Chapter 176 - Chapter 176 - Fangs in the Dark

📍 Domus Flau — Underground Tunnels

📅 July X791

Morning rose over Crocus in a blaze of gold, and the third day of the Grand Magic Games roared to life with cheers that rolled through the city like thunder. But not every fight would rise with the sun.

Beneath the grandeur of Domus Flau, where banners waved and spells danced for thousands, the real war began in the dark.

Ancient tunnels twisted beneath the arena like veins under skin—wet, cold, breathing magic older than memory. Cracked stones whispered with forgotten enchantments. The air was heavy, hard to breathe. Even the light down here flickered like it wasn't sure it belonged.

Natsu Dragneel stomped down the passage, fists glowing with heat. His face wasn't angry—he was grinning.

"Why the heck are we underground?!" he shouted, voice bouncing off the damp walls.

Gajeel Redfox followed behind, arms folded, boots clinking with each deliberate step. His scowl said everything.

"Tch. Another trap," he muttered. "Raven Tail's always gotta slither in the dirt."

Natsu didn't care where they fought. Tunnel, mountaintop, or volcano—if someone needed punching, he was ready. Gajeel, though, didn't like being dragged around like a pawn in someone else's game.

"Oi, Salamander," Gajeel snapped. "Keep the fire in your hands. We still need a roof over our heads."

"I could just blast us a way out!" Natsu grinned, steam curling from his teeth.

"You're an idiot."

"And you're a walking metal tantrum!"

Their voices rang through the stone—not in anger, but in rhythm. It wasn't an argument. It was old familiarity. The kind forged in pain and pressed into trust.

Then the air shifted.

A chill, unnatural.

Shadows slithered like snakes along the walls. Figures stepped from the darkness, five shapes cloaked in sneers and spite.

"Welcome, Fairy Tail worms," one rasped.

Raven Tail.

Obra stood at the front, his blank mask glinting like bone in the dim light. Beside him, others conjured twisted illusions and poison-magic that hissed as it kissed the stone.

"You've made us look like fools for the last time," Obra intoned. "No cameras down here. No rules. Just silence."

Gajeel growled low.

"Really? Ambush in the sewer? Classy."

Natsu lit up instantly, fire racing up his arms.

"Perfect. Saves me time chasing you freaks upstairs."

Magic surged from the Raven Tail mages.

Far above, unnoticed by the roaring stadium, the faintest tremors brushed the arena floor. Teresa, still and watching from her private booth, opened her eyes a little.

"Underground interference," she murmured. "As expected. When a blade is dull, the coward twists the ground instead."

Back in the tunnels, it exploded.

Natsu charged first—an ember turned cannonball. His punch shattered the first mage's barrier in a burst of fire and sound.

Gajeel followed, his limbs transforming to iron mid-sprint. His blade-arm cut through illusions like mist, each strike a sharp answer to the ambush.

"You're gonna bring this whole place down!" he shouted.

"Then I'll dig us out!" Natsu yelled back, spinning into another flaming kick.

A poison spell shot for Natsu—Gajeel blocked it, his iron skin hissing as it deflected the acid. He responded with a brutal iron elbow that folded the caster like a tin can.

"Thanks, metalhead!"

"Don't get soft on me, Salamander."

Another mage lunged, but Natsu grabbed him mid-jump, flames licking dangerously close.

"You think you can fight dirty and walk away?"

The mage stammered—too late.

Natsu hurled him like a comet, bowling over the last of the attackers in a heap of limbs and curses.

Gajeel ended it with a single iron-plated knee to the gut of the final mage. Silence returned—except for the slow drip of water and the sound of fire simmering off Natsu's arms.

The two stood back-to-back, breath ragged, tunnel scorched.

"That's all of 'em," Gajeel muttered, wiping blood from his chin.

"Too fast," Natsu sighed. "I was just warming up."

They stood in the dark, their fire and iron cooling.

Then Natsu laughed—a loud, wild sound that rattled the stone walls.

Gajeel groaned. "What now?"

Natsu clapped him on the back, almost knocking him into the wall.

"Even in a hole in the ground, even in the dark—Fairy Tail fights like hell."

Gajeel rolled his eyes. But he didn't push Natsu away.

"Yeah… guess we do."

Above, Teresa let her eyes close again. She'd felt every shift. Every flicker of flame. Every iron echo.

"They fight without calculation," she whispered. "All instinct. All heart. Loud… but never broken."

For one heartbeat, her breath caught—something soft rising beneath the steel. She let it go.

In the tunnels, Natsu and Gajeel turned toward the surface.

Their footsteps echoed—steady, bruised, but undefeated.

And far above, Crocus glittered under starlight.

Waiting for them to rise again.