A Fairy Tail reincarnation fanfic: Krampus in Earthland

The snow was still falling when Krampus and Laxus arrived at the edge of the chaos. Citizens of Snowfield City scattered in all directions, some too stunned to even scream, while others sobbed and fell, trampling over fresh blood and ice. The scent of demonic corruption was thick, sticky on Krampus's tongue like burning tar and sulfur laced with rot.

He narrowed his eyes, body tensing as he saw the towering shadow lurching beyond the collapsed cathedral. Deliora.

"Go," Krampus growled. "Find survivors and evacuate them. I'll keep the bastard busy."

Laxus nodded once, activating Heart Net to locate anyone still trapped or hiding. In a flash of blue light, he disappeared into the city, lightning trailing behind him like a comet.

Krampus stepped forward.

The demon noticed him. Its grotesque maw split open into an unnatural grin, and a thunderous roar shattered stained-glass shards still dangling from the cathedral's ruins. Deliora was a massive, dark blue humanoid demon, with a large, spike-studded torso and limbs built like siege weapons. Its arms ended in scaly, clawed hands, while its two thick legs terminated in birdlike talons—each foot tipped with raptor-like claws and spikes along the back. Around its neck and across both flanks, jagged spikes protruded like a living crown of thorns. A wild mane of hair tumbled down the back of its neck, coarse and black like soot-soaked brambles. Two sharp horns jutted upward from a plate embedded in its forehead, and its mouth, full of large pointed teeth, curled in amusement. Its eyes were hollow pits—bottomless and wide—reflecting no soul, only hunger.

Its stare locked onto Krampus.

"Let's see what you're made of," Krampus muttered.

Golden chains erupted from his back, slamming into the cobblestones as glowing runes crawled along their length.

"Rule of Binding—Guilty Chains!"

The chains shot forward, wrapping around Deliora's limbs with divine precision. Purple light erupted across the bindings, and a wave of guilt magic surged into the demon's soul. This spell was no mere restraint—it rooted into the very core of the target, unearthing buried memories and unresolved guilt, dragging them into the light. The deeper the regret, the heavier the chains became, weighing down the spirit, manifesting emotional burden as physical encumbrance.

Deliora growled in confusion, limbs slowing as if sinking into invisible sludge—but not stopped.

Krampus scowled. "So your conscience is dead, huh?"

The chains hissed, shifting, burning brighter.

"Then let's try something more persuasive. Rule of Binding x Punishment—Sinflame Chains!"

Deliora's charge halted mid-air as if slamming into the unyielding grip of fate itself. The 30-foot demon lurched—veins bulging with exertion—as it tried to force its limbs through the flaming golden chains. Muscles like boulders strained, teeth gnashed, and wings snapped open with a sonic boom, but the bindings wouldn't budge. Inside, Deliora's confidence withered into disbelief.

How? How is this possible? it thought. No mortal... no demon this small... should be able to hold me!

Panic began to creep into the ancient terror's mind—a sensation it hadn't felt since its birth in the abyss. Its instincts screamed, urging it to retreat, to devour or obliterate whatever defied its will. But no matter how hard it twisted or how violently it thrashed, the chains remained resolute.

In a frenzy, Deliora turned its fury on Krampus himself, snarling, "You think you can leash me? I'll tear you apart!" With a roar, it pounced—not at the chains this time, but directly at the figure holding them.

Krampus didn't flinch. Calm as the falling snow, he held the taut line of the binding in one arm, eyes flickering with quiet, focused intensity. With the other hand, he simply gave the chain a sharp, anchored pull.

There was a sickening crack—not of bone, but of dignity—as the massive demon was yanked mid-lunge, its trajectory broken like a puppet with its strings snapped. The sudden shift in force sent Deliora flipping awkwardly through the air. A thunderous thud followed as it crashed face-first into the frozen ground, limbs splayed in an ungainly sprawl.

The image was absurd—almost cartoonishly so. A 30-foot horror, a walking apocalypse, now reduced to a flailing heap under the invisible whip of a being less than a quarter its size. Krampus, 7 feet tall and wrapped in crimson, stood at ease like he'd just dropped a sack of potatoes.

All those years spent rending his own limiters, crushing barriers, reshaping his form under divine weight—none of it had been wasted. His body, his strength, had long passed the point of mortality. Overpowering Deliora wasn't a struggle.

It was a warm-up.

But is it enough... to face Acnologia? the thought whispered in the back of his mind.

Not yet.

His eyes narrowed with determination. One goal at a time.

For now, he would train until he could punch the moon out of the sky.

"Done?" Krampus muttered.

Deliora snarled but didn't respond.

He had plans.

He lunged forward, chains flaring around him like the arms of a divine executioner. With a flick of his hand, new bindings dragged Deliora to his knees. From the air, four swords materialized—not crafted of any known metal, but forged from the Rule of Rending itself. Each blade shimmered with violent intent, ethereal and jagged, their hilts bound to chains that writhed like vipers thirsting for penance. With surgical precision, Krampus stabbed the swords through Deliora's thighs and clavicles, pinning the writhing beast to the ice like a specimen in dissection.

Deliora shrieked.

Krampus leaned in. "You've got about ten seconds before I start playing 'guess where the pain receptors are.' Start talking."

Deliora hissed. "You're… one of us… why betray your own?"

"I'm nothing like you," Krampus said coldly. "You're a synthetic fake that taints the names of the true demon clan. I'm a genuine product. You? You're just a knockoff mistake with teeth. A failed suicide attempt by some idiot who thought he could die by building monsters."

He invoked Trace Relations.

A thousand threads burst from Deliora's soul—fractured histories, brands of demonic contracts, burning oaths. One pulsed with dark light: a mark of Tartaros. Not a full sigil—yet. But one that would tether his soul if slain. Krampus smiled grimly, though a hint of disappointment flickered in his eyes.

"So you're tagged… but not officially inducted," he muttered. "Tch. Can't even cough up any good info."

He tugged the chains again, igniting another chorus of tortured wailing. Deep inside, he scoured his own memories of the Tartaros arc—blurry and fragmented. He hadn't exactly studied the events with diligence, just skimmed through, and now the gaps irritated him. He remembered the end result—Fairy Tail triumphed. But the cost… losses. Makarov's heavy heart. The guild's disbandment. A future he refused to let happen.

"Not on my watch," he growled.

He tightened the Sinflame Chains. Deliora howled. One of its arms began to bubble as sinfire started boiling its soul from within, flames licking at the guilt it never accepted. But Krampus didn't let it end—not yet. Not until the lesson was burned in deeper than the bone.

Krampus invoked Trace Relations one last time, and the results were unmistakable. Though Deliora wasn't officially tied to Tartaros, a link shimmered faintly within his soul—a destination. A place.

"The Cube," Krampus whispered, eyes narrowing.

With grim resolve, he raised his hand skyward. "Rule of Rending x Punishment - Judgement Guillotine."

A massive blade of divine force formed above them, shining with righteous fury, its edge longer than a cart and inscribed with ancient holy script. It descended in silence, swift and final. Deliora's hollow eyes widened at the last moment in sheer terror.

SHUNK.

Its head hit the snow, steam rising from the stump like a condemned soul fleeing justice.

Steam rose as the soul tried to escape—but Krampus wasn't done. He raised a clawed hand and summoned forth ethereal chains, spectral and gleaming with runes, trailing from his fingertips like serpents of judgment. The chains lashed around Deliora's soul as it screamed, struggling to flee its decapitated vessel. The bindings constricted, dragging the wailing essence toward a crystal sphere Krampus had drawn from within his cloak. With a solemn chant, he carved a crimson sigil in the air, the spell locking into place. The soul clawed at the edges of the runic circle, howling in defiance, but the chains tightened and pulled it in, sealing it inside the crystalline prison. The sphere pulsed ominously, a silent compass and cell for the wrathful spirit within.

Laxus reappeared just then, panting, his arms crackling with residual lightning. "All civilians clear. Damn, he was ugly."

Krampus turned slightly, his voice low and calm. "Sorry you didn't get a chance to fight a demon today."

Laxus waved it off with a breathy chuckle, though the disappointment flickered across his face. "Hey, the mission comes first. Civilians' safety, completion of the job—that's the real priority. Action is secondary."

Krampus nodded approvingly. "Well said. Still, I'll make it up to you. Next time, we'll find something with a bit more teeth. Maybe a monster horde mission—you'll have all the punching you can handle."

Laxus smirked faintly but then sighed. "There were some I couldn't save, though."

The shadows in his expression darkened slightly, and his shoulders lowered with the weight of guilt. Krampus approached, placing a firm hand on the younger man's shoulder.

"I've seen this kind of disaster before," Krampus said quietly. "This wasn't just some ragtag group of dark mages playing around. This was a true calamity. The best you can do is make sure the bastard who caused it regrets ever being born. And you did your part, Laxus. You got people out. That's no small thing."

Laxus gave a slow nod. "Thanks."

Krampus turned his gaze back toward the still-smoking battlefield. "Now let's see what this scream's about."

"I'LL KILL YOU, DELIORA!"

A boy—maybe eight years old—burst through the smoke and snow, his fury raw and shaking. He skidded to a halt, confusion overtaking his face as he saw the corpse. The severed head.

"…Who… are you?" he asked, eyes wide with something between awe and fear.

Krampus blinked. That aura. That stubbornness. That hair.

Oh.

Laxus stepped beside him. "This kid…"

Krampus narrowed his eyes. "He reeks of reckless self-endangerment."

"Definitely naughty."

The boy puffed up his chest. "I'm not afraid!"

Krampus could see it though. Beneath the pride was grief. Loss.

Gray.

Krampus watched him closely. The boy's fists trembled, but not with fear. With helplessness. With the weight of a goal he'd nurtured—revenge, righteous and red-hot—only to find it stolen from him. He'd dreamt of facing the monster, of looking it in the eye and avenging his parents. But that chance was gone.

Krampus frowned slightly. He could taste the boy's confusion, the bitter dissonance of having your purpose fulfilled without your hand in it.

"You mad I beat you to it?" he asked gently.

Gray didn't answer, but his clenched jaw said enough.

Laxus crossed his arms. "What, should Krampus've waited around while Deliora killed another village's worth of people just so you could have your dramatic showdown?"

Gray flinched.

Krampus stepped forward. "I know how this feels. But you should look again."

Gray's eyes turned to the demon's corpse. Even decapitated, Deliora's presence lingered like a stormcloud. That oppressive aura, the stench of despair—it hadn't vanished. It radiated from the massive body, even in death. And Gray realized the truth.

He never stood a chance.

His knees buckled slightly, but he steadied himself.

Just then, Krampus's ears twitched. Two more signatures flared across the snowbound city. Strong. Familiar.

Ur. And Lyon.

Three Ice-Make mages converging.

Krampus gazed out across the frost-covered ruins, the crystalline soul-prison glowing softly in his palm.

Things were about to get very interesting.

The wind howled through the ruins of Snowfield City, snowflakes drifting like feathers around the cracked stones and smoking rubble. Laxus stood silent beside Gray, the latter still shaken from the confrontation and the brutal reality of what had just happened. Deliora—the monster that had haunted his nightmares, the one he had sworn to destroy with his own hands—was dead. And not by his doing.

Before the weight of that truth could truly settle, footsteps echoed across the broken street.

"GRAY!"

Ur.

She sprinted into the open with Lyon right behind her, both their faces painted with urgency and exhaustion. When she saw her student unharmed, her eyes welled up.

"Thank the stars...!" Ur exclaimed, rushing forward and throwing her arms around Gray. "You reckless idiot! What were you thinking!?"

Gray stiffened in the embrace, then slowly returned it, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry... I just wanted to stop it. I thought I could... but he was already..."

Ur pulled back and stared at him, hands on his cheeks, shaking her head with fierce affection. "You could have died! I—I already lost one child, Gray. Don't you dare make me lose another."

Behind her, Lyon crossed his arms, a smug expression on his face. "Honestly, you were being stupid. If Ur had fought Deliora, she would've taken it down herself."

Ur turned her head sharply. "Lyon, don't be arrogant. There are mages out there far beyond even my abilities. Just look at these two from Fairy Tail. And then there's Gildarts—I met him once long ago."

Krampus raised a brow. "Wait. You actually met Gildarts? Did he try to flirt with you?"

Ur let out a laugh. "Oh, he absolutely tried. Relentlessly. But I turned him down, and we became good friends after that."

Krampus exhaled in relief. "Good. I'm trying to bring you back to Fairy Tail, and the last thing I need is Gildarts's old flame getting awkward around the man who's rebuilding the guild family."

Ur blinked. "Bring me back? Krampus... I appreciate what you and Laxus did here. Truly. But I haven't been a guild mage for a long time. After my daughter died, I wanted nothing to do with missions or guilds anymore."

Krampus tilted his head, eyes gleaming. "But if your daughter were alive... would she join Fairy Tail?"

Ur looked puzzled. "What kind of question is that?"

Krampus stepped forward with gravity. "A real one. Because I think you're wrong. She's not dead."

Krampus turned to Ur and gave her a solemn nod. "I'm going to use Trace Relation now. Be ready."

He extended his hand toward her, and a ripple of golden light burst from Ur, not Krampus, as the originator of the spell. Ethereal chains erupted from her body and spiraled into the air, each chime ringing like echoes of her past. The magic seemed to breathe, the wind of the ethereal world entwining around her form.

The chains shimmered in distinct hues—countless white threads reaching into the horizon, each a distant memory or faded acquaintance, flickering like stars in a midnight sky. Two golden chains surged forth and latched onto Gray and Lyon, gleaming with the radiant strength of loyalty, mentorship, and the love forged between master and students.

Then came the anomaly.

A single chain, thicker and more vibrant than the rest, pulsed with a deep red and warm pink hue. It curled and twisted upward, stretching into the sky until it vanished like smoke into the heavens. The red throbbed with the resonance of blood—unmistakable kinship. The pink shimmered with the softness of motherly affection—deep and abiding.

Krampus stepped forward and pointed toward the glowing thread. "This chain represents your daughter. These are the chains of fate—of memory and love. They do not lie. When someone dies, their chains are broken. But this one—this one remains whole. That means she's alive. Somewhere out there, your daughter still lives."

Gasps filled the space as Laxus murmured, "I've never seen him explain it like this before."

Gray's eyes were wide with awe. Lyon seemed skeptical but intrigued.

Ur stepped forward, voice trembling. "But... she... she died in that hospital. They told me—"

"They lied. Or were lied to. Either way, your daughter is alive. And I can prove it."

Krampus took hold of the glowing red-pink chain. The temperature in the air shifted as space began to bend.

"Summon Relations."

Golden light spiraled upward, and with a deep rumble and thunderous snap, a vortex of compressed magic opened. The chain convulsed and extended like a rope reeling in its end. Krampus braced his feet and gave one final yank.

With a crack of displaced space, a girl collapsed onto the snowy ground before them.

She looked around eleven, her long black hair disheveled, her frail body clad in institutional scrubs lined with faint enchantments. Shackles still clung to her wrists and ankles, the chains severed mid-teleport.

Her breathing was ragged. Her eyes wild.

"Wh—Where am I...?"

Ur's breath caught in her throat. "Ultear...?"

The girl blinked, dazed. She slowly looked around, and then her eyes locked on Ur.

"...Mother?"

Her voice quivered, but almost instantly her expression twisted, contorted in sorrow and hurt.

"Why!? Why did you leave me there!? Why did you abandon me!? You replaced me—with them!"

She pointed shakily at Gray and Lyon, her legs threatening to give out.

Ur rushed forward, dropping to her knees as tears spilled down her cheeks. "No! No, baby—I didn't know! They told me you were dead! I mourned you every day! I never tried to replace you—never! I would've burned the world down if I'd known you were alive!"

Ultear trembled, uncertain. For a moment, it looked like she would pull away—but then she collapsed into her mother's arms, breaking down completely.

"I missed you... I missed you so much..."

"I love you, Ultear. I never stopped. Never."

The embrace between them radiated an emotional warmth strong enough to melt the surrounding snow. The shackles cracked and fell off her limbs like brittle ice.

Gray turned away, overwhelmed. Lyon rubbed at his eyes as if clearing dust. Neither spoke.

Laxus stepped beside them. "This... this was worth everything."

Krampus exhaled, hands on his hips. "That was more draining than I expected. But satisfying."

He knelt beside Ultear as Ur continued to cradle her daughter.

"You escaped before, didn't you? The Bureau? You were free once. But then... you saw something?"

Ultear nodded faintly. "I escaped. I wanted to find Mom... but then I saw her... with them. Smiling. I thought she didn't want me. I thought I wasn't enough. So I went back. I thought if I became stronger, they'd need me."

Ur gasped. "No... no, Ultear...!"

Krampus laid a hand gently on the girl's shoulder. "You were always enough. You didn't need to prove anything. Those people used you. You were never the problem."

He looked at her firmly. "Do you remember where they took you? The Bureau of Magical Development."

Ultear nodded slowly. "I remember the roads... the smells... the transport they used. I think I can guide you."

Krampus's eyes gleamed like a devil offered justice on a silver platter.

"Perfect. Then it's time to pay them a visit."