Shattered screams broke through the stillness of the early morning. Before, pained screams thrilled him. But these were not his Phantom Lord days and the screams unnerved him.
Regardless, the party urged forward. Through the basement and to the den area, where they revived an unconscious LaCreed. Understandably upset, a bruise forming in the shape of a circle on LaCreed's temple. This was definitely the work of Gajeel's club. Levy threw a glare at Gajeel's direction and he gave an apologetic shrugged.
It was already dawn, sunlight filtering through the gossamer curtains. Levy stopped everyone for a moment, adjusting the young woman at her side to prepare for the onslaught.
"We're going to get ambushed." she declared, stating the thought on everyone's mind. Members in the party nodded in agreement. It was obvious that they were being herded to a central point, probably the Grand ballroom.
"I guess there's nothing we can do but fight," LaCreed sighed in dismay. "Why don't we try going back the other way," he suggested.
LaCreed took three steps before he crashed into a wall of runes. A non-confrontational escape was futile, but he had to try anyway.
Before they had a chance to come up with a strategy, a group of soldiers surrounded them. The group of ten soldiers were strong and took a little longer than normal to defeat.
Levy noticed that the soldier attacked from a long range stance as the fight progressed. She half expected it, the runes acted as an enclosure of sorts. Of the ten, only three dared to fight in close combat.
Levy examined the runes. The structure was crude, amateur at best. She thought for a moment.
'Could it be that simple?'
Thinking back, the runes in Constance's rooms were simple and layered one on top the other to add complexity. The composition was sloppy, poorly written, and definitely the same author.
"W-What are you doing?" Gajeel stammered.
"What does it look like? I'm taking off his clothes," she said as if she stated the most obvious thing in all Earthland.
Flustered, he turned around to give them privacy. He worked with her before, figuring she found a solution to the rune trap. He didn't know all the details, but guessed that the parameters involved clothing.
She passed each article of clothing past the barrier. First she tried the socks and the shirt next. Then, the pants and socks. In desperation, she took off the man's boxers. Gingerly holding the underwear between her index finger and thumb, she tested the barrier. Despite her efforts, the barrier remained intact.
"What am I missing?!" Levy screamed in frustration before tossing a discarded jacket over the soldier's body. Her eye caught a guild emblem displayed on the man's back.
She took off her Council standard issue trench coat. Levy flipped him over and made a copy of the emblem with her magic and placed it on her forearm. Holding her breath, she moved her arms towards the runes. It failed but the runes expanded out before it corrected itself and denied passage.
"It's no use, Shrimp!" Gajeel growled. LaCreed and Lily looked defeated. Both had the most utmost faith in her abilities, but they've begun to look for alternatives.
Levy was not one to give up. Not until they've exhausted all others options. She lifted her shirt and placed the emblem in the same position as the man had on his back. Once again, she moved towards the runes. This time it worked allowing her to pass through completely.
Giddy with excitement, her eyes shining bright, she gave out an order. "Everyone pull up your shirt!"
"There you go. All finished."
Levy patted the makeshift emblem down on Lily's back, moving onto the last person.
"Hurry Shrimp. I hear 'em coming." Time was running out. Gajeel had insisted that he received the emblem last, because he was the strongest member.
Three quarters of the way finished, the attack began and the enemies accosted them. "Too late, Shrimp, they're here."
"Captain LaCreed, get you and your daughter to safety!" Unsure, Captain LaCreed looked torn between fighting and protecting his daughter. "Go! Captain we got this!" Levy yelled over her shoulder.
LaCreed relented, handing Levy his badge before he stumbled out of the way with his daughter in tow. He struggled to preserve his daughter's modesty. "McGarden! You're the ranking officer!" LaCreed shouted. Levy nodded in acknowledgement, keeping her focus on combat.
"SOLID SCRIPT: GUARD!"
Levy casted her spell in time to shield the retreating LaCreeds as they narrowly missed the deluge of arrows and throwing knives. She was unable to completely shield herself and a knife lodged itself into her ribcage.
Meanwhile, Lily hid behind Gajeel and his iron scales avoiding the attack altogether. But transforming into iron scale deactivated the temporary guild emblem. Gajeel was stuck in the runes.
"Change of plans, Shrimp," Gajeel called over his shoulder. "Lily! Fight long range. Shrimp, you're with me."
Studying the fight with the eyes of a seasoned warrior, Gajeel recognized that a disparity exists among the mages. The mages were either really strong or weak. The weaker group fought separately from the stronger group. If the weaker group provided support, they stood a better chance against him.
That wasn't his problem. "IRON DRAGON'S HARD FIST!"
Gajeel managed to pummel three of the weaker mages and a small fraction of the non-wizard foot soldiers. The attack drew the attention of the stronger mages, now fully recognizing him as the iron dragon slayer.
The mages were a lot more powerful than they had anticipated. Each wave of soldiers more powerful than the last. As the battle progressed, Levy noticed that each mage looked alike. They wore the same uniforms and the helmets covered their faces, but she could tell that magic was in play.
"Gajeel! I think we have a mage using replication magic!" She yelled over the fray.
'SHIT!' Gajeel grimaced. 'Why didn't I notice this before?' Internally berating himself.
"It's those runes from earlier," she explained, seemingly reading his mind. The runes were a big nuisance and hindered his dragon slayer senses.
"Do you know which mage, shorty?"
Levy dropped the word "iron" on the incoming enemy. "I can find out in a second."
"SOLID SCRIPT: shockwave formation - discover."
The word "discover" manifested itself before dissolving into a beam of light that scanned the entire room. He didn't recognize this spell. Gajeel looked to Levy for an explanation but held back, watching her face mired in concentration. Her arms raised above her head as she felt the air for feedback.
A powerful surge of a given energy surged through the air, cutting through the dust and fray. "35 non-mage, 10 wizards," she reported, eyes still closed. "There's a mage with lightening magic. Watch out."
Opening her eyes. She spotted the mage in question. "There. She pointed. Two clicks at 10 O'clock and the rune mage has been dispatched. We can move."
"GIHI. Let's go!" He swung her onto his back and turned his arm into a grappling hook to swing them towards Lily on the upper floor. Once there, Levy dropped her to her feet while Gajeel swung to the ceiling.
"Lily! Shrimp! Go towards the copy wizard."
They both obeyed. Working together, they were able to distract the mage, not before the mage called for reinforcement. The lightening wizard was the one to respond.
A bolt of electric current struck the ground a few feet from levy, fortunate that she was able to dodge it at the last half second. Frightened, Lily reverted into his small form and cowered near a pile of dispatched enemies. Levy saw the lightening mage gear up for another attack and more enemies approach.
Thinking on her feet, she snatched Lily into arms. The horde was looming closer and the air thick with static electricity made the Exceed's fur stand on its ends. Crossing her fingers on her timing, she casted the word "iron" several times in front of her.
The enemy neared, the lightning mage aimed a deadly blow towards her. But the lightening redirected, striking her words and the enemies. The soldiers flew several feet in the air before they landed, smoke emanating from their still forms.
Undeterred, the lightening mage re-focused his attack on Gajeel. The air once more prickled with kinetic energy. Distracted, Gajeel was engaged in combat with the replication mage. The wizard took the opportunity to position himself behind Gajeel to attack.
"Gajeel! Behind you!" she screamed in warning. Either Gajeel didn't hear her or heed her warning.
"SOLID SCRIPT: RUBBER!"
Thick bands of rubber encased Gajeel's body as lightening simultaneously struck him. The rubber rendered him immobile while protecting him.
He turned his arms into blade to cut himself out. "Thanks, shorty! But we really got to work on communication!" He grinned.
"I DID!" She screamed in exasperation, turning her attention to the replication mage.
"SOLID SCRIPT: CAGE!" The magic trapped replication mage and Levy added a magic limiter to null the replicator's magic.
"IRON DRAGON: RESTRAINT!"
She glanced over to Gajeel as he restrained the lightening wizard in iron handcuffs. Turning, she added a limiter to the iron bands to nullify the lightening magic.
Once completed, Gajeel looked over to the rest of his team to check their status. The shrimp had her back turned to him, but he can tell that she was visibly injured. She shook as she clutched Lily. Coming closer, he saw a knife jutting out from Levy's side.
"SHRIMP!" Worried, he knelt down to grab Lily from her arms.
Before he could check her wounds, the sound of rushing feet echoed into the room. Gajeel straightened up, expecting more enemies. Much to his relief, a group of rune knights hurried into the room.
"Captain!" The ranking officer called. He stood in front Levy at attention and gave her a salute. "Your orders."
The knife in her ribs made it hard for her to breathe, let alone speak. "Arrest everyone," she whispered.
The officer leaned in closer, unable to hear her orders. "I could not hear ma'am. Can you please tell me again, Captain?"
"ARREST EVERYONE!" Gajeel repeated, filling in for the injured Levy.
"Aye, Captain!" The soldiers carried out his orders.
'CAPTAIN.' The title tingled down his spine. Gajeel liked the sound of that title.
'CAPTAIN GAJEEL REDFOX.' It sounded respectable. 'Yeah!'
"ARREST EVERYBODY!" Gajeel ordered again as the knights scrambled in different directions.
"Aye, Captain!" All around him, the knights acknowledged him. Before, he was usually on the receiving end of authority. For now, he would relish on being on this side of authority. Especially relishing the respect and the prestige part that came along with the position. Albeit, misdirected respect.
"Captain! What do we do with the unconscious ones?" A newbie stood in front Levy to address her while he dragged an unconscious soldier by the arms.
Levy struggled to speak, so Gajeel took it upon himself to respond for her. He already thought the knight was addressing him not her. The newbie was confused on who to obey. Captain Levy was the ranking officer, but a civilian was giving out orders. The newbie chalked it up to Levy's injuries, reasoning that Levy was using the dragon slayer as a proxy.
Gajeel chimed in, "ARREST HIM!"
"GIHIHI! ARREST HIM!" He pointed to the lightening mage.
"NEXT, ARREST HIM!" He pointed to the subdued replication mage. "GIHIHIHI! YOU ARE ALL UNDER ARREST!"
"He's enjoying this way too much," Lily cringed, transforming into his large form to carry Levy.
"Should I tell him that I'm the ranking officer and that the soldiers are following my orders?" Levy asked, as they both gawked at Gajeel. His head thrown back and his maniacal laugh nearly drowning out the chaos. "GIHIHIHI!" Gajeel roared, clearly enjoying himself while he directed the knights.
"It wouldn't matter." Lily face palmed.
"It wouldn't matter AT ALL."
Still, they both had to admit that Gajeel had talent, fitting into the role of captain with precision and ease. There was no way either of them would ever admit that out loud.