Natsu Dragneel In Dxd - Volume 1 Chapter 33 Onward To Hell Part Iv

Blood pumping. Hearts thumping. The air bent to the will of the magic that radiated off the monstrous beings.

The intense concentration of magic immediately began to affect the surrounding structures, crumbling the rock buildings and breaking the open streets. Unimaginable pressure hung throughout the atmosphere, so much so, it could be weighed on a scale. Blistering heat and crushing ripples of magic bombarded and destroyed all that came in contact, however, one spectator resumed unaffected by her present circ.u.mstance. Meralda, despite being in the presence of suffocating magic, remained calm- joyful even- in the middle of the disaster. She smiled mirthfully at the scene unraveling before her, marveled at the display of power the pink haired man possessed.

Her eyes expanded slightly when witnessing a strange transformation of the boy’s body. With her being far away, the minute details could not be affirmed, but, Meralda had good enough senses to see the boy gaining deep red tinted scales around the exposed parts of his body, reaching up to his face. His hair became more stiff and jagged and the raging bright orange fire slowly transitioned to a furious gold. She saw him quickly change his stance and swing his arm upward, yelling, “Fire Dragon’s Crushing Fist!”

A short pause after his words caught them off guard, but their eyes were soon met with a glowing redMagic Circleunder Ougon’s wide feet. Not a second passed before a golden torrent of fire erupted from the ground and connected point-blank with its full force. The sudden bright light caused Meralda to shield her eyes but she kept close attention to fight at hand. The tower of flames died down and revealed a scorched and shocked, but still functional, Ougon covering his face with his thick forearms.

His clothes were hanging by a thread, luckily with his groin still covered, and his hammer was blanketed with cinders, almost making black its new color away from its usual silver. Meralda stayed silent for the time being, looking upon Ougon’s churning face and flinching muscles. A low growl could be heard escaping his mouth while Natsu grinned ferally with satisfaction. Fixing his shrewd posture, Ougon straightened up and slammed his hammer on the ground, revealing the burns and bleeding wounds he received from the indiscernible attack.

Tightly clutching his Warhammer, he quickly stepped forward and lunged his weapon to Natsu’s left side, generating a vicious down-current moving throughout the streets. Natsu’s eyes widened from shock as he saw the incoming attack, not expecting such a powerful and fast swing from his opponent. With only so much time to move, Natsu took the initiative and dashed close-quarters toward Ougon underneath his monstrous swing. Then, getting a good foothold on the ground, Natsu flexed his calves and launched himself into Ougon’s stomach.

“Fire Dragon’s Cleaving Horn!” His burning scalp solidly connected to Ougon’s stomach as the massive man blew back passed Meralda, crumbling the building he smashed into. With light coughs, the blood leaving his mouth dripped onto the dirt ground while he merely spat and wiped his chin clean of his own liquids. Walking slowly with apparent anger, he began to knock his hammer on the ground viciously generating light quakes in the earth, and with one last hit, he leaped into the air above Natsu’s head with his hammer held high.

Natsu saw his opponent gaining speed unusually quickly as he plummeted through the air as if something else was forcefully dragging him back down, hard. He thought a simple leap backward would have him evade the terrible impact from the hammer but his expectations were meant with a heavy beating. Just as Ougon smashed his giant hammer in the ground, it began to crack immensely and the crater he made drove deep into the collision spot, then to his surprise, Natsu also connected his face with the dirt with an audiblethudnoise. Ougon didn’t even touch him, yet here he was lying on the cracked floor. And soon, his predicament got worse.

He tried his best to lift himself off the ground but to no avail; his struggled proved fruitless as he continuously rose and fell. With his body sprawled and his head in the dirt, Natsu could hear the loud footsteps that obviously belonged to Ougon. As he approached him, a satisfied smile breached his face while he swung his hammer over his shoulder. Triumphantly, he stood over the still immobile Natsu and roughly kicked him over bringing up dust along with his own spit.

Natsu attempted to fight back once again but the heavy air proved too much for him to handle. He was gasping for air immediately as if he felt his own lungs flattened out thin. Another heavy kick aimed at his ribs knocked him into the air and a few feet away from Ougon. Meralda laughed wholeheartedly when looking upon the unfortunate boy; with a single move, Ougon was able to completely change the tides. At this point, Natsu, despite struggling to stay conscience, began to growl, then spoke, “Give me five seconds and I’ll blow you away.”

“Hah! As if I’d let you live long enough. You’ve disgraced me in front of the boss and I can always look for another man-servant whenever I please.” Ougon began rushing toward Natsu while the pinky desperately rolled away to avoid getting smashed by the hammer. He moved as if he was a worm, squirming along the ground and diving away when necessary, shockingly evading Ougon’s bombardment of attacks. Soon, Natsu’s anger got to him and when Ougon came at him with a speedy swing, he rolled under the hammer and swept his legs with a fiery kick.

Seeing the small giant collapse onto the floor, Natsu grinned pleased with his work. Despite him still experiencing his handicap by being crushed to the ground by an unknown force, he still retained his battle sense and smarts. But then, he did something astonishing by sitting up and digging his feet under his weight and leaned forward towards the floor, and slowly but surely, Natsu started to keep himself on his own feet until he stood straight and tall. Ougon did the same, albeit with not as much effort, irritatingly watching his pink-haired opponent cracking his joints and dusting himself off.

“Uh, I don’t know what your exact power is, but the gravity around here seems to have increased by a decent amount. It took me a while to get my breathing right under this pressure.” Ougon didn’t respond, still keeping his eyes glued on Natsu’s next move, “I’m gonna assume that you can dial this up, but don’t think that’s gonna slow me down.” Even though his speech was calm, Natsu’s eyes still burned with fury and rage, all directed toward Ougon. Suddenly, his body exploded in golden flames and he quickly threw a flaming right hook to his abdomen.

Ougon responded by blocking the torrent of flames with his hammer then followed by deflecting his whole arm away. He thrust his own right hook down to Natsu’s face while he was caught off balance, but Natsu leaned back far enough to dodge the enclosing fist and used the momentum to flip himself backward and nail his foot under Ougon’s chin.

Skidding to a stop safely on the dirt ground, Natsu was stunned when Ougon was still charging him undaunted by his previous attack. Unable to evade in time, Natsu brought up both arms in order to block the blunt force of the attack, closing his eyes as well. The situation worsened when he felt his body double in weight almost making him drop his guard. He awaited his beating prepared to embrace the pain, but unexpectedly, Natsu felt a gust of wind brush past his face as his body went back to its normal weight.

With curiosity as his guide, he opened one eye only to see the same man who made his hair stand up when he first fled his rock cage. The Spartan-looking male had his hand raised as if signaling a halt to Ougon’s actions. He walked slowly to where Natsu crouched, unaffected by the destruction around him. Natsu carefully got up, watching as Ougon also fixed his position. His face expressed shock as his boss arrived unannounced for reasons Ougon couldn’t comprehend.

Just when he was a meter away from the once dueling men, the boss placed a hand on Ougon’s shoulder, squeezing slightly, “Stop this farce now. I only said to apprehend him, not cause a ruckus, Ougon.”

Then, almost immediately, the giant man kneeled with his head bowed, his face nearly kissing the floor, “I apologize for my insubordination. Please forgive me; I did not mean for this to happen.”

“It is alright, in the end, you’ve done what I’ve asked,” and he turned to encounter Natsu’s hardened glare, “And I also expect no resistance from you either.”

Natsu scoffed, “What’s stopping me from punching your face in right now?” At that moment, as if on cue, multiple soldiers were seen marching out of an alley from where the Spartan-man came from. Among them, Natsu witnessed a plaguing sight as one of the henchmen held the unconscious Happy by his neck, and another handing Ougon a new set of clothes. His eyes stretched in fear and resentment toward himself for being so absorbed by his anger. ‘No, nono this is my fault! I shouldn’t have endangered ourselves like this!’

Natsu fixed his eyes back on the armor wearing man while he rested his hand on his waist. Meanwhile, Meralda acted mainly as a bystander, just as surprised as Ougon when she saw her boss appear from the alleyway. Natsu’s glare wavered back and forth from Happy to the strange man, his nerves constantly put on end. No matter how he ran things through in his head, the enemy had the upper hand in every aspect as his future was basically riding on their decisions.

“Aren’t you curious as to what I’m gonna do to you?” The Spartan-man questioned with slight mirth. The Dragonslayer arched his brow in confusion.

“What do you mean? Aren’t I just gonna become a slave worker or something?” Ougon stared apathetically at the pink haired nuisance and slowly walked away, already knowing where this conversation was going to lead.

“Of course, that only happens if you fail me,” The man’s eyes flashed white through the darkness of his helmet while Natsu continued to listen, seeing as this could be a way out of their predicament, “Watching you myself, I see you are a skilled fighter and due to your entertaining acts, I’m going to submit you into our gladiator ranks. But first, I want you to follow me back to my residence. I would like to discuss our arrangement in a more comforting environment.”

Baffled by what he heard, Natsu stood motionless for the longest time despite the other man walking away. Getting out of his daze, Natsu abruptly turned to his side and yelled at the Spartan-man, his main concern still not addressed, “Hey, Weird and Shady! You haven’t told me what you’re gonna do with Happy! If you want me to take up whatever deal you have planned, he has to be a part of it too! We’re a package deal!”

The Armor clad man continued to walk not bothering to turn around while he waved his hand in the back of him, “Sure, the cat can come too. It won’t make a difference.” After he said this, the previously stagnant henchmen all marched to the leader with haste, carrying Happy a bit more carefully than before.

A strained sigh escaped his mouth causing him to slouch his arms toward the ground in a relaxed manner. Hanging his head low while his hair dr.a.p.ed over his face, Ougon shoved him in the side and grunted loudly gaining his attention. Natsu looked up and saw he was falling behind but before he could take a step forward, Meralda clutched his shoulder stopping him dead in his tracks.

She leaned into his ear and caressed his arm up and down, “I can’t wait to see what you’re made of.” And with that, left just as suddenly.

Within the Tall Black Castle:

When they entered, Natsu was impressed, to say the least about how well-constructed the building was, though, it’s nothing compared to Sirzech’s. The color scheme remained the same all throughout the mansion as he walked to their destination: black and brown. Despite the decor being dull, Natsu’s attention wasn’t on the fashion of the place- he had to take care of his buddy. Many times, over and over, he pleaded with them to let him touch Happy to see if he was okay, but they coldly refused any attempt to do so. Luckily, however, Happy woke up completely fine- if your definition of fine is having a hole in your wing, but Natsu could take care of that later. Right now, he was ecstatic that his best friend was alive and kicking.

Even though they couldn’t touch each other, the Spartan-man allowed them to stay close which somewhat calmed Natsu, but Happy was internally freaking out. He saw that he was in the hands of an enemy soldier, surrounded by even more soldiers who were walking with those scary people from earlier! Something had to be done and hopefully, Natsu could think of something because he was stumped. Natsu told Happy of their situation praying he could get them out of it, but all of his brain cells seemed to be malfunctioning.

Finally, after walking for minutes in the abnormally huge mansion, they entered through a gate-sized door leading to what looked like a throne room. The Spartan-man along with his generals, walked toward the throne, up the small platform while he sat down and leaned comfortably in his chair as Ougon and Meralda stood beside him. Immediately, the multitude of soldiers began to march in formation, then bowed once in the affirmed position. The soldier carrying Happy led Natsu in front of the throne at the bottom of the staircase. He stood there stoically while the Spartan-man raised his arm signaling the other guards.

“You may rise.” The orders were followed as the guards stood on their feet. Natsu looked around the room and pondered: what exactly happened here? They were in Hell, correct? So where’s all the chaos and anarchy? How was there a somewhat functional society in this desolate place? “I assume you have many questions, yes?”

His attention was drawn out of his mind as he looked up at the throne, “Huh, go figure.”

“Don’t be insolent, I’ll go through all you’ll need to know in order to accept our deal. After all, you can’t make the right choice without knowing the right information,” The armor-wearing man chuckled a bit before intertwining his fingers together, “Let’s start with introductions. I am the leader of these people, simply known as Minit, more commonly called the boss. These two beside me are two out of our four generals, Meralda and Ougon.” Ougon stayed idle while Meralda licked her lips while fixing a stare toward Natsu. Not noticing her actions, Natsu continued to pay attention, “My other two generals are out of state, executing a mission a sent them on to recruit more people.”

Natsu listened intently knowing this info would help him in the future, but he had questions of his own that needed to be answered, “My name is Natsu Dragneel and this here is my best friend Happy, but listen ‘dark and gloomy’, tell me how a civilization like this is thriving in Hell as if there aren’t crazy people at every turn. It doesn’t make sense that such a large number of you are cooperating.”

“I see where your curiosity lies; it is odd to have a kingdom in Hell, but our condition is a bit more optimal than others. Right now, you’re residing in the first level of Hell, the placement of low threat criminals and tyrants who died an unholy death and lived an unrighteous life. The other two levels are much more, huh, archaic than this one due to the nature of its residents. There are not many strong individuals at this level, therefore, I capitalized on that and built my small kingdom but keep in mind that there are others here too.”

“And how exactly does this place function? Things like this usually crumple away the second they’re formed.” Natsu questioned, still not getting to the point of understanding.

“Well, you can say that my system is built off of power: the more one has, the higher their position in society. We capture wanderers, like yourself, and set them to work in the mines. If they can survive long enough, they’re transferred into the gladiatorial unit to fight for the people’s pleasure. Once completing the trials, they gain official citizenship and work to support the kingdom by using the magic they possess. If by some chance they show a greater than average fighting potential, they gain rights to own slaves, until they too can work their way up.”

Hearing him speak about the structure of society reminded him of Erza’s teachings about the different ways kingdoms can organize themselves in order to gain stability. For once, her traumatizing lessons came in handy. Although he never saw the appeal of having slaves, he knew that trying to demand change in a place like this would only cause more turbulence for him and Happy.

“Okay then,” the blue furball spoke, “What is the material used to make the cuffs and walls down in your ‘bas.e.m.e.nt’?”

“Oh, those? The metal is derived from an ore found underground as well as the rock, both created by Hell’s geographical properties. They both exhibit high resistance to heat and are very dense material, though, the metal even more so on both parts, it is much rarer to find. That’s why I’m so impressed that you were able to melt it, on your own too.” Hearing silence afterward, Minit breathed in and sat up, “Since you two seem satisfied with my answers, I’m going to move on with our deal, hmm?”

Nodding to affirm his assumption, Natsu spoke, “Go on.” seeing no other options in his predicament.

“Great! Now as I said before, I want to make you a gladiator, including your little friend there. Just like others, you have to complete three trials of my choosing. If you happen to complete them, then you’re free to go.” The boss explained matters quickly and efficiently, coming as a surprise to both Natsu and Happy, them thinking entirely different outcomes.

“Excuse me, but is that it? Like, do what you say for a while… then we can go scot-free?” Happy squirmed in the man’s arms, trying his best to sit up properly. What he heard completely baffled him; it makes no sense as to why the boss would make a deal so clean and cut and not get anything out of it.

“That’s exactly right.” He answered.

“Okay, say that we go along with this, what’s gonna happen if we don’t complete your trials?” Natsu glared slightly inspecting any strange movements or giveaways to indicate any sort of lying.

“I thought you would figure that out by now. If you lose any one of them both of you will become my personal servants. I’m gonna have you stay here as long as I want.” Minit stood from his throne and clapped his hands signaling two soldiers to apprehend Natsu into chains and cuffs once again, doing the same to Happy. Not bothering to struggle against his captors, Natsu spoke once more.

“Hey! The least you could do is heal Happy’s wing you tore up!” Natsu yelled, almost in a pleading tone while a woman dressed in robes seemingly heard them and started to walk from a corner toward the blue exceed, encompassing her hand around Happy’s now dark red wing. A soft yellow light was emitted from her hands as the wing’s boney and bloody exterior was slowly put back in place and the flesh began to regenerate around the open wound.

While witnessing this act, Natsu relaxed his shoulders and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. The guard roughly pulled Natsu back and began to lead him out of the throne room while Minit started to laugh out loud.

“See, your little friend is going to be fine! I’ll return him once he’s finished. And Natsu, don’t you dare hold back.”

Somewhere with Natsu:

The guard practically pulled Natsu along as he dragged him to his new destination. The walk was long and silent as neither men said a word. The soldier navigated through the swerving halls and eventually made it out of the house while Natsu dumbly followed, tripping over his own feet as he was forced to lean forward and bend his back. The cruel treatment of the guard lasted even outside as they walked in the dirt covered roads around Minit’s large house. Once they walked a complete 180, a large dome was coming into view having many entrances all around for what seemed like letting a mass of people swarm in. Natsu wondered why he and Happy didn’t see this structure before when they were surveying up in the air, but he soon realized that Minit’s castle dwarfed the colosseum’s vertical length. While they approached it, Natsu remarked the material that it was made of. The rock that constructed the cages below was the same that made this colosseum stand tall, he also figured that’s what made Minit’s house as well. Conveniently, a soldier stood attending the wide wooden doors as they remained open for them while they entered the enormously spacious interior of the Colosseum.

Despite the resilient rock being a deterrent to both blunt and precise stimulus, Natsu saw an enormous amount of cracks and crevasses all along the circular wall of the arena, including permanent black scorch marks. To this, some things didn’t add up, but his train of thought was knocked off course when the soldier kicked Natsu on the floor into a dark corridor on the opposite side of where they entered. He grunted slightly when he landed face first, scraping the chest wound he received not too long ago. ‘Uhg, I should’ve asked that lady for some healing too… Wendy! Asia! I miss you guys!’ “What the hell man!”

“Hmph, I can’t believe the boss is even putting in the time for you. What can you do that’s so impressive, huh?” The soldier grabbed Natsu by the back of the collar and lifted him up to his face, snarling through his helmet.

“Haha, if ya let me go I’d be happy to give a free demonstration, motherf-ugh!” The guard wasted no time and punched Natsu in the gut while he violent coughed up spit, still feeling the sting from Meralda’s spear. ‘It’s gonna take more than my quick healing to fix this.’

“Shut up, as if I’m stupid enough to fall for that! Come on, it’s time to put you with the rest.” The douche bag of a soldier led them down the corridor until Natsu realized he was headed underground again. A sigh escaped his lips as he lifted his head to somewhat study his surrounds. With the many captive situations he’s been in, Natsu’s found that knowing the layout makes escape easy if that’s ever an option. After one final step, the guard tossed Natsu on the cold hard floor before abruptly walking away, “This is gonna be your home for the next eternity. Have fun.”

Spitting towards his direction with obvious intent, Natsu sat up against the closest wall and started to tend to himself. He checked the small bruise that developed thanks to the Mr. Goony there and saw that it was only along with abdominal muscles which should heal almost completely within 24 hours. Then he rubbed against the black and swollen parts of his ribcage hidden by his jacket and winced at the slightest touch. Although he looked fine when talking to Minit back at the palace, that was all a facade to hide the beating he got against Ougon. His gravity manipulation was going to be a major pain in the future and his statement about not being affected by it was a total bluff. The guy almost crushed his lungs!

Next, he caressed along the outside of the cut he received due to Meralda’s lance and gave an exasperated sigh. With all the moving he’s been doing, the injury went from being a surface level wound to something a bit deeper. Blood lightly trickled down the tore skin as he determined that staying still would be his best option.

Now, with the self-examination was over, Natsu decided to look around the dimly lit corridor to check his current state of rest. He found many resting people sprawled about the dirty floor, some with their backs to the wall like Natsu. None were talking, none were moving, the atmosphere felt as dead as these people were. Then, a smell of horrid proportions ripped through his nose as Natsu recoiled from the disgusting scent of this underground chamber. He didn’t know why, but he smelled it only after analyzing his surrounds. Finding no point in trying to cover his nose, he continued to look around, but upon closer inspection, he noticed that the people hear all had injuries just as bad, and sometimes worse than his. Some of the residences occupied empty space for what should be the place for limbs and hands. Now he knew what exactly that smell was: rotting flesh.

Never before has he ever been in a situation with these standards; never has he witnessed such cruel treatment of people, even if they deserved it. His eyes narrowed in fury and his nose flared in rage as his anger surpassed any dreadful smell entering his nose. He was furious- beyond that even! If he did nothing, what would that make him!? A deserter, a coward? No! He was willing to fight for these criminals with his last breath if it came to it. He’s done the same for Erza, so why not these people here!? No one should suffer like this, even if they’ve done it to others- that’s not how justice works!

His adrenaline spiked high and Natsu almost started to lift himself up off the wall, but suddenly, all of his temperament receded once he looked upon a familiar blue. The same guard that’s been caring Happy brought him down in his arms with a stoic face, but Happy was ecstatic to see him. The Exceed jumped down from his arms and waddled on the floor the best he could with the smaller version of chains wrapped around his stubby legs. Natsu internally rejoiced at seeing his partner’s healthy looking frame, unlike his, Happy’s body looked completely untouched.

“Naatshuu~!” Happy finally made it in Natsu’s arms, hugging him like a lost brother. The guard scoffed slightly and walked away, not bothering to overhear anything, “I can’t believe it! We’re going to fight in some scary gladiator battles! What’re we gonna do~!” His tears stung Natsu’s open chest but he took them with relief.

Like the previously pent up of anger before, his rationality returned just as quickly. Natsu knew he had to stick to his morals(despite being a hypocrite at times) but acting rash and stupid has never really solved any of his problems. When he has done something stupid, he had his friends to back him up, and eventually, they won the day. But here, it’s just him and Happy, stuck in a corner harshly fighting to survive. Allies would be nice, but that luxury currently seems scarce.

“I don’t know yet. The best thing we can do is trust that shady guy, I guess. I mean, what can we really do besides that?” With another great sigh, Natsu sat back down, uncomfortably laying his back against the wall. Happy saw his rigid movements and decided to do his own investigation. Standing on his thighs, he walked up to Natsu’s jacket and quickly uncovered it to reveal what he was hiding.

“Natsu! What the hell!?” Happy yelled in shock.

“Woah, when did you get a dirty mouth?” Natsu laughed sarcastically before realizing what he was talking about, “Oh that?”

“Yes, that! How are you going to fight, when you can’t even fight!?” His panicked voice caused Natsu to sweatdrop with queasiness.

Trying to play it off, Natsu lightly waved his hand, “I can manage.”

“If Lismama was here, you’d be telling a different story.” Happy rudely remarked.

“Ah, don’t bring Lis into this, Happy. You know I have fast healing. What did Issei call it, uh a healing factor! Yeah, that’s right.” Natsu lifted a pouting Happy onto his shoulder while he rubbed his head, “Don’t ya have faith in me?”

“Those wounds make believing in you harder than normal.”

“Hey, that hurt, right here.” Natsu pointed toward his heart, actually feeling a sting somewhere besides his body. Understanding that Natsu already contemplated this, Happy rested his head on Natsu’s cheek while said man leaned his own head backward. Both of them closed their eyes hoping to get some shut eye, but a striking thought raced through Natsu’s mind that he wanted to discuss.

With his head still leaned back, he tapped Happy on his face and spoke, “Hey buddy, there’s something I’ve been thinking about when I walked through the arena.”

“Like how we’re going to die.”

“Wha- no, not that. I saw that there were cracks and scratches on the wall, even burn marks. But we’ve been told the general people of this level aren’t that strong, and remember, it took me passing out to break us out of that cage. So I’ve been thinking: what type of fighting goes on in there anyway? Like, who’s strong enough to make dents and burn those walls to that extent?” Natsu waited to hear a response from his best friend but he got nothing. Happy remained silent for a while until a word escaped his little mouth.

“Monster.” He breathed out.

“A monster? Well, that might not be too far fetched, right?” Natsu tapped his fingers on his legs as he thought about the possibility. If a monster really was the answer then who’s the one who tamed it? ‘Oh, nevermind.’ Natsu’s mind still wasn’t at ease, however, he wanted to know what type of monster they’d be facing. From past experience, he’s learned it’s better to know as much information about who you’re fighting so no surprises come unannounced. Unbeknownst to the duo, though, a small silhouette was approaching them but they were too exhausted to do anything about it.

It wasn’t until the shadow was a few feet away that Natsu jolted awake(causing Happy to wake up as well) as his senses were dulled by these horrible circ.u.mstances. Adjusting his eyes to the dim light to see better, he saw a girl a wolf? An animal-human, human-animal? A Millianna? The girl had on rags for clothing covering her top and lower half(the important parts) along with broke sandals on her feet. Her skin had a few patches of dirt and dried blood, some even residing in her hair. He saw that her nails were unnaturally long and her nose looked like Happy’s nose along with long pointed ears dropped by the side of her head. That’s also when a strange characteristic came into view as well: tufts of purple hair covered her chins and forearms and parts of her neck.

Natsu wondered what she could have wanted with him, but Happy decided to be, well, Happy, “I smell a dog! I hate dogs!” The blue Exceed began to hiss and wave his paw in front of her face, signaling to go away. The girl was slightly taken aback by this sudden response but remained nonetheless, continuing her crawl over to them. Natsu eyed her as she approached but eventually, he came to the conclusion that she meant no harm.

Calming his fired-up partner, Natsu stared into the brown eyes of the girl that stopped right before his legs. At first, she had her head down, seemingly in shame, but she looked them in the face and opened her mouth, “I’m sorry.”

To which they were confused, “Sorry? For what?”

Moving slightly to adjust her position, she began to speak again, “Well, I was the one who helped Master capture you two at your base. He uses my tracking abilities to find new slaves for the program. After each search, he sends me here to fight, and that’s when I smelled you two coming.”

A small tick mark formed on Natsu’s head after hearing this information. This girl in front of him -a person he doesn’t even know- is the reason he was even in this shitty situation right now. It was her fault

“Seriously? All you can say is ‘sorry’? Do you even know how much crap you put me and my partner through the past couple ofhours?” Natsu’s voice deepened and his teeth were clenched while the wolf-girl cringed in fright.

“I didn’t mean any harm! I was just doing what I’m forced to!” Her voice was slightly raised from before as she tried to defend herself. She expected him to come back with more criticism, but his previous demeanor suddenly relaxed into a limp state. A deep breath was heard until he coughed roughly afterward commenting on how bad the air was. His eyes remained closed and his face relaxed, the same for the blue cat, as not another word was said. She sat there in confusion before speaking up, “A-aren’t you mad?”

“Uh, you’re still here?” Natsu opened his eyes and sighed not moving as much to give Happy some rest, “Of course wearemad, but right now, I’m too tired tobemad, ya know?”

“Huh?”

“It doesn’t matter. Just leave us alone.” Natsu began to close his eyes but was interrupted by a plead from the hybrid.

“Come on, there has to be something I can do, right? Any information you need?” Her tenacity was slightly motivated by irritation at how carefree this boy was acting. Did he not care at all about his predicament?

“Hmm, some information you say…” Natsu began to stroke his none existant beard and called Happy immediately. Although the cat grumbled, he stayed silent to listen to what he had to say, “Happy, this dog-girl says she has some information she wants to give us.”

“Really? For what reason?” Happy sat up pouting slightly in suspicion.

“Does it really matter?” Natsu rhetorically asked before turning to face the kneeling girl, already acknowledging the unconventionality of her actions, “Listen, since you want to help so bad for no apparent reason -without any gain whatsoever- tell us about the monsters you have here.”

Taken aback by his sudden change in attitude, the girl nodded and began, “Well, you have Striges, man-eating birds. Wraiths, soul-crushing Spiders. Uh, there’s also a Lava Golem that crushes its victims before eating them. And lastly, there’s Cerberus but the boss rarely ever brings him out. They’re known as the guardians of Hell because they’re so strong.”

“And you have to fight those things?” Happy asked.

“Not fight, it’s more along who can survive the longest. The boss gives us a time limit in which the battle takes place and we have to stay alive for as long as possible. Sometimes, that does involve fighting and killing I should add.” The girl answered quickly. Natsu nodded in affirmation, turning to his side and starring Happy in the eyes as they communicated somewhat telepathically.

“Hmm, I don’t think it’s gonna be like that anymore, uh, what’s your name?” Natsu raised his eyebrow while sweat dripped from his chin. He was slightly nervous about his next line as it might dispirit her entirely.

“My name is Michelle but besides that, what were you going to say about the fighting?” The wolf-girl, now identified as Michelle, squeezed her hands together in anticipation. What was this boy about to say that caused him to sweat? By her first impression of him, he seems too laid back in order for anything to cause him grief, so what could it be now?

“Well, my name’s Natsu, and the blue ball is named Happy and I think that the next few battles won’t just be about surviving- at least for me anyway.” Natsu’s vague explanation left the girl wanting for more, but soon after he shut himself down; literally, Michelle saw him suddenly pass out seemingly due to over exhaustion while the cat apologized about his behavior and went to sleep as well.

With her mind befuddled, Michelle decided it was worth resting until the next battle, seeing as anxiety doesn’t induce a functional state of mind. For the most part, Michelle, Natsu, and Happy slept soundly seeing as the corridor was relatively quiet despite the soft groaning of suffering individuals. The lit torches stayed burning for hours, perched against the stone wall and dimly lighting the elongated hallway, however, his peaceful nap was interrupted by the persisting unpleasantness of the chains around him.

Natsu woke up with multiple points of stiffness throughout his body, but most of his discomfort wasn’t from the stone bed but the metal chains. The cuffs wrapped around his wrist, ankles, and neck all connected by chainlinks that met in the middle, so any extraneous movement caused pain and discomfort on his joints, leaving him to crouch his back and scrunch his limbs together. Despite waking in a sour mood, Natsu kept his hopes up. If he could complete all if these stupid trials, him and Happy won’t have to go through this ever again within the next couple of days.

Then, feeling movement near his feet, Natsu saw the girl from before resting on the floor with her feet slightly kicking his own. Simply moving them aside, Natsu went to the next check in the chore list. Opening his jacket once again, he examined any injuries he may still have. Surprisingly, all of the small cuts and bruises were completely healed which could only mean that they’ve been underground for 24 hours, which also meant that they slept a full day. But just as expected, the major injuries he sustained made little progress. He still found it hard to move certain directions or bend his body in specific ways, given how he was in chains as well.

With a long deep breath, then a cough, Natsu cracked his sore joints with an audiblepopcoming from them, relaxing afterward with a sigh of relief. He turned to the weight on his shoulder and saw Happy buried in his sleep with a cute purr exiting his open mouth every now and then. Right before he could pet him, Natsu’s attention spiked and deviated away from his blue friend and toward the staircase, the one he was directly beside. As his ears moved slightly at the sound of metal footsteps, Natsu, instead of petting, wiggled Happy awake before the soldier got there. Although his objective was successful, Happy did not, in the least, enjoy being waved around like a doll, but his malice moved away from Natsu and toward the person approaching them down the stairs.

Due to the commotion the two were making, Michelle woke up as well once Natsu accidentally kicked her feet after Happy hit him in the face. She sat up off the dirty floor as her eyes widened at the sight of a soldier bearing his hardened gaze down at the duo. His attention wasn’t even on her, but the two idiots beside her. With no words exchanged between them, Natsu stood up on his own and laid Happy down on his back. Michelle saw them walk away with the most rugged expression she’s ever seen on them(despite knowing them for only a couple dozen of minutes).

What exactly were they wanted for?

With Natsu and Happy:

The guard led them up a familiar pathway, leading to what could only be the entrance to the arena. The duo stayed silent the entire time as the only sound was that of clamping footsteps and light breathing. Throughout there time walking, the soldier tugged at the chains making Natsu jerk forward unintentionally. Knowing he had to pick up the pace, Natsu decided to walk side by side with him so that he doesn’t feel tempted to do it again. Recognizing the different turns and hallways, Natsu knew they were close to the exit of the dreadful underground corridor. It wasn’t long till the sound of distorted voices reverberated off the enclosed walls once they took one final flight of stairs.

Natsu and Happy recognized the muffled noise as cheering, immediately knowing that outside the doors in front of them, spectators gathered around the arena to see them fight, however, this would be nothing like the Grand Magic Games. This time they weren’t fighting to keep the guild alive, they were fighting to keep themselves alive. The soldier stopped in front of the large doors and stumbled his hands around his waist, seemingly looking for something. It was till they heard a jingle that it became apparent, the object in his hand were keys- their keys to be exact.

He first started with Happy, grabbing him off Natsu’s back and unlocking the cuff around his neck, then his arms and finally his legs. The sound of the chains falling to the ground and the feeling of nonrestricted movement made Happy unbelievably delighted. Natsu could hear his excitement and patiently waited for his own release. The guard did the same procedure with Natsu, neck, arms then legs, and Natsu felt as if a thousand pounds got lifted from his back. Almost immediately, he grinned and started to jump excessively in the air to test out his mobility. He didn’t know why, but his body felt a surge of adrenaline rush through his veins.

The soldier ignored them and began to push the doors open, the bright orange light of the atmosphere leaking into the darker chamber partially illuminated Natsu’s face. The sound of cheering became more coherent, the chanting reaching their ears with an explosion of energy. The arena, as it came into view, was shown to be much cleaner than before when they were walking to their dungeon. The floor has been swept clean of impurities and was more evened out along the walls. And the walls themselves have lost their previous blemishes of scorch marks and cracks. Once the gates fully opened, the duo marched through to meet their challenge with vigor; their minds completely set on fulfilling their duty here and getting out- unscathed hopefully.

Although they were concentrated on the upcoming fight, their attention deviated to the size of the audience. The total capacity was daunting, their eyes scanning the rows filled with the inhabitants, but soon, their eyes caught onto one person in particular. Minit was at the head of the arena, the highest and closest seating to the fight, and was sitting on another throne. He had his regular two generals Ougon and Meralda to his sides, however, two additional persons stood in the back of him to which Natsu deduced were the other generals he sent off on missions.

He gave a quick glare to the ruler of this land while tightly clutching fists. It wasn’t until Happy patted his legs that he began to calm down. Then, almost immediately after, the crowd’s cheering slowly died down into light murmuring across the stadium. Natsu looked around to find the cause of this anomaly but his search was cut prematurely once his ears caught onto Minit’s booming voice. He stood tall and proud amongst his subjects, raising his arms as if taking in the glory of his accomplishments. The whole stadium stood paused for moments while they waited on their rulers next words. Natsu, deciding he didn’t care, ignored the situation around him and started to fully stretch his very sore and tight muscles.

Despite seeing his rude behavior, the boss continued with his narration and gradually lowered his arms, “People of this hard-working kingdom! Today I bring you another anticipated battle within the Collusium! But today, it is special; today, we have with us one contestant agreeing to fight for his life-his freedom- against all odds! This moment is so special, I’ve decided to have the surviving gladiators spectate!” When hearing this, Natsu stopped his stretches and turned back to see the prisoners of the corridor being walked out of the underground facility and into some empty seats of the stadium. Amongst those prisoners was the wolf-girl, and although he felt no ties to her, he realized the unmistakable likeness between her and Millianna. ‘Man, this is going to be a drag.’

“Now, our single gladiator, with his partner, will battle one of our favorite pets!” The Collusium’s previous silence quickly went away once those words where announced, “Coming from the outskirts of our terrain: the Lava Golem!” Natsu could practically feel the hype building up from the crowd, influencing his own attitude about his upcoming battle. The seconds he stood waiting for his opponent to appear felt like slowly creeping minutes in his perspective. The adrenaline caused the time to slow down to a noticeable effect, and that’s when he witnessed something strange. The surrounding noise began to drown out in his concentration as Natsu saw the space a few meters in front of him apparently tearing open with a large grayMagic Circlebehind it. The black abyss now in front of him expanded into a radius three times the size of his own body and distorted the light around it, turning into a menacing and mysterious whirlpool.

Due to his currently heightened senses, Natsu saw this happening all within brief moments, his eyes widening as well once he felt a tug on his back and his feet being lifted into the air. Blasting out of theMagic Circlecame a smoldering bolder many times larger than Ougon’s own gigantic body, passing by underneath his feet. His brain had 1felt like it stopped while it tried to comprehend what happened, but once he looked over his shoulder everything made sense. Once the portal opened completely, a ball of fire and rock escaped through the opening at blazing speed, too fast, in fact, for Natsu to react in time. Luckily, Happy had already activated his magic at that time and was able to grab Natsu as he flew into the air. It was close, but Happy was skilled enough at controlling his speed that he could perceive even the fastest attacks if his magic is, at the very least, activated. Both him and Natsu watched as the bolder of fire crashed against the large walls and splashed outward in every direction, with its trajectory heading for the citizens. That’s when they saw the rock covered ball of lava rebound away from the spectators and back to the ground.

His eyes widen at the fact, now knowing that there was a protective barrier encompassing the arena, most likely even covering the top of the Collusium. Realizing he would have to test out his theories later, Natsu turned his head back to the black portal and studied what was going to come out. He heard that they were going to be battling some things called ‘Lava Golems’-with their names being self-explanatory- but he had no clue about their important stuff he needed to fight effectively. Looking back, he should have questioned that wolf-girl some more.

It wasn’t long until Natsu saw his opponents leisurely walk out of the portal, one at a time, as they slowly wandered away from their origin and waddled about the arena. Looking closely at the three Golems, he began to study their appearance, noting the ‘lava’ part in the name. It appeared as though the main aspect of their body was in fact lava, with different sized chunks of rock floating around to the surface of their body while the larger ones stayed fixed in one place. None of them had any sharp features or characteristic around their bodies as they looked like rigged blobs with arms and a body. The torso was large and bulky, almost like a square taking up most of the space in the body while its head was more of a small globe that sat on top. That’s when Natsu noticed their limbs. The legs were small and short yet very large in girth which caused them to resort to the slow waddling movement they use to get around, however, their arms were long and not as thick as the legs, but reaching so far from the shoulders that they were being dragged on the ground.

Recognizing that their main strength wasn’t in speed, Natsu knew they used those unique arms for throwing, but didn’t know what they threw. It could be Magic, but they could also dig up the ground and set the rock aflame and throw it then. Natsu turned back to look and his partner and realized he had come to the same conclusions by the determined look in his eyes. Their opponents didn’t know where they were hiding as the golems were still wandering around the arena like lost children, so, they used this fact to their advantage. Nodding together to affirm their plan, Happy flared his wings and nose-dived toward the closest Lava Golem which happened to be facing directly in front of the Coliseum walls.

The audience watched while Natsu flew behind one of the Golems and began to suck in large amounts of air into his lungs, puffing his chest abnormally. Once the duo was close enough, Natsu opened his mouth and released a large amount of orange fire that exploded against the golem’s back, shooting it toward the wall as it bounced back onto the ground face-up. Natsu looked perplexed at how easily it went down, but his confusion was meant with a large impact in the face. He was hit hard with one of the Lava balls behind him from one of the Golems hiding in his blindspot which sent him flying away with Happy into the ground. They started to skid for a while until Happy finally brought them back up from the attack and stabilized their position high in the air.

Natsu still had a look of bewilderment at what had transpired not anticipating the rock creatures to go down as easily as they did. Was it because of their stubby legs? Most likely. Were they too heavy to keep themselves upright? Maybe. But his thinking was stopped once he got a look of the Golem he knocked down slowly getting up as if nothing happened.

“Oh shit.” He whispered, “Hey Happy, I’m gonna need you to let me pilot for now. You know the drill.”

“Aye!” Happy responded, descending from his high position in the air. As they made their way to the middle of the arena, the three Lava Golem’s stayed put, far away from where Natsu once was. Currently, they were all in front of him but all at different angles. Once his feet touched the ground, he wasted no time thinking about which one to go to first and lunged immediately toward the middle one, although, still carefully watching the other two. While he charged at his first target, Natsu saw the Golem raise his right arm and extend it backward, but before it could do anything Natsu had already made it in front and initiated another move.

“Fire Dragon’s Iron Fist!” He swung his fiery fist at the Golem’s chest plate and rocketed his flames forward in order to blow the beast into the ground. With little effort, Natsu had the Golem on its back watching it struggle to sit up, but not a second later, he felt a hard tug behind him as Happy flew him out of the way of two other flaming projectiles. With a large sigh of relief, Natsu thanked his partner while staring intently at his other opponents.

“Hey, Happy, did you get a good look at how they produce those things?”

“Aye, sir. They do use magic to create those boulders but although the magic activation is extremely fast, it takes them a while to initiate the throw.” Happy explained simply, setting Natsu back down to where they started. Then, once again, they watched as the Golem they knocked down slowly but surely get up with no damage done to it.

“Ha, then this should be easy. Just hit them till they can’t fight back.” Natsu grinned excitedly, punching his palm with a loud clap. With his signature ‘I’m fired up’, Natsu began the attack by rushing at the golem to his left, keeping the other two in his attention zone. He watched as it started to lift its arm up to attack, however, this time he actually saw the magic being used by them. A small orb of fire grew larger and denser as it began to take on the properties of lava while at the same time large plates of rock covered the outside of the projectile.

He decided to be on the defensive in order to watch them attack, as he slowed his approach toward it and readied for the throw. Once the arm was fully raised, the Golem chucked the lava ball at Natsu which he sidestepped away from despite the ridiculous speed it was traveling. Then, Natsu turned to his right as fast as he could to confront the other two launched at him. He dodged the first one by flipping over it and meet the second by scarcely sliding past it. But to his surprise, another one made by the Golem he initially intended to attack made Natsu resort to taking the full brunt of the attack while he desperately tried to stop himself from being crushed.

He was being blasted to the side of the arena completely at the whim of the flaming rock that was pounding him. Somehow, regardless of his position, Natsu managed to land his feet on the ground and began the struggle to slow his trajectory toward the upcoming stadium wall. He dug his feet into the ground helplessly attempting to slow his momentum, however, no matter how hard he pushed back the rock never seemed to decelerate. It wasn’t long until the crowd witnessed Natsu get bashed into the opposite end of the stadium while the dust from the impact completely obstructed any view of the fire warrior.

As the dust cloud expanded from the initial point of impact, the spectators still managed to find one abnormal sight up in the air. The blue cat that they saw flying with the pink haired seemed to escape but at the cost of his partner’s wellbeing. But little did they know, Happy didn’t flee in fear of the attack, but of his partner instead. During the short time that he was attached to Natsu while he was being pummeled, Happy could feel the frustration building up in his body despite the attack only lasting seconds. He knew Natsu wasn’t going to let something like this do him in, but it would definitely make him angrier.

It was then that a loud thump was heard from within the dust as the Golems began to charge up more magic in their c.o.c.ked back arms, and unexpectedly, the same giant rock that connected with Natsu was hurled right back with the same amount of force from before, heading toward the same Golem who threw it. The odd thing about this attack wasn’t the speed at which it was thrown, but the color of fire that adorned it. A thin streak of orange and black flames enveloped the boulder for the short time that it was in the air until it finally made contact with Golem, sending it flying back into the wall similar to Natsu.

As Happy saw this, he took a deep breath and wiped his brow from the sweat that built up. He was lucky he made the right choice- right now, Natsu doesn’t need his help anymore.

The cloud of reddish dust and smoke was suddenly cleared by an explosion of magic while the temperature spiked for a moment before settling down. Natsu was bathed in a blanket of furious red and black fire that reached high into the air until it was all receded into dancing wisps. He took a leap out of the whole he was in and remarked at how deep it was, ‘Now I get why I couldn’t stop those things in time. They had enough power to break through those rocks!’ After dusting himself off and twisting things back in the right place, Natsu hurriedly scanned his surroundings and once again prepared for battle.

Just as he was expecting, the Golems cared very little about the other one who was currently lodged into the wall. Natsu was soon to meet the same magic again as the Golems wasted no time in launching their massive lava balls at the opposite side of the arena where Natsu was standing. The projectiles crossed the huge distance in a blink of an eye, but just as fast they exploded and splashed to the ground the moment they made contact with Natsu. He was still standing in the same spot, but his fists all the way up to his forearms were covered in black and red flames that raged endlessly on his arms. Natsu smirked when he witnessed another set of lava rocks hurled at him and quickly stepped forward to match their speed. Then, lifting his still fire-clad arm, he punched straight through the first boulder that opposed him and did the same to the others coming next.

Happy watched from above and smiled as well, “Natsu’sDragonGod modemakes his magic way stronger than normal, and hisLightning Flame modemakes him faster. I’d say he won’t be in any more trouble now that he decided to get serious.” He continued to watch his friend battle the Golems in hisDragonGodmode, as his opponents were able to keep him at a distance by constantly chucking fiery projectiles at him. Natsu, despite making progress to get to the other side, was working slowly and moderately, which weren’t really fitting his tastes right now. That’s when Happy saw the left Golem finally emerge from the stark grave and push the boulder aside with ease. Next, it joined in with the others and aimed its ill intent toward Natsu whose progression decreased dramatically.

Natsu grunted with fury when one of the attacks chip his arm and cause him to move back some in order to evade another barrage of attacks. He began flipping to his side to regain his former footing and avoid getting caught off guard, but the constant pressure applied by these Golems might get to him eventually. Natsu decided that it was best to switch his modes and gain some ground so he could finally fight these monsters head on, that was their weakness. While he punched through the final attack, he quickly activated his magic and soon had lightning crackling around his body. In those short moments, Natsu just seemed to disappear from everyone’s eyes as the flurry of flaming rocks hit empty space. Just then, Natsu yelled while he reappeared in front of the right positioned Golem charging his magic in his left arm.

“Lightning Flame Dragon’s Breakdown Fist!” Natsu collided his fist into the rock monster’s chest plate, however, this time, it began to crack under the pressure of both the fire and lightning that barraged its body. Once Natsu felt satisfied with the full impact, he finally launched the Golem in the air and prepared for his next attack. He spread his legs wide and inhaled as much air as he could in the little time he had as the Golem was quickly falling toward the ground. As small wisps of fire and quick flashes of lightning entered his mouth, Natsu let out a roar that almost deafened the audience, blasting an extreme torrent of magic at the helpless Lava Golem. After a couple of seconds, he finally receded the attack and watched as drops of lava fell on the ground in front of him.

In the wake of his first opponent’s death, Natsu lost his focus slightly and didn’t foresee the other attacks rushing toward him. Currently, with his heightened instincts, he was able to dodge the first one with a small knick on the arm while he discerned exactly where the other projectiles were heading and dodged them accordingly. Natsu regained his mental focus and aimed his concentration toward the two other Lava Golems, the first being the one in the middle. Just as he was about to dash, he heard a voice from above.

“Hey, Natsu! I know you can beat these guys easily, so why don’t you work on your training!” Happy yelled over Natsu head while said person stood in the middle of the battlefield with his hand on his chin as if he was contemplating Happy’s suggestion.

“You know what, Happy!? I think I might actually d-ooff!” Once again, Natsu’s deviating attention caused him to be hit hard by the lava boulders, sending him flying back to square one. He crashed into the wall, however, he didn’t bother trying to stop the projectile. He pushed the flaming rock off of him to get a clear view of his surrounds and saw that the Golems were charging up another attack with the orbs in their hands growing larger with each passing second.

I shouldn’t use my Dragon modes on these things or else it’ll end too easily. I should do what Igneel suggested- that hardening thing I did before.’ As Natsu was thinking this, he watched as a new wave of attacks came bolting at him while he began his counter. Natsu kicked the boulder in front of him with aFire Dragon’s Talon, sending it away while being lit with his own flames at the Lava rocks, knocking all of them off course and breaking a few on its path. While he waited for the next onslaught, Natsu decided to dash forward and be proactive with his fighting, all while remembering how to harden his fire. ‘Damn this might be harder than I thought.’

With his new determination, he managed to clear the distance before those golems could launch another attack on him while he jumped high into the air and generated bright orange flames cladding his fists. The orbs of fire around his hand got exponential larger as Natsu fell to the ground and he clasped them together to form a colossal sphere of singeing fire, “Fire Dragon’s Brilliant Flame!”

As he came down from the air, Natsu threw his own fiery ball at the two Golems who were nearly at opposite ends, but he made his attack so large that it managed to reach both of them. The Remaining Lava Golems saw the incoming dangerous magic and started to pelt the giant Fireball with their large lava boulders, however, this time they appeared even bigger than before. Despite the combined efforts of them both, Natsu’s own magic beat them in both strength and size until they eventually succ.u.mbed to the impending explosion that rocked the entire Collosium.

A bright light enveloped the arena with an unsettling rumble shaking the crowd in their seats. The sudden flash of light consequently blinded some people, but once their eyes adjusted, they were mildly shocked as to what they saw.

The golems, who the attack was intended for, were scorched around their rock plating and they were laying inside a crater that amassed almost the entire fighting grounds. Natsu was standing in front of them with a deep pout on his face, almost as if he was sad, but he wasn’t.

Right now, he felt a bit disappointed.

If they couldn’t survive an explosion of this size, there’s no way they could have helped him with his training. Excluding the ones he already had, he only sustained minor injuries that were common for battle: a few scr.a.p.es here, a couple of cuts there, and some dull pain everywhere. He admitted that his previous injuries hindered him a bit in the battle, but that doesn’t really connect to how he completely dominated the Lava Golems with his last attack.

He was close to calling Happy down to join him in celebration, but his ears picked up the slightest shuffle of stone and rock. Dismissing it as crumbling debris, Natsu turned his back to the defeated opponents, cupping his hands over his mouth, “Hey, Happy! It’s over! I didn’t think I’ll work on my training next time!”

Natsu was looked up and saw his partner making weird gestures in the air, waving his arms around like a madman. His confusion opted him to shout back until Happy got fed up with his ignorance and screamed, “In back of you!”

“Oh no.” Said Natsu as he dropped his arms and hugged them around his head in a protective position. Natsu wasn’t stupid enough to try and turn around to get a face full of rock and he didn’t have enough time to get away and inevitably get hit, so he decided it was best to curl in a tight ball and brace for impact. It was only a split second later after Happy called out that Natsu felt the crushing blow of the golem’s massive arm driving him into the ground. The hit was hard enough to make Natsu dazed, not prepared to take another hit. His guard was tight, but it was slowly being loosened by the repeated pounding by both Lava Golems.

Happy could only cringe at the sight of his best friend being pummeled into the ground, finding no opening between them to rescue him. The thundering boom of the punches being laid onto Natsu made the crowd cheer louder than before and all he could do was watch. His hopes got raised once he heard Natsu scream, “Fire Dragon’s Talon!” and spun himself on the ground while kicking his legs underneath the golems, making a huge ring of fire spread out and tripping them onto their faces once again.

Natsu limply walked out of the small crater looking worse than ever. All over his body and face, blood spilled relentlessly into the ground making the reddish dusty floor a slightly darker tint. His clothes were torn and beaten, magically his pants stayed intact, and his boots were reduced to the soles. Natsu tore off what remained of his shirt and threw it to the ground in anger.

“Those bastards got me good. Ha, at least I know I’m not wasting my time on them.” Natsu rubbed his aching shoulder and cracked his neck for some much-needed relief, “They may be big and slow, but they hit like a Laxus.” He faced the rock monsters and saw them coming off the ground like the many times before. ‘I guess I can only win if I destroy them completely. I can’t leave this battle until I learned how to harden my fire.’

The minute that they got to there stubby feet, Natsu rushed them with Fire Dragon’s Wingbeat, swing his arms downward and crashing into them with a stream of fire. Despite the Lava Golems stumbling back, they were seemingly unaffected by the attack, but Natsu was relentless with his combos. He jumped high above one of them and landed a solid fire enhanced ax kick straight into the golem’s temple. Then he followed it by kicking off the same golem and headbutting the other directly parallel to him. Once he landed, Natsu lit both of his fists aflame and rushed toward the left golem fast enough to catch it while it was off balance. He gripped tightly to the large rock plates in its body and immediately got its weight under his legs. Natsu struggled to lift the insanely large beast, but eventually, he burst with strength and threw the golem in his hands at the other one, causing them to crash together.

Natsu wasted no time to jumped into the pile and light is arms with fire, raining down punches just as hard and fast as the golems did to him before. The incessant attack s pinned the Lava Golems to the ground, but despite the hundreds of punches he landed in that short time. He never came any closer to cracking the things’ amour.

“Why won’t you… JUST BREAK!” Natsu fumed as he continued his assault, “And my fire won’t harden! JUST DO AS I SAY! AARRRGGH!” Then, amidst the sound of bone against rock, Natsu heard a crack, and when he looked down, he saw that a chip of armor came off one of the golems. Out of sheer shock, Natsu stopped his movements and stared deeply into his fire-clad hands, the flames rising into his face. Using this opening, the golem smacked Natsu away but he recovered with relative ease and he took this time to reflect on what just happened.

“Mother of Igneel I get what you were saying dad, about taming my fire.” Natsu recalled the time when Macao explained to him how to utilize his fire in different ways, and what stood out most, was when he said, ‘If your conviction is strong enough, your fire will naturally bend to it.’

He refocused and settled on his feet, prepared to go onto the attack, but this time, he could finally finish it. He had to tame his fire completely if he ever wanted to master the ability to change its properties; he had to do so in order to fully regain his complete imperviousness to heat and fire. Natsu stood in the place he was knocked back to and took in a deep breath to calm his nerves; although anger got him to this point, he can’t progress with a clouded mind. In recent times, he has learned to control his rage and use it effectively to achieve his goals, and right now was a great scenario.

He set his body aflame and directed his magic into his right hand, clutching it into a fist. He charged forward with pure determination in his eyes and c.o.c.ked back his arm, approaching the distance where the golem’s attacks would be useless. Natsu ducked under a heavy swing made by it and stepped into the punch as the contact made a small explosion that slightly pushed it back. Then, he charged his other fist with fire and struck against the rock plating again, feeling the armor shed off in pieces. ‘Harder’he told himself as another flurry of rapid punches as each one made a deeper, thicker sound, starting to reverberate like metal would when hit. It wasn’t till the last strike that Natsu’s arm plunged into the Lava Golem’s stomach, and this time, the seeping molten rock felt like bliss going down his arm, not insufferable heat.

He turned to his last obstacle and squatted low into a pouncing stance, throwing his arm back and launching toward the remaining golem while it chunked one of its boulders toward him. Natsu crushed the piece of rock like glass and a connected a strong blow to the abdomen with his signature, “Fire Dragon’s Iron Fist.” This time, the golem exploded as Natsu added more magic into the punch to end it faster. The last of the Lava Golems rained down from the air and fell tragically to the ground. Although Natsu was happy to tame his previously fluctuating magic, he felt slightly dispirited at having to kill the monster that has done nothing wrong to him.

Quickly, he dismissed those thoughts. He did this for a reason. He killed them to survive, to live and complete his training, and to once again see his Devil family. Even Issei.

“Natsu! Holy Atlas Flame! You did it!” His partner came flying down from the sky and crashed into the bleeding teen with glee, making both of them fall to the busted ground.

“Hahaha, sure as hell I did it! Piece of cake.” He gloated while holding Happy. But it was at this time he noticed something troubling, “Huh, buddy. It can’t move.”

“Stop joking. You were moving fine just a moment ago.” Happy stood on his collar bone and shook his face, “Come on get it together.”

“I’m not joking Happy, I seriously can’t move. Changing the properties of my fire takes a lot out of me, and these injuries are biting me in the ass.” Natsu deduced as he now felt sharp pain scattered throughout his body. His muscle of every category ached and pained like he was still being beaten by those Lava Golems. The bleeding didn’t help as he realized he was quickly losing hold onto reality, “Yo, Happy, please get help…”

“Natsu, Natsu!”

Minit looked down upon the scene of Natsu collapsing on the ground with the blue cat on top of him, with glee. Never before has he seen one of his gladiators use one of these to help progress their strength. It was unheard heard of, unconventional, yet he did it anyway. Minit found that it would be best to watch his growth throughout these battles to watch Natsu’s progress; he was sure that this boy would entertain him in this hellscape.

“People of my kingdom! As you have witnessed here, today, we have our newest and bravest gladiator!” Minit stood up exuberantly shouting to his subjects. Ougon and Meralda watched their boss with malcontent toward the pink haired teen. They themselves found nothing special about the boy, and Minit knew they could not see his rising potential, “Do you want more of this!?” The crowd roared louder, showing their preferences by the levels of excitement that bred off them. “Then in two days, we will have him compete, once again, against one of our favorite toys!”

While the Boss relished in the cheers of his people, among the deafening screams, there was a voice yelling out, the faintest hint of desperation hanging in the tone. His curiosity increased as the voice gradually got louder and more discernable until his guards noticed it approaching as well and walked directly in front of him. However, Minit stopped them recognizing the high-pitched voice as the one belonging to the flying feline. It was only moments later that a gust of wind flew past the individuals in the balcony and revealed the perpetrator to be Happy who was panting hard with tears running down his face.

“Please, Natsu needs a healer now!”