Devil’s Word Magic In Fairy Tail - Chapter 58

In the once a proud forest filled with greenery, now a withered wasteland as far as the eye could see, stood Arthur together with the corpse of the enemy informant he had killed.

“{Cremate}.” Arthur’s monotone voice rang and turned the corpse of the enemy spy, Carl, into nothing more but ash that scattered through the wind.

“{Restore}.” With a second word, Arthur returned the currently withered forest back to its flourishing green self, filling the air with a smell you’d only find in a place of nature.

Flowers, leaves and grass surfaces all danced in the wind once more.

-“Let’s go and see how Natsu is doing…”- Arthur thought, his mind still thinking of what he had learned, what he had been forced to do.

Killing was one thing, he has been fine with defeating his opponents and going for the kill for quite some time now.

However, killing what was essentially a powerless foe was a new sort of experience for him.

Humans are soft creatures, we tend to overthink on the simplest of things but given enough time we usually manage to shrug it off and move on with our lives.

The bitter taste of that kill would stay for a while, but Arthur would get over it quickly after realizing how valuable of an experience it is.

In a battle to the death, there can be no mercy.

(Arthur POV)

“{Teleport}.” I said and quickly appeared right over Natsu’s bed, he was sleeping soundly and seemed to have relaxed.

“Good, I was worried there would be after effects but it would seem that you’re fine buddy.” I said as I ruffled his hair.

Man, that sure was a scary experience…

I never thought I’d have to deal with one of my friends being possessed by an enemy like that, although I probably should have.

Is there anything I can do to prevent it? Word Soul Magic cannot affect another person, thus I myself can’t expel an uninvited guest like that were it to happen again…

I guess I can have someone look into it? There should be a magic that can do that, lost magic can be quite versatile after all!

“Now then, how do I explain this to the still waiting Lisanna…?” I wondered, placing a hand on my chin as I mused in thought.

I could just say Natsu knocked himself out somehow? Walk up to her with the unconscious him and explain to her in a way she’d understand?

Yeah, that’s probably what I’ll do…

“Whelp, let’s go Natsu. Can’t keep your girlfriend waiting now can we?” I smiled softly as I reached out to pick him up.

-“Wait.”- A powerful voice rang inside of my head.

“Hm? Who’s there?” I questioned the voice, although I was sensing no immediate threat from my detection magic I remained on guard with my Ether Zone expanded across a one hundred meter radius.

-“Boy, are you perhaps one of ‘them’?”- The voice spoke once more in question.

“One of who exactly?” I asked, searching the area using detection.

-“One of the Gods’ pawns, a participant of the so called Game of the Gods.”- The voice explained, as I finally locked onto its position with my detection spells.

It was coming from Natsu!

“… Yes, what of it?” I asked once more, gazing towards Natsu.

-“Mmm… I see, so you truly were one of them. That explains a lot.”- The voice asked, seemingly unfazed by the fact I had found where it was coming from.

If I’m not wrong, this should be Igneel’s voice.

All things considered, I’m not too surprised he’d be interested in the ongoing events outside… What with Natsu being possessed and going on a rampage.

Although what is surprising is that he chose to reveal himself to me.

“Who are you, and why are you in Natsu’s body? You’re definitely not that spy, I already disposed of him…” I asked, trying to not look suspicious with my knowledge.

I don’t really wanna explain the whole Anime shtick to Igneel right now… That would be troublesome and would take a while.

And besides, he obviously wants to tell me something, so it’s best to get to that quicker.

-“I guess introductions are in order… Come closer to Natsu so we can meet in person.”- Igneel instructed, to which I shortly followed without question.

A force suddenly pulled on me, it was of no threat to me so I just let it do its thing without resisting.

Everything then turned black, it stayed like so for a good moment before the view before me became clear once more.

The view was blurry, filled with black smoke from the fires, the air was as hot as the peak of an erupting volcano. The entire area was covered in rocky formations, magma leaking from the rocks and flames soaring through the dark skies with their bright blazes of glory.

“You needn’t fear, I mean you no harm. My name is Igneel, and I am the father of Natsu.” Igneel now talked, no longer using telepathy as he explained whilst looking down at me from above with eyes that radiated strength and confidence.

It was Igneel’s true form, albeit there was something different about him… Something different from the original anime and timeline…

There was a black pearl in the center of his ċhėst, pulsating as if alive and radiating an exceedingly dreadful aura.

The pearl itself or whatever it was gave of the black aura distinct to that of a participant of the game of the Gods.

That is… Interesting… To say the least.

“So you’re Igneel, huh? I’m Arthur, a good friend of your son’s! It’s nice to finally meet you! Natsu has been talking about you nonstop ever since I met him you know?” I said with a smile.

Introductions and pleasantries make for a good first impression, I can ask about the pearl later…

“Hahahaha!” Igneel laughed heartily, “Yes, he is a loving child. He would always cling to me no matter what time of the day it was, it doesn’t surprise me that he’d get all chatty about his good ol’ dad!” Igneel said with a large grin plastered on his face.

“Chatty is an understatement, like good grief if he’s not brawling with someone or training then he’d definitely be talking about you!” I said with a shrug, smiling as I thought of those scenes.

“Hahahaha! I see he has caused you some trouble, I do apologize on my son’s behalf! Hahahah!” Igneel laughed heartily, before quieting his laughter and speaking once more, “On a more serious note, thank you for always taking good care of him, and for doing your best to save him earlier.”

“It’s alright, Natsu is like a little brother to me so of course I would do my best for him! And you don’t need to thank me on the thing from earlier, I didn’t really do much past incapacitating Natsu so he couldn’t get hurt.” I replied, scratching my cheek with a finger.

“Still, it allowed me enough time to act and free Natsu from his captor.” Igneel said.

“Ah! So that was you!” I exclaimed, pointing towards Igneel.

In all honestly I was pretty convinced that it had been the E.N.D seed, with all those markings and what not.

“Yes, I unleashed a bit of Natsu’s yet untapped power.” Igneel said, giving a thumbs up and looking all proud of himself.

Ah… So technically I wasn’t wrong?

“… On the topic of power…” My expression turned serious as I spoke, “What’s the deal with that pearl in your ċhėst? It has the aura of a participant of the game.” I asked.

“Mmm… This is what I brought you here to talk about in fact, as you may be the only person I can trust now.” Igneel replied, bearing a serious face of his own.

“Hoh? Go on.” I inquired him to continue.

“You see, our Natsu here is a rather special child…” Igneel began to explain. “Mine and his tale is rather long, however you needn’t worry. Time is different within this space so only moments would have passed outside by the time we finish our talk.” He reassured me to wait.

“I understand, tell me what this is about then Igneel. For you to show yourself to me, I’d imagine it’s rather important.” I replied.

“Yes, now then… Where to begin…” Igneel mused, putting a hand on his chin before he began his and Natsu’s story.

He explained to me about 400 years ago, about how he met Zeref and came into being the caretaker for Natsu who was Zeref’s brother and ultimate creation.

About the whole time travel deal and how Dragon Slayers tend to transform into dragons themselves after a while, Acnologia the Dragon King being a prime example of that.

He told me of Acnologia’s rampage, about how he had destroyed and massacred nearly the entire Dragon race.

The five dragon slayers were sent to the future to escape from Acnologia, to the time where the Game of the Gods would take place. At least according to what Zeref had told Igneel about it.

Igneel and the other four Dragons had hoped for someone to be able to defeat Acnologia, and if not. The five slayers from the past would have to find a way to do it on their own.

…

“So, let me get this straight… Natsu and four other dragon slayers came from the past with a dragon inside their body each… In order to escape and or kill a lunatic dragon king?” I asked

“Precisely.” Igneel replied.

“And Natsu is a Demon from the books of Zeref as well as his little brother?” I asked.

“That is correct.” Igneel replied.

“Okay… this is a lot of information to take in…” I pretended to be overwhelmed, placing a hand on my head as I sat on the ground.

“I understand it might be a lot, but surely for you it’s not too far of a stretch. Being from a different universe and all.” Igneel commented.

“Yeah, still it comes as a shock that, that kid has a past like that.” I said with a wry smile, before inquiring once more. “So, about that pearl?”

“Ah, yes. I guess it is time I told you of this too.” Igneel gazed to his ċhėst, “This here is Natsu’s Demon seed. The seed of E.N.D, Etherious Natsu Dragneel. The strongest and ultimate demon of the books of Zeref.” He explained.

“W-What?! Then why is it in your ċhėst?!” I asked, baffled at the revelation.

I had my suspicions, however for it to actually be the case…

Why would Igneel place the Demon seed in his ċhėst? It made no sense to me…

“Mmm, I understand your confusion. It took me a very long time before I could decide whether to take this action or not. However, it’s already been done and I can’t take it back.” Igneel explained, closing his eyes as he entered in thought.

“What exactly are you doing with it? And why does it have that aura? I ȧssume it’s due to Zeref doing something to it?” I asked.

“I don’t know, however what I do know is that Zeref has managed to imbue a part of his own soul into the E.N.D seed, in a sense giving part of his on strength and power to it. That is what makes this the most powerful demon seed, I don’t know why you say it has the same aura as a participant of the game, but I do know that Zeref did this all to protect his little brother Natsu for when the so called ‘game’ would start…” Igneel started to explain once more.

“…” I listened attentively, the picture beginning to clear finally.

It makes sense, with Zeref being part of the game himself and putting a piece of his own soul into the E.N.D seed, it is only natural that it has in some essence gained the aura of a participant.

“Because of that act, he has managed to bestow Natsu with power above any other Demon he had previously made. With such a power I do believe that Natsu would be capable of surviving in this world, however I wasn’t sure if his humanity would be kept intact or not… These factors were why me and the rest of the dragons made a hard decision…” Igneel closed his eyes as he spoke.

“And what was that decision?” I asked, curious as to what they could have done.

“We decided to fuse our power with that of our children. While remaining inside their bodies to protect them from their own magic, we would give them the strength of us Dragons so that they would be safe in this world filled with monsters. And to do that, I had to first take in the Demon Seed and within myself turn it into a hybrid between the Demon and Dragon power for Natsu to use as his own personal unique power.” Igneel said, his powerful voice booming across the now seemingly quiet volcanic lands.

They plan to give up their power to their children… And Igneel is trying to grant Natsu complete control over both his strength and E.N.D?

That is amazing!

If Natsu could do that, as well as the rest of the slayers… Then maybe they’d be able to fight off some of the stronger participants too!

Sweet!

Just imagine Fire Dragon King Mode Natsu and E.N.D Awakened Natsu in one! Not to mention with control over it all…

Wouldn’t he just slap Acnologia across the continent at that point with ease?

“And you brought me here to tell me this, because you want me to make sure Natsu learns to control his power?” I asked

“Yes, within a few more years the process will be complete and all of my strength and the power of the Demon seed will slowly become a part of Natsu’s own. In theory, were it not for the other worlders then Natsu would most likely stand at the peak of this world’s limit of power.” Igneel said.

“… Mmm…” I thought over on the information I had gained, “When exactly should I start training him?” I asked.

“About five years from now the process should be complete… Keep Natsu safe until then, guide him so that he can use this strength wisely and to protect the new family he has found in you, and the rest of the guild known as Fairy Tail.” Igneel asked of me.

“Of course I will, like I said I care about the little guy! Which is why I have to ask, what will happen with you if you go through with this?” I gazed at Igneel seriously, worried about his future.

“I will be fine, without my power I might never be able to leave this place. Forever remaining as a spectator in a soul like state, however in time I and the other dragons might be able to communicate with our children… For that, I shall only hope.” Igneel sorrowfully spoke, perhaps sad at the fact his son might never get to see him again, sad that he couldn’t find a different route to ensure Natsu’s safety. “Please, do not tell anyone of my whereabouts. I will hopefully speak to Natsu one day, once the time comes for that… Until then, I entrust my son to you, Arthur.” Igneel said, gazing to me with his kind eyes while slightly bowing his head down. As if pleading for my success in protecting Natsu.

He truly was a kind hearted Dragon.

“… I will not fail you Igneel, I never intended to lose this death game to begin with. You have my word that Natsu, and everyone else will survive through this! I’ll hopefully get to talk with you some other time once more.” I gave him a promise and a smile, confidently gazing back at his eyes.

“Yes, I would like to talk again with you once this is all over. Let us hope that it shall be possible and under peaceful circumstances, with no battles to worry about. Until then however, it will be farewell my friend. I wish you good fortune in battle, Arthur!” Igneel roared, encouraging me to succeed as my vision began to darken.

“Farewell Igneel, until we meet again.” I waved him goodbye as it all turned to dark and I was once more back in front of Natsu who was resting in his bed, snoring as if nothing had happened.

Whelp, this has been a rather informative day now hasn’t it?

…