The Scarlet Knight 1

"It's done, E.N.D." A black-haired man said with a gentle smile while looking at the tank of water that held a little boy, who was rolled up into a ball. That little boy was Natsu, he looked at Natsu with a loving smile. So many years had passed, and Zeref had finally brought back to life his brother. Over 80 years in fact, yet Zeref looked like he was in his 20s.

Zeref cried for a moment, he had sacrificed everything in his journey to bring back Natsu to life. He broke the rule of life and death, and for that, he was punished by the gods with the curse of Contradiction. When he loves, he shall bring death to everyone around him. When he stops caring for life and death, his power shall be under his control.

A cruel curse, one he thought was worth it long ago, but as time passed, he came to wish for death. Therefore, he brought Natsu back as a demon, one that would kill him. Although Zeref had another way to die... he ignored it.

Zeref walked to another tank of water, which used to hold someone. but that person had escaped, and currently, Zeref had no idea where he had run off. Zeref eyes were filled with huge regrets, but that didn't matter. For E.N.D should also stop his little brother, and hopefully help him regain control of the high amount of demonic and dragon power that had made him go insane with hatred...

Elsewhere, a kid around 10 years old could be seen working out in a forest, his work consisted of him picking up huge rocks which he used to bench press. Such high levels of monstrous level of power, all without the usage of magical energy... that was scary, as the huge rock was like a small hill... this was, of course, me, Ryu.

'Dragons, Dragons, Dragons, Dragons, Dragons, Dragons, Dragons, Dragons, Dragons, Dragons, Dragons, Dragons...' I kept saying the same thing over and over in my head, reminding myself why it was I needed to grow stronger. My mind was filled with the Death of both my parents this life and the last,

The instant I had come back to life thanks to Zeref, I had escaped, running away knowing Zeref might try and keep me away from this. but I had to do this, I had to bring justice to my family.

"You're powerful, aren't you." A voice sounded, causing me to suddenly stand to my feet, causing the rock to fall off me. I looked toward the speaker, and there I saw a red-haired woman about the age of 25. I was on guard, but she raised her hands, showing she wasn't here searching for trouble.

"I was out collecting some herbs when I sensed you. I'm Irene, queen of Dragnof." She said with a friendly smile, to which I narrowed my eyes.

"You're the queen of that cursed Empire that surrendered to dragons," I said hatefully, black red flames exploding on my fist. I had done my research the past few years after I escaped from Zeref. Ever since, I have been collecting information, and doing my research into this world. Dragnof was one of the most powerful empires, famous for the fact it lived together with Dragons. but the fact dragons saw humans as nothing less than livestock, I instantly realized this empire was filled with humans that bowed dragons.

"Surrendered? No, Dragnof is where humans and dragons come together to live as one. We are even fighting against other dragons, pushing for peace between the two races." She said with a frown looking at the strange flames she had never seen before.

"Bullshit," I said angrily, to which her eyes glowed, using a special magic eye to scan something. I didn't know what, and I didn't like the feeling of being scanned like that. So, with a flash, I shot forward to fight her.

She enchanted her finger, before reaching forward, blocking my fist with one finger. Her eyes narrowed seeing how her fist was pushed back, this level of power was something a child shouldn't have. but the next moment, she shot backward when the flames that covered my fist suddenly swallowed her whole arm and moved to swallow her whole being.

{Note: MC here is holding back. His hatred hasn't fully swallowed his sense of reason. At the end of the day, he is human and is from Earth. So, fighting all out against a human, on top of that a woman, plus the fact he sensed her soul. He held back.}

'Cursed flames? They burn with the might of a dragon, they are as cursed as demon magic, and have the power to ignore one's recovery capability, going as far as even burning the soul. some evil flames... all fueled by his hatred towards dragons.' She thought, enchanting the flames and putting them out.

"You have a twisted view of Dragons, so let me challenge you to a deal." She said with a smile, to which I narrowed my eyes at her. The instant she had blocked my attack with such ease made me realize she wasn't normal, and I began to try and remember the information on Fairy Tail. but my mind wasn't stable at the moment, remembering things wasn't as easy as they were in the past.

"What is it?" I asked, knowing I was too scared to cross that line to kill a human... if she was a dragon, that would be another story. Although I was sure I could escape, this was my chance to save this kingdom and free them from the dragons. Plus, I kind of trusted her. She had such a clean pure soul.... Oh, I gained the power to smell people's souls. I don't know how, but this was what I used to avoid bad people.

"I will prove to you dragons and humans can live together. If I do, I want you to become my knight." She said with a smile, she had seen how old I was. I looked like I was 10, but in truth, I was 17. I just looked far younger than I really was.

"If you can't prove it to me? Plus, how can I trust you?" I asked to which she thought for a moment, before speaking.

"I will write out the deal on our body. That way, we would both suffer from the punishment if we go against it. I have no reason to go so far since I'm stronger than you." She said with a smile, causing me to grit my teeth.

"And, if I can't prove it to you, I will join you in your battle to kill dragons. That I promise upon my honor as Queen... Deal?" She asked while holding out her palm, and after some thought, I unwillingly nodded, making her happy to write in the air. I of course read every last detail, ensuring she wasn't trying to trick me. She even added a side note that she couldn't use any tricks, which made me relax somewhat.

After, she sent the words to me, and I held out my arm, while at the same time it wrapped around her arm.

"Alright, let's go... oh, can I get your name?" She asked to which I looked at her for a moment before I looked at the words on my arm. I wanted to give her a fake name, but these words made sure I couldn't lie.

"Ryu," I said just to be hit with a sharp pain, making me grit my teeth.

"Ryujin is my full name, but people call me Ryu," I said causing the pain to disappear, which annoyed me. I couldn't even give her a nickname. I should have just remained quiet.

"Oh..." Irene said softly, Ryujin was the name of the former Fire Dragon King. He was at the time the strongest Dragon of their empire, and his death was a huge blow to the empire's strength, that's not adding how there was almost a civil war, leading her grandfather to be assassinated, followed by her uncle taking over the throne. But he was dethroned when it was found out he was the reason behind her grandfather's death, and in the end, her father took the throne.

But he had died on the battlefield, leading her to take up the throne. No one was against her taking the throne, for the sole reason she was both powerful and smart. From a young age, she had put all her effort into researching and training, adding her natural-born talent for enchantment Magic, at just the age of 17, she had defeated her first dragon in a battle that lasted for hours.

At the age of 20, she managed to kill a dragon from an enemy kingdom. At the age of 21, she began research into dragon slayer magic. And ever since, she had been leaving the empire searching for herbs within the mountains.

Although it was nearly impossible to kill a dragon without slayer magic, enchantment magic was special. There seemed to be zero limits to this form of magic, which is why Irene fell in love with it from a young age.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you," Irene said while having me follow her to her empire, I followed her after giving a small snort. This brainwashed fool, I wanted to see how she would react when she realized I was telling the truth. 

After a journey that lasted about 2 hours, we arrived at the huge walls of Dragnof. We walked through the front gates, everyone greeting her with a bright smile. At this time, Irene held my hands, scared that I might lash out when I sensed dragons. I gritted my teeth at this, but my rage disappeared when I saw how some dragons were greeting Irene like she was their queen.

I looked around, just to find that all around me, both dragons and humans truly seemed happy. I smelled no fear, no sadness, or anything like that. Everyone was truly at peace in the kingdom,

Irene looked towards me but paused seeing my confused and lost look. Irene seeing this sighed softly, before she took off in the air, flying towards the castle with me in her hands. We quickly arrived, and she placed me down and left me to process my thoughts. In the end, all I just did was burst into tears. I had so much hatred and rage, that I was going to use the dragons as a way to vent and release all of that. Yet now, proven that the dragons were not all the same, I was left with hatred and rage that I couldn't release.

This wasn't even just the hatred of one lifetime, but two. I needed Dragons to be hateful, I needed something or someone to hate and vent all my rage on... No, I wanted to let my demonic power take over, it would have been far easier than holding on to all of this rage and having nothing to do with it.

"What happened?" Irene asked sitting opposite to me and looking at me. I looked at her for a moment, before I just spoke... I didn't know why... well, I knew why, I wanted to vent, and seeing someone want to listen, I spoke. I needed someone to release that rage, or else it would swallow me... and I would not fight back against it.

"Then vent your hatred and rage upon me. I can take it," Irene said grabbing my arms and looking me in the eyes. I looked back at her, my rage magically disappearing as I realized she was... beautiful.

"Whenever you have anger or hatred building up, come and just punch me until you get tired. You're now a citizen of Dragnof, even if you're a hybrid between a demon or dragon, that doesn't matter." She said with a smile, warming my heart, before I paused as I didn't tell her about me being a demon or dragon.

"Your flames hold the curse power of demons, the might of a dragon, and the effect of phoenix flames, just in reverse," Irene said with a smile seeing my shocked look.

"Forget the whole knight thing. I didn't know you were only 7 years old." She said softly, wanting to remove the spell she had cast, but I pulled my hand back.

"A deal was a deal, you're a good person, a good queen... I want to support you in what you are doing." I said lightly, stunning her for a moment before she shook her head, not wanting a kid to do such a thing.

"How do you know I'm a good person? I could have been tricking you all of this time." She said to which I shook my head once more.

"Your soul is too pure, adding how everyone trusts you... I know my guess is right." I said making Irene speechless for a moment.

"I can sense the purity of one soul," I explained to which she nodded lightly in understanding. That was a rare ability even for demons,

"My soul is only pure thanks to my father, who dirtied his hands to ensure this Empire could be what it is today. If not for him, my soul would not be so clean." She said lightly, looking out towards the kingdom. She couldn't help but remember back to the bloodbath her father caused, slaughtering all of the rotten nobles, leading to him being named the Demon of Dragnof.

"... I see, for things to be clean, there need to be dirt," I said nodding my head in agreement, to which Irene shook her head as she said nothing remotely to that. But I ignored her, looking straight at her.

"Then, I will be the shadow your light cast. I shall ensure your kingdom remains peaceful, I will get dirty, so your soul can remain pure." I said seriously, to which she wanted to say no, but couldn't, seeing the look in my eye, a determined and yet pleading look at the same time... for I had nothing at the moment. if I went to my brother, I would die. I didn't even know if Natsu would be brought back to life. 

I had nothing, I had no one... well, Zeref was there, but he would kill me. It seemed almost like fate that she found me and helped me walk away from the dangerous road I was walking upon.

"You're just a kid." She said, unwilling to accept this. but those words only made me want to follow her more. Black flames covered my body, erasing the purity within my body, and restoring it to the level of a normal man. I grew taller, growing to look like a 16-year-old. 

I was 3 years old when my parents died, and for about 9 years, I have been in a state of half-death thanks to Zeref trying to bring me back to life. And for 4 years I have run away, going on to train to slaughter the dragons.

"This the age my body should be at, is this good enough? As for the mental age, you would find that I'm far more capable than others." I said to which she wanted to say no, but seeing as I needed this, she unwillingly nodded.

"But you must stay at my side, no running off doing stuff on your own." She said scared that I might just kill someone for the sake of peace. She didn't want that, she was even against her father for what he did all those years ago. it wasn't right. She always believes there are other ways to deal with problems, and she plans to teach that to me...