(Edited 08/08/24)
I do not own Fairy Tail Hiro Mashima does.
The Not So Desolate Continent
***POTD***
"Huh? So, this is where we ended up," Natsu mused, as the trio emerged from his portal. "I could've sworn I aimed for somewhere different?"
The trio had emerged atop a mountain on the South-Western Coast of Draconia. Despite the damage being widespread from the Dragon War, this particular area appeared to have somewhat recovered, though the scars still remained, if one looked hard enough. The mountain overlooked a rather lovely beach, flowers blooming a little ways up from that as a grassy plain began, before abruptly cutting off into desolate wasteland.
"It seems you still need practice with creating portals Natsu," Eliza joked lightly, placing her hands on her hips as she surveyed the area. "Still, not a bad spot at all to arrive, is it?"
"I agree. Though I do wonder why the flora of this area is so oddly placed," Seilah chimed in, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face as she turned to face them. "I think I might get to higher ground and see if I can't spot anything?"
"Alright Seilah, just call if you see something," Natsu replied, as Seilah started walking a bit further away, heading toward the peak of the mountain. "I could've sworn I had making portals in the bag back when I learned how to make them?"
"It takes a fair bit of effort to make them as a beginner, believe me," the War Goddess replied knowingly. "Honestly, the fact you can even make one at all is rather impressive. How long were you in Tartarus for?"
"Two and a half weeks total."
"Well, it seems you've joined me in the club of being able to abuse the alternate timestream of the higher realms," Eliza smirked, nudging him slightly. "You have no idea how useful that will end up being for you?"
"Believe me, I already get it. The fact I was able to spend two and a half weeks in Tartarus, only to show up a few hours after being sent there, proved just how broken it is," Natsu replied, sitting down on a small rock with a contemplative look on his face. "But in saying that, it did get me thinking about how careful I need to be using that. One mistake and I could lose weeks, months or even years with the people I care about…"
"Very true, and I'm glad someone explained that little caveat to you. Being able to disappear for stints of time to handle business is good, but you must always remember the time you wish to return to the Reality you exited from. Let's say you messed up and returned a year from when you left, you would be unable to return back and save your friends from that point, as you had registered your own footprint in the future."
"Yeah. I'd be only allowed to observe the events of the past, unable to directly influence them without breaking the laws of Time," Natsu nodded stiffly. "Believe me, I won't be forgetting that."
"See that you don't. The last thing you want is to piss off the Time Primordial…"
"Master Natsu, Lady Eliza," Seilah called out from her place further up the mountain. "I've found something interesting."
The God and Devil nodded, tabling their discussion for the moment as they made their way up to the peak where Seilah currently stood. Upon arriving, the pair immediately noticed what Seilah was looking at.
"That's definitely suspicious," Natsu noted, as the trio faced what appeared to be black smoke off in the distance. "It's definitely not natural smoke, that's for sure."
"I thought not," Seilah replied, arms crossed under her sizeable bust. "I believe that would be the kind of smoke generated by something large being burned, no?"
"Correct, Seilah," Eliza agreed. "Quite the conundrum, considering Xicor said that Draconia has been entirely abandoned for centuries, isn't it?"
"I feel like someone would have come here over the centuries though," Natsu countered, eliciting a minor shrug from the Goddess.
"I'm merely telling you what Xicor knew. If anyone would have up to date information, it would be him?"
"Either way, something tells me those aren't friendly fires," Seilah replied, looking toward Natsu. "Should we investigate Master?"
"It's definitely an early lead, so I say we check it out," Natsu agreed, as the trio took off at high speed.
Their bodies far surpassing those of Humans, they cleared half the mountain range in under half an hour without so much as breaking a sweat. Easily ascending the mountain overlooking the smoke, the trio were definitely surprised at what they came across.
"Well Seilah, you were right," came Natsu's rather mute response to the sight before them. "These definitely aren't friendly fires…"
The trio stood before what could only be described as a massacre. The continent that the Gods, Devils and Dragons all believed to be abandoned, wasn't so abandoned after all. Indeed, it was home to sentient life that Natsu certainly had never seen before.
Whatever they were, it wasn't Human.
The strange species appeared to be of bug-like origin, possessing dark blue skin, antennae on their foreheads, and thin legs similar to a cricket. Their backs lacked wings however, and instead possessed a row of spines that appeared to move up and down periodically.
However, these bug creatures weren't the ones committing the massacre. No, it was another group of pale skinned Humans, their skin almost ash grey in coloration. They marched through the smouldering ruins, all dressed in grey uniforms and brandishing guns.
At the head of the Humans, another stepped forward, wearing a black uniform that had armor plating around the shoulders, wrists and chest area. This one was clearly a leader of some kind, and barked out an order that had the grey uniformed group open fire on the bug people, who were on their knees.
"What the Hell is this," Natsu hissed, his eyes scanning the ruins for others of the Human group. "Draconia is abandoned my ass!"
"I wonder what those bug people are," Seilah mused, the leader brandishing a sword and decapitating another of the bug people.
"I don't have a clue what those bug creatures are, but I know for certain what those Humans are," Eliza chimed in quietly, eyes narrowed. "Just watch…"
Natsu and Seilah turned their attention back toward the leader, who held his right hand up into the air, as a Blood Red Magic Circle formed above him. The bodies of the bug people thrashed about, as their blood was sucked from them, being drained up into the Magic Circle before it faded away.
"What…?"
"Vampires," Eliza said quietly, surprising both Natsu and Seilah, as they snapped their attention to the War Goddess. "I know it sounds farfetched, but it's true."
"But Vampires don't exist," Seilah replied immediately. "The closest equivalent are Blood Mages who've become far too addicted to their use of the art?"
"And you would be correct," Eliza replied with a curt nod. "Vampires indeed do not exist upon Earthland…"
"But if they don't exist upon Earthland, then…?"
Natsu turned his attention back toward the Vampires, realizing what Eliza was trying to tell him. Activating his Devil's Aura, he immediately knew the truth.
"They're from another Reality!?"
"That's right," Eliza agreed. "Which means this situation just got a whole lot more interesting…"
"Master?"
"Yes Seilah?"
"I believe our immediate priority should be capturing one of these Vampires and finding out where they came from," the Demoness suggested. "Preferably the one in black who appears to be calling the shots?"
"Agreed. You want to help us kill them Eliza, or do you want to watch?"
"Well, I suppose I can help you with these ones, since there's nothing about them that would disturb a Fixed Point," the War Goddess replied, cracking her knuckles. "We should be careful though. Vampires are Masters of manipulating Blood, which can cripple even we Gods and Devils if we aren't careful?"
"Fair enough. I'll just treat them the same way I treat Blood Magic users," Natsu replied, before turning toward Seilah. "You ready?"
"Of course Master. This should be a good opportunity to test out my expanded arsenal of abilities now that I'm your Assistant," the Demoness replied with a small smile. "I'm quite looking forward to showing you what I can do."
"Don't hold back against this scum Seilah," Natsu smiled back, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If things get rough, just rip them apart."
"Understood," the Demoness replied, seemingly fading out of view, eliciting a raised eyebrow in response.
"Well, this should be interesting? Anyway, guess we're the ones who'll be kicking this off, eh?"
"On your mark Natsu…"
Nodding toward Eliza, the pair leapt off the mountaintop, strengthening their bodies as they hit the ground hard. Almost immediately, they shot toward the Vampires at high speed, actions which didn't go unnoticed by them, as they began to mobilize their forces.
"Alright! Let's see what these bastards have got," Natsu smirked, his arm morphing into a sword, as Eliza summoned an Ebony Straight Sword to her right hand.
"Eindringlinge! Eindringlinge! Halten Sie die Eindringlinge mit allen erforderlichen Mitteln auf!"
As the Vampire wearing the black attire shouted something, he raised an eyebrow, curious as to why its words sounded both foreign, yet he understood it like he knew the language? As the pair made contact with the enemy, he opted to ignore it for the moment, but he'd ask Eliza about it later.
To his surprise, the Vampires in grey started moving around at speeds far beyond any normal Human. It wasn't enough for them to avoid either his own, or Eliza's attacks. However, the fact they were able to move as fast as Mard Geer Tartaros was rather concerning.
"These bastards have speed," Natsu hissed, cleaving one in half with his blade. "Even though they're clearly just foot soldiers, they'd out speed basically everyone I know in Fiore!"
From the corner of his eye, he saw Eliza carve through six of the Vampires with ease, startling the group as they began amplifying their bullets with what appeared to be Blood Magic.
"These ones are definitely interesting, that's for sure," the War Goddess mused, slicing apart another Vampire as the one in black seemed to charge up some sort of attack in his right hand.
"Blutkunst – Lebensblutstrahl!"
A powerful blast of crimson energy was fired from the hand of the Vampire Leader, with both Eliza and Natsu quickly moving to evade at the last moment. The attack tore through everything in its path, winding upward to the spot they had first arrived, blowing a hole clean through the mountainside, leaving a gaping hole in its place.
"That's not good… That attack was as powerful as a Five Layered Magic Circle," Natsu muttered, as the Vampire cursed in his own language at them.
"I'd say it might be wise to focus on exterminating them for now?"
"Agreed," Natsu replied, his hands morphing into claws as he rushed the Vampires, no longer holding back. "After that last attack, we're better off not risking anything."
The Vampire Leader scowled, watching as his forces were being torn apart by just two individuals. Hissing loudly, he swiped his arm through the air as the others became surrounded by a reddish hue.
"Kämpfen! Kämpfen! Steigt da ein, ihr Idioten, und kämpft!"
"Natsu! Vampire, on a rooftop to the North, right side," Eliza called out, drawing his attention to a particularly portly looking one that raised both its arms high into the air. The Vampire hissed, its arms becoming coated in the same reddish hue, before beginning to fire a barrage of crimson blasts down upon their position.
Falling back slightly, he watched as the blasts set off city block sized explosions, blasting the area apart with no sign of them slowing down. Looking toward Eliza, he noted that she was busy butchering half their ground troops, meaning he'd have to deal with the one in the back himself.
"Du Narr! Du wirst dafür bezahlen, dass du dich mit der Macht de Vampirarmee anlegst!"
The Vampire Leader attempted to take advantage of Natsu's momentary distraction, rushing him with his sabre drawn. However, Natsu easily evaded the attack, blocking two subsequent clashes with his claw-like hands, before morphing his right arm into a blade and clashing with the Vampire.
As they clashed, the Vampire in the back suddenly screamed, the building exploding as he was launched into the air. Moments later, Seilah emerged, blasting his body to bits with a furious flurry of punches before blasting what remained away with a darkness laced kick to the chest.
"Foolish scum. How dare you try and impede my Master from slaughtering you all to the last!"
"Well," Natsu chuckled lightly. "I guess that solves that hiccup, doesn't it?"
"Stirb Mensch!"
The Vampire Leader attempted to try and overpower him through brute strength, but failed, unable to even make Natsu budge so much as an inch. The Dragon Slayer smirked, tapping the Vampire on the chest with his free hand, leaving behind a small deep purple Magic Circle on his coat.
"See ya!"
The Vampire Leader screamed as he was blown right across the town in an instant, smashing through buildings and anything else in his path as Seilah reappeared at his side.
"Nice job with the artillery Vampire Seilah."
"Thank you Master. I scouted this place, all the local inhabitants are deceased."
"I see. Then I suppose there's no point in continuing the battle," Natsu sighed, holding out his right hand to conjure a small Crimson Red sphere of raging flame. "Tell Eliza to pull back would you?"
"Of course Master," Seilah replied happily, vanishing and reappearing at Eliza's side in moments, as the Dragon Slayer floated high into the air, the sphere growing to the size of a Human skull.
"Devil's Aura: Fire Dragon King's Destabilizing Nova!"
Throwing the attack down at the gutted village, Natsu watched it rapidly expand to encompass the entire perimeter. The Vampires began to freak out, attempting to flee, but weren't fast enough.
Even the Vampire Leader was caught up in the attack, having only just managed to free himself from some rubble. His screams died as the entire town was engulfed in flame, scarring the landscape and melting everything down within its confines.
"Enjoy being less than ash, scum," Natsu sniffed, vanishing and reappearing at Eliza and Seilah's side. "The one in black, pretty sure he was a Captain of sorts?"
"Yes, I thought much the same," Eliza agreed. "These Vampires are a detachment, probably some sort of reconnaissance force?"
"There is one important discovery I made, Master Natsu," Seilah chimed in, pulling out what appeared to be an emblem torn from a uniform. "I found this on one of the corpses in the village."
"You've got to be kidding me," Natsu groaned, taking the emblem and examining it. "Fucking Alvarez!? Seriously!?"
"Now hold on a moment Natsu," Eliza cut in gently, taking the patch from him. "The color of the fabric around the patch doesn't match those we've encountered, does it?"
"I-Actually, you're right," the Dragon Slayer hummed, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "So some Alvarez forces got killed by these Vampires then?"
"It seems so, doesn't it?"
"Are the Vampires at war with Alvarez," Seilah asked curiously, as the trio looked back toward the town. "Those Vampires attacked us on sight, which means maybe they're just hostile to everyone?"
"Perhaps I can clear up some of the misconceptions before they manifest," a new voice chimed in, as the trio turned their attention toward an all too familiar figure. "I must say though, you've impressed me, Natsu."
"Irene," Natsu replied with a deep frown, taking note of the fact that she wasn't dressed like she were on a vacation. "I assume you're here to conquer this place for Alvarez?"
"Initially. However, these Vampires, as you have likely already identified, are from outside our world, and have been using this continent to gather strength."
"I take it that you have some sort of proposition for us, seeing as you haven't attacked us yet?"
"That's correct," the Spriggan replied, coming to a stop a short distance before them. "The small force I came here with has been slain, leaving only myself, Brandish and a member of the Leichart Twelve by the name of Yasmin. The three of us have been struggling to push back against the sheer amount of them present on the continent."
"How many are we talking that you three can't handle it?"
"Unknown," Irene replied plainly, surprising the Dragon Slayer. "Love us or hate us, but these Vampires are a threat that need to be stopped. They've been gathering blood from the other living beings on this continent for an unknown period of time, for a purpose we've yet to discover."
"You actually want a truce? Really?"
"This threat is much more important than our minor spat," the Spriggan replied honestly. "Blood Magic on a small scale is no issue. But these Vampires have built up a massive force, with countless troops and even a stronghold full to the brim with abominations and other Blood related monstrosities."
"I see… And I have your word that if we form this truce, you won't immediately backstab me the moment we see this through?"
"You have my word, upon my Magic I shall not betray you following the successful eradication of this menace," Irene replied firmly, surprising Natsu as he felt the oath take its place.
"Okay… I'll admit, you've got my attention now."
"So, what do you say?"
"As much as I'm loathe to work with the likes of Alvarez, this is a threat that can't be ignored," Natsu sighed. "The fact that YOU are asking me for help actually tells me quite a lot about just how dire of a situation this truly is."
"I'm glad you've really grown into a man with a good head on your shoulders," Irene smiled. "The threat is indeed most dire. The one you fought that wore the black uniform was but a mere Captain, and there are others that boast much more powerful and frightening abilities."
"Then we don't have much time to lose," Natsu sighed, shaking his head. "Alright, I assume you've got some sort of base around here?"
"We've only got a small camp I'm afraid," Irene replied, clearly unhappy with the current state of things. "We had a full base established within the first week, but the Vampires had us completely overrun by the second."
"How big of a base are we talking?"
"We arrived with an army of thirty-five thousand," Irene replied grimly, as the reality of just how bad things were truly hit him. "Three left, myself included."
"Let's…Let's get to your camp," came the rather mute response, as Irene led the way back to the Alvarez Camp, with none of the group uttering so much as a word the entire time.
***POTD***
After a silent trek through the nearby mountain pass, Irene led the trio to a small cave that overlooked a desolate flat wasteland. The area was littered with craters, corpses and the signs of rubble.
"Guess you really weren't kidding about the casualties," Natsu murmured, feeling slightly bad at having doubted Irene's claim. "I-I don't know if you care to hear it from me but… I'm sorry you lost them."
Irene glanced at him from the corner of her eye, before looking back out toward the wasteland, pointing her staff off in its general direction.
"The Vampires fought savagely, unafraid of our Magic. Their automatic weapons tore through our armor like butter, and their Officers drained the corpses dry in moments."
"Armor Piercing Ammunition," Eliza chimed in knowingly. "I've seen its make across countless Realities, and this kind can punch through even the strongest of Armor this would could offer."
"I see. As Goddess of War, I'll take your word for it, Lady Eliza," Irene replied, looking down at the ground, before motioning for the group to follow her into the cave. "Come."
The trio followed Irene inside, finding a rather sorry sight. A single tent, a few sleeping bags and a single fire going at the center of the cave. They had a desk with numerous papers scattered across it, along with several corpses with sheets over them stacked in the corner.
"My apologies for the state of the camp, we haven't had time to bury those that we managed to reclaim from the Vampires," Irene said, noticing Natsu's reserved look.
"Lady Irene? Was your scouting of the nearby village…"
All eyes turned toward the tent flaps, as Brandish emerged, her eyes widening considerably upon seeing Irene standing next to Natsu. The Spriggan member's jaw dropped, especially when she laid eyes on Eliza.
"As you can see, my scouting proved most fruitful."
"L-L-Lady Irene! Where the Hell did you find Natsu!?"
"Hi to you too Brandish," Natsu chuckled, giving her a rather casual wave.
"You know what," the Spriggan sighed, shaking her head as she approached the group. "I'm too tired to look a gift horse in the mouth. Just please tell me you're here to help?"
"I am. Sorry for what happened to you guys here, no one deserved to have their friends slaughtered like this…"
"I-Wow. Thanks…"
"Ngh… What's all that racket," a tired, feminine voice yawned from within the tent. "Is Lady Irene back Brandish?"
"Oh yeah, she's back alright," Brandish replied, looking over her shoulder. "And she's brought us some help."
"Nghwah… Uh, Brandish… Uh, did you just say she brought help," the voice asked, as the last member of the group half crawled out of the tent.
Natsu watched with a raised eyebrow as a dark-skinned woman with long wavy black hair drowsily rose to her feet, rubbing her dark blue coloured eyes. She stood at an impressive seven foot two, had an extremely muscular body with numerous scars, her face notably having a scar that ran down her left cheek and onto her neck in a jagged motion.
The woman yawned again, her eyes focusing on Natsu for a moment, before slowly drifting toward Irene.
"I swear… if this is another one of your pranks Brandish-?"
"Its really not," the green haired Spriggan sighed.
"My apologies for her, she's basically unable to function normally between six in the morning until six in the evening," Irene sighed, looking toward Natsu apologetically. "Her Magic essentially makes her nocturnal, so she's not good at being awake this early."
"I'll say," the woman sniffed, rubbing her eyes. "You sure I'm not still dreaming, or is E.N.D standing right in front of me?"
"That's Natsu, and yes," came the rather amused reply. "Nice to meet you too."
"Well, maybe tonight won't be so…mmmhm, badly?"
One Of The Twenty-Four Arms Of Alvarez
Sixth Sword Of The Alvarez Empire
Commander Of Yasmin Squad
Dux Praefectus Of The Imperial Loci Inquisitiones
The Lunar Legate
Yasmin Clearwater
"Oh, I think I've actually heard of you before," Natsu spoke up, scratching his chin in thought. "You use Lunar Magic, right?"
"Finally, someone who doesn't call it Moon Magic," the Leichart Commander replied, shooting him a grateful look. "Yeah, I'm the Chief Researcher into what is essentially the Astrology Department back in Alvarez. Nice to meet someone with an actual brain!"
"You…You really must get the whole Moon Magic thing a lot, huh," Natsu laughed weakly, seeing the tired woman almost frothing at the mouth. "Uh, that aside though, nice to meet you, I guess?"
"Moving along, we need to fill you in on the situation," Irene spoke up, deciding to give Yasmin a break as Brandish led her back to the tent so she could sleep. "Now then, I'm aware that realistically, only yourself and the Demoness Seilah will be able to fight, as Lady Eliza is significantly restricted in what she's allowed to do."
"Well, I mean, I can still butcher any Vampire Time considers not important enough to warrant keeping alive," the War Goddess giggled. "So, I'll just sit around and kill as I please."
"Y-Yes," Irene coughed, not really sure how to address Eliza's rather casual description of taking lives. "In any event, we need to discuss the intel we've gathered on the enemy in greater detail, starting all the way from the bottom."
"The grunts of the Vampires?"
"Correct. I have successfully broken up the Vampire forces into Tiers, the weakest being at Tier One, and the strongest regular member of the Vampire Army sitting at Tier Five. In addition, there are a few others we can go over after that."
"Lady Irene, I've got your notes on the Vampires here," Brandish said, passing them to the scarlet haired Spriggan, who accepted them gratefully.
"Thank you Brandish. Now then, let us start with the most common type of Vampire," Irene said, as she tapped her staff, the entire cave going pitch black, before they all appeared in a strange spatial area.
Situated at the center of the group was a projection of one of the Vampires in the grey uniforms.
"This is a Tier One Vampire we've dubbed the Vampire Fledgling. Dressed in full grey uniforms, these are what we've deduced to be the Vampire Army's canon fodder. High in number and decently trained, deadly at both long and medium range, they are capable of wielding Low and Mid-Tier Blood Magic Spells," Irene explained. "Ranking these Vampires to the Alvarez Army, they are around the strength of an Alvarez Lieutenant."
"That's rather concerning," Natsu spoke up, as the projection vanished. "Their weakest troop is really that strong?"
"You fought them briefly yourself Natsu, so you should know the answer to that question," Irene sighed. "Anyway, onto the next one."
A new projection appeared, with this one wearing a similar uniform to the Fledgling Vampires, only they had a strange looking helmet on.
"This is a Tier Two Vampire that we've dubbed the Vampire Siegemaster. Dressed similarly to the Fledglings, only sporting a helmet with sound dampening Magic built into it, these Vampires specialize in High Tier area of effect Blood Magic, and can almost always be found at the back of a Fledgling group."
"This is the one I took out after it started blasting the village," Seilah noted curiously. "He was rather feeble, all things considered."
"That's more owed to the fact that you're just so strong," Irene replied calmly. "The Vampire Siegemasters are much more durable than Fledglings in order to utilize their High Tier Blood Magic, and they're at least on par with an Alvarez Captain in terms of battle power."
"And let me guess, the one wearing black was a Tier Three?"
"That's correct Natsu," Irene replied, as the image of a Vampire wearing a black uniform appeared. "This is a Tier Three Vampire we call the Vampire Nightwalker. They are the Captains of a squad of Fledglings and Siegemasters, but can also be dispatched in small squads of two or three. Unlike the previous two, these ones have full mastery over Blood Magic, and boast strange abilities not of this world, such as turning into a swarm of bats, draining the blood from countless corpses without even needing to use Blood Magic, and are able to regenerate from anything short of complete cellular destruction so long as they have access to blood."
"Seriously? Well, I guess I was right in dropping a Nova right onto them then?"
"Oh yes. Had you not, the Vampire Nightwalker could have regenerated quite easily," Irene agreed. "There's a reason they are often seen commanding the majority of the enemy forces."
"So what about Tier Four," Seilah asked curiously, bringing a grimace to both Irene and Brandish's faces.
"Tier Four are the Vampire Necromancers," Brandish replied, clearly disgusted by them. "They're frail, but they can raise entire armies of the dead in under a minute without breaking a sweat. What's worse is that they seem to also experiment on the bodies of the damned they raise, capable of summoning horrors and monstrosities the likes of which the rest of Earthland could scarcely comprehend…"
"To give you one example, we saw a Necromancer summon an infant of the bug species whose face had been sliced cleanly off to the point the frontal portion of the skull was fully exposed. Its limbs had been severed and replaced with swords and clubs, and its spine had been removed and replaced with a strange device that allowed it to wield electric based attacks."
"Holy shit…"
"Despite the condition the child was in, all it could do was quite literally smile from ear to ear, its jaw having been shattered and restructured, replacing its teeth with rusty knives that pierced through the top and bottom of its skull whenever it closed its mouth."
"Those are the kind of foes we lost a lot of our soldier to," Brandish hissed, clearly angered at what she'd seen. "Most of our forces are no strangers to war. But seeing something like that… Well, a lot of them couldn't handle it mentally."
"What we do know though thanks to Yasmin having rushed into enemy lines and killing one, is that once they are slain, all their summoned abominations instantly fall," Irene sighed, looking toward the tent where the woman slept. "If spotted, they are immediately considered a high priority target…"
"I can't blame you guys for thinking that way. Those things have to be stopped," Natsu replied firmly, only for Brandish to laugh hollowly.
"Oh, if you think those are bad, you haven't heard anything yet. Lady Irene, tell him about the Necro Lord."
"The what?"
"It's a special variant of the Vampire Necromancers," Irene replied quietly. "It is the leader of the Vampire Necromancers, and the one responsible for creating some of the worst abominations of the lot. The monsters it churns out are vastly superior to that of its regular kind, and it possesses numerous frightening abilities that aren't of this world."
"And that's only a Tier Four…?"
"Tier Five is where things go from worse, to downright horrendous," the Spriggan sighed, as a well-dressed Vampire wearing a black suit appeared. "These are the Arch Vampires, the strongest of the regular ones. Though they aren't large in number, each is worth a small army and could crush a Spriggan or Leichart Commander with ease. We've managed to kill about ten of them, but we know they have more out there."
"But honestly, they're not even the real threat to us," Brandish cut in bluntly, as all eyes slowly shifted toward her. "Because there's another three Vampires who run the entire show. Those ones are the big problem, and the reason why we need your help."
"Yes, the Royal Family," Irene replied darkly. "If it wasn't already obvious that these things came from another Reality outside Earthland, these things make it plainly clear."
"The weakest of the Vampire Royal Family is the Vampire Prince," Brandish began, as the image of a slim man wearing a white suit with long flowing blonde hair and glowing Crimson Red eyes appeared. "He was able to fight both myself and Yasmin together to a standstill. He wasn't using Magic either like the lower ones, just these other strange abilities I've never seen before…"
"Its rather impressive the two of you were able to hold your own against him," Eliza noted darkly, her eyes locked onto the projection. "This Vampire Prince was using Devil's Aura…"
"Indeed, Lady Eliza," Irene nodded. "The entire Royal Family can wield it somehow. We learned that the hard way when the Vampire Queen showed up to protect her Son and I fought her to a standstill. Though I wasn't going all out, I was deeply concerned at how much power she wielded…"
"And the last one," Natsu whispered. "How strong?"
"The Vampire King," Irene muttered, looking away as a projection of a slightly portly man with short blonde hair, round glasses, a white pinstripe suit, and Crimson Red eyes appeared. "I'll be honest, I don't know if I could take him in a fight alone…"
Now THAT had Natsu's attention, and Irene knew it.
"Hold on… Are you telling me that you think this thing is stronger than you if you went all out?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying," Irene replied grimly, none of the group noticing Eliza's narrowed eyes at the projection of the Vampire King. "He managed to out-speed me as I fought the Queen, broke up our fight like a parent would to their children, and spoke only one time…"
"What did he say?"
"He said that though he desired war above all else, that it wouldn't be quite as satisfying to see us die so soon. He then said he wasn't a fan of fighting a war on two fronts, and that he had another war to wage both within, and without."
"…Interesting," Natsu hummed to himself. "I wonder what he meant by that?"
"I haven't the faintest idea, though we'll likely learn it all by the end of this?"
"Did he say anything else?"
"No. He just vanished along with the Prince and Queen, and we haven't seen him since," Irene replied grimly, tapping her staff on the ground to shake everyone back to their senses, as they returned to the dim glow of the fire in the cave. "You now surely realize why I have zero qualms in a full alliance, and swearing not to betray you should you assist?"
"I can't speak for Eliza, but you've got both myself and Seilah's help in wiping these bastards out," Natsu replied firmly, pondering just how they'd even deal with the Vampire King. "I know I said before we arrived that you'd sold me on the severity of the threat, but this is truly something else…"
"Thank you Natsu, and to both of you as well," Irene replied honestly, shooting both Eliza and Seilah thankful looks. "These Vampires are, without a doubt, the greatest threat Earthland faces if left unchecked. They need to be stopped, no matter what."
"Agreed," the Dragon Slayer nodded. "The question is though, where do we even begin to start? I assume you have some sort of plan?"
"I do," the Spriggan replied, as Brandish walked over to the table and grabbed a rather aged looking map, unfurling it for the group as Irene pointed to an area circled in red. "The first step in dealing with the Vampire menace is slaughtering every last Vampire in our old base."
"Well then," Natsu sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked out toward the wasteland ahead. "Its time to go to war…"