Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD or Fairy Tail.

•ï¡÷¡ï• Tend the Demon •ï¡÷¡ï•

°l||l° Awaken His Majesty °l||l°

"Come, Grayfia. I will show you something that I haven't revealed to anyone else."

Treading behind Lucifer, she pondered about what the Devil King could possibly show her. After all, they were just about to head into the battlefield as the war has already started. Their comrades have headed out into the warzone first, taking down the pure angels and the fallen ones as well.

"Lord Lucifer, what is it that you want to show me?" She questioned.

"A secret that I have been hiding throughout the whole of the underworld. I trust you to the fullest, Grayfia. You've been by my side at all times and serving me for many centuries." He answered. "This is something not even my own son, or my grandson knows nor Zekram Bael knows."

She gasped a little.

Lucifer's grandson was quite well-known throughout underworld, his name was Rizevim Livan Lucifer. His personality was a strange one – always speaking in a light-hearted manner and joking around that carried no ill intents but he's known to be very vicious and brutal with enemies, no doubt that he's having fun destroying his opponents on the battlefield right now.

"When I casted the light out of myself when I was in Heaven with Father, I became the darkness thus, Father banished me into the depths of the underworld. I thought I would be the only one here but no, I was wrong. Very wrong. There were other species living here as well." Lucifer explained. "Most known to all in the underworld, there were demons and some were vicious and didn't have human forms. I was the odd one out, the only devil in the underworld."

Grayfia perked her head up as she was drawn into a short story that her master was telling her.

"Then, it came to when I met the current Emperor of the Underworld."

"Who would that be?" She questioned.

"E.N.D."

"E.N.D?" She echoed.

"Yes. His name... it's something that I wouldn't forget so easily..." Lucifer continued.

Her mind pondered in wonder about the letters of the emperor's name. It's an ominous name and each first letter of the name was put in such a way. For whoever cross paths with him in battle, they will not survive.

"We're here."

She gazed upon the largest set of double doors that was made out of bloodwood and it had a thin sheet of metal that had intricate designs etched into it, the closer she looked at the specific designs, it became clear that it was an ancient language that she could not recognise.

"Grayfia, before we enter... I want you to disclose this information about E.N.D until after the war. I want you to keep it a secret." Lucifer faced her and gave a hard gaze towards her.

"Yes, I will not reveal the identity of E.N.D to anyone." She sworn.

"Thank you, Grayfia. I know that I can definitely trust you with this. He is a precious friend to me." Lucifer replied in a light-hearted tone with a small smile.

"It eases my heart to hear you say that, Lord Lucifer." She replied in honesty, bowing at the same time.

"I also want to mention something else as well..." He trailed off. "It's a short story of how I met him, would you like to hear it?"

"Yes." Grayfia replied simply after lifting her head up.

"Very well."

Eons ago...

"Hmm... Who are you? I don't recognise you from anywhere." His voice sounded young but it had a demonic echo to it.

Lucifer looked up from the ground as several moments ago, he was thrown into the deepest depths of the underworld by his own Father. His face was dirtied with ashes from the ground and his garments were wrecked by the intense fires that surrounded the area.

"I'm... I'm Lucifer. Who're you?"

"Me? I am the Emperor E.N.D of the Underworld. Or you can just call me Natsu." A friendly toothy grin was plastered on his face and he offered a hand towards the fallen man to help him stand up back on his feet.

Lucifer accepted his hand.

"Thank you."

"No problem." He replied in a light-hearted manner.

"You are the Emperor of the Underworld? For how long? How did you end up here?" Lucifer babbled out question after question.

"Woah! Slow down! Let's answer these questions one by one..." Natsu stated. "Hmm... Let's see... Shall we walk towards my place and talk at the same time?"

"Alright."

"I've been here, in this place, for quite a long time. I don't know how many years has it has been. I do remember one a faded memory... I think I opened my eyes for several seconds towards a man in black, he looks familiar but that was long ago." He replied honestly. "I'm not alone though, I have twelve other demons with me so they keep me company after all these years. I am glad I have them."

"A Demon you say? You're a demon too?" Lucifer asked in confirmation.

"Yes. That's what I've been told or at least that's what my book says." Natsu replied casually.

"Your book?"

"Yeah, I could go into detail but it's too long." He stated, waving the subject off.

"I see. Don't worry, I will not try to ask any more uncomfortable questions." Lucifer replied.

"Hey, don't worry about it! It's fine. Hey, how about this? You join me in this adventure of the underworld? It's so much better with someone like you." He asked in an excited manner.

"Me? What about your other demons?"

"They won't mind you so it's fine." Natsu settled. "They can be a little bit weird sometimes. Especially Lamy."

"If you say so..."

Several millenniums have passed...

During that time, Natsu and Lucifer have been extremely good friends with each other since that day they met. Natsu had already built an Empire for himself and his other demons but he wanted to expand on it – with the help from Lucifer, he was able to do that. Now, the underworld was civilized with many different species that ranged from small to big. Natsu didn't mind the beasts that roam as long as they didn't cause any ruckus.

There were several other species that Natsu created with his own power and with his help from his demons, they followed the emperor's words and fulfilled them when it was spoken. They were all powerful in their own right, possessing abilities that no one else could rival as they were able to stand by the Almighty Emperor.

Since the underworld was huge, and there were several layers. Over time, the civilisation started to expand outwards and onto other layers as well, and his demons were appointed to look over in his place as being an Emperor of the Underworld, it was hard to handle for Natsu.

He still had a mind of a young man despite living for an unknown amount of time.

It came to the point that Lucifer wanted to do the same but creating more devils since he was still the only one after several millenniums. Natsu agreed to this and let his friend take over the first empty layer of the underworld. This was successful for Lucifer as it went the way he wanted and Natsu was happy for him.

The population of devils started to grow exponentially yet Natsu had specifically told Lucifer not to reveal his identity to them as he wanted to know how would Lucifer take on the position to rule over his own species and become a king in his own rights. In the centuries that passed over, the young devils looked up to Lucifer as a Lord and Saviour yet some were arrogant because of their nature, it couldn't be helped.

Some craved power.

Others craved lust.

A few craved who would be the better one.

Most of all – they were all given specific and different powers and they thought they were powerful enough to stand their ground. And so, this caused laziness for many devils.

Arrogancy is not pretty.

Four centuries later...

"Lucifer, I've realised that we've became good friends but we haven't had a spar yet!" He grinned like a battle maniac.

"Spar? A friendly spar?"

"Yeah, I like proving my strength against others to show that we are growing stronger each day and to improve our weaknesses." Natsu replied.

"If that's what you want, Natsu. I'll gladly take you on..."

Present Day...

"That is when I witnessed his power, it was overwhelming. I thought I matched him in strength but he was far more capable as he didn't show his final form or his final attack." Lucifer told.

"He must have a lot of admirers for his strength to protect his people." Grayfia said out loud.

"Yes."

"If I may interject, Lord Lucifer." She stated.

He nodded.

"Why is he in here?" She asked.

"I was going to tell you this next." He replied. "He decided to seal himself as he was tired of waking up every day even though he was the emperor but others respected his decision. His communities that he created still thrive and prosper without his ruling but it wasn't the same but it couldn't be helped."

"The emperor along with his fourteen other demons sealed themselves in book forms." Lucifer continued. "His demons followed him as they were his first people."

He opened the large double doors and stepped a foot inside the ancient room, it was clean but extremely dark with only everlasting fires lit on the old candles that lined up the crimson carpet pathway to the throne. There were broken cold stone pillars in the room, crumbled and coated in dust. As Lucifer and Grayfia walked on the carpet, their footsteps echoed throughout the room. Each echo became louder and more defined until they stopped at the bottom of the stairs that led to the thrones.

From afar, it looked like any other usual thrones but as they climbed the stairs, Grayfia could see the intricate designs on the back of the chairs, it was similar looking on the large double doors. As they stood on top of the stairs, one of the throne seats was empty whilst the other had something sitting on it. When they both look down on the other throne seat, there was a single book that was untouched for thousands of years.

On the book, it had a hardback cover that was made of leather and it was full of pages but more specifically on the cover.

There were the letters that Grayfia had echoed earlier.

E.N.D

Painted in black ink.

For her, it was just a book but, on the inside, she felt overwhelmed with the amount of power that she felt.

It was directed at her.

The demonic power that radiated from the book alone was enough the drop her guard and then her vision saw a large crimson ghostly figure of a dragon.

Her pupils dilated.

She almost couldn't breathe.

When Lucifer called her name, she was bought back to her senses.

"Grayfia, when the war is over... I want you to summon the emperor with your blood." He requested in a whisper.

"Lord Lucifer, why not now?" She asked, regaining her composure.

"I don't want him to know that there's a war going on, I don't want my first friend I've made to be dragged into the mess that I've created for myself and the angels and fallen ones." He replied in honesty. "This will be my problem to solve, Grayfia."

"But–"

"Grayfia, I know you have doubt but I know that I probably won't survive this war since I have chosen myself and the other three devils to go against Father." He stated in a serious tone.

She was about to speak but she was interrupted when Lucifer turned around and hugged her tightly. She was shocked at the sudden intimacy that Lucifer shared with her, he had rarely shown this side of himself.

He would never show a weakness towards an entire population of devils.

Only to the ones he trusted the most.

"Just promise me, please?" He whispered in her ear.

With instincts, she returned the gesture.

"Yes, Lord Lucifer. I promise."

°l||l° Awaken His Majesty °l||l°

There was a total of seventy-two families that resided on the first layer of the underworld. Now, there were only thirty-three families left but there were others that became the only survivor of their family, seeking refuge for themselves, hoping that one of the thirty-three families would accept them. Aside from the devil families, Lucifer and three other Great Devils had fallen in battle against Father. Lucifer had predicted the outcome before he stepped foot in the warzone, it didn't matter if he had come up with another solution because it would become the same ending all together.

In the end, Lucifer died with knowing the fact that his problems couldn't be solved by himself but at least he didn't drag his friend, Natsu with him otherwise he wouldn't forgive himself.

In the Grigori, there were half of their flock left. Azazel had no interest in the war in the first place and resigned first from the battle while one of the sub-leaders wanted more bloodshed, he stopped them from stepping on to the battlefield.

In the Heavens, there were the purest angels that lived and yet many had fallen in death as the battled against their own fallen brothermen and devils. Heaven has suffered a lot since most of their ranks have decreased and their Father, who created them, fallen in battle as well. They couldn't help but sway in misery.

Their Father, he was the embodiment of creation, the one who created life and teachings for his own children to follow.

The oldest angels, Michael, Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael were the Seraphim, also known as the Burning Angels, the Guardians of the Throne of Heaven, their Father's Throne. It was up to one of them to take over the system of Heaven, trying to get their faction to stand up on their feet once more.

Gabriel was the one who got hurt the most in an emotional state as they all saw their Father fighting against his first son, Lucifer along with three other Great Devils. He was already exhausted after sealing the Beast and he continued to fight on but he knew that it was time for him to fall as the exhaustion got to him and radiating his own power to cease the incoming attacks.

It was futile.

In the end, the three-way battle ended with no winner or any peace. It was a cease fire between the three factions since all sides have a lot of casualties and lost many of their people. There wasn't any point in fighting anymore.

Thus, it was an end of an era for them to fight.

Several decades later...

As the old and young devils settle down on the first layer of the underworld, there was some conflict between themselves since there was no leader anymore. But it was time for the descendants of the original devils to take the position and lead their race to thrive and prosper yet some shook their heads and wanted a different way.

It didn't matter to the descendants, all they needed was a large amount of their people to follow them and the underworld would change into their way of how economy would run and how communities would live.

It was time for a change.

Rizevim Livan Lucifer was the grandson of the original Lucifer and by his side, there were other three devils that were also descendants. Shalba Beelzebub, an extremely arrogant, cruel, ruthless and manipulative individual. Next to him, there was Katerea Leviathan, she was known her hatred towards those who oppose herself and others who wanted change and her pride in carrying the Leviathan blood in her veins boosted her confidence. Lastly, there was Creuserey Asmodeus, an individual who has the same thoughts of Katerea and he along with them wanted to take the title and positions to be the leaders of the devils but many of the families opposed them.

They were currently sitting in the office of the House of Lucifer; they were discussing the same plans that they have come up with for the past few days and they tried to develop the plan more and more until it came perfect into everyone's minds.

Grayfia managed to slip away from Rizevim Livan Lucifer while she did not hate him but it was just the fact that he could do a better job as a descendant of Lucifer. She didn't oppose him or anything, she wanted to make the best out of Rizevim as he did have a great potential to take the position to lead the devils into a thriving community.

Right now, she was on her way to the underground of the Underworld, the fifth layer of the underworld, it was where the emperor's empire was located but half of it was mostly in debris as it was wearying away over the years.

She had remembered what Lucifer had said to her before the war. His words were clear enough that it kept repeating in her mind, she had promised him to wake the emperor of the Underworld up from his long slumber.

As she continued to walk to her destination, she was frightened about waking up the emperor. She had never seen his identity; she only saw the book form of the emperor which was peculiar but the feeling of his demonic power radiating was too much for her to handle.

She was very strong for a devil from a family that was created to serve Lucifer but she could feel something ominous about what was about to happen.

Grayfia opened the double doors of Throne room and continued her way inside, reliving the memories that the time she walked here with Lucifer. It was a somewhat pleasant memory yet frightening at the same time.

Making her way throne by climbing the stairs, she saw the untouched book of E.N.D.

Breathing in and out calming, she relaxed herself and she reached for the hardback book, her fingertips touched the edges of the cover, it was warm.

She wondered why it was warm.

It's strange.

She opened the first page of the book slowly and pulled her hand back quickly, looking around herself that no one else was there.

Grayfia let out a breath.

She formed a small knife out of ice and hovered her left hand over the open book, wielding the knife in her right hand, she cut her palm – trying not the wince at the sudden pain that she caused herself. Her blood dribbled from her hand, down to her fingertips and dripped onto the page.

Each drip disappeared after the other, the page was absorbing her blood and the book started to radiate more power than before, Grayfia tried to stand her ground.

She couldn't fall.

She can't afford to.

She was summoning the emperor.

It was an important matter to keep her consciousness awake.

After a short while, the book fluttered its pages rapidly and it suddenly slammed closed. Then, a bright fire exploded in the surrounding area, pushing Grayfia back to one of the broken pillars, causing her to cough up a little blood but she managed to keep her eyes open. All she could see was blazing fire on the throne and the floor began to shook with a devastating shock wave.

On the other levels, it could be felt and some of the buildings began to crumble as the support wasn't enough, luckily some of the other species didn't get hurt in any way but they could feel the power that was coming from the fifth floor. They knew very well who it was and it was about time for him, the Emperor of the Underworld to wake up in a new era.

It had been so long since they last heard of his presence.

On the first layer of the underworld, it shook rapidly for several minutes until it came to a stop. Many devils were confused on what happened but there were some that could feel the colossal power from beneath them, they couldn't identify what it was or who was causing it.

Back in the fifth layer, Grayfia saw the blazing fire to take a form of shape, it started to die down and it revealed a figure of a man with large wings that resembled a dragon. When the blazing fire ceased, a young-looking man was revealed and he started to walk down the stairs of the throne room. He stared directly at Grayfia and he slowly started to walk up to her.

She couldn't do anything except wait for the man in front of her to speak.

Grayfia saw the figure approaching her, his leathery crimson scarred wings sprouted outwards, it showed that there was no escape from him, his bare chest that showed defined muscle yet it was lean, battle robe bottoms were extremely worn out and he was barefooted. When he stopped in front of her, she looked up at him, trying to get a clear picture of his face.

He had spiky pink coloured hair along with a crown of antlers that was on the sides of his head, twisting in all directions. He had a scaly scarf that covered his neck and there was another feature of she had noticed, he had marks that were a dark crimson colour and it was all over his body. It resembled the blazing fires that happened several moments ago.

He titled his head a little and Grayfia saw the letters on his torso, before it was covered by his scarf.

E.N.D

The very same letters that she saw on the book that she touched.

Grayfia stared at the young man who was standing in front of her, she was waiting for him to speak and she couldn't help but quiver in the position that she was stuck in. His power was raw and overwhelming her senses. She felt like she was almost about to lose her consciousness and faint right in front of E.N.D.

He kneeled down to her height and placed his right hand on the broken pillar, almost trapping her. If she were to escape, she couldn't as his wings would wrap around her instantaneously.

"Who're you? You're not Lucifer." He finally spoke, his voice raspy after being sealed for so long and yet it had a demonic echo to it.

It was almost as if she was hearing two voices at once.

She shook her head.

"No, I am not Lord Lucifer. I am Grayfia Lucifuge, I serve the House of Lucifer, Emperor E.N.D." She replied without stumbling over her words.

"Oh." He simply replied. "So, you know who I am, huh?"

She nodded meekly.

He reached closer towards her, propping himself right in front of her face, their noses were almost touching each other, just inches apart. Grayfia felt a little uncomfortable as she could feel his hot breath on her skin.

After a few moments of silent between them, she could smell his scent.

A Demon's scent.

It was strong.

It was an uncontrollable amount that he was emitting, though, she knew that he wasn't doing it on purpose as his facial expression was straight.

She let out a slight moan.

It was loud enough that Natsu could hear it ringing in his ears.

Then, Grayfia started to breath in a rapid pace, her breathing was raspy. She couldn't help but got intoxicated by the demon's scent. It was almost as if she had taken a wine glass of alcohol and drank all of it in one go and got quite a bit woozy from it.

His scent...

She couldn't get over it.

"Aren't you a beautiful one?" He asked rhetorically.

When he spoke to her, she felt like she was hearing six different voices at once. Leaning her head backwards on to the broken pillar, she exposed her neck on accident. As she didn't know this, E.N.D's eyes were no longer looking into her piercing red eyes and instead, his onyx eyes were gazing at her silky smooth skin that was exposed in front of him.

Natsu wanted to grab hold of her but he managed to take control of himself and paid attention towards her face, trying to make eye contact with the devil once more.

"Emperor..." She muttered out.

"Do you have anything to say, Grayfia Lucifuge?" Natsu asked, almost impatiently.

"Do you mean it...? D-Do you think I'm that beautiful?" She stuttered.

"I'm not a liar. I've seen many devils that have been created by Lucifer and many, if not all, they do not match the looks that you have." He replied honestly in a husky voice.

Her cheeks flustered upon hearing his comment.

"I..." She started.

"Speechless?" He asked.

Grayfia nodded.

Silence built up between them for several moments before it was broken.

"So, tell me, Grayfia Lucifuge... How do you know who I am?" He asked slowly.

"I... Lord Lucifer told me." She managed to speak out. "He told me briefly about his history with you and he only shared the secret with me and no one else."

He hummed in reply.

"Anything else?"

She shook her head rapidly.

"Don't be afraid of me, Grayfia Lucifuge. I can smell your fear and I will not harm you." He whispered quietly.

"Y-You won't?" She stammered.

"Tell me... Do you know about Devil's Nourishment?" Natsu asked.

Her facial expression was in shock.

Every single devil knew about it, some would take advantage of the situation but others would cherish it like a rare diamond. There was no other male devil who came into her personal space to take that away from her. Even though she was close Lucifer in a master and servant relationship, he respected her decision about the Devil's Nourishment, it's important to every female devil as it is considered a prized possession. If one were to take it away, they would be marked as their mate for their eternal life.

Grayfia didn't want to lose it.

"Y-Yes." She finally answered the emperor.

"What if you lost it here and now?" He asked. "What will you do?"

Her eyes widened in shock once more.

"I... I don't know. I don't want to lose it. It's precious to me." She babbled out quickly.

Natsu chuckled.

"I'm not that evil. I won't take it away. Not now at least." He whispered eerily.

"But–"

"I know what you're going to say. Didn't you hear me earlier? Or do you not trust me yet?" He interrupted.

"I'm sorry." She apologised. "I've only met you for only several minutes, I'm not sure if I can place my trust in you. Even if you're an emperor."

He laughed out loud.

"Even though you're trapped in my grasp, you still act quite boldly." He commented. "No other being would dare to question or answer back to me."

"You're a special one." He continued to comment.

Grayfia looked away.

"Hey, now. I didn't say you can look away from me." He stated. "I still want to look into your glistening red eyes."

She flustered even more.

Without warning, he then enveloped her body into his arms, making her press her body against his own and then, he purposely placed his head in the crook of her neck.

"E-Emperor E.N.D!" She squeaked out.

He covered her mouth with his left hand and he breathed in deeply, smelling her prized nourishment. He wanted to take it away so badly as taking all the nourishment from her body. From a demon's perspective, a Devil's Nourishment is always alluring to the opposite gender.

He then nibbled her neck, teasing her in any way possible without making her uncomfortable.

Grayfia moaned loudly in a satisfying manner.

"Aaah...! Hnnngh!"

As the moments pass by slowly, Natsu stopped nibbling her neck and then licked her smooth skin, trailing his saliva against the softness.

She could feel his defined tongue against her skin, she couldn't help but shiver in delight. Never had she received this much pleasure in her life. The fact that she only met E.N.D for only a short amount of time, she was already falling for him despite that she has only little trust in him, he continued to pleasure her in the slightest manner.

Then, he trailed his tongue upwards and he nibbled on her earlobe. Slightly biting on her soft skin, he heard her moan loudly even though he had his hand covering her mouth.

He grinned victoriously.

Afterwards, he stopped licking her earlobe and he stared at her luscious lips. Instead of asking for permission, Natsu took her lips with his own.

Grayfia's expression changed to shock and her cheeks reddened immediately.

It took her several minutes to process what was happening. Her body wanted to move away from the emperor but her mind was clouded by the Demon's Scent, she couldn't fight back the overwhelming scent and gave in.

She kissed him back but in a more aggressive manner. She didn't think that she was able to do this but alas, it was both her mind and the scent controlling her body to keep kissing the emperor.

Grayfia's hands touched the emperor but Natsu didn't allow it. Instead, he immediately pinned her arms above her head and deepened the kiss between them. His tongue slipped into her mouth and tackled her tongue, showing his dominance in the moment between them.

She moaned vehemently into the intimate moment.

Grayfia could only fight back with what she had.

At first, she wanted to get away from him because he took away her first kiss and his scent was playing with her mind. But at the same time, the more he kissed her, she wanted to do the same. She wanted to touch him with her hands but he didn't let her.

She was confused with her emotions.

After the heated minutes passed by, Natsu ended the kiss and licked his lips slowly, tasting the residue of her taste that was left on his lips.

"You have very kissable lips, Grayfia Lucifuge." He commented, smirking slightly.

"Wha... E-Emp... E-Emper... or... Emperor..." She struggled to speak normally.

He smirked as he watched her struggle in his grasp.

"Didn't you like it?" He asked seriously. "Or did you hate it?"

Grayfia shook her head.

"I'm... I don't know." She replied, stuttering. "I love the feeling but at the same time, I hated it."

He stopped smiling.

"At least you're honest with me, Devil Spawn." Natsu stated.

"No! I didn't mean it like that!" She yelled as she struggled to move.

"Then, what did you mean? What did you want to tell me?" He asked.

"I'm inexperienced. That was my first kiss. I'm not sure how to react or what to feel." She explained timidly.

"Huh, for someone like you... I thought someone had taken it already. You're so pure for a devil, Grayfia Lucifuge." He remarked.

She didn't reply.

"How about I show you? I'll show you the ways of pleasure, the ways of making intimate contact. Will that satisfy you?" He asked.

"I... I need more time..." She whispered quietly.

"I see. Very well then, take all the time you need." He replied, letting go of her hands from his grip. "Though, I will not wait for long. Remember that, Grayfia Lucifuge."

She nodded meekly.

"Since you're the most trust servant of Lucifer, I shall tell you something that I haven't told anyone else except several others, I trust you can keep it a secret?" He asked.

She nodded rapidly, almost too eagerly.

He whispered some words in her ear.

"You're a–"

He immediately silenced her by covering her mouth with his right-hand.

"Even though no one is around, I can't have you blurting my secrets out, can we?" He asked.

He sighed.

"Do you promise me not to tell a living soul?" He asked seriously.

She nodded her head.

"Good..." He removed his hand from her mouth.

"If you do break it... I'll be punishing you severely. I hope that you'll never break the promise." He stated harshly.

"Yes, I understand..." She replied meekly.

Silence built between them again, she averted her gaze from him as he was intimidating her with his raw power that was radiating from him.

Then, she heard his footsteps shifted on the concrete ground.

"So, where's Lucifer? I thought I told him to summon me when something interesting happened." He continued to question, as if the moments before never happened.

She returned her gaze towards him as she heard him talk.

"I didn't think that someone else like you would be able to summon me... it seems that you are strong in your own right, Grayfia Lucifuge." Natsu commented.

E.N.D noticed that she looked away from him, avoiding eye contact again.

"Speak your mind." He ordered, as he stepped forward, intimidating her further.

"I... I-I have... s-some unfortunate... news about Lord Lucifer," she replied slowly, struggling to speak under his pressure of power that he was releasing. "He... h-he's not with us a-anymore. He... he perished alongside w-with three other G-Great Devils in the three-way battle against his F-Father."

Natsu formed an angered expression.

She didn't like the look of it.

"What! Hold up a minute! What do you mean? He's dead? My friend Lucifer, is dead? What battle?! Tell me!" He roared and he roughly grabbed her shirt, hoisting her body upwards.

The room rumbled with his demonic signatures.

Grayfia struggled to breathe once more, his grip was tightening on her shirt, causing it to strangle around her neck tighter than usual. Slowly rising her hand up to grab hold of the demon's hand, trying to make him let go of her.

Rather getting loose from the grip, he tightened it even more.

"P-Please, calm down, E-Emperor E.N.D. He told... me about you b-before Lord Lucifer and I stepped foot in the battlefield be-between the angels and the fallen ones." She stuttered out as her voice was strained, she was frightened of his power exploding in the room again. "H-He told me to summon... y-you after the war b-because he didn't... nng... want to drag you into the mess t-that he has created for himself."

He abruptly let go of her shirt, making her body forcefully drop on the floor. Grayfia choked as she tried to catch her breath again.

"Why..." He mumbled out.

Natsu looked down on the concrete floor.

"Why didn't he summon me before?!"

She could feel the levels of his power rising at an abnormal rate, the pressure around him was dangerous. Grayfia couldn't lift up her hand to stop him, even if she did try to – he would ignore her like an ant.

Short moments afterwards, he let out a burst of power, making the building rumble and shocking the room with fire.

Luckily, Grayfia didn't get hit.

E.N.D gritted his teeth.

He walked away from the devil and faced the entrance of the throne room.

"Tell me what happened in the last few centuries, Grayfia Lucifuge." He demanded in a harsh tone. "Don't miss out any details."

She swallowed hard before speaking, she was had recovered more than forty percent of her energy, her body managed to replenish it quickly. She sat up from her position and answered the emperor.

"On the first layer of the underworld, the devil society that Lord Lucifer has created is still thriving but before the war started, there were seventy-two devil clans and several extra demon clans." Grayfia started to explain. "But when the war has ended; the fallen, the angels and the devils ceased fire with no winner nor peace was obtained. Thus, every faction has suffered a lot of casualties."

"Now, there is only thirty-three devil clans left, most have been extinct during the war and there are some singular devils that come from one of the extinct clans, they have sought refuge with the other devils." She continued.

"What happened in the war?" Natsu asked out of curiosity.

"When the war was declared, our front lines started to head out on the battlefield and–"

"No, no. I mean the interesting parts." He defined, getting a little irritated.

"Right. In the middle of the war, the Heavenly Dragons; Albion and Ddraig, they started to fight against each other and they didn't care about the war that was happening. So, our faction, the devils concluded a temporary alliance with the fallen and the angels to take down the dragons that were interrupting the conflict between us." She explained.

"Albion and Ddraig? I haven't heard from them since my father had mentioned them to me when they were hatchlings." He commented. "It's been so long..."

Grayfia kept quiet for a little while.

"What happened to them? You didn't kill them, did you?" He turned around and asked with a slight glare.

"Well, Lucifer's father, the Biblical God had sealed their souls in Sacred Gears." She replied quickly.

"What?!"

Grayfia had been startled with the emperor's tone.

"E-Emperor E.N.D, p-please calm down!" She begged.

He let out a heavy breath, urging her to continue.

"Sacred Gears are powerful artefacts that are created in Heaven and then, they are bestowed on humans at random." Grayfia explained quickly.

"So... They are alive?" He whispered.

"Their souls are still living but their bodies have been burned to ashes." She replied.

Natsu scratched his chin in thought as the last comment that she made; it couldn't be true could it? He asked himself over and over.

There was silence between them as he continued to think about the Heavenly Dragons while Grayfia was in confusion since the emperor was suddenly in thought. She didn't know what she said that was wrong.

She was about to speak but Natsu beat her to it.

"You say that their bodies have been burned to ashes? How is that possible? Draconic scales cannot be simply burned to ashes, there must be something behind this..." He babbled out questions for her to answer.

"I... I... don't know. I heard them from rumours from other devils." Grayfia replied quickly, avoiding eye contact at the same time.

Natsu reached out and touched her chin, lifting her head slightly to force her to make contact once more, she couldn't help but stare into his onyx eyes that were glaring at her.

"Tell me... truthfully... where were their bodies last seen?" He demanded in a low voice; his demonic echo was ringing in her ears.

Grayfia felt like her ears were being disorientated by his voice.

She couldn't focus.

"I..."

"Speak, Devil Spawn." He demanded, getting impatient.

"T-They were last seen in the north-western hemisphere before their souls were siphoned from their bodies," she panicked.

He stood silent for several moments.

"You're telling the truth?" He asked quietly.

"Y-Yes." She mumbled out.

"Very well... I trust your judgement... Grayfia Lucifuge." He stated in honesty.

It made her heart flutter when the emperor trusted her, even if it was just a tiny fraction of trust.

"Anything else happened?"

Grayfia shook her head.

"You mentioned that you serve the House of Lucifer, correct?" He questioned casually.

"Y-Yes."

"Tell whoever you are serving and tell them that someone is expecting them." He ordered. "You'll be guiding me to the devil you serve, I shall make a judgement to see what you devils have become..."

"A-At once, Emperor E.N.D."

'Tsk, Devils... they've fallen too far down. If only Lucifer was here, they wouldn't be such weaklings.' He thought. 'My demons... soon, I will be coming for you. We shall make the underworld thrive and prosper with my ruling as the emperor once more.'

Then, Grayfia prepared a magic circle for them and Natsu stepped in. They instantly teleported out of the throne room.

°l||l° Awaken His Majesty °l||l°