Kyoya stood in silence as he saw the man in front of him. He had a dark ominous aura, yet he had a peaceful smile on his face. Yet what truly disturbed Kyoya, was how much the man before him shared a resemblance to himself.
"I'll start with introductions. I am Zeref, it's nice to meet you in person, Kyoya Fullbuster."
"Zeref.....wait a minute, Mard Geer said Etherious are artificial devils made from the Book of Zeref. Then-"
"Yes, i'm the creator of the etherious."
Kyoya felt his blood boiling. This man is the reason why his allies were attacked at the Heart Kingdom before the six months of training. As Kyoya restrained himself from attacking the man, he simply took a deep breath. Now wasn't the time for him to hold a grudge, what he needed was to get stronger in order to save his captain.
"Fine then, tell me why you are here, Zeref?"
"You should know, haven't you felt as if there was something off about your grimoire. You see, my soul is bounded to your grimoire. You can thank Echidna for that. When I was upon death's door, she gave me an offer. Since I accepted, my soul was sealed inside of a grimoire though it appears my curse power was also sealed along with my soul. It just so happened that the grimoire I was sealed in chose you. "
Kyoya was nodding his head. He didn't completely trust the man in front of him, but he could tell that he wasn't lying to him so far. Soon Zeref turned around as he looked at the sky while his body was slowly fading away.
"It would appear my soul is going back to rest. But I wasn't the one you came to see. Echidna waits for you, my descendant. All I will tell you is this, another threat looms over you. One that the Dark Triad plans to use if the Tree of Qliphoth fails. Beware the dragon with jet black scales."
As Zeref said this, he fades away, leaving Kyoya with more questions than answers. While Kyoya looked around, he saw Echidna waiting for him with some tea in her hand. When her eyes fell upon Kyoya, a smile appeared on her face.
"So you passed your final trial. I must say, I actually thought your mind would've been broken after that experience. You truly are a stubborn boy, Kyoya Fullbuster."
"Echidna.....tell me, why are you doing this? Making me go through these trials."
"Isn't it obvious? I'm molding you, making you stronger. Though it's for my own benefit. It just so happens that what I want to achieve will help you in the long run. Now then, since you're here, you must want something from me."
Kyoya looked at the woman in front of him. He had a feeling that she already knows why he is here. As he sat down in front of her, he felt as if he was in the palm of Echidna's hands. She knew everything about him, yet he knew nothing of her.
"It's about my Devil Slayer Magic. During my last fight, it suddenly went out of control. Next thing I knew, I was fighting in a blind rage and was hoping you can tell me how to control it."
"I see, but let me ask you something Kyoya. What makes you think i'm obligated to do so? What makes you think I would help you for free? Like I told you time and time again, I did it out of generosity. Tell me, how do you wish to pay the Witch of Greed, Kyoya Fullbuster?"
That's right, despite how much Echidna helped him, one fact remains. She's the Witch of Greed, someone who wants everything. As Echidna asked her question to him, Kyoya held out his bandaged left arm. When he did, Echidna felt mana from it yet it wasn't like Kyoya's at all. Soon the boy spoke up to the witch as he looked at her.
"I'm sure you can sense the foreign mana inside my left arm. If you train me to control my Devil Slayer Magic, you can have my left arm. Hell, you can cut it off right now if that will help. You're the Witch of Greed who wishes to know all things, right? Surely you're curious about what exactly happened."
"................let me see your arm, Kyoya."
Kyoya was confused by what Echidna said. Soon he began to unwrap that bandages on his left arm. When he did, an intense amount of mana was surging from his body as it took the form of flames. When Echidna looked at the boy, she saw a mark on the boy's left arm.
"This magic power....this intense heat....."
"Hehe. Hahahahahahah! Time and time again, you always exceed my expectations. Tell me, how did you get this on your body?"
As Kyoya was putting the bandages back on his left arm, Echidna noticed that a great deal of mana was being suppressed by them. Soon Kyoya looked at Echidna with a serious expression.
"During the final portion of my fight with E.N.D, he launched an attack that surrounded me in flames. I didn't have enough magic power to freeze all the flames, so I devoured them. Everything else that happened is a bit of a blur. Next thing I knew, these bandages were on my left arm along with this foreign mana."
"But still, even though he ate the flames, he should only be able to temporarily use the flames. Yet this is different, it's like the magic has been engraved to his body. Could it be that E.N.D transferred a portion of his Dragon Slayer Magic over to Kyoya? But if Kyoya wasn't compatible, he would've been burned from the inside. But still....it looks like i've found an interesting experiment."
As she finished her thought, Echidna snapped her fingers. When she did, a copy of Kyoya could be seen standing before the real one with black markings over his body.
"This is a manifestation of your soul that has been corrupted by your Devil Slayer Magic. You'll learn how to control your magic as you fight against him. Since you know your ice magic is useless against him, that leaves you with only one choice."
"So you're telling me that while I learn how to control Devil Slayer Magic mentally.......I need to master the flames I just received physically. Heh, you really are asking a lot out of me."
"Of course, after all, i'm the Witch of Greed."
As Kyoya stared at the corrupted version of himself, he began to think of an intensely burning flame. The image of the flames that Natsu wielded was still fresh in his mind. As he pictured it, flames began to manifest on his fists even though his left arm was still bandaged. Though Kyoya could tell they were weaker since the foreign mana on his left arm was being suppressed.
"I wanted to kill E.N.D, but at the end of that fight, I saw that Natsu was still in there. I heard your voice clearly. That's why...my goal has been altered a bit."
"I promise i'll save you.....Natsu!!!!"