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

•ï¡÷¡ï• Tend the Demon •ï¡÷¡ï•

°l||l° Light and Fire °l||l°

'Etherious Natsu Dragneel?' Grayfia asked herself in thought. 'Now, it makes sense with his initials of E.N.D...'

"Hello, Baldur. It's been many winters since we last saw each other." Natsu greeted calmly.

"Well, last time was a more or less friendly greeting but now... now you've crossed the line, you've gone too far." Baldur stated.

"I know." He retorted. "But... you should know that your Bastard of a father and your brother provoked me, I only retaliated in return. It couldn't be avoided."

"Well, I know what they're like. You can insult the Allfather all you want but I just want to let you know, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Baldur explained. "You either turn yourself in and listen to Odin or are you going to fight against me?"

"You already know the answer to that, Baldur." Natsu stated plainly.

"Well, let's see if you still want a fight when your lady is threatened in front of you!" Baldur exclaimed as he disappeared in front of Natsu and reappeared instantly with Grayfia in his grasp.

She was struggling to escape as his arms were wrapped around her tightly, he was strangling her. It was too much for her and she was starting to feel the lack of oxygen in her lungs.

E.N.D glared at him intensely.

"…N-Na…tsu!" She called out in a struggle.

"Quiet, lady. You don't need to talk in all of this." He spoke and covered her mouth with his hand.

Her words much muffled and she was unable to communicate with Natsu.

"What are you going to do now, huh?" Baldur asked rhetorically.

The emperor oozed out an ominous aura causing the ground to quake violently.

"Let. Her. Go." Natsu spitted out with venom.

"Heh, this is going to be a good fight..." Baldur murmured. "I will remind you again from last time, I know that you know that I cannot feel anything..."

Grayfia's eyes went into shock.

'How is Natsu supposed to defeat him?!' She thought in a panic.

"I said, let her go, Baldur." E.N.D repeated.

Son of Odin held up his right hand, curling it into a fist and then, it was enveloped into a bright light and Grayfia panicked even more. She didn't want to get hit by the light, especially when it's been created by a god. It would severely hurt her on the outside and the inside.

Natsu stepped forward.

"Ah, don't step any closer or your lady will get hurt... severely." Baldur stated.

He growled.

"Threats are beautiful, aren't they?" Baldur spoke rhetorically.

"Baldur... don't do this..." Natsu stated. "You do not want this fight."

"Oh... I'm pretty sure I do." He replied and grinned.

Then, his markings that were all over his body started to glow brightly and he was enveloped in bright light causing Grayfia to feel the pain as she screamed vehemently in pain.

"Stop this Baldur! Let her go!" Natsu yelled as he rushed forward but the brightness emitted from the God of Light blinded the emperor for a short few seconds before he was able to recover his vision.

When he did, he saw Grayfia on the floor, bruised all over and she bled heavily from the small cuts from the devastating light attack.

After several seconds, he kicked her brutally causing her to fly a distance away but Natsu managed to catch her in his arms.

"Oops! My bad." Baldur spoke sarcastically.

E.N.D growled furiously.

"N... N-Natsu..." She muttered as she stared into his eyes of anger.

Natsu emitted strong waves of his aura as he had seen what Baldur had done to his partner. He held her bloodied hand close to his face and kissed her cuts and bruises. Slowly, the small wounds healed.

Despite them being healed, he could tell that her energy was running low and she was almost losing consciousness. He would need to end the fight quickly since he was going to engage the God of Light.

He wanted to fight Baldur for what he did but at the same time, he didn't want to because of the issue of fighting Gods would cause chaos between the two and destruction everywhere... if they were to go all out.

Natsu didn't like the idea of that.

When he had brawled with the Great Red in his true form, that was the time when he fought like a beast.

That happened many thousands of years ago.

"Grayfia... I'm sorry..." He apologised.

"I-It's fine... I'll be okay..." She whispered.

Natsu kissed her forehead gently and laid her down on the ground.

"Please, be careful..." She spoke.

"I'll be fine, I'll end this as fast as I can." Natsu stated. "You need to rest for now, don't move a muscle, your organs are severely injured."

Grayfia nodded curtly as he carefully put her on the ground, next to a tree for her to rest against. When she was comfortable, he turned towards his opponent and charged at an unimaginable speed, she tried to stay awake, but her mind slipped into unconsciousness.

He punched his opponent in the gut, causing him to fly in the air. Natsu flew up and grabbed his neck with his left hand, he punched him with great force with his right fist. After the first blow, he kept delivering one pound after the other, but Baldur managed to kick him, and it caused him to let go of his neck.

He fell towards the ground while Natsu landed gracefully with the help of his wings.

E.N.D ran up to his opponent and he kicked the dirt, causing the ground to quake and lava began to erupt from below. Baldur immediately got up and jumped away to avoid the molten rock, he landed behind Natsu.

He immediately turned around.

"Still using old tricks from the last time, how boring..." Baldur spoke disappointedly. "Here, I thought you were supposed to be entertaining."

The emperor ignored his comment and charged towards him, he lit his fists on fire and launched a flurry of punches at him. Baldur managed to dodge most of them, but he received the violent fiery punches to the face.

Scorch marks could be seen on his skin.

"Come on! You can do better than that!" He stated as his adrenaline started pumping through his body.

He caught Natsu's fist and absorbed the fire and took it as his own power, E.N.D immediately noticed this and jumped away on instinct.

"Oho! Come at me, Demon Emperor!" Baldur yelled.

His tattoo marks glowed brightly, and he copied Natsu's previous attack, his fists were lit with fire, but it wasn't ordinary fire, a combination of white light and fire created pale flames.

"Seems I have new tricks up my sleeve." He commented.

"Fire doesn't work on me, Baldur." Natsu told.

"And I cannot feel anything." He reminded.

He smashed both of his fists to the ground causing the ground to quake beneath them then, a huge wave of white flames was rushing towards Natsu. He didn't move from his spot as he ate his opponent's attack which replenished himself and he clasped his hands together to create a brilliant ball of fire.

He casted it towards his opponent and it exploded upon impact, the area was obliterated in a matter of seconds.

Baldur walked out of the explosion with burnt marks on his skin.

Natsu disappeared from where he was standing and he instantly reappeared in front of his opponent and head-butted him hard, his crown of antlers scrapped his skin off and dug deep into his flesh. He round-house kicked him which caused Baldur to smash through several trees, his impact on the trees caused the whole trunk to be annihilate into splinters.

E.N.D ran to him and jumped into the air and tried to crush him beneath, but he had quickly moved out of the way. His opponent immediately got up and started to throw punches but Natsu deflected them easily with a flick of his wrist.

Baldur delivered a blow to Natsu's face and it caused him to stagger a little, he took the opening and threw the emperor into the large boulder with inhumane strength.

Thus, the boulder broke into smaller rocks.

Natsu shook his head rapidly to recover and dusted himself off then, he faced his opponent once more.

"You know that I know that you cannot be harmed." Natsu spoke. "But... do you know that I can't die?"

"Well, isn't that interesting to know." Baldur retorted. "Since both of us cannot die, let's see who has the most stamina…" Baldur stated. "Let's put this to the test, shall we?"

"I'll play your petty little game, Baldur. Let the last man standing win." Natsu answered seriously.

Both charged at each other to continue the fight with light and fire, Natsu elbows his opponent's head from the side that caused him to stagger a little and he took the opportunity to push him on the floor then, he straddled him to punch him in the face from left to right.

Two meters away from them, Grayfia was still leaning against the tree trunk and she stirred awake, blinking her eyes rapidly to clear her vision, she saw her partner and Baldur fighting each other. Though, it was more of a one-sided battle as of right now.

She wanted the battle to end as soon as possible even though it had only just begun, her wounds were taking a toll on her, especially her organs. After receiving an attack from the God of Light, she felt extremely weakened from one single blow that the opponent didn't even put any effort into.

She was no match for a god.

Grayfia hoped that Natsu would be fine during the fight even though he had told her about his strength levels that is on par with the Great Red and the fact that Baldur couldn't feel anything, she didn't know what to do.

There was nothing for her to do.

She was useless in this situation.

Baldur pushed Natsu from him and threw him towards one of the trees, making the trunk fall over from the impact, Grayfia tried to pay attention to the fight but she couldn't turn her head as much as she could.

Everywhere in her body, she felt pain.

She couldn't stop wincing.

"Care to try again?" She heard him ask.

She saw him with a bloodthirsty grin on his face and his wounds automatically healed at an abnormally fast rate.

Her eyes widened from what she was witnessing.

"Gladly." She heard her partner reply.

Grayfia saw Natsu stretched his muscles and took a combat stance, the two of them clashed against each other once more, she tried to watch intently. Her vision was blurring. She moved her right arm slightly and she winced as she could feel the pain throughout her arm.

After a while of trying to move her limbs, she sighed deeply and decided to give in for now. Her eyes darted towards the left and saw Natsu dominating the fight, her heart was filled with hope.

When he threw Baldur into a large boulder that had designs of ancient runes, Natsu ripped a tree from its roots and charged swiftly with it towards his opponent. The force between the trunk and the large rock was too high and it caused both natural materials to rip each other apart whilst Baldur was between it all.

In addition, a large brilliant fire ball formed between E.N.D's hands and he threw it towards his challenger. As it exploded, the debris of rocks, wood and dirt littered the air; he had to cover his eyes to protect his vision as he tried to see where Baldur was located.

"I hate this curse that has been put on me from my fucking mother! Unable to feel pain or pleasure from battles. If I didn't have this curse on me, I would have enjoyed this fight and it would have filled my heart's desire!" Baldur exclaimed loudly as he came through the smoke.

It was loud enough that Grayfia jumped from her seat and she slowly turned her head towards the direction of the voice.

Her partner was confronted by the God of Light.

"Your mother... she did what was best for you." Natsu replied.

She listened intently to the conversation between them.

"You...! Why would you say such a thing? Are you supporting her? ARE YOU?!" He yelled angrily.

"I'm on no one's side." Natsu retorted.

"When I heard about you from my brother since the first time you met him, I was eager to meet you and when I had the chance, I couldn't even brawl with you." He stated. "Now that I have the chance to face you for the first time... I'd hoped that you of everyone I'd faced, would finally make me feel something. But, you can't."

"If you hate the curse then, why not go to your mother so that she would lift the curse from you?" E.N.D asked.

"When it was first placed upon me, she told me about it. I already asked. I begged. Nothing will change her mind. I abandoned my mother for this. I haven't seen her for the last millennium, nor will I ever see her again." Baldur answered angrily.

"Do you wish to hear of what I have to say?" Natsu questioned.

"Go on, then. I'll listen to your petty statements, Demon Emperor." He spat out.

"Bastard Odin's blood runs through you and your brothers and having different mothers, it creates such a unique family but a family that only has thirst for power. However, you are your own person." Natsu stated calmly.

"I'm not my brother. He was the strongest of us all, he was the blood thirstiest of all. When you crippled him, it just made me feel so much better." He retorted. "What are you trying to get at? Stop speaking in riddles like Mimir."

"You were raised by your mother, a boy who was innocent but when she placed the spell upon you, she wanted to protect her son from any danger, yet you turned on her, the blood of Bastard Odin's made you turn on your own mother." Natsu continued. "Don't you regret any of that?"

"I don't. I don't regret anything. My mother had made her choice and I've made mine." Baldur spoke bitterly.

"Yes, you've made your choice but that doesn't mean you have cemented it to the Earth. You can change your choice and build your path and return back to your mother, don't you wish to see her again despite what she had done?" E.N.D asked.

"No. You will not change my mind, Demon Emperor." He answered.

"All gods including you are extremely stubborn, you know?" Natsu stated.

"It could be said the same to you, Dragneel." Baldur retorted mutually.

"You know nothing of me, God of Light." Natsu spoke dangerously.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I do. We're the same. Or at least I think so... Haven't you told anyone?" He questioned rhetorically and laughed manically.

Instead of answering, Natsu punched him in the gut, the force of his attack pushed Baldur away several hundred meters into the forest of trees and then, he started walking towards his opponent slowly.

"You will not talk about what I am nor will you ever." E.N.D started to speak. "While I respect you as a God of Light, my part will not be revealed otherwise it will cause chaos between all."

Once he was halfway, Baldur was recovering from the devastating attack.

"You say that I am you and you are me. In some ways that is correct but there are also, many differences that differentiate us from each other. One of those major differences is that I have the Blood of the Serpent while you have the Bastard's Blood in your veins." He continued.

"Oh? And you think that makes the difference?" Baldur asked intriguingly.

"Yes, do you not believe so?" He questioned.

"My family may be fucked up but that doesn't as much to me anymore, the outsiders can think what they want, and I can do the same. My father may be a Bastard to you but to me? He's much lower than that." Baldur admitted.

"Well, let's see what you have to say." Natsu replied.

"Despite my insanity known to all, I still do have some sane in me to keep myself to be able to think properly about what is around me. Then, it came to when I learned about what Odin had done in order to conquer all of the realms… what he had done to my mother…" He answered. "While I despise what she had done to me but despite that, she had to submit herself to my father in order to stop all the blood and war."

"You know, I don't even know what I'm talking about now, I'm just babbling out shit." Baldur stated.

"Despite you being yourself. You are better than your brother, Thor." Natsu spoke his thoughts out.

"Oh?" He sounded.

"I will say no more. For someone like you, I think you can figure out what I'm saying." Natsu retorted with a sly yet mysterious grin.

"Tsk."

Baldur headed straight towards his opponent and began his onslaught of punches, fists glowed in light. Natsu swiftly avoided them from side to side and delivered his own attacks but it was blazing fire that was burnt on to the God of Light's skin.

It was hotter than before.

Baldur felt the intensity.

Parts of his body sizzled as the flames came into contact, but it didn't slow him down from attacking E.N.D, ignoring his minor wounds, he continued his flurry of fists. Then, Natsu decided he had enough and grabbed his forearms, swinging him to the side like a trash bag. His body battered trees into splinters and broke through the surface of the mountain side, sediments of rock were revealed, the landslide begun as Natsu emitted an undeniable amount of pressure from his being.

Baldur quickly moved out of the way and jumped towards the demon, attempting to crush him with his knee but he was a second too slow as he felt his entire body being flipped over and over, his head was buried into the ground.

He still felt Natsu's foot on his head.

Unable to get out of his current situation, he enveloped his body in light which caused his opponent to jump away from a distance.

He quickly got up from the dirt and faced Natsu once more.

"While I am having the greatest time of my life, I think it's time to bring you back to the Allfather. He demands it." Baldur spoke.

"You have no way of taking me to him." Natsu replied.

"Oh... but I do." He retorted with a smirk.

Rapidly rushing towards him, he jumped and performed a back flip over his opponent's body and swiftly landed behind him. Baldur had a firm grip on his draconic wings and used force to rip the leathery wings from his back.

Natsu let out a blood-curdling roared.

Pain.

Never in a millennium had he felt so much pain before.

An abysmal amount of crimson liquid splurged out from his back, dripping on the dirt, the smell of his own blood reached his nose.

He had never lost this amount of blood before.

He had never had his wings ripped from him before.

Pain was all he could feel yet he felt strange at the same time.

He tried to pay no mind to it despite the amount of sheer discomforting throbbing from his backside.

From afar, Grayfia jolted from her seat immediately. She heard her partner roaring in such agony that she hadn't heard before. She shivered violently as she imagined the twinging torment that was going through.

Her mind wanted to be there with him, but her body didn't listen, the God of Light severely hurt her stomach. When she did try to move, it failed as her body fell forwards on the ground, her face falling into the snow.

"Damnit!" She cursed.

When Baldur ripped off his wings, he held them in front of Natsu and slowly let the light destroy the useless wings.

E.N.D glared intensely at him as Baldur smirked victoriously.

"Bastard..." Natsu muttered.

Then, the whole area around them changed in temperature. Before, it was freezing. Now, it was getting hot as the seconds pass by, the snow on the floor melted in milliseconds and trees were lit on fire.

After a single minute went by, the temperature sky rocketed and the area went up in blazing flames, everything was burnt to ashes. Baldur, on the other hand, he was struggling to fight with the fire around him.

It felt hotter than an erupted volcano.

Despite the fact Baldur couldn't feel anything, he had not encountered any heat in his entirety of his life, only the freezing temperatures that come and go in these northern lands.

When the flames died out, Natsu stood up straight and faced Baldur, who was covered in scorch marks.

In a blur, E.N.D quickly locked Baldur's head in his arms, strangling him while he tried to make him release him as he hands fail to grab a hold of his opponent's arms.

"You'll pay for ripping my wings." Natsu murmured in his left ear.

Baldur couldn't reply as he was struggling to grasp oxygen, but his struggle soon ended when his neck was snapped by the demon and his body went limp.

Natsu had a firm hold of Baldur's foot and swung his body like a rag doll into the distance, he watched the body fly away in the air until gravity did its work and it landed on the other side of the mountain.

He gritted his teeth in anger as he didn't think Baldur would think of stripping his wings off, every other opponent he had faced, they wouldn't dare to do such an act on the demon. Now, he can no longer fly. His wings were precious to him, it reminded him of his father, almost identical to his.

It was now a distant memory.

He knew someone who could heal all types of injuries even if they were life-threatening ones, but he wasn't sure if she could bring back his wings, he didn't want to have high hopes for that.

It was something that he had to accept eventually.

Slowly, he walked towards where Grayfia was located. When he saw her, she was laying on the floor. He quickly went up to her and turned her body around, her wound on her stomach was getting worse, he needed to get to Freya immediately. Before he did that, he hovered his hands over her wound and commenced the healing, it wasn't enough to heal it completely, but it was enough to ease the discomfort for a while.

"Natsu..." She murmured.

He made eye contact with her red eyes.

She noticed something different about him.

"Your wings..." She whispered.

"I'm fine." He spoke immediately. "You need to rest. I'll get you to Freya, she will be able to help you."

She smiled.

He held her in his arms and went to his destination, Freya's house.

°l||l° Light and Fire °l||l°

Approximately six hours later, in front of Feurig Castle, there were four Demon Kings along with their troops lining up in a formerly manner behind them. The Demon Kings have some similarity in looks; an extremely tall and muscular build with horns pointing in all directions.

Their colour of skin was the same colour of the flame that lit in the darkness. Every one of them had different colossal weapons in each hand, one single swing could level a mountain or cause a tsunami.

Frightening foes to encounter.

Standing in front of them were the Elite Twelve, facing towards the Demon Kings. When they all heard the voice of Tiamat calling for attention, their eyes laid upon her draconic form, towering over them and her glistening blue scales were visible in the murky atmosphere of the underworld.

"Now that everyone is present, let's discuss the plans of invading Asgard." Tiamat spoke as she purposely made her voice thundered in the air.

Everyone roared in anticipation; they were ready to stain their hands again for the Empress.

"Asgard is surrounded by high military walls and they are well guarded with Asgardian Warriors, but they shouldn't pose a threat. Acidius, Effluxam, Fractiel and Lucius, have your troops split into groups of five hundred and infiltrate all the entrances. Do not hesitate to kill those who oppose, if they surrender then you will detain them." She stated. "Also, keep your generals close to you. Since we are entering the enemy's territory, there will be strong opponents ahead."

"What about the Valkyries?" Mard Geer asked.

"Ah, yes. The Valkyries. There are many of them in Asgard, all are serving the Allfather himself, unwillingly, if I add. They are quite the opponents if not handled correctly but do not kill them. If you encounter them, detain them immediately." She answered. "If, however, you cannot then battle them until you have an opening to restrain them."

He nodded.

"The Elite Twelve shall locate where Odin resides and once you have all found him, notify me and I will help to make him kneel." She continued. "He will be a formidable opponent and he will be difficult to handle; he has the absolute knowledge and power; you must be wary of his attacks and especially his magical power."

They nodded their heads in acknowledgement.

"He also has sons that are powerful. They are Loki, Thor, Baldur, Tyr and Vidar. Though, Tyr will not be there as he does not side with the Æsir Gods rather, he had gone against the Allfather's wishes and thus, his location is unknown but he is not a threat to us. Rather, he is a close friend with the emperor." Tiamat stated. "Thor has two sons, Modi and Magni, they will also be a threat and not to be underestimated."

"What of Vidar, the youngest of Odin's sons?" Seliah questioned.

"He is not as experienced as his brothers and he does not have much experience in combat, he shouldn't be too much of a threat." Tiamat replied.

"I see..." Seliah murmured.

"There is also Loki's son, Fenrir and his grandsons, Sköll and Hati. They are dangerous if their jaws reach you, at all costs, avoid them whilst in combat. That is, if they are there. Loki is a difficult God to understand." Tiamat remembered. "Is everyone understood so far?"

"Yes, Our Empress."

"Very well, I shall create a gate to teleport us in the specified areas." She stated. "Let us invade Asgard and free our Emperor from the Allfather!"

They all yelled in response.

"For Emperor E.N.D!"

°l||l° Light and Fire °l||l°

"Natsu, I can walk on my own. I've gotten enough rest to stand."

"Are you sure? You are still wounded by his light." He asked.

"Yes. I'll be resting more when we reach our destination." She replied.

"Very well."

Letting Grayfia down, he supported her a little to make sure she didn't lose her balance.

"Thank you." She whispered.

He didn't say anything in return.

Only a swift glance to make eye contact, he led on to Freya's house.

Silence filled the air, only twigs and branches breaking beneath their footsteps could be heard.

Grayfia was nervously thinking about the fight between a God and a Demon Emperor.

She thought about his name that was revealed by Baldur. Etherious Natsu Dragneel. A frightening name for an Emperor. She shook her head to clear her mind.

Though, it didn't go unnoticed.

"What is on your mind, Grayfia?" Natsu asked.

She perked up as she heard her name.

"W-Well, it's about your name…" She stuttered.

"My name?" He questioned. "My full name…"

"Yes."

"What about it?" He asked.

"I-I'm just curious about it." Grayfia replied, nervously.

"I see…" He murmured.

"It's a long story, do you still wish to hear it?"

"Yes, I do." She answered.

"Very well." He sighed.

"It all began when I only five years old, a healthy living boy with my parents and my older brother." Natsu started. "I was human back then."

"Human? You were a human?" Grayfia asked in shock.

"Yes, is that hard to believe?"

She nodded.

"Yes, it is. You're the most powerful being I've encountered." She complimented.

"Powerful being, huh…" He mumbled to himself.

"Anyhow, yes, I was human back then. Once a happy living family until our village was burned down to ashes, my parents and I perished but my brother survived." He continued. "Then, he became a student at Mildian Magic Academy, where he researched the connections between life, death and magic to revive me."

"Life and Death magic?" Grayfia parroted. "Isn't that a dangerous subject for all magic users?"

"Yes, it's dangerous. Very dangerous. Especially for a human. He created a structure called the R-System and the Eclipse Gate, those forbidden to exist as they were dangerous. Thus, he was expelled from the academy for breaching the sacred teachings of Ankhseram." He replied.

"Who is Ankhseram?" Grayfia asked. "I haven't heard of him."

"I should have mentioned at the start. I am not from this world, I am from a place called Earthland." He stated. "It's a God worshiped in Mildian who rules over life and death."

"I see…"

Hearing that her emperor was from another dimension wasn't surprising since there were many other different planes that existed out in the Dimensional Gap where Great Red resides.

"At the same time, he was cursed by Ankhseram and killed everyone around him with his unwanted curse, it was called the Curse of Contradiction." He continued. "The curse immortalizes the victim and causes them to uncontrollably exude a black miasma that instantaneously kills all life it touches."

"That's awful…" Grayfia mumbled. "Isn't there a way to stop the curse?"

"The only way to stop this is for the victim to forget the value of life. Thus, my brother had to do just that. Forget life." Natsu answered.

"After that happened, he wondered on Earthland for many years and he wanted to die, he created the Etherious in the hopes that they would kill him, but they didn't. Instead, he revived me, having that my body was preserved as an Etherious. Thus, he fulfilled his goal in reviving me and creating something that could kill him. Named as E.N.D, Etherious Natsu Dragneel." He continued. "Once a human, now revived as an Etherious demon."

The emperor stopped in his tracks and turned to Grayfia, who was in shock about the story.

"I don't know what to say… it's quite an overwhelming truth… about you." She said slowly.

"Yes, it is." He replied. "It's fine, you do not need to express anything. It happened many millennia ago."

"Oh." She replied dejectedly.

"Come, let us make our way to Freya's house." Natsu urged.

"Yes." She replied quietly.

"Is there something else bothering you?" He questioned.

Grayfia nodded meekly.

"What is on your mind then, Grayfia Lucifuge?" He asked as he grasped her hand, warming her cold palms with his fire.

"I overheard your conversation with Baldur." She answered timidly.

"Which part?" He pressed on.

"T-The part… where you replied to Baldur with 'All gods including you are extremely stubborn, you know?' I couldn't help but think about what it meant." She spoke honestly.

He grunted in reply.

"You already know the answer, when we first met, in the throne room. I told you the truth." He reminded.

"I-I know that," she stuttered.

"What is it then?"

"I want to know about how did you ascend to that point." She replied.

"We shall talk about this another time." Natsu gritted out, he let go of her hand and continued to walk in the direction of their destination.

Grayfia felt a little bit saddened as his warmth had left her, it was quickly replaced with the freezing winds, palms cold to the touch, it was something she was used to now.

"I-I'm sorry for stepping out of line, Emperor E.N.D. Please, forgive me!" She apologized as she bowed deeply.

"Raise your head, there is no need to be sorry, just be wary of what you speak." He spoke. "Now, let's go."

"Hmmmphf!"

Immediately, Natsu twisted to face Grayfia but it wasn't just her that was there. It was the other foolish God of Thunder's son, Modi.

'I didn't detect him at all… my fight with Baldur and those two knuckleheads wouldn't drain me that easily. Hmm… it must be the foreign lands, it hides all life that I can detect.' Natsu thought.

"What are you doing here, Modi?" He asked, calmly.

Modi let go of Grayfia and pushed her towards Natsu, he caught her in his arms.

"You! Look at me! This is what my father has done to me!" Modi yelled.

Bruises forming, beaten down to the bone as flesh wounds opening with blood leaking slowly from them.

"Oh, it seems that Thor can do more than enough damage with just one eye and an arm." Natsu commented.

"My father called me a coward because I ran away. My own father did this to me!" Modi yelled.

"You deserve to be called a coward." Natsu stated.

Modi stopped in his tracks.

"Running away from a fight is not what a demi-god should do. Especially when they're facing someone who is a supreme being that rules over fire." Natsu continued. "Face your opponent until your death is something you should have done in the first place. Alas, this is not the time for a lecture. Rather, your time has come to an end."

"No, I won't let you. I'll drag you to Helheim with me!" Modi yelled.

His mace didn't reach the emperor.

It wasn't nowhere near E.N.D.

Natsu raised his right hand slightly and clicked his fingers.

Immediately, fire shot abruptly from the ground and Modi screamed in pain, but he was soon silenced as the flames took over and burnt his body into a crisp, leaving only ashes that scattered in the winds.

Grayfia was still surprised by Natsu's power, effortlessly burnt a demi-god into nothing.

"Natsu…" She whispered his name as she stood up.

"Come, we need to tend our wounds." He murmured.

She nodded.

Following him into the red woods, they were almost at their destination.

Several hundred meters away, a bird had just saw what happened between Modi and the emperor, its body shapeshifted into a person.

"Well, isn't this an interesting development. It's time my sons and grandsons will have a tasty meal."

Teleporting away in an instant flash as he laughed manically.

°l||l° Light and Fire °l||l°