behold chapter 4 enjoy
Location unknown
Nier just landed at the location of his next job when he thought went back to when he senses those demons.
He sensed the presence of six demons only to find the dead bodies of five demons the sixth one must of runoff.
The thing is the sixth he sensed was bearly noticeable, to a lesser devil slayer they wouldn't of notice, but after living with this power for 15 years, he learn everything there is to know about this power both the good and the bad.
" well, Wherever the sixth demon went if will show itself eventually," Nier thought to himself, unknown to him the demon he sensed was like nothing he ever faced before.
(Scene Change)
With Natsu
"What the plan Natsu" sting said
" well we're going to rest here for a day before heading deep into the wilderness as you have to perfect your survival skill," Natsu said
"Why?" sting said
"You Never know when your travels will leave you in a bad situation or when you need to make tracks fast or face a powerful monster like a wyvern," Natsu said as memories came back of when he would fight wild animals to test his strength during younger years.
"We have to learn to be self-sufficient if we're ever in a bad situation like how we were passed out after fighting those demons," Rogue said
" Yep and we still have those dark guild eliminations quest and conveniently it shorter to cut through the wilderness to get to the first one" Natsu with a smirk.
Sting and Rogue felt a shiver run down their spines as survival is a weakness for them where it's a strength for Natsu.
Scene Change
One week later
Sting and Rogue are currently sleep in a makeshift shelter for the night, surprisingly their survival skill is pretty good for there age no doubt to the time living with their dragon parents.
They have a long way to go before they reach Natsu level of survival as at the moment their shelter is one kick away from toppling over, considering they are just starting he'll cut them some slack for now.
The next day
"Man that was uncomfortable," Rogue said tiredly.
"You can say that again," Sting said
"Good your up," Natsu said as came into view with exceeds by his side.
"So what are we doing now," Rogue said
"Well we about a two-hour walk from the first of the two dark guilds we have to elimination," Natsu said
"Sweet when do we head out," Sting said
"Hold it sparky we have to come up with a plan first," Natsu said
"Why it's usually Rogue, and I as we go in together watching out back while you go on your own and the exceeds chill outside the battleground," Sting said
"Normally you be right, but it's different this time," Natsu said
"How so," Rogue said
"The job description just changed," Natsu said
"Ok what changed," Sting said not liking the look in Natsu eyes.
"The guild just pulled off a kidnapping of a girl and ransoming her off," Natsu said
"So what's the new plan," Rogue said
"Well for starters we have to employ stealth" Natsu with evident distaste in his voice as he prefers to go head-on as if is way simpler.
"That's easy for me but what about you too," Rogue said
"Well I was gonna have you, scout, the interior while sting stay outside take on any patrols outside the guild with the exceeds,"Natsu said
"And what will you do," Sting said
"Simple I'll follow Rogue's lead into guild hall and rescue the hostage," Natsu said
"Sound like a plan," Rogue said
"one more thing what's the name of the dark guild we are tasked to defeat," Sting said.
"according to the job description, the guild goes by the name shadow serpent.
"shadow serpent ?" Sting and Rogue said in unison
" Yeah apparently that name is an indication of how they only go out at night and any attempt to pursue them lead to dead ends," Natsu said
"Then how are we suppose the defeat them if many other failed," Sting said
" yeah unlike everyone else we have the advantage," Natsu said with a smirk as he tapped his nose.
This resulted in smirk from the two young slayers as they realized their magic gives them enhanced sense.
(scene change)
2 hours later
The trio plus exceeds are close to the dark guild as it just over the mountain and
"So Natsu we're super close to the dark guild what do we do now," Sting said
"well Rogue and I will scale the mountain to find a way in undetected while you take the exceeds take out any scout from the guild," Natsu said
"But what if I get in trouble," Sting said
" hmm than plan B," Natsu said with a smirk.
"what's plan b," Sting and Rogue said in unison.
"simply make as much noise and ruckus as possible to lure as many away, Rogue and I will take out all remaining member in the guild hall," Natsu said.
Sting and Rogue nodded, Sting left with the exceeds, Natsu and Rogue began to the scale the mountainside.
No problem for Rogue since he can turn into shadows, but Natsu has to it the old fashion way.
After a long and grueling climb, Natsu was at the top of the mountain overlooking the dark guild and valley it resides in.
"so Natsu where do we go from here," Rogue said
"As I said you use your magic and search the place in your shadow form to find the hostage if we get her first without letting them no we can go on the offensive without fear as we are tasked to bring the base to the ground, " Natsu said
"Ok I'll be back as quick as possible," Rogue said
"Wait, one more thing hmm if you get trouble don't hesitate to make tracks fast if it means you live," Natsu said firm tone.
"You can count on me Natsu" Rogue said before jumping into the shadows.
Using the shows to his advantage Rogue was able to descend the mountain in no time and found a way into the base.
Not wanting to draw too much attention he travels on the ceiling of the base getting the lay of the land.
he searched one room after another, after an hour of searching he manage to learn the ins and outs of the guild hall.
Last room yet to explore is what he can only assume is the guild masters room, just as he about entered weird marking appeared all around the door.
But it was too late the second Rogue touched those markings he was hit with extreme pain and fell out of the shadows landing with a thud.
He didn't have long to dwell as he quickly jumped back into the shadows and just in time and the door open revealing a large man about as big as Natsu.
He wore black combat boots long jeans, what looks to be a gray tank top and wore a black leather overcoat.
Not much could be seen of his facial feature as he wore a mask, the mask in question cover the top half of his face.
Beised the mask he has gray hair with dark red streaks in it indicating he an older mage, the part of his face then you could see was covered up by a goatee.
That's not all; Rogue saw the hostage in question, it was a girl, best guess she around Natsu's age, she is tied up in the corner of the room before the door closed behind the man.
But something scared Rogue to the core as the man glanced his way with a smirk on his face.
"Only reason your still alive is I know the salamander was sent to take us down. I want to see who's the stronger mage since we been keeping our true strength hidden from your council. Don't worry about the girl she's safe in case things get out of hand and don't keep me waiting." The guild master said as he snapped his finger only for the wall to open up the outside.
At the Rogue jump out of the shadow and glanced at the man before bolting out the open wall.
Rogue bolted out the door, at this purplish magic burst from the guild master in a rage before pulling off the mask revealing none other Jose Porla of the now former phantom lord guild.
"With Makarov dead guess the salamander is the next best thing to getting my revenge" The now revealed Jose said as his thoughts went back to the days the followed when his guild was brought to ruins.
Flashback start
Days following the Phantoms defeat
"WHAT!" Jose shouts as sit in a medical bed recovering after taking on fairy law as Org stands before him.
"You heard me, because of you reckless action as a wizard saint and guild master of the now former guild phantom lord your guild has been disbanded, and you are stripped of your rank as wizard saint" Ord Said.
"Why should my guild be disbanded we were tasked by Jude heartfilia the take his daughter back," Jose said with rage in his voice.
"Two problems with one guild wars are strictly illegal, to begin with, and you should have known that and two it was not approved by the council, and even if it did get submitted, we wouldn't authorize it no matter how powerful Jude heartfilia is," Org said back.
Jose seeth in rage but didn't say anything as not to dig his grave deeper but he silently vowed he would get his revenge for this.
"If I were you I'd get some rest as you have a long road to recover from facing fairy law," Org said before departing.
One and half months later.
It was hard, but Jose manages to be fully recovered from fairy laws affect except his hair as it was still gray, but they were few streaks of his regular dark red color.
He hoped it would all come back over time, now the question was what would he do now, lucky for him Makarov was kind enough to leave his saving intact after their battle, or he is out of the job and out of money.
With his guild gone, any chance of joining or starting a new one is pretty much zero after the news made its way around Fiore that his guild is no more.
Needing a change of scenery, he decided to do some traveling across Fiore as he not welcome in oak town anymore.
After traveling for two weeks Jose for himself surrounded by at least two dozen dark mages, he wasn't scared in the slightest, not want this fight to drag on he figure it be best to unleash his shade magic like when he faced the scarlet knight.
10 minutes later
All 26 dark mages were either unconscious or too afraid to fight as his shade magic did what is it known.
"You What was it you were hoping to do with me," Jose said to one of the few mages that were somehow still conscious.
"We are an up and coming Dark guild called shadow step," the dark mage said
"Pitiful," Jose said it was then his brain hatched an idea, and that idea was how to get his revenge on Makarov.
Flashback end
It was taking time, But Jose manages to bring this piss poor excuse for a dark guild to a force to be reckoned with and to a level that was befitting on a former wizard saint.
He did such a good job the Balam alliance let them do as please as one of the few guilds that could give them some trouble before fairy tail took down two pillars of it.
Unlike the previous guild master who was idiot beyond repair, Jose was smart and made sure every member were up to his standards.
The first thing he did was change this guilds name to shadow serpent which is far more befitting to style on doing things.
Next, he put them through hell for training before he finally let them go on jobs to make a name for themselves before long word found its way to them the magic council put out a request to take them down.
The job went out, and since then they went into hiding their real strength and with the help of some spies they kept watch over that request for the day to come someone accepted the job.
As for the hostage, they took well the opportunity to get vast amounts of money fell on their lap as a powerful individual tasked them from a faraway land who's looking for a wife for his son.
With Rogue
Rogue had finally made it back to Natsu with a combination of exhaustion and worried look on his face, getting Natsu full attention.
"Rogue are you okay it looks like you seen a ghost," Natsu said worried for the young dragon slayer.
At this rogue filled Natsu in on what the guild master said to him before letting him go.
"So what do we do now Natsu," Rogue said
two unexpected guests to show up and they are Happy and Frosch with worried looks in their eyes.
at this, they give the two slayers a brief rundown of what happened and why their here.
Natsu about to speak before a loud boom echo its way across the valley before a white light was seen off in the distance.
"Plan B Version 2 that what we do," Natsu said with a wicked Smile
Two hours earlier
Doing as instructed Sting and the exceeds began to scout the valley floor looking for any patrols as Natsu mention the job request has been up for grabs for some time and figure the guild is making sure no one gets the drop on them.
Not wanting the dark mages the get the drop on him he made good use of his enhanced senses picking up all sorts of sounds.
With the help of lector Sting able to stay off the ground and stay upper tree line hidden by the sea of leaves.
Sting jumped from branched to branch taking a moment pay close attention to any sounds of movement.
he can smell their present, but that isn't enough to narrow the search as they frequently patrol this area based on the strength of the scent.
after five minutes of searching, he hears the unmistakable sound of footsteps but were they animal or human.
he waited there for two minutes before a small group of no more than four what he can only assume are mages of the dark guild.
"do you think those mages are here we haven't run in them at all," one wizard said
"of course their here one of our scouts saw them enter the valley the other day," another wizard said
internally sting and the exceeds were freaking out about how they caught on to them; Fortunately, it was when they entered their territory.
Not wanting to take any chances now was as good a time to take them out, he would go guns blazing but did want to get overrun.
"yeah yeah yeah but we haven't seen a trace of them maybe they were just passing through," The first wizard said
"not likely since the salamander was confirmed when they entered and we were wondering all entrances, they have yet to leave," The second wizard said.
"but don't they have flying cats with them," a third wizard said
"you forget the scout that alerted us has bird monitoring the skies for us," the second wizard said
"Nature calls guys," the fourth wizard said as headed off into the thicker part of the forest.
"don't take to long we have a lot of ground to cover," The second wizard said
After hearing their conversation, the sting figured the second wizard was boss of their little party.
Knowing now was his chance to strike he will the help of lector follow the fourth wizard to where ever he's going.
the wizard walked for solid minutes before stopping in front of a tree, not want to see the man junk sting decide to let the man finish his business.
"all done," the fourth wizard said sigh of relief.
just as he started to walk back to his group he hears a strange sound behind him, he turns around and his met with a fist to the face knocking him out cold.
"man that guy was weak" sting said
"don't forget we three more of them to take care of," Lector said
"I know lector and if their anything like this guy they'll be a piece of cake," Sting said
"you had the drop on him, and you might not be so lucky with the others" Happy said
"Frosch think so too," Frosch said
"do you have to ruin my good mood," Sting said in a slightly depressed mood
"since this is a high A class quest and Natsu ask you to do this by ourselves yes," Happy said
"man how am I suppose too," sting said but didn't finish as his brain hatch an idea.
with a wicked grin sting pick up a few stones on the ground and with lector help got to a high tree branch.
"what the plan with those rocks" Lector said
"simple diversionary tactic," Sting said with smug grin look a bit like Natsu famed grin.
the three remaining wizards were standing there waiting for the friend unknown he is out cold.
"what taking so long," the second wizard said
"must eat more than he thought when we left," the first wizard said unknown to them the white dragon slayer was listening in on them.
"time to set the plan in motion" Sting thought to himself as chucked one stone in a direction their comrades went resulting loud crash.
"guy must have tripped I'll go check to see if he's alright," the third wizard said
he followed the where the sound came from thinking his comrade tripped, no seeing him goes further looking for him.
not seeing anything he turns around think he passed him up only to a blond haired kid for a brief second before his light went out.
For better or worse the wizard lets a scream alerting the two remaining wizard someone is hunting them.
"look like you were right," the first wizard said.
"I can only assume he took out Zander when he went to the to bathroom." the second wizard said.
"so zander was his name woulder what this guys name is," Sting thought to himself as he looks down on the third wizard unconscious body.
"what are we waiting for let's get him," the second wizard said
"are you sure that a good idea he took out two guys from our group Jarrod," the first wizard said
"he had the drop on them but he won't with us as long as you have your guard up Chris" the now named Jarrod said to the now named Chris.
"wonder what this guys name" sting sais as he looks to the third wizard once more before jumping the overhanging branch.
"come on," Jarrod said fought his way through the brush with Chris who reluctantly follow him.
As the two wizards trekked through the wood, heading to where the herd their comrades scream.
sting use the opportunity to examine the wizard further, Jarrod had a calm look in his eyes, Chris wasn't looking too good.
"come on out we know your their" Jarrod shouts.
"dude we don't know if its one person or the whole group," Chris said
"if you say so," Chris said
"it one guy otherwise they would have come at us all at once since they have the salamander," Jarrod said
at this and idea came to sting mind that caused him to smirk, wait above them for an opening to strike.
he didn't have to wait long as the one named Chris was having a hard time keeping up, jumped down putting his plan into action.
"you two looking for me," Sting said as he lands between the two wizards.
the two wizard face him, the one named Jarrod pulled out a blade from what his experience with Natsu is requip magic.
Jarrod slashed at him parallel to the ground, at this Sting duck under the blade like it's nothing as prepares his an attack of his own.
"WHITE DRAGON'S CLAW" sting shouts as to bring his fist to Jarrod's center chest sending back fairways.
he then brings his attention to the man named Chris who has a look of fear in his eyes, not wanting to drag thins on to long Sting bring his right knee to man mans gut before underrating him, sending him flying.
the man named Chris land flat on his back and look him in the eyes before sting knock him out cold as to ease his suffering.
he brings his attention back to Jarrod and sees his the white dragon stigma on his body, he smirks at this.
unaware of what happening Jarrod charges at him and again slice slash and cuts at Sting who efforts avoid all his attacks.
he didn't know it, but his movements are slowing down, before long he was completely paralyzed.
"what is this magic," Jarrod said
"that is the power of the white dragon, and that is the effect of white dragon's claw, you're paralyzed till the spell wears off," Sting said with a smug tone.
"what that not possible," Jarrod said
"sorry, but it is and nighty night" sting said before knocking Jarrod out cold like the others.
"nice job sting knew you could do it," Lector said as land on sting shoulder.
"Frosch thinks so too," Frosch said as he lands on the other shoulder.
"what are we going to do with these guys now," Happy said as he lands on sting head.
"we can't leave them here or risk other finding them, do you guys have any ideas," Sting said
"hmm we could tier them up and cover them with leaves," Happy said
"that good but we can do better," Lector said
"how about we tie them up and leave them on one of the branches high above the ground so no one can find them easily," Frosch said resulting in looks from the other three.
"that's a great idea, Frosch, Rogue would be proud of you," Sting said
"you really think so," Frosch said as his cheeks were adorned with red.
"I know so, and Natsu would say the same thing" sting said
"what are we waiting," Lector said
after 10 minutes all four of the dark mages were high above the ground tied the large branch the can hold them.
"one group down, who knows how many more," Sting said in an exhausted tone.
like that the first group of scouts was taken care of, sting plus the exceeds continues there hunt and came across two more group.
After losing horribly to sting they repeated the process of tying them up like the first group and continued on their way.
the fourth group, however, was different, it was still four members altogether, the first three were easy for Sting, but the last one was different.
one thing was for sure the last guy had a lot more combat experience than the other and what's worse the exhaustion from his previous fight was catching up to him.
the man before him had similar build Jura of the wizard saints, he wore regular jeans shoes and a gray coat, for facial feature blond hair like him and his magic uses is shadows ironically enough, through combat he figures out his name was Johnny.
what was worse is every time his about to land an attack Johnny would effortlessly dodge and counter with an attack of his own.
"Wish Rogue was here to help back me up," Sting thought to himself.
"whats wrong you little fly," Johnny said
"I'm not a fly" sting shouts back.
"you're here with the salamander and him still a fairy fly in our book even if he an ex-fairy tail mage," Johnny said
"man if only there were something white around here I could regain my strength." sting thought to himself then it hit him.
"what wrong little fly running on empty" Johnny said in a sadistic tone.
"frosh happy leave and get Rogue for me this guy tougher than I thought and Lector I need you to go into the forest get me something whiter for me to eat," Sting said
"sounds like a plan but I don't think this guy will let us," Lector said in and so confident tone.
"just so I'll hold him off for you to get some distance" Sting said
"ok then" the three exceeds said in unison before bolting off into there respective direction.
Something was off Johnny was stopping them at all instead he was laughing.
"what so funny," Sting said.
"You honestly think those three can help you and the only reason I didn't stop them is I want to see how the plan of your pans out. So I'll sit right here till this Rogue person shows up or the red cat gets back here with whatever he having him get you, and they will continue this fight. You should be thanking me since it will give you some rest not that it will change anything." Johnny said still holding his sadistic tone.
"will see about that won't we" sting said and sat down taking this chances to get some rest.
with Lector
Lector is currently fly at top speed zig-zagging all over the place looking for something that white enough to be usable for Sting.
this continued on for another minute before a flicker caught his eye, taking a change and head toward the glimmer to come across a run-down wooden cart.
the cart conveniently contains a bunch of old Lacrima crystals that are white in color, he grabbed as much as he can carry and bolted back to Sting in no time flat.
he was in shock to find the two wizard setting down on the ground before dumping the lacrimas in front of Sting.
"I hope to will help," Lector said
"these will do finer Lector," Sting said before chowing down on the white crystals regaining his strength.
At this Sting jump back up in a fighting stance. Johnny followed suit in a combative stance of his own.
"ready for round two," Johnny said
"as good as I'll ever be," Sting said
"good" Johnny said
Sorry i couldn't get this out soone RL stuff got in the way and i had writer's block for the chapter for a week
important note there is a schedual change coming up details are on my profile
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