Hello everyone!
Here I am with yet another chapter, I hope you enjoy it.
And so, on with the chapter!
Chapter Four: Deadliest Hour.
Upon a world made of fire and brimstone, Natsu sat in the middle of the roaring flames, eyes closed as he hands laid in his lap.
Crimson scales were upon his face, sides, arms and legs, their shine a shade or two lighter then Ddraig's scales.
A thin crimson outline was covering Natsu's form, wave like patterns appearing across his body as he continued to meditate.
Natsu continued to meditate calmly for a long time, his breathing coming and out easily as the energy rolled across his skin, bringing him a sense of ease and peace as he continued his training.
Calming his soul and keeping a balance so his powers would grow is hard, his anger especially being hard to keep under control. Anger is a good way for immediate power, but it is not so good for long term growth in strength.
A few minutes later, Natsu stopped meditating and stood up, his body much larger and more developed then before.
It has been a year since Natsu was kidnapped by Astaroth for whatever purpose. Since then, every single day has been hell for Natsu. He has been forced into brutal gladiatorial fights where he has been forced to kill hundreds of Imps as well as humans who have also been kidnapped.
There was even a fight where Natsu was forced to fight a near endless wave of Zombie like creatures for nearly three hours straight all by himself. He barely managed to get out of that fight alive.
Umbra has also increased his lesson and intensity of his teachings to Natsu. Most days after a match with Umbra has left Natsu in the infirmary where he has been forced to recover from numerous injuries.
However, not all hope has been lost as Anna has kept her side of the bargain and has been relentlessly searching for a way out of the facility. Memorizing guard patrols, finding and copying building plans, and so much more.
She and Natsu have been planning their escape for the past nine months and finally, it seems like they might be able to escape soon.
With a sigh, Natsu closed his eyes and breathed deeply as the land of fire and brimstone disappeared. When he opened his eyes, he was once again inside the medical facility.
"So, finally awake?" Anna said from Natsu's left side as she took his blood pressure.
Natsu turned towards her and said, "You know me. Always fashionably late."
Anna rolled her eyes and removed the cuff from around Natsu's arm and said, "Well good news. No broken bones today, just magical exhaustion. Get a good night's sleep and some food and you will be all better by tomorrow."
Natsu nodded as Anna walked away from his form and went over to her station to write up her report.
"Hey Natsu." Anna said, getting the flame spitters attention.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"Did I ever tell you about my sister?" Anna asked, getting a small bit of confusion from Natsu.
"No, not really. Why?" Natsu asked, suspicious to Anna's behaviour.
"Mind if I talk about her for a little bit?" Anna asked, confusing Natsu even more.
"No, go ahead." Natsu said.
Anna smiled and said, "Thank you. Now where to begin? Well, Asia is a shy and innocent young girl, a little younger then you I think by about a year or so. She has long golden blonde hair just like me and has the same shade of green eyes as me as well. She is a Catholic and works for the Church as a kind of "Holy Priestess" due to her having access to Twilight Healing, a powerful healing Sacred Gear."
Natsu nodded, placing that knowledge away for later as Anna continued.
"She has no friends of her own as the Church wants to keep her by herself to be able to manipulate her easier. Despite this, Asia holds no grudges against the Pope or anyone else really for her circumstances. She just like to help people and bring them joy." Anna said as she leaned back in her chair as she continued to reminisce back on previous memories.
"You have any special memories of your sister?" Natsu asked.
Anna shook her head and said, "I actually haven't spoken a word to her ever. Asia doesn't even know I exist. You see, my dad and mom had me when they were both 18. They didn't want to raise me, so they just left me on the side of the road. I would have died had it not been for a kind old witch that found me. She took me with her and raised me as her own. She taught me everything she knew about healing magic and potions. Those were the only things she knew. Then one day she died of a heart attack. I buried her and mourned and then moved on with my life. A year after my adopted mothers death, I heard talk about this young girl who had Twilight Healing. Being a healer myself, I wanted to see Twilight Healing with my own two eyes and so went to try and see the user of it. Imagine my surprise when I found out the user was basically a mini me when I was younger. It took some hard work, but I was able to get a strand of hair from Asia and used that to try and figure out our relationship. Turns out, she was my younger sister. I was shocked, and a little angry. What made it so that my parents wanted her and not me? Then I learned that our parents died soon after Asia was born and she was then given to the church."
Anna took off her glasses and then said, "After that, I was a concoction of emotions. What should I do? Do I make contact with Asia? Do I forget she ever existed and just head back to my regular life? Do I try and claim custody of her? I had no idea what to do about her. As the weeks went on I learned more and more about Asia from some good friends I had in the Church. The more I learned about her, the more I grew to love her. She was the sister I never had, but so desperately wanted to meet. However, that is when I was approached by Astaroth."
Anna had a deep frown on her face as she said, "Somehow he learned of the connection between me and Asia and said he would get her excommunicated from the Church and take her for himself I didn't work for him. Needless to say I agreed and found myself here and then seven months later I met you."
Anna then looked at Natsu and said, "Asia is the only thing keeping me here. If Astaroth hadn't threatened her, I would never have agreed to work for him. But my biggest fear is that Astaroth will still try and take Asia for himself."
Anna looked deep into Natsu's eyes as she said, "I know it's a little selfish, but I would like to make a request of you Natsu. If anything were to happen to me, I want to know that Asia is safe. Please find her and protect her for me. As one elder sibling to another, I ask that you keep Asia safe in my place, should the worst happen to me."
Natsu was caught off guard by Anna's request, but he quickly got ahold of himself and said, "Yeah, I'll keep her safe." He knew all too well the pain of losing a younger sibling and so agreed to make sure Anna never has to go through that.
Anna smiled and then said, "Thank you. You're a good person. If I had a little brother, I would want him to be like you."
Natsu simply nodded and said, "It's alright. I understand where you are coming from. I would ask the same thing from you if our positions were reversed."
Anna shook her head and said, "We might be capable of leaving in a week. I have memorized the guards patrol patterns as well as the building schematics thoroughly and I have almost finished getting the supplies we need to a safe spot."
Natsu nodded, happy to hear that this nightmare would soon be over.
"Do not try and pretend that once you are free, you can go back to your regular life Natsu. As long as you are alive, you shall be hunted down by many powerful beings." Ddraig said, shattering Natsu's thoughts.
"I know Ddraig. But perhaps, I can find some sort of peaceful life." Natsu thought back.
"Doubtful. You will always be looking over your shoulder, always jumping at every single shadow that appears to move. Every single bump in the night shall cause your heart to race and your fear to spike. Never shall be capable of having any sort of peace. It is the curse of all who wield the Boosted Gear suffer." Ddraig said to his young host.
Natsu sighed, saddened that ultimately, Ddraig was right.
"I tell you this not to cause you pain or grief Natsu, only to make sure you know that you can never let yourself relax. You must alway be preparing for the next battle that looms over the horizon." Ddraig then said in a more gentle tone of voice.
"I know Ddraig. I am just tired of all of this fighting, all of the things I have been forced to do in order to survive this hell hole. I just want peace." Natsu said back, memories of all the fights, all the deaths, all the pain flooding through his mind like a tsunami.
"I understand, my host. Just remember, cherish peace, but prepare for war." Draig said as his voice disappeared from Natsu's mind.
Natsu sighed as he closed his eyes while drifting off to sleep, his tired body finally getting a moment to rest at long last.
However, things are about to take a turn for the worst for our resident Dragon Slayer.
The Underworld, home to both Devils and Fallen Angels. A place thought to be but a myth by the regular side of the world, this realm is most definitely real.
However, there exists a place almost unknown to all who live in this realm. A place of incredible power and mystery, only known to seven beings.
This place has no name, only being referred to in whispers by those who know it actually exists. It is a city that has statues of dark and terrible creatures that should never see the light of day while giant eldritch looking sigils and symbols seemed to be torn into every single street all leading towards the massive dark tower at the center of the city. The dark and oppressive atmosphere of this city is enough to kill anyone if they are not strong enough to resist it.
It was here that Umbra appeared from a teleportation circle. He felt the eight crashing down upon his form, but he did not bend his knees. Instead, he stood tall and let this place try to kill him. He then ignited his aura, his own aura of power creating a bubble of protection that kept the oppressive aura from weighing down on him.
Umbra then started walking towards the middle of the city where the vast and large tower rose towards the heavens above.
As he walked through the empty streets of the city, his footsteps echoing loudly in the silent atmosphere, Umbra felt something turning it's gaze upon him. A unknown entity of great power had seen him and was know observing him.
Umbra cared not, whatever the entity was it did not have as much strength as he did, that much he could gather about this unknown being. So, he continued his march towards the main tower.
Once at the base of the tower, Umbra raised his left hand and placed it against the smooth texture of the tower and instantly felt the presence at the back of his head explode in force, the unknown being sending the totality of its power to try and snuff Umbra's life out.
However, Umbra weather the storm of power and in return sent out a wave of his own incredible power that pushed the unknown entity out of his mind. Umbra as content t simply let the entity try in vain to do something to him, but his patience is at its end and so he forced the entity out.
Umbra then sent a wave of his magic into the all, blowing a giant hole into the side of the tower. Umbra then walked through his impromptu opening and into the tower.
Once inside, Umbra saw eldritch sigils just like in the city outside, however these sigils were actually glowing with a dark and malevolent energy that was an extremely dark shade of purple.
Umbra carefully started to walk through the halls of the tower as he felt the entity back once again, except it was much stronger know. Umbra was just starting to think that perhaps, here in the tower, the entity might just pose enough of a threat to actually force him to fight it.
However, the entity was much more cautious this time. Instead of just simply trying to crush Umbra, the unknown being simply observed him. Slightly testing and gauging his power with extreme hesitancy.
As long as the entity doesn't try to attack him once again, Umbra was willing to let it test him all it wanted. It was unlikely the entity would attempt to fight him once again after showing the difference in their powers.
Umbra then finally came to the top of the tower where upon a pedestal sat a single object. A crimson red King Piece from a chess set.
Umbra could feel the power of the King Piece as it sat inert on the pedestal. Even when not active, that small chess piece was a container of incredible power.
Umbra noticed all of the many security measures surrounding the Evil Piece. Ranging from pressure plates to magical detectors, anyone who enters the room will trip the alarm and find themselves facing the very large amount of guards who will quickly teleport in.
Fortunately, Umbra has a trick up his sleeve. Umbra took out a chess piece that as exactly the same as the one on the pedestal, but it didn't have an ounce of power inside of it. Umbra then turned into a shapeless mass of shadows and dissolved into the floor.
The mass of shadows slowly crept around the defenses until it came to the pedestal where a portion of the shadows extended towards the chess piece and engulfed it while also setting down the chess piece Umbra brought with him.
The mass of shadows then slowly moved away from the pedestal and once back outside the room, Umbra transformed back into his regular form.
Umbra placed the King Piece away for safekeeping and then started moving quickly through the tower. Halls and staircases blurred together as Umbra put forth all his power into his legs to try and get out of the tower before the fake could be discovered.
Once at the hole he created, Umbra flew out of the opening and continued to run towards the area he teleported in.
He could feel the entity watching him intently now, but fading as Umbra moved further and further away from the tower.
Once Umbra arrived at his exit location, he immediately created a teleportation circle and left the unnamed city instantly. Once again, the eerie and unnatural silence settled over the nameless city as the unknown entity retreated back to it's keep, awaiting the day it shall be set free.
Umbra arrived back at Astaroth's facility and saw Astaroth himself waiting for him.
Umbra silently walked up to his employer as Astaroth held out his hand. Umbra took out the King Piece and placed it into Astaroth's awaiting hand.
Astaroth's face transformed into a smile as he held the King Piece in his hands.
"Excellent work Umbra. For your good work, a little extra has been added onto the agreed reward." Astaroth said.
Umbra said nothing as he crossed his arms across his chest, his helmet not giving anything away.
"Now come Umbra. The next stage of our operations can finally begin." Astaroth said as he started walking away with Umbra following him a few seconds later.
The two men came into a large open room with a large portal flowing with dark energies while a pedestal stands underneath the portal. On the pedestal is one Queen, two Knights, two Rooks, two Bishops and eight Pawn pieces from a chess set all arranged in a circle.
Astaroth took the King Piece and placed it into the middle of the pedestal in a special slot made just for it.
Astaroth then stepped back from the pedestal and said, "Begin."
The few scientists around him immediately sprung into action. They moved for the consoles as quickly as they could and began to work. The portal in the middle of the room started emitting a low level humming noise that everyone in the room could hear at the back of the heads. It caused mild discomfort for the scientists, but both Astaroth and Umbra were both unaffected.
The portal then sent forth a stream of demonic energies that struck all the chess pieces. The demonic energies were absorbed into the chess pieces as the small pieces of demonic construction greedily drank all the demonic energies surrounding them. The chess pieces then began to mutate, growing larger as well as appearing to change into more demonic versions. Their outer cassingings became glassy as well as midnight black while their eyes turned into ruby red in color; meanwhile eldritch symbols began to burn themselves onto the front of the chess pieces.
After a few seconds, the stream ceased sending forth demonic energies and all was silent once more in the room.
Astaroth walked forth and saw his prize, the heavily altered Evil Pieces. He smiled sinisterly and then extended his right hand which began to glow.
Stream of energy came from Astaroth's hand and flew towards the chess pieces. The streams of energy crackled and flew forth into the chess pieces, causing them to glow brightly.
The King Piece in particular glowed brighter then all the others. The eyes on the small chess piece stared directly into Astaroth, piercing his heart and soul with it's ominous gaze.
Astaroth would not back down however and screamed out loudly as he increased the energy heading into the Evil pieces.
Finally, the small objects bowed to his will and as one, all of the Evil Pieces started to float in the air as they spun around the King Evil Piece.
The other Evil Pieces spun faster and faster until they simply became a blur of darkness surrounding the King Piece.
The circle tightened and tightened until as one, the other Evil Pieces all collided with the King Evil piece. The King Evil Pice glowed and shook as the energy surrounding it increased dramatically hilw the eyes of the small chess piece glowed harshly bright until an immense amount of blazing light filled the room.
Moments went by like days as the searing light engulfed the room, but slowly the light began to withdraw back to it's source little by little.
After a minute, the light died down back to safe levels and all who were in the room turned their eyes towards Astaroth.
He was panting heavily, but a smile remained on his face as he gazed upon his prize.
The King Evil Piece sat in the middle of the pedestal once more, easily twice it's original size now as well as heavily altered. Now the King Piece was shaped like a man who had two large leathery wings behind his back, curved horns like those found on a ram on either side of his head. On his forearms, chest and legs lay strange symbols that glowed in a deep and rich blood red while a symbol of a dragon was burned into the chest of the figure. A thick and extremely dense aura of power lay surrounding the small figure.
Astaroth picked up the small object and immediately felt a intense burning sensation. He covered his hand in his magic and immediately the burning sensation ceased. He turned to look at his hand and saw steam coming from where the Evil Piece had lay in his hand.
Astaroth smiled as he said, "Incredible. The Project has created something beyond my wildest dreams. This is exactly what I need. Go and fetch me Natsu. It is time."
One of the guards nodded and quickly left, completely terrified of the dark sensation coming from the tiny object in Astaroth's hand.
Umbra approached and looked at the newly enhanced King Evil Piece. Even he was slightly unnerved by what Astaroth had created. It wasn't the amount of power coming from the King Evil piece that was unnerving Umbra. It was the sheer feeling of unnaturalness that the small thing seemingly poured out for all to see. It was something that never should have been created, an existence which was never meant to be created.
Astaroth just had a sinister smile on his face as he continued to gaze upon the form of the King Evil Piece, a sick and twisted thing that would have caused any normal person to immediately run away in fear from the shear unnaturalness of it.
Giant golden beams of light flew forth and struck all around Natsu, causing massive eruptions as the beams vaporized the air as they passed while turning the ground below them to glass while rocks melted instantly from the heat.
Natsu ignited his feet and took to the air just as seven more beams struck the area where he had been standing. As the seven beams hit, they caused a large explosion that sent out a shockwave which caused massive cracks to appear in the tropical island area where the fight was occuring.
"Not bad Natsu. Your reflexes are getting better." Mavis said with a smile that was far too close to sadistic for Natsu's comfort. Currently she had was floating in mid air as a golden aura surrounded her form.
Mavis made a downwards slash with her right arm and created three large golden lightning bolts that flew at Natsu with incredible speed.
Natsu only had time to cross his two arms in a X formation in front of his chest while igniting his arms to create a shield made of Dragon Aura infused Dragon Slaying flames.
The lighting bolts crashed into Natsu's form with the enough force to blast the shield into a thousand shards near instantaneously and then send the stunned Dragon Slayer hurtling into the ground.
Mavis then extended her left hand, the appendage glowing golden as a massive crater appeared around Natsu. Said Dragon Slayer suddenly felt a massive increase in pressure bearing down upon his form making it incredibly hard to move.
Natsu grunted and groaned as he struggled to get back up until he heard a familiar voice shout out, "BOOST!"
The crimson gauntlet on his arm glowed as his strength doubled again, allowing him to struggle to his feet.
Just as Natsu stood back up, Mavis appeared right before Natsu with her right arm cocked back and covered in golden energy.
When the fist struck Natsu's stomach, a massive shockwave erupted outwards while a massive crater was blown open from the force of the punch.
Natsu flew backwards, smashing through trees and rocks along the way until he came to stop after blowing a hill into pebbles from the force of his impact.
Natsu was dazed from that last attack when he saw Mavis appear above him with a massive golden hammer she just created.
Natsu forced a large amount of magic into his hands and feet, causing a large explosion to blow him out of the way. The hammer struck the area Natsu was laying at a moment ago with the force a bomb and created a tremor that tore apart the ground.
"BOOST!" Once again, the Boosted Gear granted Natsu another boost to his strength. With his increased strength, Natsu shouted out, "Fire Dragon's ROAR!"
A large jet of crimson flames came rushing out of Natsu's mouth, obliterating anything in its path as the ground melted as it struck Mavis square in the chest.
The flames engulfed Mavis for a second before she blew them all away by flexing her aura and creating gale force winds that nearly lifted Natsu off of his feet.
Mavis smirked once again at Natsu and then created another large golden magic circle underneath Natsu from which large spikes erupted.
Natsu increased his aura to his limit as the spikes tried to break the aura and pierce Natsu's flesh. However, Ddraig taught Natsu well and so the spikes failed to pierce his defenses.
Faced with few options, Natsu let his magic rush out of his body like a bomb, vaporizing the spikes from the shear power behind the flames. Once Natsu as free, he ignited his feet once more and took the air, hoping to put a little distance between Mavis and himself.
Mavis pointed her hand towards Natsu and sent for several more golden lightning bolts towards Natsu, who managed to maneuver around them barely.
"BOOST!" Yet another boost was granted to Natsu who used the additional power to create two spheres of crimson energy and then throw them at Mavis like baseballs.
Mavis allowed the two crimson spheres to strike her in the face and explode with tremendous force, creating a small smokescreen around her form.
Natsu did not believe for a second that Mavis was defeated, so he continued his flight away from the small girl.
Mavis appeared from the smoke completely unharmed and in retaliation, created a hundred golden spheres around her and raised her left arm in the air.
Mavis swung the upheld appendage down like a guillotine blade, sending the hundreds of golden spheres towards Natsu like a bee swarm.
Natsu saw the incoming spheres and so ignited his hands.
"Fire Dragons Secret Slayer Arts: Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!" Natsu yelled out as he moved his arms in a circular motion, generating long streams of crimson flames that moved towards the spheres like a giant crimson tornado.
When the spheres met the raging storm of fire, the spheres were burned away one by one until none remained and the tornado continued on towards Mavis.
Mavis simply raised her left hand and sent forth a massive twirling blast of golden energy that tore apart the crimson tornado like paper.
Natsu barely moved out of the way to avoid the giant twisting golden blast of energy which continued onwards for a few more miles.
Natsu then turned back towards Mavis who was looking up towards Natsu with a smirk on her face.
Natsu growled in frustration. He hasn't been able to land a single blow on Mavis this entire match and it is starting to get annoying.
"BOOST!" Natsu grinned as his strength was doubled once again via the Boosted Gear.
Natsu then called forth Dragon Force as crimson scales appeared underneath his eyes, on his forearms and legs as well as the sides of his chest.
Natsu clenched and unclenched his fists as the feeling of raw strength flowed through Natsu's veins.
"Alright, let's try to get at least on strike in on Mavis." Natsu thought.
Natsu then went flying towards the ground, a plan already forming in his head.
Mavis raised an eyebrow as she sent several golden spheres towards Natsu.
Natsu grew a grin as she saw Mavis acting the way he wanted her to. Once he was only a few feet from the ground, Natsu riased his legs and smashed into the ground, the Earth erupting as giant jagged slabs of Earth broke out.
Grabbing two of the giant slabs of dirt, Natsu threw them at mavis with all of his might, coating them in fire as he did so, creating giant burning spikes.
Mavis easily destroyed the spikes, but in doing so her attention was drawn away from Natsu for just a second. Just enough time to enact his plan.
Natsu ignited his feet and blew his way towards Mavis, the golden spheres following Natsu.
Natsu headed right for the golden hair girl as she turned and saw Natsu charging right for her.
Mavis simply covered her hands in golden energy and waited for Natsu to get in close.
However, just before collision, Natsu broke off to the left and dodged Mavis's punch and now Mavis is in the path of her own spell.
She had no time to react as the golden spheres struck Mavis with incredible force.
Mavis appeared after the explosions completely fine, but she was distracted for just a second and now Natsu came in close.
"Fire Dragon's Secret Slayer Arts: Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" Natsu roared out as his crimson flame covered fists began to fly into Mavis's form. The blonde haired girl raised her arms to mitigate the damage, but Natsu's fists rained down on her like an unending flood. With each punch, an explosion erupted that pushed Mavis even farther back and weakening her defenses.
With a roar more akin to a dragon, Natsu drove an earth shattering right hook into Mavis's form, causing a large explosion to erupt outards that sent the smaller girl flying backwards.
Mavis easily got her balance and flipped back onto her feet. When Natsu saw the look on her face, he realized that his whole idea was probably a bad one.
Before he could react Mavis appeared in front of Natsu and launched dozens of punches into Natsu's stomach, causing him to bend over in pain. Mavis grabbed Natsu;s head and drove her knee into his face with enough force to send Natsu's head rocketing back upwards.
Natsu, disorientated from the pain was unable to react as Mavis smashed Natsu into the ground with a massive fist made of golden light numerous times before leaving Natsu in the giant crater formed with his body.
Mavis then walked over to Natsu and said, "Surrender?"
Natsu nodded and said, "I give."
Mavis pouted and said, "Awe! I was just getting started."
Natsu saw a giant spiked mace made of golden light disappear behind Mavis.
"My teachers are either a egotistical dragon, a sadistic midget, and a mass murdering killer. Why is my life never easy?" Natsu thought as he weirly eyes Mavis.
Mavis smiled sweetly at Natsu and asked in a sweet tone of voice that set off every single alarm in Natsu's head, "What did you call me?"
Natsu started sweating heavily and said, "A kind and wonderful teacher."
"Awe, that's so sweet Natsu! I think your a good student too!" Mavis said as she gave him a hug.
"That was close." Natsu thought right before he felt an incredible pressure threaten to snap his spine in half.
"Call me a midget again and you will never see the sun rise again. Are we clear?" Mavis asked in a dark and malevolent tone of voice.
"Crystal clear ma'am." Natsu said nervously.
"Good. Now student, let us continue our lesson." Mavis said as she led Natsu to the massive tree at the center of the island.
"Now Natsu, you have gained a good amount of experience in using both Dragon Slaying Magic as well as using your Dragon Aura both defensively and offensively. You have also learned how to think on your feet and come up with creative methods for dealing with problems. However, you still have much to learn. For example, you don't have many long range offensive spells and you lack any real defensive spells besides simply forcing a large amount of magic into a shield." Mavis started lecturing.
"Also, I noticed that the fist covered by the Boosted Gear hit harder and did more damage then your other fist did. I think it would be beneficial for you to have something covering your other fist as well to equalize the damage output." Mavis said.
"Natsu, remember that Sacred Gears respond to their users emotions as well as their imagination. If you wish hard enough for your other fist to be covered by the armor of the Boosted Gear, it shall do so." Ddraig said.
Natsu closed his eyes and imagined his right arm covered in a gauntlet that looks exactly the same as the Boosted Gear, except for the fact it is on his other arm. He pushed a large amount of his magic into the Boosted Gear and after a moment or so, he felt a great heat coming from his right arm.
Natsu opened his eyes and saw both of his forearms covered in crimson red gauntlets with an emerald green jewel at the top of the hand.
"Natsu, you shall still have to abide by the rules of the Boosted Gear. You can still only Boost once every ten seconds. The two gauntlets gain their powers from me and there is still only one Ddraig, therefore the gauntlets are still bound to the same limitations. Th only benefit from having two gauntlets is so that both forearms are protected from magic as well as increasing your punches damage. Other then that, there is no difference." Ddraig explained.
Natsu nodded and then turned back towards Mavis after she coughed to get his attention.
"Today, we are gonna start learning how to form Dragon Aura into a tight beam attack. The benefits of this spell is that you can use it to snipe enemies from long ranges while also being capable of increasing the power of the spell for increased damage while also being capable of using the spell at close range if need be." Mavis said.
Natsu nodded and Mavis then said, "Gather your Dragon Aura into a sphere."
Natsu glowed crimson as his Dragon Aura manifested in between his hands as a large sphere.
"Now, concentrate on forcing your Dragon Aura out as a thin beam. The most important part of this attack is maintaining a steady flow of energy as well as making sure the attack actually comes out as a beam instead of as a pulse. Concentrate on narrowing the area the attack is leaving from it a small area and then focus that down until it is coming out as a beam." Mavis instructed.
Natsu listened and began to concentrate on the gathered Dragon Aura, calming the energy down a bit until he finally extended his palms outwards, causing the Dragon Aura to erupt outwards as a heavily fluctuating and wildly inaccurate beam that curved and twisted sporadically until it finally struck a rock to the far left of his target.
"Not bad for a first try. You need to concentrate on keeping the beam as stable and calm as you can keep it. Try using less power next time and keep your focus on a single target. Don't think of anything else except hitting that target." Mavis commented to Natsu.
Natsu nodded and then gathered his Dragon Aura once again, but this time he used only a forth of the energy compared to the first shot. Natsu concentrated heavily on the large bolder he was aiming at and with a gentle breath, he fired off his attack.
A crimson beam erupted from his hands, however this beam was not only smaller, but also a lot more stable compared to the first beam. This one managed to strike the bolder on the far right side, nearly missing it, but ultimately striking the bolder.
"Nicely done. Do that a few more times and you will be firing beams attacks like a pro." Mavis said as she gave Natsu a smile.
Natsu nodded when he suddenly felt a pull coming from his real body and said, "Something's up. I have to go."
"Be careful Natsu." Mavis said as the Dragon Slayer disappeared from her sight.
Mavis extended her senses to try and find out what is going on, but for some reason her magical senses were incapable of finding out what is happening.
"Mavis." Ddraig said as he landed on the island.
"Ddraig, you can't find out what's going on either?" Mavis asked.
"No. For some reason, I am getting nothing. No smell, no noise, no sensations, nothing. It's as if all of Natsu's real body has had all of its senses muted and ours as well." Ddraig said.
"This is very concerning. I am going to attempt to use the Fairy Heart to break through the interference. Let me know if anything changes." Mavis said right before she disappeared in a flash of gold.
Ddraig said nothing as he continued to try and see or find anything about what is happening.
Natsu awoke, his eyes flickering open as he took in his surroundings. He was in an open room where large machinery of unknown purposes sat all around him while he himself was on a large steel table, metal restraints on his arms and legs while a strange choker was on his neck.
"Welcome back to reality Natsu." A familiar voice said near Natsu.
Natsu turned and saw the form of Astaroth standing about seven feet away from him with a large and sinister smile on his face.
"Astaroth. What do you want now?" Natsu asked, barely able to keep himself from lunging at Astaroth's throat.
"Today is a very special day Natsu. For today, you shall be bound to my will and you shall forever be my slave." Astaroth said with a smile.
"Oh really?" Natsu asked, not even hiding his sarcasm.
"You shall soon learn to address me as Master and with respect." Astaroth said, never once losing his sinister smile.
"I will never call you master, nor shall you ever have my respect." Natsu said back.
"You are so sure of that. Oh how quickly will you be singing a different tune." Astaroth said as he shook his head as he got up and started to walk over to Natsu.
Astaroth took out his King Evil Piece and raised it up to Natsu's chest, letting Natsu have a nice good looking at the chess piece.
Natsu instantly knew something was wrong when he felt the sheer unnaturalness of that small chess piece.
"What the hell is that? What did you do Astaroth?" Natsu asked.
"Oh this? This is simply your Evil Piece. I made a few alterations to it. Such as sending forth massive amounts of demonic energy into the Evil Pieces themselves as well as merging together an entire Peerage worth of Evil Pieces into a single King Evil Piece. I must say, this Evil Piece is far beyond anything I ever imagined it could be. With this in you, you shall be forced to do as I say. You shall have that pesky thing known as free will ripped away from you and you shall be my loyal slave for the rest of my life." Astaroth explained with a sick and twisted smile on his face.
Natsu felt his blood run cold after hearing that. Ddraig explained Evil Pieces and what they did. So far Astaroth never used one on him hich confused Ddraig since it would make Natsu loyal to Astaroth or risk being hunted down as a Rogue Devil. Now he knew why. It was so that he could create a custom Evil Piece just for him.
Natsu tired to break free, but the restraints kept him down and when he tried to use his magic, the choker on his neck electrocuted him as well as preventing his magic from appearing.
"Like it? It took us a little while to create a magical suppression device that would prevent all magic, both internal and external from being used, but it was worth it. Now you have all the strength of a regular human being and you are unable to use the Boosted Gear as well as your Dragon Slayer magic. Did you really think I would put myself so close to you in your enraged state if there was a chance you could get free?" Astarth asked as he began to laugh.
Natsu continued to try and break free, but to no avail. The restraints were far too strong and the choker prevented him from using his powers.
"Now, stay still and it will all be over quickly." Astaroth said as he began to channel energy into Evil Piece.
The Evil Piece floated up into the air and began to glow crimson for a few seconds before it descended down into Natsu.
Natsu screamed out as pain only comparable to the Boosted Gear being implanted into him spiked through his chest. It felt as if lava had been poured into his chest and was slowly starting to move throughout his body.
Astaroth then started to frown and then snarled, "What is going on? His soul should be binding to mine, but it isn't. Something is resisting the transformation. I guess I'll have to use Demonic energy to forcibly break through your resistance."
Astaroth twirled around and then staked out of the room, leaving the writhing Natsu on the table.
However, a few seconds after Astaroth left, Anna dropped down from the overhead ventilation system. She was covered in junk and sweat and her clothes had a few tears in them as well.
Anna quickly ran over to Natsu and started using her healing magic.
It helped a little by taking a portion of the pain away, just enough for Natsu to croak out, "Get the choker off of me."
Anna took out a small knife she stole and carefully cut the choker off of Natsu.
The moment the choker fell off, Natsu felt a rush of warmth immediately wrap around the lava in his chest and begin to smother it.
"Natsu, are you alright?" Mavis asked.
"I'm not good at all. My chest feels terrible. Every single nerve is on fire, I can't move." Natsu said.
"It's going to be okay. This "Evil Piece" as Ddraig calls them has been blocked by the Fairy Heart and I am reversing the damage done by it. You should be good enough to move soon." Mavis replied.
Natsu did feel a bit better now, his nerves were feeling slightly less pain. A minute later and Natsu was well enough to tear he restraints apart.
Natsu gingerly got off of the table and Anna gave him support and helped him walk towards the ventilation system.
"We follow the ventilation system and we will eventually get to a small vent on the outside of the facility. We go for 500 meter West and there will be a motor pool of vehicles. The keys are kept on different guards, so we will have to knock one of them out and take theirs. Once we have a ride, we will drive for about a mile North and we will find a river. We follow the river for about another three miles and we will come to the outer edges of the guards patrol paths. After we knock them out we are home free. There is a town roughly 150 miles North-West. There we can find new clothes and a new ride." Anna explained she helped Natsu up into the vent.
"Got it." Natsu said as the pain in his chest was starting to fade away completely.
"Natsu, me and Ddraig have managed to seal the Evil Piece off. Apparently Astaroth was unable to complete the ritual, so you are not his servant. However, you now will be affected by Holy Weapons and sunlight will reduce your abilities for a little while until you are used to them. Also, I would not recommend getting into a really intense fight right now. You magical systems a mess and me and Ddraig are still trying to undo the damage." Mavis said.
"Got it. End fights quickly as possible until you can fix the damage." Natsu replied.
"I mean it Natsu. Any prolonged fight might be enough to break the seal and release the Evil Piece. Me and Ddraig can barely keep the thing contained without doing more damage to you. We need more time to not only fix the damage, but also set up much more powerful seals to make sure the Evil Piece will not be released anytime soon." Mavis said with intense seriousness.
"Okay Mavis, I will be careful." Natsu said.
"You need to be. Right now you are at your most vulnerable with all the conflicting magical energies within you. We need to escape quickly and get someplace quiet and calm to safely heal you." Mavis said as she continued to fix Natsu's magical system.
"What can I do if I do get into a hard fight?" Natsu asked.
"You can use regular Dragon Slayer magic as well as your Dragon Aura, but you should try and not use the Boosted Gear and definitely no Dragon Force for right now. Ddraig is working on trying to allow you access to the Boosted Gear and Dragon Force as quickly as he can and I am about to go join him. You will be back at 100% in around ten minutes or so. Give or take." Mavis said.
"Really, I thought you said it would take longer." Natsu said.
"We are doing a pathwork job at best Natsu. This is not a permanent solution by any stretch of the imagination. It will barely work for a hour if we are lucky and if you get into a fight our patchwork will break down even quicker. When that happens you will be right back to square one. We will need days to get you permanently back to 100%." Mavis corrected her student.
"Understood." Natsu replied as he and Anna continued to work their way through the ventilation system.
After five minutes of slow and hard progress through the narrow ventilation shaft, Natsu was suddenly torn out by something. It grabbed Natsu's face and ripped him down to the ground and caught Anna as well.
Natsu suddenly found himself being slammed into a hard metal surface that bent from the force of Natsu slamming into it.
When his vision cleared up he saw Umbra himself having a unbreakable hold on his face while a magic circle had Anna pinned to the ground.
"So, two worthless worms are trying to run away? Not today. Astaroth is paying a lot of money to make sure you stay." Umbra said as he increased the pressure on Natsu, attempting to knock him out.
Natsu struggled and squirmed as he tried to break free, but ultimately Umbra was not moved an inch by his punches and kicks.
Anna tried to get up, but the pressure on her too great. In fact, it only increased, causing Anna to start crying out in pain as she felt her bones and muscles starting to be stretched to the breaking point.
Natsu and Anna's attempt to escape has been derailed by Umbra who now holds both Anna and Natsu's fate in his hands. Whether or not Natsu and Anna manage to escape this hell hole shall depend entirely on their ability to defeat Umbra, the being who Natsu has never managed to even come close to beating.
And that is it for this chapter!
We are approaching the end of this first Arc, next chapter is the conclusion.
Sorry for the long wait for this one, things just happened. I will try to get the next chapter out sooner.
And that's it, so if you have any comments, criticisms or concerns, leave a Review or send me a P.M., always appreciated.
Until next time, this is StrikeFreedom10, signing off.
PLUS ULTRA!
Farewell for now!