Chapter 16:

Giving out a demonic wail, Deliora sends out a wave of dark magic from his maw. Acting quickly, Shura summoned a large shield of darkness that blocked the attack, happy to sense that Ultear was completely gone from the cave.

Cracking his neck, blood gushed out of his gourds as he used his magic. "Blood-Make: Blood Arrows!"

Multiple arrows of blood formed from Shura's will, firing at breakneck speeds towards the demon. Snarling, Deliora took the attacks with no visible effect as he roared, firing off another round of dark magic that destroyed the oncoming arrows and headed towards Shura. Rolling to the side, the God Slayer continued moving to avoid the continuous beam of energy that destroyed the ground around him.

"Shadow Dance!" he intoned, waves of darkness forming around the cave and bending to his will, tendrils formed and sliced at Deliora's large body. The demon growled and hissed, more annoyed than wounded. Eventually, the tendrils started to form even quicker and faster, causing Deliora to lose his balance, if only for a few seconds. But that was all Shura needed.

"Obsidian Blast!" he followed up, using one of his more powerful Darkness attacks. A giant orb of shadows formed in front of Shura as he grabbed and clenched it in his fist, making the palm hiss slightly. Rearing his fist back, Shura cocked his fist forward, a gargantuan blast of black energy shooting forth, racing towards Deliora at high speeds. Surprised, Deliora roared as the attack hit, blasting him backwards and making him connect with the wall behind him.

Outside the temple, Ultear grunted and cursed as she carried her mother outside - who was wrapped in a jacket she'd brought along - looking hopeful to see any villagers nearby. It was highly unlikely, but the thought of someone else taking this... woman off of her hands, and far away from her, would be welcomed completely.

She growled as she thought of Shura. That arrogant, ignorant son of a bit- GAH!

Her thoughts were cut off as the ground beneath her began to shake violently. Then, she felt

Shura's power - for some odd reason, she couldn't detect a hint of magic in the attack he'd likely used - rose to incredible levels, nearing the unfathomable, clearly being the main cause behind the earth's tremor. Ultear's widened as far as they could. Her breath was stolen from her lungs as she felt the incredible pressure crashing over her body like a falling meteor.

All of sudden, she was caught by surprise, almost losing her balance as a gigantic cone of darkness suddenly emerged from the side of the temple, with gargantuan destructive power that rendered anything in its path to dust. The cone, black as the darkest night sky, sent a shockwave that rattled Ultear's body.

Her hair whipping across her face as she held onto the prone form of her mother, Ultear gasped as she was almost blown away. "Just what the hell is he doing over there?!" she yelled against the whipping winds.

The cone continued to darken the entire night sky. From within it, Deliora was thrown to the forest, roaring in pain all the way until he crashed into the forest with an earth-shaking crash, resulting in a large dust cloud that crushed trees and other wildlife in the process. No sign of movement was apparent from the demon.

Ultear blinked, stunned at the display. I-Incredible, she thought to herself. However, another angry roar broke her out of her thoughts. Deliora pushed himself up by his elbows, the wounds on his body healing right before her shocked eyes. Deliora roared, shaking the very island it stood on.

However, before she could attempt to do anything, Shura flew out of the hole Deliora had made, draconic wings protruding from his back. He come to a stop right above Deliora, looking down at the demon with an evil smirk. His blood-red eyes glowed with an unholy sadistic glee as he then placed his arms above each other until the bottom of his hands met. A dark aura surrounded his entire body, shadows being drawn from every corner around him.

"Let's see how you deal with this, Yakusai no Akuma (Demon of Destruction)!" Shura bellowed, expanding the now rapidly forming ball of darkness in his palms and throwing it towards the demon, the orb rapidly growing as big as the demon himself.

Giving a roar that shook all but the half-Etherious, Deliora glared at the ball as it slammed into him. He was fast enough to raise both his massive arms and block it with them. The collision caused a hurricane of air to be released, tearing the earth apart and crushing objects nearby with its sheer power and gravity. The monstrous attack seemed too much even for a demon of Deloria's calibre, as he was being pushed backward several feet away, creating drag marks.

From looking at his palms, the gigantic orb of darkness seemed to drag the demon into it, the gravity of the attack being resisted only just by the demon's might. In the end, however, the demon was able to push back the attack before it exploded in a maelstorm of shadowy wisps that destroyed the ground, earth and the very air around the two demonic beings.

Deliora gave a roar of victory as it had seen itself successful in the struggle, but Shura didn't give him time to celebrate. "Yol!" he Shouted, the gout of powerful dragon fire burning Deliora's face as it tried to swat the flames away. Requipping Dragonslayer(1) into his hands, he gave a savage slash at the Etherious' torso, drawing black blood from the gaping wound. Deliora wasn't even given chance to roar as another strong swipe upwards allowed his jawline to be cleaved in half.

The loud, agonising roar that resulted from the action spurred Shura forward, a malevolent grin on his face as he bellowed out his attack again. "Obsidian Blast!" the God Slayer intoned, the blast of obsidian energy zooming forward. It slammed into Deliora's torso with earth-shattering force. The demon roared as the blast practically destroyed his insides, flying away as the Obsidian Blast was obliterating the forest in the process. The ground shook as he crashed into it, his massive body sporting numerous wounds, along with a hole in his torso.

Shura softly landed on the ground and looked at the downed figure of the demon. He frowned, knowing that his attack wasn't strong enough to kill him. Deliora wasn't known to be an immortal Etherious for nothing, after all. His thoughts proved to be accurate as Deliora began to stand up, albeit slowly. Dark energy started to surround the demon as Shura, Ultear and Lyon - who had woken up from being knocked unconscious - inspected what was happening. The demon that they thought they downed was standing in front of them, completed healed.

"I-Impossible! H-How did it heal itself?!" Lyon shouted, as his body shivered in fear. His delusions of defeating Deliora himself were shattered the more he witnessed the battle between the Blood-dimmed King and the Demon of Destruction. He knew he could never reach such levels of power, never hope to compete against such... such a monster.

Ultear frowned, seeing that the damage done to Deliora had completely vanished. She then looked towards Shura, who continued to have a sadistic light in his eyes. Narrowing her eyes, she thought to herself, What exactly is he planning to do?

Deliora's eyes shone in the night, flooded with bloodlust and destruction as they glared at Shura. Suddenly, the demon aimed his left fist forward, firing off a quick blast of demonic energy. Shura's eyes widened as the monstrous attack slammed into him, sending him flying back at immense speeds. His back was painfully smashed into many trees before hitting the ground, the resultant explosion blinding many who were watching the fight. Shura finally came to a stop as he skidded on the ground, his eyes never losing focus of the rapidly approaching demon.

Shura continued to grin as Deliora's fist buried him into the ground. The instant his body was slammed into the ground, a gigantic crater exploded, with a shockwave. Many people watched in horror while Ultear growled, thinking that the fool wouldn't be able to survive that. The demon shoved his fist down with more force before he began to pummel Shura deeper and deeper into the ground, deepening the crater. The barrage of deadly punches seemed to never stop.

Deliora ceased his onslaught to inspect the carnage he had wrought, grinning evilly at the bloody paste that was in the crater before him. "Heavenly Wrath!" Shura's voice called out, bombarding Deliora from behind with a barrage of light attacks, damaging the demon more than suspected. Deliora hissed and snarled in pain as the light burned his demonic body.

I do so love Blood-Make: Blood Clones, Shura thought to himself, grinning. Magic creeping off of every pore of his body, Shura gathered blood from his gourds, focusing into one single point.

Deliora roared and opened his large maw, enraged. Lime-coloured energy gathered in front of his mouth, forming a dense ball of energy. With another roar, he discharged a massive beam toward the ball, stronger than anything he let out in the past.

The sphere of blood formed in front of him, Shura grimaced as he bit the dense ball of blood, the magic seeping through every bit of his body. Rearing his own head back as blood seeped from his lengthened canines and teeth, Shura fired his own attack. "Blood-Make: Bloody Explosion!"

A crimson blast of blood and magic fired from Shura's mouth like a laser, pushing the God Slayer back slightly as his attack shot forward. The collision between the two attacks caused a sonic boom to erupt as an explosion of magical power clashing violently against one another. The power and size of the two attacks lit up the sky. Deliora roared again, and suddenly the beam doubled in size and density, overpowering Shura's by a wide margin.

Eyebrow raised, Shura drew more and more blood from his gourds around his body to enlarge his own attack as it quadrupled in size, pushing the beam back slightly. The struggle of dominance lasted only a few seconds before the two attacks exploded in a destructive, bloody explosion that billowed outwards, filling the forest and the rest of the temple, destroying nearby wildlife and earth. A mass amount of air and blood was released by the explosion, causing the audience to grip anything to not be blown away.

Ultear gritted her teeth, knowing that the high-level magic being flung around would be more and more catastrophic for her if she continued to stick around. Holding Ur's unconscious form, she quickly ran to the village nearby to protect the both of them.

Lyon was nowhere to be seen, the shockwave blowing him away as he hit a nearby tree, falling unconscious as his skull collided with it.

A series of new flashes broke out, slightly obscured by the falling debris and blood. a clear indication that the fight was still going on. Streaks of red flew from Shura's form as he leapt towards the demon. "Blood-Make: Blood Stakes!" he intoned. A magic circle formed underneath Deliora as spikes of blood rose from the ground, impaling his foot and impeding his movements. Deliora roared, struggling to overcome the onslaught of bloody spikes. Not to mention that his healing was struggling to overcome the attack, as the blood started to seep into its pierced holes.

Smirking at seeing the successful action's, Shura gathered the nearby shadows, forming a large, shadowy claw on his right arm (A.N. - Looks similar to Nero's Devil Bringer from DMC).

"Darkness Bringer!" Shura called out .His hair whipping wildly, he grinned savagely as he lashed it out at Deliora, whom in preparation met his attack head-on, resulting in both his fist and the demon's giant clawed fist to collide. A deep emerald energy surrounded Deliora while a dark black aura surrounded Shura, their powers clashing against each other. A bright light erupted, blinding the vision of those nearby and still standing watching as the two monsters continued to fight for dominance, the ground several meters below them cratered. Cracks started extending for hundreds of meters across.

Deliora kept on roaring, kept on pouring more power into his attack, only for Shura to hold firm, his crimson eyes glaring balefully at the demon before him.

"You think you can make me submit, Etherious?!" Shura snarled, his hatred pumping more and more power into his own attack, strengthening it. Pushing back only slightly, Shura's Darkness Bringer clenched Deliora's own closed fist, shattering it with ease. Deliora roared, but Shura just aimed his shadowy arm at Deliora's face, bringing the demon down to his level. Teeth revealed to the world, Shura cackled as he began to slam Deliora into the ground repeatedly, getting roar after roar from said demon.

"I'll crush you! All of your kind! All until you're nothing but dust! Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHA!" Shura maniacally laughed, madness creeping into his eyes as he kept on slamming the demon repeatedly, the ground being destroyed as a result.

Halting slightly, one of Shura's claws pierced Deliora's eye, causing the demon to howl in agony. That was stopped, however, by Shura Requipping Dragonslayer and cutting the demon's neck slightly, making him gurgle out black blood. Eyes alight at the carnage, Shura glared at the struggling demon as he panted. He wanted so badly to slay Deliora right there and then, but... but he needed to be patient. Yes, yes, yes... patient. Information... needed. Then this demon's death.

"You... have information I need," Shura hissed sharply. "I know that as mindless as you are, you are capable of speech."

Deliora's remaining eye glared fiercely at the God Slayer. Nevertheless, he growled out, "W-What... do you want... pitiful huma-AAAACK!"

Shura's embedded claw pierced even further through Deliora's head, all the way to his 'supposed' brain. "Shut up, you filthy mongrel! You are at my mercy! Now, tell me where Tartaros is!"

Through the pain, Deliora's eyes widened, before they narrowed. "What would you need the information on Tartaros' whereabouts for?"

"ANSWER THE QUESTION!" Shura roared, using his Blood-Make magic to manipulate Deliora's inside. The demon howled as he felt his blood boil in agony, paralyzing him completely. Deliora continued to roar, only to hack up more and more black blood, which was tinted red, oddly enough.

"W-What have... you done... to m-me?" the demon whispered, his voice weaker.

"Lullaby told me that you know of the location of Tartaros. Speak what I want to know, or I'll continue causing you agony."

Wheezing, Deliora did his best to explain. "I-I... I only know... that the guild Tartaros... i-is located on the Cube. A floating island in the air. Unreachable by normal means. O-Only a fellow Etherious can reach the guild... but even then... the Nine Demon Gates will be aware of your coming..."

"That... is none of your concern," Shura snarled, frowning. Unreachable by normal means... only an Etherious was able to reach the place... Loathe as he was to admit it, he technically counted as an Etherious. Meaning that the entrance would be available to him, only if he were to locate this... this Cube. He needed a better tracker... the Eye of Hermaeus Mora wouldn't work properly without the proper knowledge... or magic.

Staring at Deliora's weakening form, he smiled. He might not have the location in mind, but he could use Deliora. All he had to do was keep track of any unknown or unregistered objects in the air, and track any demonic energies... and he knew just what to use.

"It seems like you've served your purpose," Shura remarked, retracting the claw and dismissing the Darkness Bringer. He stepped back as Deliora slowly rose, his wounds healing slowly. A fanged grin appeared on the demon's face.

"You shouldn't have done that, fool."

"Oh, you poor, deluded demon..." Shura disappeared, and Deliora felt hands grip his neck and head. With an untold amount of force, Deliora screeched in absolute agony - the sound raised in pitch the longer things went on - as the flesh on his neck started to stretch. It kept on stretching, and stretching, and stretching. This went on until-

RIIIIIIIIIIP!

A fountain's worth of black blood erupted from the severed stump that was Deliora's neck. The body fell with a thud, no healing aura covering it whatsoever. Shura hefted the head of Deliora in his hands, immensely enjoying the look of horror and anguish on the demon's face.

"... I always know what I'm doing," Shura finished, grinning evilly.

XXX

Shura appeared in a flurry of shadows in the village, startling many. Moka looked at Shura carefully. "W-We heard the noises... y-you were battling the demon that was hidden in the temple?"

"Yes," Shura nodded, walking towards Ultear once he'd seen her. "He's dead."

There were a number of gasps and shouts of shock from the villagers that the Chaos God Slayer promptly ignored. He bent down to look at the unconscious Ur, patting her face gently.

"It looks like she'll need serious medical attention," he muttered, looking back up to Ultear. She just continued to glare at him. He sighed. "Are you still angry at me?"

"Yes!" Ultear yelled, exploding visibly. "How dare you control me like that and-and force me to revive her?! You had no right!"

Shura sighed. "Like I told you before; having a mage on par with the Ten Wizard Saints would be a major advantage to us-"

"Excuse me!" Moka butted in, drawing annoyed glances from the arguing duo. "But what are you going to do about the moon? We still-"

Infuriated, Shura drew the Ebony Blade, unsheathing it and slashing upward while channelling magic through the weapon, causing black crescent arcs to appear from it. They sailed towards the top of the sky, straight towards the moon, until the attacks seemed to hit what looked to be a physical barrier. The barrier was quickly destroyed by the attack, shattering like glass.

The moon from behind the now destroyed magical barrier looked exactly the same, with no changes whatsoever. Moka blinked. "W-Wha-"

"You all are demons, this is a demon island, and the effects of the Moon Drip gave you all amnesia. Good? Good," Shura quickly summarised. He then turned to look at Ultear again, ready to argue, only to pause as he heard groaning from Ur's prone form.

Ur's eyes fluttered slightly, and then rapidly. Her dark eyes opened slowly, struggling to take in all of the new images before her. She grunted as her body felt stiff, not even able to feel most of her limbs. She tried to speak, but coughed slightly.

Shura quickly turned to one of the villagers. "Get me some water! Quickly!"

Shocked, the villager did just that, a jug of water in her hand a few seconds later. Shura took it, crouching down to gently place it at Ur's lips. He held her back while he helped her drink. "Easy, easy."

Her vision now properly cleared, Ur slowly turned around, first looking at Shura, then at the rest of the villagers. "W-Where... how... D-Deliora-"

"Is dead," Shura assured, placing his hand on her shoulder as to calm her. "Don't worry, Ur Milkovich. You're on Galuna Island. It's been... quite a while since you've been, well... alive."

"Alive?" she questioned, rubbing her head. "H-How? All I remember... is casting Iced Shell... so, how am I free?"

"That would be due to your daughter's aid," Shura answered, making Ultear stiffen. She made to leave, only for Shura to glare at her, freezing her in her tracks.

Ur's eyes widened, almost knocking the jug of water out of her way. "M-My daughter?! H-How do you know of-" Due to her moving rapidly, she whirled around, catching a glimpse of Ultear's grimace. Her eyes widened even further, shock running through her body. "U-U-Ultear..."

Ultear scowled. "Hello... mother." She would've continued with more vitriol, only for Ur to dash forward, wrapping her daughter in a massive hug. Ultear's eyes widened as Ur rested her head in the crook of her neck, sobbing uncontrollably all of a sudden.

"My baby girl... my beautiful Ul..." Ur sniffed, crying tears of joy.

Shura made to say something, only for his eyes to widen. Ur's movements towards her daughter - while endearing and sweet - had also caused the jacket she'd been given to cover herself to fall off, allowing her naked back to be on display for everyone.

Shura's eyes glazed over a bit from looking at Ur's thin waist and large ass cheeks as the rest of the male villagers wolf-whistled. Confused as to what the noise was, Ultear moved her neck around Ur's head to look at everyone, and then down at her naked mother.

Ultear blinked for a good few seconds... before an enraged expression appeared on her face. "STOP LOOKING AT MY MOTHER, YOU FUCKING PERVS!" she roared, teal orbs appearing from nowhere and striking any nearby watcher with unrelenting force.

Ur chuckled through her sobs. "Not even a minute of waking up, and I'm already naked..."

XXX

"Again, let us thank our guests for saving and helping our entire village!" Moka yelled, raising his glass of alcohol in the air.

"YEAH!" the rest of the villagers shouted in response, downing their own drinks and cheering.

Shura sighed as he sipped his own drink, the celebration party going in full swing. After the revelation of the residents of Galuna Island being demons all this time, they quickly took it in stride, their amnesia not even bothering them in the slightest. To celebrate the completion of the mission - as well as the sudden reveal of the chief's son, Bobo, being alive all this time - pushed everyone into the festive mood immediately.

As Shura relaxed, his eyes darted towards the forest where Ur and Ultear were stationed. Admittedly, it was likely a bad idea to put the two together; with Ultear's clear hatred of her mother, and Ur herself trying to get her bearings of her still alive. It was a surefire way of disaster. Unfortunately, he had to get the two together. Not only to have Ur recruited into his ranks, but also to have Ultear more... willing to work with him. As underhanded the thought was, the Chaos God Slayer could not and would not deny the benefits.

Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose, a headache already forming in his head. "I really wish I could get myself drunk... fuck it, more Nord Mead it is."

As Shura brought out his flask of mead, he unknowingly caught the attention of every demon within his vicinity. As the tip of the flask touched his lips, he froze upon seeing all eyes on him.

"My boy... what kind of... exotic drink is that?" Moka questioned, his eyes focused narrowly on Shura's Nord Mead.

Shura looked back to his drink, then to the chief elder. "Nothing," he quickly answered. Somehow, he assumed that giving the drink around to demons would be... very problematic.

Bobo's eyes became laser-focused as he stared at Shura. "No... no, I think that you're hiding something from us. Perhaps, a powerful drink that would go well with this party?"

Shura hid the mead in his Requip space, backing away slightly as all the demons seemed to stalk towards him menacingly. He frowned in thought. On one hand, he could kill all of them here and sate his thirst for demonic blood, claiming that he was simply drunk, and attacked by other drunks as well. Cruel and horrific, but the excuse was there. On the other hand, these demons were... well, they were damn pathetic on the demonic hierarchy. Not to mention, innocent.

"I think we all just need to calm down-" Shura started to say, but unfortunately, no one listened to him.

"GET HIM!" Moka yelled out, causing others to shout something similar and chase for him. Sighing, Shura dashed in the other direction, not even willing to deal with this shitstorm.

XXX

(Hargeon Port, Hargeon Town)

The next day, Shura, Ultear, Ur and Lyon had arrived at the port, with Shura using his 'Raizen' persona. After eventually wearing out the drunken demons, he had quickly snagged the Golden Zodiac Key that was with them as a prize, planning to gift it to Lucy. As much as he treasured his Celestial Spirit Magic - which allowed him to be close to the two Heartfilia's in his life - it was his most underdeveloped magic. And besides, from questioning Capricorn, the Sagittarius Key was weak, which obviously didn't suit him.

The God Slayer turned to look at Ultear. "I presume that you and your mother have... talked?"

Ultear scowled, simply saying nothing more. However, her scowl wasn't as deep or as menacing as her usual ones, leading him to believe that the Time Mage was somewhat at peace.

Ur frowned as she looked at him. "Yeah, we did. Speaking of which..." Marching forward quickly, Ur reared her hand back and slapped him across the face. Shura had obviously seen the motion beforehand, but had let the slap hit him, as he had an idea about why she did so.

Ultear's eyes widened, Lyon's jaw dropped, and those watching were shocked. However, Ultear quickly gave the audience a glare, causing them to quickly scurry off elsewhere.

Shura's face didn't turn as he stared at Ur's furious eyes. "I'd take it that that was due to me branding your daughter?"

"You're damn right it is!" Ur yelled, looking to smack him again, only for him to catch her wrist, squeezing slightly.

"Look, as much as I regret my actions, it was a necessary. Just as it was a necessary for me to revive you to recruit you into Erebus' Pit, my guild."

"Like hell!" Ur yelled, glaring at him as she struggled to free herself. "My other remaining student is in Fairy Tail, so that's where me, my daughter and Lyon are heading!"

"You're not very bright, are you?" Shura questioned sarcastically, getting the Ice Mage to glare harder at him. "You're daughter is working undercover for the Magic Council, where in reality, she was a former Dark Guild member, and is now working for me. Lyon Vastia was planning to resurrect an Etherious demon that would've destroyed Galuna Island, and also would've caused untold amounts of destruction. Due to this, it's likely that his history and actions are either recorded, or will be recorded, leading to him being put in jail.

"And then there's you." Shura's words had Ur paling with each impact, but he continued. "You're a recently revived woman who sealed said Etherious demon and is now planning to bring both mentioned characters to arguably the most popular guild in Magnolia. Even if I didn't plan to recruit you, chances are two out of three of you would be either executed or jailed for a very long time. While you'd probably be interrogated and be forced to join the Ten Wizard Saints. So..." Shura leaned forward to stare into Ur's uncertain eyes. "... what's it going to be?"

Ur sneered, losing more and more of her hostility. "Even with those facts, I don't care. One way or another, I'm going to see Gray."

Shura shrugged. "That's fine... unless you're content with leaving your daughter and likely never seeing her again."

Ur's eyes widened as Ultear gave a raised eyebrow. "W-Wha-"

"Did you honestly think I'd let Ultear go with you on the chance that you'd reject me? At the moment, she's too valuable for me to lose her. And if you don't follow me, you'll never see her."

"You bastard," Ur hissed angrily. "Don't you have a heart?! You'd separate me from both my daughter and student, who I haven't seen since they were so young?!"

Pushing down the rising pain at manipulating others, Shura simply glared at her. "If you refuse to follow me, yes. However, to appease you, if I encounter Gray Fullbuster along my path, I will spare his life."

"That's the only mercy you'd grant me?!" the elder Ice Mage hissed.

"Considering my path ahead, yes," Shura answered, already knowing the answer to his proposal.

Ur simply glared at him for a few more minutes, before she sighed reluctantly. "I-I... I'll... join you. But I want you to remove the brand on Ultear if I do."

"No deal," Shura denied instantly. "I don't trust her. Not fully. She knows my name and fault, and - while that is my own fault - any leniency would be the death of me."

"You know, I'd almost take pride in that," Ultear retorted sarcastically.

"Probably the only thing you can take pride in," Shura muttered, making Ultear glare at him.

"I'll assure you that she stays loyal. She's my daughter," Ur tried to bargain, only for Shura to scoff.

"Really? The daughter that hates you? The daughter that has lived without you, resenting your very memory up till this day? Oh, yes. I'm sure you can convince her."

"You're not giving me much to work with," Ur hissed.

"The fact that both your daughter and your students are still alive, despite one having a pass due to reasons, is more than enough to assure you that I'm being the generous one here. Especially considering that I haven't branded you or Lyon."

"And why haven't you branded me yet?" Lyon asked curiously.

"Simple. You're an idiot, who's loyalty can be easily bought. Ultear is far more dangerous if left unchecked and unbranded."

A tick mark appeared on his head. "HEY!" he yelled, however, Shura ignored him, still staring at Ur's contemplative face. Hesitating while staring at Ultear's frowning face, she sighed. "Alright," she fully decided. "But I want to take Lyon along."

Shura hesitated. "If you can keep him in line and make sure he's fully competent, that's fine," he finally decided. Best to make sure that she's fully cooperative. And having an extra Ice-Make Mage wouldn't hurt to have, with enough training, of course.

Covering Lyon's already opened mouth, Ur said, "Deal."

Nodding to himself, Shura smiled widely. "Good."

XXX

(Unknown Forested Field, Fiore)

"Maaaan..." Gildarts Clive, the Ace of Fairy Tail, sighed as he stood in the deserted forest. Scratching his beard, he winced as he numbly felt his prosthetic limbs from his brief encounter with Acnologia.

He shivered to himself. The less I see of that... monster, the better, he thought to himself. Grumbling to himself, he shook his head. "Master ain't letting me rest. First failing that quest, then recovering, and now to hunt a SS-Class Dark Mage?"

Gildarts' face hardened at the last bit. "However, I think I can make an exception for this quest..."

Flashback

"Hahahaha! It's true!" Gildarts drunkenly bragged, arms wrapped around two buxom beauties as he poured himself another glass. "I did kick his ass! All with one hand tied behind my back!"

"Well, aren't you a strong mage!" the woman on his left, who was a beautiful blonde, giggled, slapping a hand on his chest playfully. "Sounds like you fit all of my standards!"

"Yeah, mine too!" the brunette on his right pouted.

Gildarts just chuckled. "Well, yeah! Sexy face, sexy body, a powerful wizard..." He leaned in to whisper into both of their ears. "... a beast in the sack!"

"Oh, my!" the two of them giggled. Just as the three of them were about to head to his hotel, his communication lacrima started to beep. He sighed, his drunken haze somewhat broken.

"Sorry, beauties," the Ace sighed, standing up. "I gotta take this. Important business."

The girls whined, but Gildarts reluctantly stepped away, shedding tears all while doing so. Exiting the bar, he held the communication lacrima up and activated it, seeing the visage of Makarov. "Master, what's the occasion?! You stopped from having a threesome with two beautiful-"

"Gildarts," Makarov interrupted softly, yet sternly. Focusing, Gildarts could tell that Makarov's face was filled with sorrow, making him cut off. "While I'd normally congratulate and apologise, this is more important."

"What is it, Master?" Gildarts asked, curious.

So Makarov explained everything to him. How the Blood-dimmed King encountered his 'Strongest Team' and left most of them with grievous injuries. When he explained what happened to Natsu, Gildarts snapped. His Crash Magic activated in response to his emotions, destroying a large section of ground under him, leaving him in a gargantuan crater.

"I see... and you need me to perform a little payback, huh?" Gildarts responded, his eyes becoming more narrowed and colder.

"Yes," Makarov answered. "But be careful. The boy is not an SS-Class criminal mage for no reason. Having defeated both Erza and Mirajane in combat shows that he is capable of using many skills. Not to mention the tales of him destroying Grimoire Heart by himself."

"Got it," Gildarts replied, tensed. "It's actually a relief. I'm just recovering from my one hundred-year quest."

"Recovering? So you've already completed it?" Makarov questioned.

Gildarts winced. "I'll... tell you when I'm done with my now current job. Just know that it wasn't pretty."

"I see," Makarov said. "Okay. I've had Cana use her tarot-card reading abilities to see if she could locate the Blood-dimmed King, but right now he is moving around so she can't pinpoint him. Not to mention that his magical signature is... somehow off. However, try and check along the old guild of Eisenwald. Perhaps you may encounter him around there."

"Well..." Gildarts sighed, cracking his neck. "Guess that's where I'm headed then. I'll be careful, Master. That king won't even know what hit him when I'm through with kicking his ass."

"Thank you, Gildarts. And good luck," Makarov signed off.

End Flashback

"... since I'm going to pound your face in, Blood-dimmed King," Gildarts promised, clenching his fist.

He continued onto his journey, closing his eyes to enjoy the peace and quiet of the forest. Hey, he may be a walking, talking natural disaster, but even he could enjoy some silence every once in a while.

Unfortunately, his silence was interrupted by him bumping into someone's shoulder. Gildarts' grunted as he frowned. Strange. I didn't feel anyone coming towards me.

"Sorry about that, my fault. I didn't-" Gildarts started to say as he turned around, only to pause as he stared at the hooded back of a person. He frowned. This person's magic was... monstrous. Not just in terms of size, but in texture.

While the subtle parts of magic weren't his style, he'd lived long enough to develop a few unique skills to survive. One of them being sensing magic.

This guy's magic is... dark. Heavy. Chaotic. Just like... Gildarts shuddered. Just like Acnologia's magic.

"Hey, you!" Gildarts shouted as he dashed forward, suspicion creeping into him. He made to put his hand on the person's shoulder, but his wrist was caught before he could do that.

The unknown mage's eyes glared at him, and his heart stopped. The face was covered by a strange mask (A.N. - Think of Dragon Ball Xenoverse Bardock's mask, but only his eyes are showing), a dark cloak covered his head, but those eyes. Those crimson eyes.

Snarling, Gildarts reared his fist back and shot it forward to punch the mage, but he caught it. His eyes widened at the strength as he was forced back slightly, grunting. Snarling, the unknown mage twisted Gildarts' wrist and forced the Crash Mage to the ground, kicking at his side and sending him skidding slightly.

"Piss off," Shura muttered, his voice much more darker and deeper. "Stay out of my way."

Gildarts glared at Shura, standing up as he dusted himself off. "Are you the Blood-dimmed King?"

Eyebrow raised at seeing the Fairy Tail Guild Mark, Shura's eyes narrowed. "Who's asking?"

"I am Gildarts Clive, S-Class Mage and Ace of Fairy Tail," the Crash Mage introduced, magic rolling from his skin.

Shura raised his eyebrow, annoyed. Another mage from Fairy Tail. He'd have thought that they would get the message and leave him alone. Apparently not. "Ace, huh? Guess you're above Titania, the Majin, and the Celestial Princess(1)."

"That's right," Gildarts said as his magic power burst forth in the form of a tower of silver and white energy. Shura felt the force of the magical pressure, his eyes widening as he sensed the powerful display in front of him.

His magical power is around Hades' level... I guess Fairy Tail has actually powerful mages, Shura thought to himself.

"In case it wasn't clear, lemme spell it out for you; I'm here to deal the payback for what you did to my friends. You nearly killed Mira and Erza, and you put Natsu into a coma! Not only that, but you dared to insult the name of Fairy Tail and what we stand for! I will not hesitate to make sure you are dealt with, Blood-dimmed King!"

Shura sighed, cracking his neck. "And here I thought that what I did to those fools would sink into your brain. You should know by now that I leave a trail of blood and death behind me where ever I go. And yet you challenge me?" Shura's own magic poured from his body, a crimson pillar rising from his own body. "You're proving my thoughts right. Seems like Fairy Tail mages really are stupid and suicidal."

Despite his talk, Shura was thinking of something different. This guy is strong. I'll probably have to resort to my God Slayer Magic, and even then, I don't want to kill him. Shura scowled. Why can't these mages leave me alone?!

"You will pay dearly for what you did to my nakama!" Gildarts snarled, his aura clashing with Shura's own.

"Let's see you still have that conviction when I'm through with you," Shura retorted. The wind picked up around them both as they stamped their feet on the ground and pushed off, their respective magics coiled around them. When they collided, the very forest around them exploded.

Okay, I know I'm late to the party. And I'm sorry. This is my second chapter for 2020, believe it or not.

Reason I was delayed, laziness. And a shit ton of work, but also laziness.

Hope you liked the chapter. Ur's back, meaning that Shura's forces are still growing ever stronger. Another highlight is that Shura and Gildarts are fighting. Yay!

Don't ask me for the outcome of the fight. I won't tell you, either due to the victor being obvious, or I want to keep it a secret, still.

So, yeah. Expect more activity from me. Cuz, shit, I'm late to the party.

Guest Review time:

1) I get what you're saying, StormMaster567. But he has his needs, so he was gonna sleep with her anyways.

2) How is he a nice boy hero? He's the way his is due to trauma and vengeance. What, do you want him to be stoic, evil and murdering everyone he sees? NO! Because the people he's trying to kill have those exact characteristics! So why the fuck would he be exactly like them?!

Anywho, it's looking more likely that Celestial Ascension is gonna be updated next, so look out for that.

Thx to all those who f,f,r and r the story. Love y'all.

Read and Review!