DW DXD Chapter 104 A Hunt for a Wyvern? Part 1 (Patreon)

Afternoon, Mt. Hokabe, Upper Slopes

The lower slopes of Mount Hakobe had already been unpleasant, but the higher Natsu, Lucy, and Happy climbed, the more the mountain seemed determined to convince them to turn around. Snow fell in thick, relentless sheets from the grey sky, carried sideways by violent winds that screamed between the jagged cliffs and sent loose powder exploding across the narrow trail. 

Every few steps, Lucy's heavy snow boots sank nearly to her knees, forcing her to wrench herself free with an exhausted grunt before continuing upward. Unlike her companions, she had prepared for the brutal weather as much as humanly possible. A thick white winter coat covered several layers of clothing, a fluffy scarf was wrapped tightly around her neck, insulated gloves covered her hands, heavy snow boots protected her feet, and a fur-lined hat was pulled so low that only her increasingly irritated brown eyes and reddened cheeks remained clearly visible. 

Yet somehow, despite wearing enough clothing to resemble a walking blanket, she was still freezing. 

"Why are we climbing this mountain again?!" Lucy finally screamed over the howling wind, throwing her arms into the air as another gust nearly knocked her backward. "Seriously, Natsu! Why couldn't your future familiar live somewhere normal?! A forest or a beach! Why did it have to be on top of the coldest mountain in Fiore?!" 

She glared several paces ahead at the person responsible for her current suffering, expecting some sort of response, apology, or at least acknowledgement of her misery. She received absolutely none.

Natsu was dressed exactly as he usually was. His sleeveless black waistcoat hung open over his bare chest, his white scale-patterned scarf remained wrapped around his neck, loose white pants covered his legs, and his sandals continued trudging through snow that would have given any normal person frostbite within minutes. He didn't appear even slightly bothered by the temperature. 

If anything, the Fire Dragon Slayer looked completely comfortable as he stopped periodically to crouch beside disturbed patches of snow, inspect enormous claw marks carved into exposed stone, or sniff the freezing air with enough concentration that Lucy wondered if he'd forgotten she and Happy were even there. 

His dark eyes constantly scanned the white landscape for anything that might reveal the presence of the creature they had come all this way to find: the Blizzardvern, the Ice Wyvern that Issei had encountered during Akitsu's adventure on this very mountain. 

Somewhere inside Mount Hakobe's enormous frozen labyrinth lived the creature Natsu had decided would become his familiar, assuming, of course, that the giant ice-breathing dragon actually wanted anything to do with him. 

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted again. "Are you even listening to me?!" 

Natsu suddenly dropped onto one knee and pressed his fingers into a partially buried indentation in the snow.  "Hmm..." 

"NATSU!" 

"Not now, Lucy," He answered distractedly, leaning closer and sniffing it. "I'm looking for the Blizzardvern." 

Lucy's left eyebrow twitched violently. "I KNOW THAT! THAT'S WHY I'M COMPLAINING!" 

"Aye!" Happy cheerfully agreed with absolutely the wrong person as he flew overhead, his little white wings beating steadily against the mountain wind. 

Unlike Natsu, Happy had enough common sense to actually dress for the weather. A thick green winter jacket covered most of his blue body, complete with a tiny hood that occasionally slipped over his ears whenever the wind caught it. He flew in a circle above Lucy before descending until he hovered beside her shoulder. 

"But Lucy, don't you remember what Issei's wives told us?" Happy asked innocently. "There's supposed to be an entrance to a massive labyrinth somewhere near the top of Mount Hakobe. That's where Akitsu and Issei found all those weird ice crystals, the Living Ice, and the Blizzardvern." 

Lucy slowly turned her head toward him, snow clinging to practically every square inch of her fur-lined hood and scarf. "Yes, Happy. I remember."

"Then why'd you ask why we're climbing?" Happy tilted his head, blinking his big black eyes.

Lucy's eye twitched. "I WAS COMPLAINING RHETORICALLY!" 

Happy blinked twice before breaking into a wide smile. "Oh." 

He spun around in the air and pointed dramatically toward the mountain peak, though the upper reaches were almost completely hidden behind swirling snow. "Unfortunately, we don't have a wyvern with us! If we did, we could just fly around until we found the entrance, but we have to do it the old-fashioned way." 

Lucy stared at him. "Happy. You can fly." 

Happy froze. His wings stopped for half a second before rapidly flapping again. "...Oh yeah."

 "YOU'VE BEEN FLYING THIS ENTIRE TIME!"

Happy scratched his cheek sheepishly. "But I can't carry both of you all the way up the mountain!" 

"You could've at least helped me!" Lucy snapped, immediately lunging for him, only for Happy to squeak and shoot higher into the air. 

"Besides!" Happy shouted defensively, pointing toward the blizzard surrounding them. "I can't see anything from up there! The snow's too thick! And we still have to find the cave entrance before we can find Blizzardvern!" 

Lucy groaned so loudly it was almost drowned out by the wind. Unfortunately, Happy was right about that much. They weren't simply looking for an enormous wyvern wandering around in the open. According to what Akitsu and the others had explained, the creature inhabited a colossal network of caves and frozen tunnels running through Mount Hakobe, an underground labyrinth large enough for Kuromaru to move through despite his massive body. Somewhere inside that maze was Blizzardvern, and before Natsu could even attempt Tamamo's Familiar Contract, they first needed to find the entrance. 

Lucy hugged herself tighter as another freezing gust slammed into her back. "I don't care anymore!" she declared miserably. "This is too cold, too dangerous, and probably completely insane! We should turn around, go back to Magnolia, sit in front of a fireplace, drink something hot, and find you a familiar that doesn't live inside a frozen death trap!"

But it is then just as the words left her mouth, Natsu abruptly stopped in his tracks.

Lucy nearly walked straight into his back. "What now?" She grumbled, rubbing her nose through her scarf.

Natsu didn't answer. The playful, childish excitement that had accompanied him throughout most of the climb disappeared as his expression sharpened. His nostrils flared as his head slowly turned toward the northeast, where several enormous rock formations disappeared behind a curtain of blowing snow. 

He inhaled deeply through his nose, sorting through the thousands of distinct scents carried by the mountain gale: fresh powder, frozen earth, exposed granite, distant mountain goats, Lucy's lavender perfume, Happy's fish snacks, his own dragon fire, and... something else. Something faint, ancient, and strange, nearly buried beneath the overpowering smell of the blizzard. 

Natsu's eyes widened. "I smell something." 

Lucy's irritation vanished instantly, replaced by a sudden prickle of tension. "What is it?"

Happy dropped closer, hovering just above Natsu's shoulder. "Is it Blizzardvern?" he asked excitedly.

Natsu sniffed again before shaking his head. "Dunno. It's weird. Smells like ice... but not normal ice." He frowned, trying to describe something that made sense to his Dragon Slayer senses but probably wouldn't to anyone else. "There's magic mixed into it. A lot of it." Suddenly, his mouth stretched into a massive, toothy grin. "This way!"

Without waiting for either of them, Natsu bolted through the snow.

"NATSU, WAIT!" Lucy screamed before chasing him, once again questioning every decision that had brought her here. Happy flew after them as Natsu raced between snow-covered boulders, occasionally stopping for only a second to sniff the air before changing direction. 

The route quickly carried them away from anything resembling a trail. They climbed over a ridge, squeezed through a narrow passage between two enormous slabs of stone, and descended along a steep embankment where Lucy slipped twice and loudly threatened to summon Taurus just so she could have someone throw Natsu off the mountain. 

But the scent only became stronger. Even Happy eventually noticed that something about their surroundings was changing. The wind wasn't hitting them as hard anymore. The mountainside curved inward, forming a natural wall against the storm, and several enormous icicles hung from an overhanging cliff like the teeth of some frozen monster. 

Natsu abruptly stopped beneath them. "There!" 

He pointed ahead excitedly. Half-buried beneath accumulated snow and hidden behind thick sheets of ice was a dark opening in the mountainside. It wasn't particularly obvious from a distance, and without Natsu's enhanced sense of smell, they might have walked straight past it. Cold mist drifted from the entrance, and beyond it stretched nothing but darkness.

Happy's eyes sparkled. "Aye! We found it!" He immediately flew toward the shadow, but Lucy reached out and caught him by his jacket hood, holding him back. 

Her earlier annoyance had been replaced by caution as she stared into the black tunnel. The entrance was easily large enough for several people to walk through side by side, and the ice coating its walls shimmered faintly beneath the weak daylight. But she couldn't see more than a few meters inside. For all they knew, there could be monsters waiting just beyond the darkness, unstable tunnels, magical traps, or something considerably worse. Issei and Akitsu's experiences had made it abundantly clear that Mount Hakobe's labyrinth wasn't an ordinary cave system. 

"Hold on," Lucy said firmly, grabbing Natsu's shoulder before he could immediately charge inside. "We should think about this first. We don't know if this is the same entrance they used and we don't know what's living in there. Akitsu said parts of the labyrinth were dangerous. What if we get lost? What if the entrance collapses behind us? What if we run into something stronger than Blizzardvern?" Her gaze returned to the darkness. For all her complaining outside, there was genuine nervousness in her expression now. "Maybe we should mark the entrance first. Or at least come up with some kind of plan."

Natsu looked at the dark cave, then turned to look at Lucy. For once, he didn't immediately laugh off her caution or blurt out that they could simply punch whatever stepped in their way. Instead, he caught the subtle trace of uncertainty beneath her defensive tone.

He stared at her for a quiet moment before his sharp, focused expression melted into that familiar, hopelessly confident smile that Lucy had seen a thousand times before, usually right before Natsu did something either unbelievably heroic or unbelievably reckless and stupid. "Don't worry so much, Lucy." 

Lucy blinked, her breath catching slightly.

Natsu casually reached out with his unarmored hand, gently taking her thick, gloved hand into his warm grip. "Whatever happens in there, I'll protect you."

Lucy froze as the howling wind, the freezing temperature, and even the ominous darkness in front of them seemed to disappear from her awareness for several seconds. Her brown eyes dropped slowly toward their joined hands. 

To Natsu, it was simply a fact. If something attacked Lucy, he would protect her. If something tried to hurt her, he would beat it into the ground. There wasn't anything more complicated about it in his mind. 

Somehow, that only made the heat rushing into Lucy's cheeks worse. "Y-You..." She stammered, thankful that her coat concealed part of her rapidly reddening face. "You can't just suddenly say something like that after dragging me halfway up a frozen mountain, idiot!"

Natsu merely grinned wider, his dark eyes sparkling. "Why not? It's true." 

Before Lucy could formulate an answer, flames suddenly erupted around Natsu's free hand. The orange fire curled upward from his palm, growing into a steady torch that immediately illuminated the cavern walls in warm flickering light. 

Lucy instinctively moved closer to the welcome heat, only realizing afterward that this brought her directly against Natsu's arm. 

"There. Now we can see." Natsu looked into the tunnel, his excitement returning as the mysterious scent became even stronger. Somewhere inside the labyrinth was the creature that would become his new partner making his grin widen. "Come on, Lucy! Happy! Let's go find ourselves a wyvern!"

"Wait, Natsu, I still haven't agreed that this is—WAH!" Lucy yelped as Natsu tightened his grip on her hand and simply started walking, pulling her into the cavern with him. "Stop dragging me!" she shouted, stumbling for several steps before finding her footing. 

Happy giggled as he flew overhead, his green jacket rustling with every flap of his wings. "Aye! Natsu and Lucy are holding hands!"

"HAPPY, DON'T START!" Lucy screamed, her face turning even redder as her voice echoed repeatedly through the enormous tunnel. 

Natsu glanced back at her in confusion, clearly having no idea why holding her hand was suddenly important as they had done more than simple hand holding, before shrugging and continuing forward without letting go.

Behind them, the white fury of Mount Hakobe's blizzard gradually disappeared as they descended farther beneath the mountain. The screaming wind became a distant whistle, then faded altogether, replaced by the quiet crackling of Natsu's flames and the soft crunch of their footsteps across the frozen ground. Towering walls of ancient blue ice surrounded them, reflecting Natsu's fire in distorted streaks of orange and gold. The tunnel ahead gradually widened, splitting into passages that disappeared in multiple directions, each descending deeper into the colossal frozen labyrinth hidden beneath Mount Hakobe. 

Lucy swallowed nervously as she stared at the maze opening before them. Happy's ears twitched as unfamiliar sounds echoed somewhere far below. Natsu, however, only lifted his flaming hand higher, sniffed the cold air again, and smiled as that strange magical scent grew stronger.

—----------------------------------------

The deeper Natsu, Lucy, and Happy traveled into Mount Hakobe, the less the cavern resembled anything Lucy would have called a cave. What had begun as narrow, suffocating tunnels of dark stone and ordinary frost gradually transformed into a sprawling, quiet underground world of impossible beauty.

The rough rock walls gave way to towering sheets of ancient, pale blue ice so remarkably clear that Lucy could see several meters into the frozen depths, where countless tiny air bubbles and strange, glittering mineral deposits had been preserved for what looked like centuries. Enormous icicles hung like frozen spires from ceilings so high that even the bright torch in Natsu's hand couldn't illuminate their tips, while massive icy pillars stretched from floor to ceiling like the grand columns of some forgotten sunken palace. Every flicker of Natsu's dragon fire scattered warm orange light through the crystal structures, creating thousands of dazzling reflections that danced and refracted across the frozen expanse.

Lucy's earlier complaints gradually faded into complete silence as awe overtook her irritation. She found herself stopping every few minutes simply to stare, her wide brown eyes tracing shimmering subterranean streams flowing beneath transparent ice floors and staring up at colossal, suspended waterfalls frozen mid-cascade against distant cliffs.

Even Natsu had slowed his frantic pace, looking around with bright, wide eyes while Happy zipped from one formation to another.

"Whoa..." Natsu muttered, lifting his flaming palm higher to catch the reflection. "This place is incredible."

Lucy gave him a subtle sideways glance, a small smile breaking through her heavy scarf. "You know... I'm actually beginning to understand why Issei and Akitsu kept exploring instead of immediately turning around."

Happy pressed both tiny paws flat against a crystal-clear ice wall, squishing his cheeks against it as he peered into the depths. "Aye! It's like the whole mountain is made of glass!"

"Ice," Lucy corrected automatically.

"Magic glass!" Happy declared with absolute certainty, nodding his head.

Lucy let out a soft sigh, her warm breath pluming in the air. "Sure, Happy. Magic glass."

The scenery only grew more otherworldly as they pressed deeper. Eventually, the winding frozen tunnels opened up into a breathtaking, subterranean cavern so vast it forced all three of them to freeze dead in their tracks.

Life was flourishing deep beneath the mountain's frozen crust. Thick patches of pale, luminescent blue moss carpeted the exposed granite, glowing brightly enough to light their path without the aid of Natsu's flames. Clusters of translucent mushrooms sprouted from deep fissures in the earth, some barely the size of Lucy's pinky finger, while others towered up to her waist, their caps radiating a soft, rhythmic pulse of violet and turquoise light. Delicate, pale vines crept along the icy walls despite the freezing climate, their leaves crystalline and glass-like to the touch.

A narrow, winding underground river flowed right through the heart of the cavern, its dark water steaming gently where hidden geothermal veins rose from deep within the earth's core. Schools of tiny, silver-scaled fish darted beneath the surface, their bodies flashing with brilliant streaks of bioluminescent blue whenever they turned.

Lucy slowly pulled her scarf down from her mouth, completely forgetting the lingering chill as she took in the sight. "There's an entire self-contained ecosystem down here..." she whispered softly.

Happy drifted downward toward the edge of the steaming river, hovering right over the silver fish while sniffing intensely. "Do you think they taste like trout?"

"Don't you dare!" Lucy lunged forward, snatching the blue cat by his tail right before he could dip a paw into the water. "We have absolutely no idea what kind of magical fish those are!"

Happy dangled upside down from her grip, pouting slightly. "But they smell extremely tasty, Lucy!"

"I SAID NO!"

While the two squabbled, Natsu barely registered their voices. His sharp senses had already shifted toward movement across the riverbank, where several small, white creatures were emerging from a dense bed of glowing moss.

They resembled rabbits, but were covered in dense, silver-white fur with long, feather-like ears and a single, tiny crystalline horn protruding from the center of their foreheads. The little creatures sniffed the air cautiously, watching the trio with dark, curious eyes before hopping toward the water's edge to drink.

Farther overhead, a flock of translucent, pale blue creatures resembling bats glided silently between the massive icicles, their thin wings catching the violet glow of the fungi below. Tiny, glassy lizards scuttled along the frozen walls, lapping up moisture, while large, fluffy white moths clustered around tiny, warm steam vents in the rock.

"So awesome!" Natsu beamed, immediately dropping onto his knees in front of one of the horned silver rabbits. "Hey there, little guy!"

The rabbit paused, staring blankly at the massive Fire Dragon Slayer crouching inches away from its face as Natsu flashed his characteristic toothy grin.

Without a split second of warning, the rabbit's tiny horn flashed with a sharp blue light and launched a needle-thin shard of dense ice directly into the middle of his forehead.

THUNK!

"OW!" Natsu tumbled backward onto his rear, clutching his forehead while the tiny rabbit turned around and bolted into the glowing moss.

Lucy caught the whole thing. Her hands instantly slammed over her mouth, her shoulders trembling violently as she fought to keep her composure.

Natsu rubbed the bright red bump forming on his head, glaring at her. "Don't laugh, Lucy!"

"I'm—pfft—I'm not!" Lucy lied terribly before breaking into a fit of unrestrained laughter.

Happy hovered over Natsu, pointing a paw right at his bruised forehead. "Aye! Natsu just got soundly defeated by a bunny!"

"I DID NOT LOSE TO A BUNNY!" Natsu roared, jumping to his feet with his hands bursting into flames, though his toothy grin quickly returned as he looked deeper into the glowing, wild cavern ahead.

—--------------------------

Their journey eventually brought them into another section that Issei and Akitsu had encountered: a sprawling frozen forest hidden impossibly deep beneath the mountain.

Trees of pale, almost white wood rose from patches of frost-covered soil, their crystalline blue leaves glittering in the strange, ambient light. The ceiling far above was encrusted with glowing minerals that cast an artificial twilight over the entire woodland, and delicate flakes of snow somehow drifted gently through the windless air.

Natsu walked beneath the strange canopy with his mouth slightly agape, completely forgetting to scan for tracks. Happy flew merrily among the crystalline branches while Lucy stared upward, mesmerized. "How does something like this even exist?" She whispered, her voice echoing softly. "There's no sunlight. These plants shouldn't be able to grow."

Natsu shrugged, hands locked behind his head. "Magic."

Lucy opened her mouth to object, paused, and then reluctantly closed it. Given the absurdity of Earthland, that was probably the exact scientific explanation.

Herds of shaggy, goat-like creatures moved between the pale trunks, using massive curled horns to break apart frozen bark. Small foxes with pale blue fur peered out from burrows beneath glowing roots, while birds with feathers like ice flakes darted overhead. 

In the distance, something enormous shifted through the foliage, prompting Lucy to immediately reach for her Celestial Spirit keys, only for the shadow to reveal itself as a lumbering, six-legged herbivore covered in dense white fur. It spared them a brief glance before returning to its crystalline meal.

For a while, their exploration was peaceful. They crossed natural ice bridges spanning bottomless ravines, wandered through chambers filled with colossal frozen waterfalls, discovered underground lakes so translucent that the bed appeared inches away despite being dozens of meters deep, and passed ancient fossils perfectly preserved inside thick sheets of ice.

Lucy found herself wishing she had brought a camera lacrima. Even Natsu was periodically distracted from his hunt, pausing to poke at strange glowing flora.

Unfortunately, that fascination quickly collided with a glaring problem: unlike Issei and Akitsu, they had absolutely nothing guiding them toward a specific destination. Akitsu had been pulled by the natural spiritual resonance of the Living Ice, but Natsu’s nose was overwhelmed. The cavern network was saturated with ice magic, mineral deposits, geothermal vents, underground beasts, and centuries of stale air currents that carried scents in completely misleading directions.

After nearly two hours of continuous walking, Lucy suddenly stopped.

Natsu and Happy took several steps before noticing her absence and turning around.

"Natsu," Lucy called out flatly.

"Huh?"

Lucy pointed a gloved finger at the cavern wall. Scratched into a sheet of frost was a very crude, rounded drawing of Happy’s face, one Lucy had etched nearly forty minutes prior to mark an intersection.

Happy hovered closer, pressing his nose against it. "Hey! It's me!"

Lucy slowly turned her gaze to Natsu.

Natsu stared at the drawing, then looked down the tunnel behind them, then back at the wall. "...Huh?"

Lucy's left eyebrow twitched violently. "We've been walking in a circle."

Natsu scratched the back of his neck. "Maybe there's another drawing?"

"I drew that one!"

"Maybe you drew two?"

"I DIDN'T!"

Happy examined the artwork critically. "You made my head way too big, Lucy."

"THAT IS NOT THE POINT!"

Their next attempt went no better. Natsu insisted on the left tunnel because he claimed it smelled "spicy." But twenty minutes later, they hit a solid wall of bedrock. They backtracked and took the right passage, only for it to branch into four identical shafts. Happy suggested the middle-left path, which ended abruptly at a steaming geothermal swamp.

Lucy suggested marking every single intersection systematically, which worked until they found three separate tunnels looping back into one another at different elevations. By the time Natsu claimed he was tracking a wyvern scent, it led them straight to a sleeping, oversized iguana that was definitely not Blizzardvern.

Eventually, the three stood before a massive junction split into seven identical, pitch-black tunnels.

Lucy stared at the choices in absolute, exhausted disbelief. "...Which one?"

Natsu sniffed intensely with Happy sniffing too, despite having zero tracking ability.

Natsu pointed confidently. "That one."

"You said that last time!"

"Yeah, but this time I'm super sure."

"You said that last time too!"

Natsu frowned, tilting his head. "Okay. Then that one."

"You literally just picked the tunnel right beside it!"

"Aye!" Happy raised a paw. "I vote for the shiny one on the end!"

Lucy stared at both of them, her shoulders slumping. "We are going to die on this mountain."

Unfortunately, being hopelessly lost soon proved to be only their second-biggest problem. The warning came when Natsu suddenly halted, his playful demeanor vanishing in an instant. 

Lucy caught the shift immediately, her hand snapping straight to her leather belt. "What is it?"

Natsu’s dark eyes locked onto the black corridor behind them. "We're being followed."

Happy's ears pricked up. "Is it the Blizzardvern?!"

"No." Natsu snuffed out the flame in his hand, instantly plunging them into pitch darkness.

"Why did you turn off the light?!" Lucy hissed in a panicked whisper.

"Look."

At first, Lucy saw nothing. Then, a dozen faint, glowing blue points materialised in the dark, some hovering low to the ground, others several feet higher. A low, vibrating growl echoed through the cavern, followed by another, and another.

Lucy slowly drew a heavy golden key. "...Natsu."

"Yeah?"

"What are those?"

Flames exploded back to life around Natsu's fist, illuminating the tunnel in a violent burst of orange light.

Advancing through the shadows was a pack of colossal white wolves. Each beast was nearly the size of a warhorse, boasting thick, frost-coated fur, massive claws designed to grip slick ice, and jagged crystalline growths protruding along their spines. Cold white vapor hissed from their maws.

Happy swallowed hard. "Aye... those definitely aren't bunnies."

The alpha wolf reared back and let out a deafening roar.

"OPEN, GATE OF THE GOLDEN BULL! TAURUS!"

Golden light erupted beside Lucy as the towering, axe-wielding Spirit materialized. "MOOOO! Lucy's winter outfit is absolutely radiant today—"

"TAURUS!"

"Right! Monsters!" Taurus bellowed, spinning his massive battleaxe into a defensive guard.

The alpha lunged. Taurus intercepted the beast mid-air with a brutal, sweeping strike, sending the wolf crashing violently into the stone wall.

Two more sprang from the flanks. Natsu grinned, slamming his fists together as dragon fire engulfed his arms. "Now we're talking!"

He ducked beneath a snapping jaw, driving a flaming uppercut straight into one beast's sternum, sending it flying backward into the pack. A second wolf snapped at his throat, but Natsu caught its upper jaw, spun on his heel, and slammed it face-first into the frozen ground.

Happy flew upward as a wave of frost erupted across the floor below. "They're using Ice Magic!" he yelled.

Lucy ducked just in time to avoid a concentrated stream of freezing mist. "I NOTICED!"

The bottleneck became pure chaos. Taurus held the front line like a solid wall of muscle, his axe clearing broad sweeps while Natsu threw himself recklessly into the center of the pack. Flames lit up the dark cavern with every strike, hissing violently whenever dragon fire clashed with ice magic.

Though dangerous, the frost wolves were completely outmatched by the Dragon Slayer and the Zodiac Spirit. Within minutes, the remaining pack realized the intruders weren't easy prey. The alpha snarled, backed away, and melted into the darkness with the survivors.

Natsu extinguished his fists, looking genuinely disappointed. "Aw. They're running away already?"

"GOOD!" Lucy yelled, leaning against her knees to catch her breath.

Taurus faded back into golden light after a quick word of thanks, leaving the trio alone once more in the echoing silence.

Happy dropped down, landing on Lucy's shoulder. "Akitsu didn't mention getting ambushed this much in their stories."

Natsu frowned, scratching his head. "Yeah... weird."

"Maybe they took a safer path?" Lucy suggested, dusting frost off her coat.

Natsu sniffed the cold air, thinking for a moment before his eyes widened. "Oh! It's because Kuromaru was with them!"

The realization struck all three at once.

Kuromaru wasn't just a mount, he was a colossal, top-tier apex predator. When Issei and Akitsu had traversed these depths, every territorial monster within miles would have smelled or felt Kuromaru's oppressive aura and immediately fled in the opposite direction.

Happy's ears drooped. "...We don't have a giant dragon to scare things away."

A deep, reverberating roar echoed from the darkness behind them. Another answered from the left.

Then, a heavy, rhythmic scraping sound echoed from the main tunnel ahead.

Lucy's face went chalk-white. "You just had to say it out loud."

Natsu's reaction went in the exact opposite direction. His grin stretched insanely wide. "Looks like this trip is finally getting fun!"

"NATSU! THIS IS GETTING ACTUALLY DANGEROUS! THAT DOESN'T—"

Before she could finish, a massive, centipede-like monster burst through the cavern wall, its armored chitin gleaming with jagged ice as its razor-sharp mandibles snapped directly toward Lucy's head!

Natsu moved instantly. His arm wrapped tightly around Lucy's waist, yanking her flush against his chest as he pivoted on his heel, placing his own back to the strike. The mandibles snapped shut inches from his shoulder.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" His flaming punch struck the creature's face with explosive force, launching the multi-ton monster backward through a cluster of giant ice pillars, shattering them into fine powder.

Lucy remained pressed firmly against Natsu's chest for a long second, staring wide-eyed at the burning crater across the cavern.

Natsu glanced down at her, his dark eyes fierce yet surprisingly gentle. "You okay, Lucy?"

"...Yeah."

"Good!"

He instantly let go of her waist and charged straight into the dust cloud. "GET BACK HERE, YOU GIANT BUG!"

Lucy stood frozen for another moment, a deep, unbidden flush spreading across her cheeks despite the freezing draft.

Happy floated over, hovering right beside her face. "Natsu protected you again."

Lucy snapped out of her daze. "I KNOW!" she yelled, her face turning even redder.

Happy's expression transformed into an insufferably smug grin. "Luuucy likes Natsuuu~"

"HAPPY, SHUT UP!"

Unfortunately, the commotion had drawn the rest of the mountain's denizens. Heavy thuds echoed from adjacent tunnels, wings beat against the high ceiling, and smaller predators scattered as massive beasts awakened throughout the subterranean maze.

Lucy stared into the surrounding darkness. They were lost, had no map, were surrounded by territorial monsters, and Natsu was actively enjoying every single second of it.

Lucy slowly covered her face with her gloved hands. "This is officially the absolute worst date I've ever been on."

From somewhere ahead, Natsu's ecstatic shout echoed through the cavern. "HAHAHA! COME ON, LUCY! THERE'S A WHOLE BUNCH MORE OF 'EM!"

Lucy slowly lowered her hands, her brow twitching. "...I'm going to kill him before the monsters do."

—-----------------------------

For nearly another hour, the frozen labyrinth seemed utterly determined to make Natsu, Lucy, and Happy regret ever setting foot inside.

They crossed yet another roaring underground river, climbed a treacherous natural staircase formed from enormous sheets of slick blue ice, accidentally backtracked into the exact same glowing mushroom forest twice, and fought off three more aggressive packs of territorial monsters that had apparently decided the strange, pink-haired human smelled particularly delicious.

Lucy had officially reached the stage of exhaustion where she no longer even bothered to scream when something launched itself out of the shadows. She simply unclipped whichever Celestial Spirit was best suited for the job, helped beat the offending creature into a state of unconsciousness, and resumed marching forward while muttering increasingly creative threats about what she planned to do to Natsu once they finally dragged themselves back to Magnolia.

Natsu, naturally, was having the absolute time of his life. His waistcoat was torn in several fresh places, a thin scratch ran across his left cheek, and thick crusts of frost clung to his sandals and trousers. Yet his wide, toothy grin hadn't diminished in the slightest.

Happy hovered somewhere between the two extremes, thoroughly enjoying the high-stakes adventure, but becoming increasingly anxious about whether they would ever see the sun again.

Then, as the trio shuffled through another narrow fissure lined with glowing blue ice, Natsu stopped so abruptly that Lucy nearly crashed into his bare back for what felt like the hundredth time that afternoon.

Natsu’s nostrils flared. His dark eyes narrowed in deep concentration as he inhaled a massive breath through his nose, his head slowly turning toward a small, shadowed passage branching off to their right.

"There," Natsu said, his voice dropping low.

Lucy instantly snapped into a battle-ready posture, her hand flying to her key ring. "Do you smell Blizzardvern?!"

Natsu didn't answer immediately. He took another long, deliberate sniff, his eyebrows furrowing in visible confusion. "Not exactly."

Happy floated closer, his tiny green winter coat now thoroughly smudged with dirt and soot from their battles. "Then what do you smell?"

Natsu leaned his whole upper body into the dark side-passage, taking another deep breath. "Food."

Lucy stared at the back of his pink head, her eye twitching. "...Food."

"Yeah." Natsu's stomach suddenly let out a roar so loud and violent it echoed down the cavern walls. He slapped a hand over his belly and grinned sheepishly. "Smells like... veggies or something."

Lucy's shoulders slumped so hard she nearly fell over. "Natsu! We are not getting hopelessly lost again just because your stomach found a snack!"

"But this is different!" Natsu protested defensively, already taking broad strides into the new tunnel. "There's something super familiar about it, too!"

"You said something similar right before we spent twenty minutes chasing that giant, aggressive ice lizard!"

"That thing smelled interesting!"

"IT TRIED TO EAT HAPPY!"

"Aye," Happy added solemnly, shuddering beneath his green hood. "I didn't like him at all."

Natsu ignored them both, following his nose like a bloodhound and forcing Lucy to let out a long, miserable groan as she trudged after him.

Yet, the farther they traveled down the descending path, the more obvious it became that Natsu’s absurd instincts had actually paid off.

The ambient temperature plunged once again, but unlike the lifeless, crystalline shafts they had spent hours navigating, small patches of vibrant flora began appearing within the frozen cracks of the floor. First came tiny, pale green sprouts. Then clusters of broad, shimmering leaves. Finally, the narrow tunnel opened up into a colossal, subterranean amphitheater that brought all three travelers to a dead stop.

Before them stretched what looked like an impossible, underground agricultural miracle. Thousands upon thousands of strange, cabbage-like plants grew directly out of surprisingly rich, dark soil, naturally spreading across the massive cavern floor. Their broad leaves were a deep, frosted blue-green, each shimmering beneath the soft magical light radiating from vast clusters of luminescent crystals far above.

Some specimens were barely the size of a fist, while fully matured plants were as large as barrel heads, their tightly packed leaves swirling around pale blue cores that glowed faintly with concentrated magic.

The aroma filling the air was instantly recognizable—not because Lucy had ever seen the plant growing in the wild, but because she had tasted it.

She walked up to the nearest cluster, crouched down, and carefully pinched one of the frosted leaves between her insulated gloves, crushing it slightly.

A crisp, sweet, incredibly clean herbal aroma burst into the air. Lucy's brown eyes widened. "Wait..."

Happy landed softly beside her, sniffing the crushed leaf. His ears perked right up. "Hey... this smells familiar!"

In an instant, memory clicked into place. Lucy remembered sitting comfortably inside the warm, luxurious dining room of the Hyoudou Mansion while Akitsu calmly recounted details of her mountain expedition with Issei. She remembered the steaming porcelain cup placed in front of her, the soothing herbal aftertaste, and Matsu casually mentioning where the rare leaves had been harvested.

"The Mount Hakobe Herb..." Lucy whispered in realization.

Happy’s eyes blew wide open. "Aye! The magic-restoring tea!" He immediately whipped his head around, looking out across the vast, blue-green field. "Akitsu told us about this! This field is where she and Issei first encountered the Blizzardvern!"

Natsu’s head snapped toward them so fast his neck popped. "Seriously?!"

Lucy stood up, wiping damp soil from her gloves as all the pieces fell into place. Akitsu had explicitly explained that this specific herb contained massive concentrations of ambient ice magic, making it a primary food source for the mountain's top-tier creatures. The legendary Ice Wyvern treated this exact chamber as its primary feeding ground.

Natsu’s posture transformed in an instant. All traces of fatigue vanished into thin air; his scratches, torn clothes, and bruised forehead ceased to exist. Even his roaring stomach apparently forgot its hunger now that a real target was in sight.

He spun on his heel, his dark eyes ablaze as he aggressively scanned the massive, misty chamber.

"THEN WHERE IS IT?!" Natsu bellowed, his voice echoing off the distant walls like thunder. "OI! BLIZZARDVERN! WHERE ARE YOU?! I CAME ALL THIS WAY TO FIGHT YOU!"

"Natsu!" Lucy hissed, lunging forward and yanking frantically on the back of his waistcoat. "Will you stop screaming at the top of your lungs?! What if something else down here hears you?!"

Natsu looked back at her with genuine, unfeigned confusion. "Then I'll just beat that up too."

"THAT IS NOT THE POINT!"

Happy shot up into the air, flying high above the field to scan the vast cavern from a bird's-eye view. The chamber was so enormous that the far walls were obscured by a thin, pale blue mist, but there was no sign of the massive, dragon-like silhouette Akitsu had described.

After several agonizing minutes of searching, Happy descended, shaking his head glumly. "I don't see him anywhere, Natsu."

Natsu's high-energy posture instantly deflated. "What?! But this is its eating room! It's supposed to be here!"

Happy shrugged, floating cross-legged. "Maybe it went somewhere else."

Natsu stared at the blue cat as if Happy had just announced the moon had fallen into the ocean. "It left?!"

"Aye. It probably doesn't stand around eating vegetables all day," Happy pointed out reasonably, resting his paws on his hips. "Maybe it’s sleeping in a different cave. Or hunting. Or flying around another part of the mountain."

Natsu looked utterly betrayed by this completely sound logical deduction.

Lucy, meanwhile, looked exponentially more horrified by what it implied for their current situation. "Wait..." She slowly turned to face Happy, her face pale. "Are you telling me that after hours of walking, getting lost, freezing to death, and getting attacked by half the ecosystem... the wyvern isn't even here?!"

Happy nodded matter-of-factly. "Aye."

Lucy's left eyebrow twitched violently. "SO WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?!" Her voice rose an tone with every single sentence. "Sit here on the dirt and wait?! For how long?! An hour?! Five hours?! Until tomorrow?! I am freezing! I am bruised! I haven't had a real meal since breakfast! We are so hopelessly lost I don't even know if Magnolia is north, south, or underground! AND THIS IDIOT DRAGGED ME OUT HERE BECAUSE APPARENTLY GETTING MAULED BY AN S-RANK BEAST COUNTS AS A ROMANTIC DATE!"

Natsu crossed his arms, frowning slightly. "I didn't say getting mauled was the date."

Lucy blinked, pausing mid-tirade. "Oh. Well... good."

"Fighting it together was supposed to be the date."

"THAT IS NOT BETTER!" But before Lucy could explode further, Happy’s ears twitched sharply. He froze mid-air, his cheerful smile vanishing.

Natsu’s head snapped toward the dense blue mist on the far side of the field at the exact same fraction of a second.

Lucy caught the sudden, terrifying shift in the atmosphere immediately. Her tirade died in her throat. "...What is it?"

For three long, agonizing seconds, the cavern fell into absolute, deafening silence.

Then—

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRR!!!!!

A sound of pure, primordial rage detonated through the chamber, carrying enough raw kinetic force to physically push Lucy back a step. The sea of Mount Hakobe Herbs flattened toward the ground beneath the sheer pressure wave. Sheets of loose frost and massive icicles detached from the high ceiling, crashing into the distance, while the glowing mineral formations trembled in their sockets.

Every single hair on Happy's body stood straight up beneath his green jacket. Lucy’s eyes widened in sheer shock as a crushing, suffocating wave of dense, freezing magic swept across the field like an arctic tsunami.

THOOM!

Then something colossal struck the frozen earth beyond the mist.

THOOM!

The ground beneath their boots shuddered violently.

Lucy slowly turned her head toward Happy. Happy slowly turned his head toward Lucy.

"Aye..." Happy whispered, his voice trembling. "I don't think... we have to wait."

Natsu's shock melted away in a fraction of a second. The corners of his mouth began curving upward into a wild, feral grin.

THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!

The heavy footsteps rapidly accelerated into a terrifying, earth-shaking charge.

A colossal silhouette burst through the dense blue fog at the far end of the field, smashing through rock outcroppings and crushing giant ice pillars without losing a fraction of its momentum. Two gigantic, leathery wings were folded tightly against its streamlined body as it sprinted on two massive, heavily muscled hind legs, its razor-sharp talons tearing deep trenches through the frozen soil.

Its entire frame was armored in thick, overlapping scales of pale azure and snowy white, with jagged, crown-like spires extending along its skull, spine, and whip-like tail. Billowing clouds of sub-zero frost erupted from its nostrils with every breath, and its massive, reptilian eyes burned with an icy, furious blue light.

The Blizzardvern had returned to its feeding grounds, only to find three tiny intruders standing right in the middle of its crops.

Lucy went completely white, her knees knocking together as Happy instantly zoomed behind her head for shelter.

Natsu took one confident step forward, slamming his fists together as bright, roaring dragon fire erupted across his entire upper body, melting the frost for ten feet around him. His grin grew absolutely enormous. "There you are."

Done. Tell me what you think? What do you think will happen next? Until next time on Dimensional Watch DXD.