Chapter 12

Wilman2009- I'll try and explain it as best as possible.

shadowedge27- You might be onto something with the horde of Black Beast. Or are they?

DB-20- I never said Hazama wasn't in this. And no Flare isn't in the harem.

Dread- Thank you. I'll try and update as quickly as possible, but writer's block is quite annoying really.


Some bar


"Your god damn kidding me?" Ragna yelled in disbelief as everyone in the guild was seething in rage. When team Natsu, sans Lucy, and Gajeel came back from whatever Gajeel wanted to show the Dragon slayers, they were rigid with anger. When they asked what's going on and where's Lucy, they explained in detail of what happened.

They first started with what Gajeel wanted to show them in the first place, which was a graveyard filled with dragon skeletons, something that interested many of them, Levy included. Things then turned weird when they told them about how Wendy summoned the spirit of a dead dragon in order to figure out what happened to the dragons, which they then told everyone in the guild. Finding it interesting, Ragna ignored his questions for the time beings so that they could listen to the rest of the story, which soon turned dark when they had told them about colonel Arcadios, the eclipse gates, and his plan. It was then that things began to go downhill when the Royal army came with the defense minister, Darton, and arrested both Lucy and Yukino, who was with the military and with Arcadios at the time. Once he had them escorted out of the caves they were in, he gave them an ultimatum. Win the Grand Magic games and he'll have Lucy and Yukino go free.

"We're not." Gray said fists clenched tightly. "Those bastards are going to pay for this."

"The kingdom will come later." Erza said. "For now, we have to focus on getting our friends out and winning the games."

"Indeed. And I have a plan for both." Said a voice before a little girl appeared on the bar's counter.

"Master Mavis!" Makarov yelled. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I heard about your little problem and decided to help out." Mavis explained before turning serious. "And I have the perfect plan." She then began to explain the plan in detail. Upon hearing one part if the plan, Ragna spoke out.

"Wait. You want us to just stand around for some time in the arena for god knows how long until its time to attack? That's crazy!" He winced a bit when he was suddenly hit in the head by Makarov.

"Fool! You shouldn't question the first master and her wisdom!" Makarov yelled his hand going back to normal. Ragna just glared at him in annoyance and was about to retort when Mavis suddenly giggled.

"Its completely fine, third master." Mavis said, defending Ragna. "He has every right to be skeptical of my plan. After all, it does sound stupid in hindsight. And I'm sure that your other children think the same." Upon hearing that, everyone else just whistled or stood there awkwardly. With that, Mavis turned to Ragna. "I completely understand, and I assure you. It will work. Just trust me. Everything will go exactly as I predicted." Ragna just stood there, still skeptical of the plan. To him, it sounded completely stupid and insane. The little rabbit or Kokonoe would have done a much better plan than this. Or at the least, one that didn't require them just standing still for some time. Still, he supposed he could play along until it looked like they'll lose from this.

"Fine, I'll play along, but the moment I think that we'll lose, I'm going out there and fight." Mavis just nodded her head in understanding.

"That can easily be rectified. Now, since my plan requires you and Laxus, the rest must be decided now along with who will go on the rescue mission." Upon hearing that everyone began to argue and talk amongst each other on who will go on what.


The next day

Coliseum.


"This plan better work." Ragna said as he waited for the judges to start the event.

"You and me both." Gray said, wondering why Mavis thought this was a good idea. Laxus just lightly bumped him, knowing that they needed to be at tip top shape for this.

"Just trust the first master alright." Laxus said. "She's never failed before. She won't today." Ragna was about to argue on this, but the judges started the event. With that, the other teams began to run out into the city. Once there, they'll began to fight amongst each other. The Fairy Tail team, on the other hand, was standing still, much to the confusion of the audience and the judges, except one, who just smiled at this. As time passed and the other teams began to catch up to Fairy Tail, Ragna looked on his teammates, wondering why the Mavis decided to choose these guys. Laxus and Gajeel he could get, they're dragon slayers, but Juvia and Gray? Why not Erza or Natsu? Heck, even Mirajane would perform much better than them in the tournament and not on the sneak mission. He could get that they wanted some heavy hitters should they ever be spotted, but wouldn't Juvia and Gray be a much better choice to get Lucy and Yukino out. Shaking his head, Ragna just waited until Mavis gave the signal, which caused them all to rush out to meet their opponents. Sighing at this stupid plan, Ragna ran toward the location where Mavis told him to go. As he ran toward his location, he saw the scoreboard.

"Not bad. We're still in the lead." Thought Ragna as he saw Fairy Tail was still in the lead with several points. Though Sabretooth managed to score a massive amount of points during the first few minutes of this challenge, Fairy Tail was still in the lead, which soon increased when the announcers began to call out various competitors being taken out by Fairy Tail. If this keeps up, then there's no way that Sabretooth will win this tournament unless there's a loophole in the point system. "And knowing my luck, there is. Guess we'll just need to just take out everyone that isn't Fairy Tail then." Soon, he was approaching the location where Mavis told him to go, the place where he'll face off Minerva. "This the place, huh? Guess I'll just have to wait." As he did so, he recalled the instructions of Mavis, ensuring him that Minerva will undoubtedly go after him because of his strength. She reasoned that Minerva, due to her pride, will go after the strongest competitors of the Grand Magic Games, which included him, as a way to show her superiority. And Ragna had to agree, her brutal assault on Lucy seemed to point to her being the kind of person that has a massive ego. "Reminds me of Kokonoe, just without the scientific mind or the hidden heart she had." He waited and waited, seeing the numbers of the guilds still left, Quattro Cerberus and Blue Pegasus having been taken out relatively quickly, go up, he suddenly felt a presence fast approaching.

Turning around, he saw Kagura coming right at him, sword at the ready. "Goddamnit. Always something that mucks up the plan." Thought Ragna as he blocked a strike from Kagura with his own sword. The two then commenced a sword fight with each other blocking the other's sword. When they crossed swords for the twelfth time, Ragna spoke to her while trying to overpower her with some of his strength, knowing that he was more powerful than her. "Guess we're fighting each other, after all, huh?" Kagura just nodded.

"Indeed." Kagura said. "Now show me if your reputation is true or false!" She then broke the cross and kicked Ragna in the knee. He grunted before dashing away from her before she could swing her sword at him. As she charged at him, Ragna waited until she was close enough that he could use Hell's Fang on her without her noticing until it was too late. Once she was in the desired range, he let loose his attack. To his surprise, however, Kagura just slid under him before kicking him on the side, pushing him away. He recovered swiftly, however, and was back on his feet before charging at her.

"Okay, let's get this over with!" With that, Ragna let loose a wave of dark energy before jumping up and slamming his sword on Kagura, who dodged both attack before counterattacking. Upon dodging her attack, Ragna let loose a fury of kicks and punches before ending with a punch to the chin, all of which Kagura dodged except for the last one. With her dazed for a moment, Ragna grabbed her by the neck and threw her to the ground before slamming his sword on her. Fortunately for Kagura, she recovered and rolled out of the way. She then jumped out of the way when Ragna launched a monstrous head at her in retaliation for his last attack failing to hit its mark.

"Tough as you look Kagura." Ragna said, seeing she wasn't even fazed with him slamming her to the ground. "Would like this to last for a while, but I'm on a timetable. So, let's finish this." He then turned his sword to its scythe form and was about to engage Kagura again when the two felt something was off. In response, the two jumped from their original position just as something appeared over their original position, orbs that distorted their sight of said position, before exploding.

"Minerva." Kagura said, knowing who had that type of magic. As if on cue, Minerva herself appeared from an orb, looking regal as a queen. Upon seeing her two opponents, Minerva let out a chuckle.

"Finally, opponents worthy of a queen." She eyed them both with prideful eyes and a devious smirk. "I heard a great deal about you two, of your achievements. Let me assure you two that those achievements of yours are nothing when compared to mine. You two should honestly be honored with being beaten by me. Few rarely get the chance."

"Yeah right. Like I'll ever feel honored by you." Ragna said as he got ready for a fight. "Let's just fight." Kagura just readied her sword, also on board with just fighting. Minerva just smirked, agreeing as well. The three stared down at each other, waiting for one to make the first move. As the wind blew on their faces, the three got ready for the upcoming fight. They stood there for several minutes, ignoring all the fighting coming from other parts of the city, before suddenly charging at each other.

"Hell's fang!" Ragna yelled as he charged at Minerva, his fist engulfed with dark energy. She just chuckled as she distorted space around her hands before charging at Ragna. Their fists connected and the resulting attacks canceled each other as well as causing the ground to be destroyed due to the shockwaves. Minerva was about to use her other hand on Ragna's face but was suddenly kicked in the side by Kagura, who also slammed her Katana's sheath at Ragna's cheek, sending both combatants to the ground. Ragna just recovered at her attack before coming at Kagura, who charged at Ragna, wanting to finish her fight with Ragna first before focusing on Minerva. Minerva, meanwhile, just scoffed before going back into the fray.

The three combatants went haywire, attacking each other with such ferocity that both amazed and terrified the audience that watched. Each was trying to get the upper hand on one opponents only to be suddenly attacked by the third combatant. Ragna managed to land a blow on Kagura, distorting her a bit, before being hit by a blast of magic from Minerva, who was then tripped by a recovered Kagura. The three went all out on each other, not giving anyone an opening, until Kagura went into the air to try and finish Minerva off. To her shock, Minerva just smirked before teleporting out of the way, causing an attack from Ragna to hit Kagura instead, sending her flying out of their initial fighting arena and to another one below. It was then that Minerva landed near Kagura, who was still recovering from Ragna's attack. She was about to finish her off when Ragna kicked her in the face, sending her flying. He was about to follow up with a blow from his sword when Kagura jumped him, forcing him to fight her once again. Annoyed with how this was going out, Minerva began to chant. Before their eyes, both Kagura and Ragna were engulfed by a ball of distorted space. As she chanted, Minerva let out a devious smirk.

"This is your doom!" Minerva yelled after finishing the chant. It was then that the balls exploded, engulfing the entire area near the three combatants to be engulfed in light. As the light started to dissipate and be replaced with smoke, the audience began to worry about Ragna and Kagura, hoping they were alright. As the dust cleared, their teams sighed in relief when they saw that both combatants were alright.

"Damn. Such destructive power." Thought Ragna was looked around him, seeing that everything near them was reduced to rubble. "Those Grand Magic Game staff better not put a bill on our heads for this." He then looked to see Minerva and Kagura. Minerva, despite her attack failing to end them, still had her smirk, looking somewhat impressed at their durability. "Damn bitch. I'm going to wipe that smirk off your face today." He then looked at Kagura, who was the worst for wear of the three. Her outfit was in tatters, exposing her cleavage and parts of her legs. She also had multiple scratches on her face and her hair was all over the place. Despite all that, she was still up and ready to fight again. "That all you got, Minerva? Cause we're just getting started." To his annoyance, Minerva simply chuckled.

"Not at all." Minerva said, still sounding smug as ever. "To be honest, I'm impressed with both of you. Nobody has ever managed to take a blow from that spell and survive before. It'll be a pleasure to destroy both of you." She then smirked. "But then I'll be vulnerable to the rest of your guildmates as well as the other guilds and I can't afford that. So, I'll just let you both fight each other and take out the victor when they're weak." Ragna just clicked his tongue at that.

"What? You interrupted our fight and you're just going to leave? What kind of coward are you?" To his surprise, Minerva just shook her head.

"I'm not being a coward. I'm just being smart. Something you're not capable of it seems." Ragna just growled at that. "Of course, I also know that I'll have to force you two to fight otherwise you both will just team up on me. So, I give you this." She then summoned a ball of magic, from out of nowhere. As it appeared before them, Kagura let out a gasp of shock.

"Millianna." Kagura said, rage building up inside her, as she saw her friend in that bubble.

"What the heck is this, Minerva?" Demanded Ragna, though he knew the answer. She was using Millianna as a hostage in order to force Kagura to fight him. Failure to do so will result in Minerva hurting and torturing Millianna.

"A simple hostage situation." Minerva said as she looked at Millianna trying to escape. "The rules are simple. You two fight until one of you is beaten, then I'll fight the victor. And she's insurance to make sure you two do fight each other. If you don't, then I'll torture the poor girl until you do."

"You!" Kagura growled as she tightened her grip on her sword. "How dare you resort to such trickery on the battlefield! Have you no honor?"

"Honor is worthless on the battlefield, girl." Minerva said. "It's winning that matters. A queen such as I knows this. And so, should you. You're just as ruthless as I am." Hearing that caused, Kagura to charged at her, sword at the ready. Minerva just smirked before teleporting away and swapping places with Ragna, who fortunately reacted enough to block Kagura's strike with his own sword.

"Damnit. If we don't fight each other, who knows what Minerva will do to Millianna. Thought Ragna as he saw Minerva looking at them, obviously waiting for their answer. "Guess we'll be playing her rules for now." Pushing Kagura away, he looked at Minerva. "Alright, I'll play your little game. I'll fight Kagura alone. But you better let Millianna go after this." Minerva just chuckled at that.

"Of course, I don't care which of you wins, just as long as one of you loses. I'll let her go when a victor has emerged." With that she opened a portal and left with Millianna. Just before she did, however, she spoke. "I hope you agree as well, Kagura. I might do something distasteful to Millianna if you don't." Kagura just gritted her teeth before speaking.

"I will. Just leave Millianna alone!" Satisfied, Minerva then left, leaving the two alone. Looking at Kagura, Ragna readied his sword.

"Better not hold back, you're going to need it." Kagura just turned an eye to Ragna.

"I won't. I don't have mercy for my enemies." She then readied her sword. "You better not hold back as well, Ragna. I'll be disappointed if you did."

"Trust me. You don't want me to go all out." Thought Ragna before charging at Kagura, who also charged at him. Their swords connected and the two engaged in a sword fight, one giving it their all while one was holding back in fear of severely hurting his opponent. "Got to end this quickly. Who knows what Minerva will do to Millianna." With that thought, he broke the fight and tried to kick Kagura away so he can finish her off with Carnage Scissors. Unfortunately, she just jumped and aimed her sword hilt at him as she fell back. Dashing out of the way, Ragna witnessed the sword just create a large cave in on the ground he was just standing in a few seconds ago. "Damn that is a powerful sword. Just what the heck is it?" They were about to attack again when the floor gave away, causing them to freefall to the lower parts of the city.

Not deterred by this, Ragna and Kagura went at each other, kicking or trying to slice each other with their swords. Seeing they were approaching the ground, Kagura then used one of her sword forms and charged at Ragna, who emitted a barrier to protect himself. To Kagura's surprise, Ragna's barrier held, albeit barely. Before she could do anything Kagura rammed his elbow at her face, disorienting her and causing her to crash on top of a roof, causing to cave in as well as causing a cave in from where she landed.

"Impressive shield." Thought Kagura as she got up, seeing Ragna land near her. He looked impassive, but ready for another go. "I didn't want to use my sword's full potential, especially on a friend, but if this keeps up, I may have to." Rolling one of her arms to relieve the stiffness in it, she was about to go again when Ragna spoke.

"You sure you want to go at me again, Kagura?" Ragna lazily held his sword as he spoke. "Cause right now, I'm not sure you'll win against me." Kagura's eye twitched at that. Was he mocking her? "You're strong Kagura, I'm not denying that, but you're not strong enough to beat me. Trust me. Better for the both of us if you just give up here and now." Kagura just gritted her teeth at that. How dare him to ask her to surrender. Who did he think he is? She was the ace of Mermaid Heel and their strongest mage. If she just surrendered to him, her guild's, much to her distaste as she knew how strong Ragna is, reputation would plummet as his guild was considered the weakest of all the guild in Fiore. Then again, if they won the Grand Magic Games then they wouldn't be considered as such anymore. But aside from that, she would be damaging her own pride for surrendering. It simply wouldn't allow her to surrender. Not yet at least.

"You should know that I'm not surrendering to you. I'm going down fighting, Ragna." Kagura said as she brandished her sword.

"Yeah, kind of expected that really." With that he got ready for a fight. Without warning, Kagura charged at him in blinding speeds. She then kicked him in the shin before following up with her sword's scabbard hitting his neck. Quickly recovering, Ragna just threw a punch at her, engulfed with dark energy. The punch threw her back to a pillar as well as healing Ragna. Glaring at her opponent, Kagura looked at her sword.

"I didn't want to use this, but if I want to win…then I have no choice." Kagura then sighed before removing the bandages to her sword, surprising Ragna a bit.

"Guess I'm going to face that sword's full potential huh?" Ragna asked. Once she was done, Kagura just looked at Ragna, still a little peeved at him asking her to surrender.

"Yes. Forgive me, but I must win this for my friend and guild." Kagura said as she unsheathed her sword. Once she did, Ragna felt the amount of energy and power the sword had as it was unsheathed. It felt vengeful and a bit wrong. Its like the sword wanted to taste the blood of its master's most hated enemies.

"Damn. What the hell is that sword? If I didn't know any better, that sword is a Nox Nyctores." Thought Ragnathe wave of energy from the sword washed over him. He noticed Kagura looking a bit uncertain at using the unsheathed sword to its full potential before she steeled herself.

"Prepare yourself, Ragna." Kagura said, silently hoping that she wouldn't kill Ragna with her sword. She didn't want her first kill to be one of her friends. Readying himself, Ragna got ready for a fight. The two starred at each other for awhile before Kagura suddenly charged at Ragna again, her sword glistening in the light of the sun. Shielding himself from her sword, Ragna was shocked to see it breaking through with ease and cutting him in the chest. Backing off, Ragna examined the wound. It wasn't deep or fatal, but it still shocked him.

"Damn. Okay, defense is out the window. Time to go on the offensive." With that Ragna charged at Kagura, his sword at the ready to face Kagura's. As the two sword met, Ragna felt the power behind the sword as it met his. It was also represented in how Kagura managed to push her sword tip near his face with the force of her sword alone. Knowing that he'll need to put more effort into this fight now, Ragna pushed her back before attempting to kick her in the gut, which she dashed away to safety. Needing to end this fight now, Kagura decided to put all her energy into one last attack. As she watched Ragna moving toward her, she readied herself. Dodging his initial strike, she used her gravity magic to its fullest potential, trapping him in one spot.

"Forgive me Ragna." Kagura said with a hint of regret before unleashing a slash from archenemy. The slash became an actual projectile and began carving a massive scar across Crocus. As it approached Ragna he let out a single swear word. The projectile then hit him and caused a massive cloud of dust and smoke to fly up to the air. As she watched the dust subside, Kagura couldn't help but feel regret at what she'd done. She just used her unsheathed sword, something that she swore to only use when she faced Jellal, her brother's killer, on what's potentially her first friend on the opposite sex. Shame filled her as she watched the dust finally subside. When it did, however, she gasped out loud and widened her eyes in disbelief. To her shock and relief, Ragna looked fine. In fact, aside from a few bruises and a few tears on his jacket, he looked the same as when the fight initially started. Though she was relieved that he was fine, she was in disbelief that her attack did nothing to him. "How did you survive?"

"If you see the stuff I fight, then you wouldn't be saying that." Thought Ragna as he rolled his arms to ease their stiffness. "I'm just that good. Used one of my attacks to move out of the way of the attack." Ragna, in a stroke of brilliance that even the rabbit would acknowledge, used Hell's fang to move out of the way. It wasn't much, but he managed to get out of the large white projectile, though he was too close to the projectile for his comfort. "Since I dodged your last attack, I'm guessing you want to give up now?" Though annoyed that he asked her to surrender again, she knew she didn't have any options left. She put all her remaining energy to that last attack. And since he looked like he still had a lot of energy to fight, Kagura just sighed.

"I have no choice." Kagura said, swallowing her pride. "I surren…" She couldn't say anymore when Ragna suddenly dashed toward her and grabbed her. He then dashed again just as a ball of magic emerged from their initial spot and detonated, creating a sizable creator where Kagura was standing.

"Guess you got sick of waiting, huh Minerva?" Ragna sarcastically asked as he saw Minerva emerging from a portal. Though annoyed, she didn't do the killing blow to Kagura, she still kept her smug face.

"No, I simply saw an opportunity to get points and I attempted to seize it. But you got in the way." Ragna just huffed and put Kagura down, who immediately got up, glaring at Minerva and her dishonorable ways of fighting.

"I surrendered to Ragna. He's beaten me. And according to our terms, you're to release Millianna. So, do so!" Demanded Kagura. Minerva just glanced at Kagura, rage building in her.

"You don't tell a queen what to do." Minerva said. "But I'll humor you." She then snapped her fingers and Millianna came out of a portal. Kagura gasped upon seeing her condition. She had bruises all over her body and was groaning in pain. "I grew bored watching you two fight, so I decided to torture the cat here. It was quite enjoyable. You should try it." Kagura just glared at Minerva while Ragna just tightened his hands into fists. Minerva's attitude was reminding him so much Terumi right now and it was angering him to no end. He was so angry that his Grimoire started acting up again, like back with Flare, which soon subsided when he calmed down. He then looked at the holographic board near them and saw Sabretooth gaining a point, likely because Minerva defeated Millianna, which was latter confirmed by the judges, who while disgusted with her actions, had to give her the point.

"I'll make you pay for this!" Growled Kagura before attempting to charge at Minerva, only to be stopped by Ragna.

"You can't face her now. You're too weak from our fight." Ragna said. He then looked at her with determined eyes. "I'll take care of her for you. You just get Millianna away from here and to her teammates." Kagura gritted her teeth at this, knowing that Ragna was right. There was no chance that she can win against Minerva at her state and Millianna needed help now. Sighing to herself, she looked at Ragna.

"First, I surrender to you Ragna the Bloodedge." She then looked to see Fairy Tail gaining ten points as she was the leader of Mermaid Heel. "2nd, make her pay for hurting Millianna. And 3rd, be careful." She then sped toward Millianna and grabbed her. Glaring at Minerva one last time, she hurried away from the battle that would commence soon.

"Trust me. She's going to regret soon."The two remaining combatants looked at each other for a moment before charging at each other, both eager to inflict pain on the other. As they fought a figure was watching them, interested in only one combatant.

"My, my." Said the figure as he watched Ragna fight. "Holding back, are you, Ragna? Quite disappointing, really? And to think that you beat Terumi by yourself with such a way of conducting combat." The figure then sighed. "No matter. I suppose it's for the best. I need more data on Sabretooth after all." The figure then thought of the Fairy Tail rescue team and chuckled. "Your friends, on the other hand, will give a lot of data once my associate battles them." The battle continued on as the day started to turn into night. Minerva, who was fighting Ragna, just growled as he dodged another one of her attack.

"Stop dodging and actually fight!" Demanded Minerva as she launched another orb at Ragna, who simply just sliced it in two. Ragna just scoffed.

"Why the hell should I?" He then dodged another projectile from Minerva. "Didn't you try and wait until Kagura and I were done fighting, so you could take out the winner when they're exhausted?" Minerva just clicked her tongue before trying to grab Ragna with one of her orbs. Fortunately, Ragna, sensing the danger, just moved out of the way. "Goddamnit. If it weren't for Mavis's plan, I would have mopped the floor with her by now. Why the hell was she so adamant on me stalling Minerva. She's more interested in me than everyone else. And she seems so confident in her own teammates to take care of the others. So why is Mavis fixated in me delaying Minerva?" Pushing those thoughts aside, Ragna just focused on distracting Minerva. At least for now. "Few more minutes. After that, she's going down." As Ragna continued his streak of dodging and just plain destroying Minerva's attacks, Minerva finally had enough. Deciding to try a new tactic, Minerva decided to taunt Ragna into fighting her.

"If you don't put any effort into our fight, Ragna, then you'll force to make you fight." Upon hearing that, Ragna looked at her.

"You better not drag more people into this, Minerva. This is between you and I alone." She just rolled her eyes at that.

"Please, a queen does as she pleases. And I'll bring as many pawns as I please." She then opened a portal. "If you don't mind, I'll think I'll pay one of your friends a visit. They must be weak enough that I can easily destroy them with ease. Perhaps I'll make them suffer for your lack of effort." As she was about to enter the portal, she sensed imminent danger. Dashing away from the portal, she saw Ragna slash threw it before landing and looking at her in anger.

"You bitch! Alright fine. If you want me to fight you, then I'll do it." Ragna then charged at her, sword at the ready. Smiling at how easy it was to get him under her thumb, Minerva waited as he charged at her before encasing Ragna into an orb. She then telekinetically tossed the orb around like a rag doll, causing it to smash into multiple pillars, before causing it to explode. Satisfied at her move, she was about to launch another attack when Ragna came rushing toward her, fist extended out. Shocked to see this, she couldn't react fast enough until Ragna's fist came crashing into her face, which then caused her to be launched toward a pillar, causing it to break and cause rubble to fall on top of her. Ragna just waited for a few moments before the rubble suddenly exploded and out came Minerva, glaring at him.

"You'll pay for that!" She then teleported Ragna right in front of her and let loose a kick to his stomach before letting loose a number of orbs at him, which then exploded, causing Ragna to be tossed around like a rag doll around for a few moments before he got his bearings and raised a barrier around him to protect him from more explosions as more orbs were self-destructing around him. Minerva, who teleported to safety before the initial explosion, growled at Ragna's shield before summoning more and more orbs at him, hoping to overwhelm his barriers.

"Okay. Just need to hold out a little more until her magic is depleted." Thought Ragna as his shield was starting to break. He gritted his teeth as he waited a few more seconds before making his move. As the orbs kept self-destructing, his barrier's strength was starting to wane, causing some of the force of the explosions to come at him. Gritting his teeth as he felt his body be hit with multiple explosions, albeit minimized, Ragna waited until the shield nearly broke to make his move. Just as it broke, he jumped high into the air, twirling around a point before he pointed his sword's tip at Minerva as he fell down. Minerva, who was too exhausted and drained from the barrage of orbs she sent to Ragna, was forced to watch as his sword was coming at her. Fear filled her as she watched the sword tip began to approach her eyes, believing this was the end. But Ragna, who saw no point in killing her, just moved his sword out of the way, before slamming his sword's blade on the back of her head, causing her to slam into the ground with a hard crack, causing a cave in. As he landed, Ragna looked to the score board to see that he had gotten ten points for that, meaning he won. Looking over to Minerva, he saw she was unconscious.

"Tch. Serve you right you bitch." Ragna said as he left, wanting to find more opponents to face. As he left, the figure watched with slight amusement.

"Hmm. Interesting move, Mr. Bloodedge. It seems your creativity has improved since the last time I read your data." The figure then left, knowing that there was no point in seeing the rest of the tournament any longer. "The true event will begin soon, Ragna. And they'll need you at your peak if they want to prevent what I have in store."


Meanwhile

Royal Palace, Mercurius


Cosmos just held her head as Kamika was shaking Uosuke, trying to wake up. Kama just silently fumed as he looked at the path the Fairy Tail mages took to escape the Abyss Palace while Neppa just drank from his bottle. This was certainly an embarrassment for their career. The princess sent them to execute the Fairy Tail mages that were sent here from the dungeons. They engaged them and…well they got their butts kicked hard. They overpowered them and forced Kama to tell them how to escape the Abyss Palace. Having never lost before, this was a hit to their pride. Having finished with rubbing the pain away, Cosmos looked at Kama.

"What's the plan, Kama? Try and redo our assignment?" Asked Cosmos. Kama just nodded.

"Yes. Its our duty as executioners to complete our mission." He then brought out his scythes. "Even if they surpass us in raw magic power, we must still attempt to do our mission. Get ready to move out." Kamika just sighed as Uosuke got up. She really didn't want to face the demon again, but her pride outweighed her fear. Just as they were about to move out, they heard a chuckle.

"Much as I like to see that happen, I'm afraid that will go against the orders of the princess." The five looked behind them to see a giant, even eclipsing Neppa in height, coming at them. The armor he wore was nothing they've seen before. It was black with green highlights coming from his shoulder cauldrons, which were in the shape of snake heads, and head. His helmet had dull green eyes that creeped them out and there was a tiny slot where a mouth would be. His hands were clawed, and his feet had sharp blade on them as well. He wore baggy pants that seemed to be connected to the armor. Finally, his hair was long and straight. It also almost looked scaly in its appearance. As it approached them, it bowed in respect. "Forgive me, where are my manners. I was sent by the princess to investigate the progress on the mission regarding the Fairy Tail mages. I have proof." He then held out the seal that contained the royal family crest. One that only a select few had. The five looked at each other in uncertainty before Kama spoke.

"How come we have never heard of you?" Asked Kama, looking at the strange man with uncertainty and fear. He never seen this thing before in his life. And he doubted the royal family wouldn't have shown him to them. They did their dirty work for them and they had their loyalty to boot. Something seemed wrong.

"Secrecy, of course. You should know that. But enough of me. How goes your mission. The princess wants to know now." Kama just narrowed his eyes before speaking.

"Regrettably, they have defeated us and have manage to escape from the Abyss palace." The armored being just gasped in fake shock before speaking.

"A pity. That's your first defeat, am I mistaken." Seeing them narrow their eyes at him, the armored figure just raises his hands. "No need to get angry, we're all on the same side here. Besides, a loss here and there doesn't hurt anybody. Humbles them I hear. But enough of philosophy, the princess wants them stopped. She fears they're planning something, and she wants them to be taken in." Kama just looked at him.

"Taken in? But she wanted them dead, am I wrong?" The armored being just nodded in confirmation.

"Yes, but recent intelligence has confirmed that they're trying something. She wants to know. Those are her orders. She wants you five at the perimeter around the palace. In the event they manage to escape the palace itself and into its grounds. I'll deal with them myself." A long tongue then appeared from the slot on his helmet. He also made a snake sound. "Sorry about that. Force of habit. Now, am I clear on those orders? If you want, you can ask her directly to confirm them yourself." The executioners just stared at him silently, sensing something isn't right with him. He may seem to be friendly, but there was something…off with him. Like he was hiding something. Still, if what he saying was true, the princess needed them to be on the palace's perimeters.

"Very well." Said Kama. "We'll do what she orders. But be warned, those wizards are not to be underestimated." The armored figure just gasped upon hearing that.

"Why you executioners do care about people. I'm flattered to see you care about me. Should we have a party once this is over?" Shaking his head at the figure, Kama lead his team out of the Abyss Palace. Once they were gone, the figure began to laugh.

"That was almost too easy, I nearly feel guilty." The figure said before looking at his hands. "So, this is how it feels to wield this suit. The power it emits. It almost satiates my hungry, but it can't. Not unlike the thrills of battle. The feeling you get when you see the life go away from someone you killed. Terumi, you've been holding out on me." The figure then began to move. "Well Ragna, I hope your friends are as strong as I believe they are, otherwise I won't get my thrill at tearing their throats out from their bodies."