A/N: Episode 245.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT: HELL'S CORE

"Face has gone off!" Franmalth exclaimed as he cackled. However, Natsu and Zack looked down, seeing their fists still enlightened in their respective elements.

"We've still got our Magic..." Natsu claimed, causing Franmalth to stop cackling.

Akame ignites his fist as it got covered in red mist. "Same here." He informed.

Lucy touched her key pouch which glowed while Hana touched the keys hanging from her belt, her keys glowing as well.

"Us, too!" Lucy added.

"Wendy and Carla did it!" Happy shouted.

Ice spikes were in front of Gray. "The tremors... have stopped?" He noticed.

"Face's activation erased all Magic! It's over, humans!" Kyoka claimed as she was about to attack Ezekiel.

"Requip!" Ezekiel changed into his Zeus Armor before aiming lightning at Kyoka.

"Magic hasn't gone anywhere yet!" Ezekiel exclaimed.

"How...?!" Kyoka asked herself.

Mira was still battling Seilah. "A quiet sound..." Mira muttered.

"It can't be!" Franmalth crashes to the ground.

"This is as far as your plot goes." Zack informed.

"How much will this failed plan cost? How much?" Franmalth asked.

"Now give us Mira back!" Natsu demanded.

"How much? How much? How much? How much...?" Franmalth soon sat up, attacking Natsu and Zack as they dodged. "100,000 of your bastardly souls!"

"Give me your soul! I'll start with your soul! Then I'll get more souls!"

"Man, this guy..." Natsu said, dodging all of Franmalth's attacks as Zack did the same.

"I've gotta do something!" Lucy exclaimed.

"But he absorbs people, Celestial Spirits, and Magic, too!" Happy reminded.

"Don't forget, I also possess all of Hades's magical might!" Franmalth said as purple writing appeared.

"What is this?!" Lucy questioned.

"A magic ring?!" Happy wondered.

"You will not beat me! Amaterasu: Formula 28!" Franmalth called out, causing a purple explosion.

"Magic hasn't disappeared?! The Face plan failed?" Kyoka wondered as she retreats.

"You intend to escape?!" Ezekiel asked.

"I'm leaving this to you! Obliterate the phoenix!" Kyoka called out to someone.

"That goes without saying."

Ezekiel widened his eyes upon seeing Minerva with a Tartaros guild mark on her left waist.

"We meet again on an exquisite stage, Ezekiel Scarlet..." Minerva said.

"Minerva!" Ezekiel exclaimed.

"I am Neo-Minerva."

"Neo-Minerva?!" Ezekiel repeated.

"I have been reborn as a demon. Let me show you my newfound power." Minerva claimed.

"What did you do to her?!" Ezekiel wondered out loud.

Kyoka continued onwards. "I didn't calculate for Face's failure. There's no choice. I'll have to awaken him. Master END..." She thinks to herself.

Franmalth cackled as Natsu, Lucy, Akame, Zack, Hana, Happy, Chii, and Jim were on the ground. Natsu and Zack both struggled to get up.

"Natsu!" Happy shouted.

"Zack!" Jim called out.

Franmalth struck Natsu and Zack using Hades's Bullet Magic. "Have you forgotten that Hades dances with Magic?" He asked as he continued to strike at Natsu and Zack.

"Lucy! Happy! I'm gonna..." Natsu started to say.

"How much is consuming all of your power worth? How much?" Franmalth said as Natsu and Zack collapsed to the ground.

"Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed in worry.

"Zack!" Akame called out.

"And Hades can do this, too!" Franmalth said, using Hades's Chain Magic to grab onto Lucy, Akame, and Hana, throwing them on the ground.

"Let go of Lucy!" Natsu ordered as he was struck once more, falling to the ground. Franmalth then struck Happy, Jim, and Chii.

"This is Hades's power..." Happy muttered.

"This time for sure, I'm going to absorb your souls!" Franmalth said, grabbing onto Natsu and Zack.

"Natsu!"

"Zack!"

"Connection!" Franmalth grabs onto Lucy, Hana, and Akame, causing them to scream. "And you, too..." Franmalth grabs Happy, Jim, and Chii as well.

Electricity soon went through the eight of them. "What is this?! My strength..." Jim started to say.

"...is gettin' leached away!" Zack finished.

"You're going to be part of my new collection! So I need your souls!" Franmalth claimed as he cackled.

"Get stuffed!" Natsu exclaimed, confusing Franmalth as Natsu stood up. "You're not... gettin' jack! You're not gettin' my soul! It stays right here!"

"Resistance is futile!" Franmalth informed.

"Lucy! Hana! Akame! Happy! Jim! Chii! Don't you dare give up!" Natsu told them. "Our souls are our own! Remember it! They're ours!"

"That idealism can't stand up to Curse power!"

"My soul is right here! Until I can see Igneel again... no one's takin' my soul!" Natsu claimed. "You can't have my will!"

"Why are you so stubborn?!" Franmalth questioned.

"Focus, you guys! On what's most important to you! Focus on what you'd never let anybody take away! That'll become the power that anchors your soul!" Natsu said.

"For... For me... Carla and fish, Carla and fish, Carla and fish..." Happy repeated.

"It's too late! I'm almost done absorbing them!" Franmalth claimed.

"What's most important to me... are my comrades... the guild... and the Celestial Spirits!" Lucy thinks to herself.

"Ketsu... Dusk... and all of my comrades in the guild!" Akame thought.

"I'm gonna see Igneel!"

"Carla and fish, Carla and fish... Carla and fish, Carla and fish!"

Lucy remembers how Aries and Taurus were absorbed. "This guy absorbed Taurus and Aries... I want them to at least return them to the Celestial Spirit World! Anyone who steals the Celestial Spirits' freedom or hurts them will pay!" She thought.

"Taurus! Forced gate closure!" Lucy yelled.

"W-What is this?! M-My body..." Franmalth said, getting Lucy's attention. "What's happening to me?! My body! My body!"

"Don't tell me he's going to the Celestial Spirit World, along with Taurus?!" Lucy asked herself.

"Why, you... This won't do! Taurus expulsion!" Franmalth releases Taurus's soul.

"Mooo..."

"He's out!" Natsu exclaimed as Taurus soon disappeared back into the Celestial Spirit World, getting Lucy's attention.

"Aries! Forced gate closure!" Lucy shouted.

"Aries expulsion!" Franmalth yelled, letting Aries's soul out as well.

"I'm sorry!" Aries apologized, going back into the Celestial Spirit World.

"Natsu! Forced gate closure!" Lucy called out, getting different reactions from both Happy and Natsu.

"He's a Celestial Spirit?!" Franmalth exclaimed, releasing Natsu from his grip.

Lucy grinned. "Nice one, Lucy." Natsu complimented as he charged at Franmalth.

"Curses! It was the woman's ruse!" Franmalth exclaimed as Natsu sent a punch to his face, causing Franmalth to release Lucy, Hana, Akame, Zack, Happy, Jim, and Chii.

"Still, magic doesn't work on me!" Franmalth said as Natsu held up a large slab of rock, shocking Franmalth, Lucy, and Happy.

He then throws it at Franmalth, crushing him. "Something he can't absorb!" Lucy realized.

"Not immaterial like a soul... but physical matter!" Happy said as Natsu grinned.

"D-Don't you dare!"

Natsu throws another large brick at Franmalth. "W-Wait..." Franmalth said as he kept getting crushed before Hades's soul was finally released.

Natsu breathes heavily. "He did it..." Happy muttered.

Franmalth soon glowed blue. "H-He's not beaten yet?!" Happy exclaimed.

Blue orbs soon went into the air. "All the souls he absorbed are moving on..." Natsu noticed.

"Aye..." Happy turned to Lucy. "Hey, what were you thinking of as your most important thing?"

"My comrades in the guild and the Celestial Spirits." Lucy answered.

"I see. That fits you, Lucy." Happy claimed.

"What about you, Happy? 'Carla and fish'?" Lucy said. "I don't know, is that what you'd call 'fixated'?"

"It's not over yet."

A visage of Hades soon appeared behind them. "Tartaros's true objective isn't Face. Tell Makarov... to release the light now." Hades said before disappearing.

"What was that?" Natsu questioned.

"The ghost of Master Hades?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"I think it was his soul." Happy said.

"'Release the light.' I wonder what that's about." Lucy stated.

"He told us to tell the Master, right?" Happy said.

Zack flinched. "Lumen Histoire?" He wondered.

"It looks like Face is out of commission thanks to Wendy and Carla, but we still have to find Mira-san." Lucy reminded.

Natsu punches his fists together, causing bursts of fire to appear. "And I ain't gonna be satisfied 'til I kick the ass of every bad guy here." He claimed.

"You and me both." Akame agreed.

"I'll pass on that message to the Master!" Happy informed as he flew off.

"Be careful!" Lucy warned.

"You, too!" Happy told her.

Franmalth laughed to himself. "The fools. For us, there is no 'failure' or 'death.' We can be resurrected again and again. As long as we've got the lab, we can be reborn endlessly. We're functionally immortal! Well, I guess I'll be heading over to the lab now." He said to himself as he disappeared.

Seilah continued attacking Mira with books who continued to block her attacks. She then punched Seilah in the stomach as she flew back and more books were aimed at Mira.

Mira and Seilah both breathed heavily. "Mira-nee!" Lisanna shouted in worry.

"Do you really have time to be a spectator?" Lummy laughed weirdly.

"Let go of me, weirdo!" Lisanna said, slamming her into one of the tubes.

"What are you?" Seilah asked. "My Macro doesn't work on you..."

"Macro?" Mira repeated.

"I think that's the Magic that controlled Elf-nii-chan!" Lisanna explained.

"Curse, actually..." Lummy corrected.

"It may not work on you, but it worked on your little brother. I'll tell you one special characteristic about my Curse power. Once a person falls under my spell, I can take control over them at any time remotely." Seilah explained.

"You don't mean..."

"I mean that I can make your brother commit suicide right now, if I like."

"Don't!" Mira pleaded.

Ezel soon appeared in a tube. "Ezel-sama..." Seilah said.

"Hurry! Bring me back! That brat! That brat! That brat! That brat!" Ezel said.

"Then he's..." Mira trailed off.

"Dammit! I can't believe a whelp and her cat did this to me! I won't get careless next time! I'll tear them apart and grind their bones to power!" Ezel continued on.

"Wendy and Carla... beat him?" Lisanna spoke in shock.

"Then what's he doing here all of a sudden?" Mira questioned.

"Hurry up, Lummy!"

Lisanna then punched Lummy, sending her to the ground.

"Seilah!"

"I'm in the middle of a battle right now. You'll have to wait." Seilah told him.

"Forget that! Just bring me back!" Ezel protested.

"Bring him back?" Mira quoted.

"That's right! This is Tartaros's respawning site, Hell's Core. It's in our contact with the King of the Underworld. If we lose our physical body, we're reborn here. We're a guild of immortals!" Lummy explained.

"King of the Underworld? Reborn? What is she talking about?" Lisanna questioned.

"You shouldn't say more than you need to, Lummy-sama." Seilah said.

"My bad!" Lummy had her tongue sticking out.

"That's a nuisance." Mira said as she transformed out of her Satan Soul. "Then I should start by destroying all of this equipment, huh?"

"Do you think you can do that?" Seilah questioned.

"It's simple." Mira replied as a tube exploded behind her, followed by the other tubes in the room.

"Ta-daaa!" Franmalth soon appeared in a tube. "All right, I'm ready to be reborn, please!"

The tube he was in soon exploded as well as Ezel's. "My... My lab!" Lummy explained.

"Awesome, Mira-nee!" Lisanna praised.

"What is this?!" Franmalth exclaimed.

"H-How? How could she..." Seilah trailed off in shock.

"Take Over. Before you got here, I took control of all these tentacle-like demons." Mira explained.

"The power to absorb demons?! Is that why Macro doesn't work on you?" Seilah asked.

"We're in the same boat. Since you're a demon, I thought I could win by absorbing you. But it seems my Take Over doesn't work on you." Mira responded.

"Then..." Lummy started to say.

"...neither of them can use their signature ability." Lisanna finished.

Lummy got serious, freaking Lisanna out. "In other words, the battle will be decided by physical strength!" Lummy claimed.

Mira soon changed into her Sitri form. "Hand-to-hand combat, then. Very girly!" She claimed.

"There it is! Mirajane's Sitri! The strongest demon ever!" Lisanna exclaimed.

"Strongest demon ever?" Lummy repeated. "You've got nerve saying that in front of demons of the Books of Zeref. You people really have no idea how fearsome the Ten Demon Gates are."

"I order you."

"It won't work." Mira informed.

"Release my limiter!" Seilah finished as she was engulfed in a blue light.

"She ordered herself?" Mira questioned.

Seilah changed into her demon form as she punched Mira, who crashed into Lisanna and Lummy.

Seilah continued attacking Mira as an explosion appeared throughout the ruined lab.

"What... is she?" Lisanna questioned.

Mira was knocked out of her Sitri form. Lummy cackled, getting Lisanna's attention.

"So stupid... You mean to continue fighting when there's no chance of winning?" Lummy asked.

"It's not over until it's over!" Lisanna claimed.

Lummy cackled again. "It may as well be over! You see, Tartaros has many left... Many cards left to play that you don't even know about! Fairy Tail... and all humans... are finished." She claimed.

In the mountains, Meredy and Quartz were leading a blind Jellal as Daisuke and Peridot were next to them, with Hot Eye right behind them.

"There are many crevices in this area, so let's walk a little more slowly." Quartz warned.

"Right. Sorry." Jellal apologized.

"Love... yes?" Hot Eye asked.

"No!" Quartz denied.

"What is this?" Racer asked.

"This is tiring." Cobra complained.

"There's no sense of tension here." Angel claimed.

The group soon reached a waterfall. "Meredy, are you okay?" Jellal questioned.

"Hm? I'll be fine if we can rest a bit first, but how could you tell?" Meredy asked.

"Somewhat, by your footsteps." Jellal answered.

"That is also a skill made possible with love." Hot Eye commented.

"There he goes again." Meredy said.

Racer lets out a sigh. "Hey, are you guys really gonna follow him? I'm not interested." He claimed.

"And he wants to defeat Zeref, huh? He's ambitious." Angel commented.

"Hey, I say we try to take Jellal down one more time." Racer suggested.

"I'm sick of you flapping your gums." Cobra claimed.

"What?! Then you're gonna follow him like some apostle?" Racer questioned.

"Who knows? I haven't decided yet." Cobra answered. "But I can hear something."

"Huh?"

"The voices of countless people... No, not voices. Screams." Cobra said.

"You're scaring me." Angel said.

"Screams? From where?" Racer asked, intrigued.

"I don't know, but if I follow him, I might find out." Cobra responded.

"I wanna confirm what I hear with my own eyes."

A/N: Another chapter is done!

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.