from her. "Let me take a stab at why you're here. To stop us?"

"Actually no," she replied. I'm here to kill the Demon Lord of this Circle. Our interests align."

"Are you stupid?" Gray asked, "I'm not here to kill a Demon Lord, you psycho."

"It'd be easier than sealing them," Nemesis replied.

"Yeah sure," he said, "for you. Let me give you some advice, kid. You want to try and manipulate someone into helping you, it works better if they don't already know your lying."

With this, he created an arrow and shit it. It blinked through the air at record speed and shattered against Nemesis, who had raised her arms to block it. She knew backwards and skidded to a halt, exhaling loudly.

"I'll be sure to take that into consideration," she said as she lowered her arms. "A little bit of advice for you too."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." Nemesis ripped the sleeve off her right arm, and Gray's eyes widened.

Devil Slayer tattoos had formed on her arm.

"Not a great idea to give the Aspect of Revenge Devil Slayer Magic," she said. In the blink of an eye, a bow similar to his own formed in her hand and she shot back at him, but he wasn't scared of it. He could eat other people's ice mag-!

Gray was flung back by the attack, the ice refusing to bow to him.

"Don't you Slayers know you can't eat your own magic?" Nemesis asked as she lowered her arms. "Isn't that, like, rule number one?"

His own magic?

Of course, he was an idiot. Nemesis used Revenge Magic, which meant whatever he used on her was thrown back at him. Nemesis had not gained Ice Devil Slayer Magic, he'd given his own to her.

"Though I suppose this makes killing this Demon Lord easier," she said as she flexed her arms. "Do you still want to fight, old man?" Gray snorted as he stood.

"You kids sure are full of yourselves," he said. "Don't underestimate us old timers just because we're old!" He raised his hands into formation, and created a giant blade in his hands. He ran for Nemesis, who waited and watched. He raised it to slash her, but stopped right before it hit her.

She hadn't moved.

"What's wrong?" She asked, "don't want me to throw it back at you? Let me be clear; I'm the best Child of Nyx to face you powerful old timers. Your powers simply will not be able to defeat me no matter how strong you are. I'll just throw your attacks back at you."

"I've gathered that," Gray replied as he moved back from her. "I suppose I'll just ignore you then."

"...What?" Gray responded by turning his back and walking away.

"I don't have time to babysit you," he replied. "I have a Demon Lord to seal. Go to your room."

"Wha-! Hey! Don't walk away from me! We're fighting!"

"You're fighting," Gray replied as he looked over his shoulder. "I'm not. What good is Revenge Magic if I don't give you anything to hit back with? What do you plan on using against me?" Nemesis looked surprised for a moment, not moving. Gray assumed she had no answer, and so he continued to walk across the ice he'd created.

"Get back here!" She shouted.

"No, I'm okay, really," he said. Holler if the resident Demon Lord comes to kill you, okay?"

"I said GET BACK HERE!" Gray's back pricked in anticipation, and he dodged to the left as a massive spike of red ice flew past where his head had been. Turning, he saw Nemesis had planted one hand on the ice beneath their feet, the blood he'd frozen. He smirked as it dawned on him.

"Interesting," he said, "you can absorb and use magic not directed at you?"

"I can absorb any magic used nearby," Nemesis said. "Once I take you out, I'll find that Demon Lord. And if not their psychical body, their Circle Core. I will not fail Hades after all this time."

Gray's first thought was to defrost the blood, but he assumed the blood itself counted as magic. It was, after all, part of a Demon Lord's domain. Nemesis was surrounded by magic she could use to fight him, and his own attacks would do nothing to stop her. He grinned as he undid his shirt and tossed it away.

"Thanks for making this more interesting kid," he said as he took his stance, "show me what Revenge Magic can do!"

Rina was starting to hate this mirror world.

The second she had been teleported through the gate, she found herself surrounded by countless mirrors. The mirrors, whenever she focused on them for too long, began to speak. Each reflection of herself was spitting insults and cutting into her with her deepest, angriest feelings. This was not what she had expected when coming to fight Demon Lords, and it was starting to weigh on her as she searched the void aimlessly.

As for the void itself, it was pitch black, illuminated only by her reflections popping up. She could see nothing beyond when they popped up, which was extremely annoying. She just wanted to seal this demon and be done with it.

"Why would someone like us fight for the world?" a reflection asked her, "we don't owe the world anything."

"Shut up," she told it.

"You know this is pointless. The world is going to end regardless of what happens here. Why fight it? Why try and stop it?"

"Shut up!"

"You're too weak to stop a Demon Lord. Too weak to deliver a decent blow. You're not good enough. Not strong enough. Not enough for anyone. Keita is the shadowy one and yet, you feel the most alone don't you?"

"Stop talking!" Rina turned and blasted the reflection with lightning, but it simply blinked to the left of the blast.

"You lost to Drake in that Grand Magic Games event," the reflection said, "you needed Steph to take out a member of The Cross. You needed so much help fighting Apollo. How could someone like you fight a Demon Lord? Not good enough. Not strong enough. You were only asked because you and your Dad use God Slayer Magic, not because you're strong."

Rina grit her teeth and unleashed an electrical surge, shattering the reflection as the burst flew outwards. It reappeared soon however, watching her.

"The power to damage immortals," It said, "wasted on someone like you. What have you done with this power besides waste it?"

"I'd show you, but you insist on this ridiculous facade!" She shouted angrily. "You talk a lot of crap for someone hiding behind mirrors!"

"No one is speaking but you, Rina Nanagear," an echo said. "All you hear is your own thoughts. The ones you refused to listen to before."

Rina grit her teeth but tried to block it out and come up with a plan. She'd already broken several mirrors with her magic, but it hadn't had any effect. If that was the case, what could she do?

Power wasted on a small, scared little girl.

She needed to focus, otherwise she would be overwhelmed by the cacophony of muttering from the mirrors. Where was the Demon Lord, what was the trick to getting through?

You're not the Saviour you think you are. No one is counting on you.

Is she released an explosion of magic, breaking all the mirrors, could she see an exit? If so-

"All this power, wasted on you."

She needed to-

You're not good enough.

She-

Tears will be shed because of your inadequacy.

"I-"

She doesn't love you.

"SHUT UP!" Rina roared. Electricity exploded outwards from her, cracking and exploding every mirror in it's path. The radius of the explosion had cleared her line of sight, but now she was greeted with only a single mirror. She watched it apprehensively, but nothing happened. Ever so slowly she approached it, watching warily for a sneak attack. Nothing came as she got close enough to see her reflection, so she spared a glance.

It was no reflection.

Inside the glass, she could see her father's towering back. He was facing away from her, fists balled at his side. As she watched, he dodged an explosive lance of white magic, the enemy chasing after him. As far as she could tell, the enemy he was fighting was an angel, not a demon. His wings were like a birds, not a bat's, and his face looked kind. Was it a different enemy?

Her father took a fall, and her stomach dropped as the angelic figure stabbed through his leg with a lance of light.

"How sad. You have to watch as your father dies."

Rina grit her teeth, but didn't reply. Was this even real? Her gut told her to believe it, but her mind made her pause. She couldn't trust anything this thing showed her. What if she was being lied too? She had to have been, there was no way this was real.

Regardless, her eyes stayed glued to her Dad as he Stumbled away from the enemy and tossed lightening at him, who dodged and grabbed his skull and ground it into the ground. He was stabbed in the stomach, and she finally forced herself to look away. It wasn't real, it absolutely couldn't be.

Except another mirror was now to her left. Eyes widening, Rina turned to the right instead, and found more mirrors. Behind her was even more. Above her, below her. All of it was mirrors, showcasing her father being murdered and mutilated in the most horrible ways possible. His head was lopped off, his limbs twisted and destroyed, his inside turned into outsides. She could close her eyes but it didn't drown out the noise. The noise...

The noise was horrific.

"Whoever you are, Demon Lord," she hissed through gritted teeth, "you are evil."

Orga was relaxed.

That was the best way to describe it. Every since he'd been sucked into his place, he'd felt an overwhelming sense of calm. It was taking everything he could muster to keep trudging forward in search of his opponent. If he didn't find them soon, though, he was just going to take a nap.

"Why don't you?" A voice echoed around him, "I do not mind."

"I do," he replied. "Just come out and fight me, would ya? I'm sick of looking."

"I'd rather not," the angelic voice replied. "I am not fond of hurting humans, you see. So I will avoid that if I can."

"Well can I just seal you then, and I can go home?"

"Hm, no, that would cause a lot of trouble for me, so I won't allow that."

"What will you allow?"

"Well, if you surrender I can let you leave this place. That would be best."

"For you."

"For all of us," the voice corrected. "I know this is futile, but Nashi Dragneel dying saves us all."

"Does it?" Orga asked, "that's convenient. I'm glad your belief is the right one and mine is wrong."

"And what is it you believe, Orga Nanagear." Orga frowned.

"I think you lot masquerading as Gods need to be taught who's in control of our destiny," he replied. "Cause it ain't you." The voice was silent for a moment before sighing.

"You and the other intruder are very boring," he said, making Orga perk up. Other intruder? "Perhaps I should just ignore you both and wait until-!" The voice was cut off abruptly, making Orga tense up. What had just happened? Why did the voice stop?

Before he could voice his question, reality lurched forwards away from him. His vision clouded as he was hurled through the Circle, before coming to a hard stop that sent him flying onto his face. Cursing, he stood up and rubbed his head in irritation.

"A bit of warning?!" He demanded.

"I apologise for the urgency, but we have a problem."

"We?"

"Listen closely Orga. The Children of Nyx have invaded the Circles. With them they carry a means to kill us. If that happens, you lose as well. I need you to defeat the invader here." That didn't sound good. He knew that the Children and Hades were insane, but to kill the Demon Lords.

"What do I have to do?" He asked.

"All the Circles of Hell contain a celestial core," the voice said. "These Cores keep both the Circles, and us, alive. If the Core is destroyed, the circle will destabilise and weaken us. The Demon Lord is inextricably linked to their Circle, it is a part of us. If the Circle is destroyed-"

"You're weakened," Orga replied, "and then they can kill you."

"Yes, exactly." Orga made a face. "Not only this, but the plane of existence you inhabit would all but disappear into the void. I assume you wish to spend your life inside creation and not outside of it, yes?"

"Yeah, that sounds ideal."

"Then you must defeat this intruder before they destroy the Core of my Circle."

"What's in it for me?"

"...I beg your pardon?" Orga crossed his arms.

"Sounds to me like you want me to waste valuable energy fighting a different enemy," he replied. "Then you can finish me off once I win."

"Do you want to live?"

"Yeah, but I also have a mission to complete. Surely you can respect that."

"Ugh! You humans are so...I wasn't planning on fighting you at all! So surely that's better than nothing to you, right?!"

"Hm, maybe I just let you get destroyed." The voice growled irritably at this.

"Fine, then I'll let my sister kill your daughter." Orga's eyes widened at this.

"What did you say?" He growled.

"My sister will kill your daughter if you don't stop this intruder. How does that sound?" Orga raised a fist, electricity crackling around it.

"Sounds like you want me to kill you first."

Chelia had no idea what she had expected to see, but this was not it.

After being dragged into the Circles, she had been transported to the strangest place she had ever seen. All around her lay countless random trinkets, all different sizes and uses. She saw statues, gems, gold, clothes, anything and everything lay around her in assorted piles. What the hell was this place? Why had she been transported here.

"Yes, yes! You're perfect!" Jumping, Chelia, whirled around and raised her arms to defend herself. Before she could react, her chin was grabbed and her head forced to look upwards into bright green eyes. The person who had grabbed her had sparkling gold wings, and platinum coloured hair that was slicked backwards.. The dark suit he wore was covered in pins, and his fingers in rings. He looked like a business man who had too much money to spend.

"Let go of me!" She shouted, forcing wind from her hands to free herself. Jumping back, she raised her hands and was about to send a blast at the Demon before it laughed.

"No, no!" He said, "Don't ruffle your hair or clothes! I need it!"

"...What?" Chelia asked, confused.

"You are a perfect specimen," the Demon replied, crossing his arms and smirking at her. "I simply must have your features. The blue eyes, the cute nose, I must have it. Please understand."

'Who the hell even are you?!" She asked, feeling self-conscious. "Why are you being so weird?!"

"Who am I?" The being asked, "young lady, don't you know where you are? This is my Circle of Judgement. I am Barrath, Demon Lord of Greed. Pleased to meet you."

"Greed?" She asked, "is that why you want my...features?" This was one of the Demon Lords they hadn't known anything about at all. That wasn't good. Barrath was a complete unknown to her.

"Of course!" Barrath replied, spreading his arms wide. "My Circle is full of everything I have collected over the years! I must add anything I desire. And I desire everything!"

"What the hell would you even do with my eyes or nose?" She asked. Barrath made a face.

"What would I do?" He asked, "why, create a mannequin of course. Features are useless without a face to attach it to."

"...Mannequin?" Chelia asked, heart dropping as a cold chill went down her spine. Barrath nodded along as if this was obvious.

"Yes, a mannequin! Or perhaps I should call them dolls? Anyways, my dear God Slayer, your features mean nothing to me if I cannot display them! And how else to do so if not to a fake body?!"

"Sorry," she said, the wind whipping around her, "but I have no intention of letting you have my face."

"Hey, hey!" Barrath shouted, looking annoyed. "Stop it with the wind! Do you have any idea how long it took me to sort these clothes? Some of these are centuries old! Cut it out!"

"I'm not interested in keeping your collection safe!" Chelia retorted. "I'm more interested in sealing you here with it forever!"

"Sealing me, huh?" He asked with crossed arms. "I suppose that's better than killing me like the other guy wanted."

"Other guy?"

"Yes, you see, someone else invaded my Circle earlier. They are younger than you, though, and as such their features are much more pristine and worthy of my collection.

Chelia tried to ignore how annoyed that made her feel.

"What did you do to them?" She asked.

"Ah, you wish to see my collection?" He asked. Before she could reply, Barrath snapped his fingers, and behind him a figure appeared. It was limp and appeared to be the doll he'd mentioned earlier, but that wasn't what made Chelia's blood run cold.

On the head of the blood lay spiky brown hair, and on it's face a single eye that cried blood. It had been ripped from it's owners socket and shoved into the doll. The doll also had a single ear and some teeth in it's lip-less mouth, as well as a few fingers on it's left hand.

"As you can see, my Momus collection is unfinished," Barrath said as he ruffled the doll's hair. "I shall complete it once I have gotten some of you, though. I simply must have it all."

Chelia didn't know what to say. This was sick, it was twisted and horrible. It was disgusting to even look at. She didn't know who Momus was, but she felt a spike of pity for them.

"You won't be getting any of me," she replied. "This is Madness. I might just kill you myself!"

"Madness?" Barrath asked, "Are you deaf? I am Barrath of Greed, not Madness."

"I don't care who you are. But I've already defeated the takeover wizard for Chronos with my magic, so you should be no problem at all!" As magic power pulsed around her, Barrath's eyes widened.

"This magic fought and defeated Chronos?" He asked in awe. Yes. Yes, Yes! YES! I simply must have your magic! Come to me, darling, and allow me to expand my collection even more!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

Winter's cries were drowned out by the chaos around her. A pirate ship fell from the sky and exploded into teddy bear's. Rabbits with nine legs tore the throats out of wolves who bled purple blood. The sky was white with polka dots, and the ground ran like gravy. It was hurting her head. Turning around, she watched an ape morph into a fish and dive straight into the ground around her. This was ridiculous.

"Why're you standing on two legs?" A voice asked. Winter looked to left, and saw a deer standing there looking at her. She stared at it in surprise, but it did indeed open its mouth to speak again. "You speak, girl?"

"Why do you speak?" She asked weakly.

"Why do oak tress play chess with salmon?" It asked her.

"What?" She replied. Before it could reply, it did a back-flip, it's legs turned a hundred and eighty degrees so they faced it's back, and the deer walked off. Winter let out a weak laugh.

"O-Okay, this is a funny dream," she said aloud, pinching her arm. "Wake up now, me. Wake up now!"

That didn't work, so Winter slapped herself across the face.

"This isn't a dream is it?" She asked weakly. "This is actually happening. Somehow."

"The only logic here is that nothing makes sense," another voice said. Winter looked, and approaching her was a man in a dark suit and black hair.

"Are you the Demon Lord?" She asked, "Because I might just kill you to get out of here."

"Sadly I am not," the man replied. "I'm Thanatos, a Child of Nyx."

"An enemy," Winter surmised. "Thanks for finding me, that's helpful." She raised her hands together in preparation to throw a gale force wind at him, but Thanatos raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm not fighting you, at least not right now," he said. "We need to find the Core of this realm and destroy it."

"Why?" Winter asked, "sounds like something you want to do, which means I can't let you."

"The Core keeps the realm stable," Thanatos explained. "If we destroy it, things will start to make sense and the Demon Lord will come out. If you want to stand a chance at accomplishing your own goals, we need to make this place make sense."

"And which Demon Lord have we found ourselves with anyway?" She asked, "I don't follow on who it is." Thanatos grimaced at this.

"One of the most dangerous of the Demon Lords barring Xisplate himself," he said. "Archos, the Demon Lord of Madness and Insanity."

"Insanity?" Winter asked, looking around her quietly as a body of water nearby formed into the form of a newspaper, split a human down the side and read his charcoal coloured insides like a book. "That's not good."

"Mother," a disciple said. "It has begun. The Twelve have engaged in combat."

Far away from any of the fighting taking place, a small group of people in white robes huddled with one another. The one leading them in prayer, an old woman hunched over, hummed in agreement.

"It seems they have," she said. "Make the prayer to our Father. Seal off the church. Our duty is soon upon us."

Let's leave it here for today. Not my strongest chapter, but as I said I wanted this to be all fight setup. After this, we cover each of the fights! But what will happen? Who will win in the end? You'll have to wait to find out!

I hope you enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!