Demons Run

"W-what is that?!" Makarov looked up into the sky. In an instant, the clear blue skies above Magnolia Town vanished as the sun was seemingly swallowed by an expansive veil of darkness. From the center of the cube, Makarov could just barely make out a thin, deep black line that cut across the cube and along the horizon.

Moments later, the line vanished, with the dark veil dissipating from the horizon upwards. The Fairy Tail mages stood speechless as the massive cube in the sky was split into two pieces and falling straight towards the lake.

"Brace yourselves!" Erza shouted. Not a second later, a shockwave swept over the mages, shattering windows as gales of wind and water from the shoreline struck the town.

"Meliodas you damn monster." Laxus said with a grin.

"Dammit Meliodas! I said leave some of them for me!" Natsu looked towards Happy with a determined expression. Without a word, Happy understood what Natsu wanted to do.

"Aye Sir!" Happy immediately grabbed Natsu and carried him off towards the wreckage of Tartaros that lay in the center of the lake, with the other Fairy Tail members following right behind him.

—

The hall that Meliodas once stood in was no more. Meliodas stood knee deep in the water, surrounded by the rubble of the cube. He looked around and saw he was now standing in the

middle of the lake.

Meliodas took in a deep breath and exhaled, his demonic features reverting.

"Well, well, well. I suppose that takes care of that. You all can come out now."

Suddenly, the rubble nearby began to shake as several figures emerged from underneath, surrounding Meliodas with Mard Geer standing in front of him.

"You could have killed the nine demon gates with that attack, but you chose not to. Why?" Mard Geer questioned as he shook small pieces of stone off of his clothing. He reached to his side and sighed a breath of relief that the Book of END was still on his person.

"Because I don't know if killing you all would even stop Face." Meliodas responded. "But I guess dealing with Face will just have to-"

"And that will be your greatest mistake!" A large demon with four arms holding blades and four tentacles for legs charged at Meliodas. Meliodas put his hand on the handle of Neo Mel Force and seemingly drew his blade only slightly and sheathed it again.

Ezel's eyes widened as his vision turned completely red. Blood gushed from his arms and tentacles and he felt sharp pain all over his body. His detached limbs hit the ground, followed shortly by his main body.

"W-what the hell…just happened…" Ezel muttered as his body began to break down into magical particles.

"T-that speed! He didn't display that kind of speed when we fought back at the council building!" Kyoka commented.

"That's not like you to get all riled up like that Miss Kyoka!" Franmalth extended his arms out, causing them to grow rapidly and latch onto Meliodas. Meliodas remained still but turned his head to glare at Franmalth.

"Gehehehehe! I'll just absorb that soul of yours and-" Franmalth froze as he attempted to use his curse on Meliodas. 'H-his soul…it won't budge…and-' Behind Meliodas, Franmalth saw the apparition of a dark, demonic entity towering over Meliodas. At that moment, Franmalth's arms that were wrapped around Meliodas exploded into pieces.

Meliodas suddenly vanished and reappeared just above Franmalth with his right leg up above him. Doing a spin, Meliodas delivered a heel drop straight onto Franmalth's head. Franmalth's head burst open with his body breaking down into particles.

"Seilah now!" Kyoka shouted.

Behind Meliodas, a woman appeared. The woman had long black hair, two golden horns coming out of her head, and donned a revealing blue colored leopard printed kimono. She raised her hand out in front of her.

"No matter how strong you may be, not even you can resist the effects of my Macro." Seilah said confidently.

"Your what?" Meliodas asked nonchalantly as he turned to face her.

"M-my Macro doesn't work on you?!" Seilah questioned. Meliodas ignored her remark and charged at her with blinding speed. He wound his left fist back and delivered a punch straight into her torso, blowing a hole right through her body. Seilah's body began to break down into particles as she fell to her knees.

"I-I see…the Blond Demon…Is a demon…"

Meliodas looked back at the other Etherious surrounding him and noticed there were a few missing, not counting the ones he just defeated. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Kyoka preparing to charge at him.

"Demon or not, I won't let you get in the way of-!"

"Kyoka, that's enough." Mard Geer said, causing her to immediately stop in her tracks. "Even if all of the demon gates were assembled, none of them would stand a chance against Meliodas here."

Meliodas noticed a faint smile appear on Mard Geer's face as he pulled out a book from his coat.

"My suspicions about you were true. You are a true demon, an elite one at that. Seeing that you stand above the demon gates, one might say you are comparable to myself. However both of us, fall short to the master of all demons, E.N.D. But for you, Meliodas…"

Meliodas noticed a shift in Mard Geer's demeanor and a sinister smile formed on his face. Mard Geer placed the book down gently on a sturdy piece of a pillar that was sticking out of the water.

"You're a thorn at my side that I cannot let live!" Mard Geer shouted angrily as his body began to transform. A bright purple light began to envelop his body as the shape of bat wings grew out of his back. Mard Geer's human features disappeared. His skin darkened, and he grew dark horns on his forehead, jagged teeth, and claws.

"Now, Meliodas! I'll show you what it's like to fight the pinnacle of demons!"

Meliodas prepared himself as Mard Geer rushed forward towards him. Mard Geer wound back his fist and threw a punch straight at Meliodas. Meliodas raised his right arm, blocking the punch with his forearm. The shockwaves of the clash pushed the knee deep water away from them.

Meliodas prepared to counterattack and wound back his fist but paused as he felt a familiar presence above him. Mard Geer wondered why Meliodas stopped when he felt a searing pain on his back as something crashed right on top of him.

"Fire Dragon's Talon!" Natsu slammed down straight onto Mard Geer with both of his legs, pushing Mard Geer into the ground as a pillar of flame erupted from the spot. Meliodas jumped back just as Natsu landed on the ground.

"I told ya I was gonna be the one to fight their boss right?" Natsu said with a grin.

"We have some time until Face activates. Guess we'll make it a contest." Meliodas responded with a cheeky smile.

Mard Geer emerged from the smoke and hovered in the air above them.

"You two think you can just play games with the Underworld King!"

Suddenly, there was a strange tension in the air, one that caused all three of them to lose their concentration. In the distance, was the sound of a mighty roar, one that Meliodas and Natsu were all too familiar with. Mard Geer looked in the direction where the roar was coming from. Over the horizon, a black dragon soared towards them.

"So even the mighty Acnologia fears the resurrection of E.N.D." Mard Geer commented.

"Acnologia…" Natsu clenched his fists tight. At that moment, both Natsu and Mard Geer felt an immense magical power coming from Meliodas.

Meliodas' features had changed. His eyes pitch black and a black marking covered his forehead. Meliodas' shirt had disappeared, being replaced by an open cape of darkness and his legs were now covered by darkness.

Meliodas raised his right hand up towards Natsu, igniting it with the black flames of hellblaze.

"I'll leave Mard Geer to you. I've seen your power as a dragon slayer. Consume this and make it your own."

Natsu nodded and extended his hand out, grasping onto Meliodas' hand. The black flames began to envelop Natsu and he took a deep breath in, absorbing them into his body. Meliodas smiled at Natsu and jumped up into the sky, growing wings of darkness from his back.

Mard Geer stared in awe at Meliodas. 'That dark magical power…if he had fought me with that from the start, I wouldn't have stood a chance…but now that he's gone off to throw his life away to Acnologia…I can just kill-' Mard Geer froze as he noticed a change in Natsu. His body was clad in a cloak of black flames and dark colored scales began to form around his face.

"D-Dragon Force?!" Mard Geer questioned. He focused all of his attention on Natsu. 'No…something is different…'

Natsu looked up at Mard Geer with a menacing stare, causing the underworld king to feel a shiver run down his spine.

"Meliodas…" Natsu said to himself. "I'll use this power you gave me to defeat Mard Geer then I'll join your fight against Acnologia."

Natsu flared his magical power, causing the black flames around him to expand outwards, the heat coming from his body causing Mard Geer to flinch.

Acnologia turned towards the source of fire. 'Another dragon still exists. No matter, I will exterminate him afterwards.''

"URAGGGHHH!!! HELL BLAZE DRAGON MODE!"