A/N: Hello guys. I'm back. Here's chapter 21 of the story. Fights and other revelations will be featured on this chapter. Romance will be at minimum at this moment but I promise to make up for it on the later chapters that will soon feature the continuation of the girls' arc.
And of course, the poll was already closed and the first girl to be featured on the end of the arc will be . . . . . . . Chelia! Congrats! *Confetti*
I thank you all for voting and I hope to get more of your supports in the future. :)
There's also a matter of the length of my chapters. From now on, I'll be just shortening them ranging from 5K to 9K due to my schoolwork. It doesn't change anything though the story will be getting more chapters since it was being divided so no worries. Well, depending on my mood to write it again on 10k word chapters then nothing changes really xD. My stories will still get going.
Anyway, moving on. Let's get this chapter started!
Disclaimer: I would never own FT and its characters... Hiro Mashima owns them all.
- Fighting to Save -
Gray skidded a few steps away from the battlefield as he narrowly dodged an incoming debris thrown at him. He grunted as he tried to recompose himself from that attack just now as he looked narrowly at the figure before him.
Apparently, he and the group eventually stumbled unto this figure at the end of the tunnel. He was actually waiting for them to come into them as they were expecting them to show up sooner. And not only that, he seemed to be accompanied with two more persons beside him as they were also part of the group trying to intercept them from getting into others.
It was clear that these three are trying to slow them down and preventing them from proceeding beyond the next tunnel behind them which made him to conclude that it's the way out.
"Are you okay, Gray?" Lucy asked worriedly as she came into view from the smokescreen, obscuring some parts of their surroundings as well.
"Yeah… Just a little scratch... I'm fine. How about the others?"
"They're fine... Happy and Charle are with them." She replied.
"That's great to hear." He smiled before standing up to his feet and faced the figure in front of them. Lucy also turned over to the figure with hostility present in her eyes.
He appears to be wearing some sort of a brown tattered cloak with a mask, placed in a slanting manner that only revealed his right eye to them. A couple of white linens was wrapped in both of his arms and his white spiky hair simply fluttered as the dust settled upon them. Gray and Lucy can only narrowed their eyes suspiciously at the figure as he simply began to taunt them.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me that's all you've got so far... If you did, I might be the unluckiest person for today." Hearing just that made Gray to grit his teeth in anger.
"What do you want?!" Lucy demanded.
"Nothing in particular... Just got an order from the boss that I should not let you two pass beyond this wall." He replied with an uncaring tone.
"So you guys are after the Arcanex, huh?" Gray guessed.
"You catch on pretty quickly, mister." He mused.
"What else it would be? I'm sure there's nothing for you to take on this place except for that thing, am I right?"
The white-haired person simply sighed at his words and could only help but feel bored.
"Well you're right about that. Anyway, should we get this thing started? I'm itching to pummel you two straight to the ground..."
"You seemed pretty energetic about having this fight to start." Gray remarked before moving into a battle stance.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Roddrick, Master Kirge's left hand. Now let's get started, Fairy Tail!" He began to glow in magic power as multiple debris begin to levitate and surround the figure like some sort of a barrier to keep him completely safe from any projectiles thrown at his way.
"Levitation Magic?!" Lucy widen her eyes in realization of the magic he was using.
As soon as the figure was able to finish his magic, he placed his hands forward as the giant debris surrounding him flew towards the two in seemingly blinding speeds. Gray and Lucy had to dodge on separate sides as the debris made contact to the wall that violently shook the entire room.
"Geez, I completely forgot that this place is actually fragile... One mistake and we're all gonna get buried alive, don't you think?" He mocked evilly towards the two who regained their footing before looking at him in disgust.
"This, bastard..." The raven-haired mage could only growl towards him.
It seems like they're not gonna get past to this unless they defeat him. Gray could only frustrate himself as he couldn't help but worry about the others. Right now, they were all scattered around facing different enemies and it's not actually pretty good.
A few moments earlier, they somehow managed to reunite with Sara and Wendy who were also lost in the tunnels ever since they fell from above. But their reunion was cut short from the sudden appearance of the three. Right now, Wendy, Sara and the Exceeds are currently battling the other two on the other section of the room while he was left to face the remaining person together with Lucy.
He must not waste any more time, he needed to end this quickly before more of his comrades become seriously injured.
Clasping his hands together as ice mist formed around it, Gray gathered his own magical power as the ice eventually morphed into a large intricate sword. Looking back at the celestial mage, he began to speak.
"Listen, Lucy. We gotta end this now and meet up with the others..."
"You don't have to tell me that..." She smiled as she picked out one of her golden keys and began to summon her own celestial spirit to aid her in battle.
"Gate of the Lion, I open thee: Leo!" Shouting forth her magic keys, Loke soon appeared in front of him with his usual formal clothes and glasses.
"It's been awhile, Lucy." Loke greeted before reaching out to hold her hand and aimed for a kiss though only to get a bonk on the head by the female mage.
"Now is not the time for that... I'm counting on you, Loke..." Lucy ordered.
The celestial spirit simply smiled as his face soon turned serious apart from his usual flirty attitude towards her. He soon walked over beside Gray to match their footing and gave a confident smirk to the ice mage.
"Yo! It's been awhile since we teamed up..." Loke spoke in a goofy manner.
"Still same as ever, Loke." Gray mused.
"Well, if you put it that way then I guess it's fine."
"Wanna tag along and beat this guy?" Loke could only smile confidently as he used his Light Magic unto his hands as they glowed bright, amplifying the strength of his fists in the process.
"There's no need to tell me that… It's been awhile since I fought enemies."
"Let's go!" The two males soon sprinted towards the figure with Lucy following them for support. Roddrick simply smirked underneath as he waved his hands up above as multiple rock debris flung themselves towards the three in blinding speeds.
"Looks like I'm gonna have some fun with you guys after all…"
..
..
..
Meanwhile at the other section of the room lies a crumbling floor as Sara and Wendy held unto both Happy and Charle respectively with their Aera magic as they looked narrowly at the collapsing floor. Both are displaying slight heavy breaths as they have been fighting for about quite a while now. Apparently, they had to separate themselves to Gray and Lucy in order to get the fight dragged somewhere.
But even so, this is a hard fight for them.
"Are you alright, Sara-san?" Wendy soon asked worriedly over to the blonde-haired dragonslayer who was panting out breaths continuously.
"I'm fine... Just lost a lot of magic from that recent attack." She replied.
"These people are strong…" Wendy muttered.
Both dragonslayers waited until the dust settled as they floated in the air together with the Exceeds. And not a moment later, Wendy and Sara widen their eyes in alarm as the ground below emitted wind blades straight towards them to which they hastily dodged as it crashed over to the ceiling, bringing down debris to the ground.
Both eyes narrowed in alarm as they recovered their positions in the air as the dust settled at the ground floor revealing two white-haired figures.
"Is that all you two got?" One of them mocked towards the two dragonslayers.
"There's no need to taunt that, Milya... We should dispose of them and be done with it." The other person reprimanded her partner.
"Oh come on, Yue. We should at least enjoy this since Master doesn't want us to fight anymore if their other members made it through…"
"Keep yourself focused on battle and don't underestimate them." Yue warned causing Milya to scowl in annoyance before facing up towards the flying dragonslayers with an evil smirk.
Sara and Wendy could only prepare themselves as the two stopped their brief conversation and faced them with serious faces. No matter how they look at it, they seemed to be merciless towards them and that leaves them no choice but to fight to the best of their abilities to win this.
"They seemed pretty ready about this fight... Are you ready, Wendy?" Sara reassured.
"Yes... I've trained to the very best like Natsu-san. I want to be as strong as him so I'll give it all in this battle." Wendy cheered.
"Natsu seemed to be the very reason why you always do your best..." Sara teased which made the sky dragonslayer to blush.
"I-It's not like that!" With a little giggle from the wind dragonslayer, both soon turned once again towards the two with serious faces they began to face them in a fierce battle against each other.
This is now or never. They must defeat them in order to reunite with the others.
"Let's go, Sara-san!" Wendy called out in determination.
"I'm with you, Wendy!" Without warning, both dragonslayers and Exceeds made their descent towards the duo with their respective magics ready to fire against them. The duo seemed content of their own battles as well, showing their faces filled with excitement at the match-up.
"This is going to be interesting... Come, dragon mages...
After that, it resulted a blinding light of explosion that soon obscured the four figures fighting out in the section of the room. A tremor was soon felt by the people around their vicinity as the four finally exchanged their fast attacks and speeds against each other. All of them were simply a hazy blur to the untrained eye, leaving only a trail of shockwaves that shook the entire room even more.
With all of them having to force themselves into a fight, they have no choice but to take the chance as well. Winning against them would be the only option to reunite with the others and reclaim the Arcanex for the sake of their comrade.
The fight is just getting started.
...
Back at Natsu and the others...
Rafael grinned evilly as the place between him and the four were filled with same puppets that were defeated by Natsu and Meredy earlier. Only this time, they vary in numbers and possess the same battle prowess in each of the puppet he summoned.
Natsu could only grit his teeth in irritation as he found too many enemies to handle all by himself. Not that he has a problem winning against them. It's just that he saw how much they're going to defeat them in order to reach unto him. Not to mention that he was already forgetting that he had three other companions beside him to help.
Being the idiot he is, he always wanted to destroy them all by himself but it seems like it's not gonna happen anytime soon now that Erza is here.
Damn, being paired with Erza is like bad luck. He never really got the gist of working in sync with the redhead in terms of fighting. He wanted to punch and break through everything but she was a bit more of an intellectual type to approach battles.
"Well, so what are we gonna do now, Erza?" The dragonslayer couldn't help but ask since he could never rely on his own plan for awhile now despite the situation they're in.
"We need to dismantle these puppets first before getting into him..." She answered before singlehandedly slashing a puppet coming from behind her in half with her sword which made the pinkette to cower in fear.
"But they just keep on coming..."
"In cases like these, we should focus ourselves towards that guy... If he's doing the summons then it's a simple way to end it." She jumped above the two puppets coming straight at her and requipped multiple swords and sent them down to turn them into shreds.
"If that's the case then I'll do it!" Grinning about the plan, Natsu flared up his fists in flames before looking at the floating man above them with enthusiasm.
"Hoh, I don't like that face of yours... Might as well die and be forgotten in this forsaken place." Rafael smirked evilly as he raised his right hand in the air, forming some type of a dark sphere, seemingly aimed at the dragonslayer.
"Heh... All the more reason to beat the shit out of you!" Natsu clasped his hands together before forming a fiery ball of fire similar that of Rafael's
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"
"Dark Void!"
Cluster of fire and darkness soon collided within the room and caused a massive power struggle and also created a tremor that shook the entire room as both powers tried to overpower the other with sheer intensity. Eventually, the attacks created an explosion, prompting everyone to shield their eyes from the blast.
Without warning, Natsu dashed out from the cloud of dust thus appearing right before Rafael with another flaming fist in his right hand. The black-haired man was simply calm as Natsu came near him.
"Fire Dragon's Meteor Fist!" Swinging his right fist towards Rafael, Natsu delivered a deadly blow to the midsection of his body that sent him flying across the room and crashed immensely at the wall that generated a lot of tremor.
Natsu landed safely on his feet before looking at the smoked section of the room and simply narrowed his eyes in alarm.
The fight is still far from over.
Suddenly, light and dark magic erupted from the area as Rafael emerged with a slightly tattered clothes which were damaged at his tremendous crash. Despite that condition, he still grinned as if it was nothing.
It would be a shame if he went down easily.
"I had to admit, that was a good punch... I expected nothing less of you, Salamander." Rafael remarked as he dusted his clothes off from the dirt.
"Well, thanks... Though I still have to beat you in order to get the artifact." The pinkette grinned as he stopped his onslaught for a brief moment to talk.
"I'm afraid I have to intervene as well. Master wouldn't like it if his plans were interrupted so I made sure that no one will be able to stand in his way."
"Listen, punk. I don't know what you and your master are doing but if you get in the way in saving my friends or even harm them, I'll make sure you'll pay dearly." Natsu's face immediately contorted into deep anger as he summoned forth his flames around his body while clashing both fists together in rage.
"Then I must dispose of you before you even get towards our master...Come my servants!" Rafael raised his hands in the air as multiple puppets of the same kind began forming themselves in front of the caster, seemingly guarding him.
Erza and the others eventually landed beside the dragonslayer, seemingly ready to face them all together.
"Don't forget about us, Natsu-san... We all have the share the same reason in saving Ultear, right?" Meredy spoke merrily before summoning multiple teal blades above her, very much like Erza's Heaven Wheel magic.
"... Plus with you here, I feel confident that we can get through this." She smiled faintly to which Natsu slightly blushed from it though he disregarded it to focus on his enemy.
"We're right here with you, Natsu!" Jellal added.
He nodded before finally initiating their first attacks towards Rafael and his puppets.
"Let's go!" Leaping out towards the puppets, Natsu and the others released their magic respectively against them and tried to pick them down one by one.
Rafael simply flicked his hand to summon forth more puppets to prevent them from coming near and also wear them down in the process. He needed to dispose these persons as they pose a greater threat for his master's plan than their other companions. Focusing his attention to the dragonslayer, Rafael simply created white and shadow shards around him and sent them towards him.
Natsu widen his eyes in alarm as the shards came closer to him. But before he could even summon his magic, multiple teal blades and steel swords came from behind him and deflected the shards evenly. He looked back only to see Erza and Meredy smiling cheerfully towards him before reassuring him that they got his back.
"Thanks guys!"
"Meteor!" Jellal chanted as his magic enveloped his entire body, granting him immense speed to skip through the puppets before touching them lightly until a magical circle appeared over to puppets he touched.
"Heavenly Magic: Corona!" After shouting briefly, the circles began to glow bright magic before constantly releasing a barrage of explosions as the puppets were simply reduced to ashes. Natsu and Erza were simply astonished at the power of the Crime Sorciere mage as they were left standing in complete awe.
"You're strong..." Natsu muttered.
"It may not seem like it but we've been improving our own powers while taking down dark guilds over the past five years..." He responded with a smile.
"Yup, we're not the same as we are during that time, Natsu-san... ... So you better watch yourself." Meredy came into view before releasing another set of teal blades towards the enemy. She blinked playfully towards the pink-haired dragonslayer that didn't go unnoticed by the scarlet knight in which it resulted to make her blood boil.
"I ain't gonna lose to you too..." He declared before turning over to the redhead.
"...Yo! Erza! Let's go!" The scarlet knight stumbled after hearing her name before recomposing herself to focus on the battle.
"I'm right behind you, Natsu!" She replied before flying towards him.
Meanwhile, Rafael stared narrowly at the four people in front of him. He was still analyzing their battle prowess since he had to be careful in dealing them especially Titania and the Salamander. The other two is completely unknown to him so he had to take caution towards them as well.
Sighing wearily from the distance, the black-haired mage simply stood up and began to flare up his own magical power against them.
"This has been too long... I'll have to finish this before anyone of you gets through our master..." He spoke in hostility as the atmosphere around them began to tense and the four could only take extreme caution of the impending situation.
The ground began to shake as the pressure of his magic was felt by everyone.
"What is happening?" Meredy asked worriedly.
"It seems that he's getting serious this time..." Jellal noted as he looked over to the mage being surrounded by white and dark magic.
"What the hell is that bastard trying to do?!" Natsu gritted his teeth in frustration as he locked his eyes towards Rafael with caution.
Moments later, a powerful surge of white and dark energy soon dispersed violently as the group were left to shield their eyes in the process and stand their ground from the intense shockwave. Puppets simply faded away as the tremor continued to shake the entire room. Eventually, it died down, leaving only a cloud of dust obscuring the black-haired mage which they were expecting to fade anytime soon to reveal the person.
Their eyes soon widen in alarm as they soon saw an enormous figure standing over a couple of meters tall that made the group to stare shockingly towards it. It was a giant robot with intricate designs inscribed on its body structure. A pair of large arms shaped into a spear-like structure is seen on its sides. The chest was adorned with multiple plated armor that seemed very thick to break with force. Spikes and other dangerous elements seen throughout its body made them clearly think that this is not easily dealt without any sustaining injuries from it.
"What the hell is that?!" Natsu spoke in alarm
"This is the strongest puppet I ever created... The Hellbringer. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to use it in this battle but it seems like you people are a serious threat after all." He guessed.
"Tch, you're underestimating us! Do you think some measly giant thing can stop us from getting the artifact?!" Natsu challenged before trying to leap towards with a flaming fist.
"Natsu!" Erza called out in worry as she felt something off about the giant automaton before them.
"Fire Dragon's Meteor Fist!" Natsu shouted in frustration as his punch collided to the giant's armored chest that sent tremendous shockwaves, causing the group to shield their eyes in the process. Meanwhile, Rafael could only smirk evilly as the attack was utterly useless against his puppet.
"Wha-" Natsu widen his eyes in shock as he found his flames slowly getting weaker as if it was being absorbed from the inside of the armor that caused him to back away, gazing towards the black-haired man with contorted anger and disbelief. Erza and the others were also stunned from the sight.
"Don't get so full of yourself, Salamander... My Hellbringer can absorb almost any magic thrown against him. It is also durable enough to withstand tremendous attacks like your magic. Sometimes, it was even called to be an Anti-Mage weapon."
"Anti-Mage?! I've never heard of such a thing!" Meredy shouted from afar.
"Hmph... It's not surprising that anyone would not know about this thing since it was forbidden by the Magic Council..." He paused.
"... As the name presents, Hellbringer is the answer for any mages out there, including all of you. The world is so divided into two different people; the mages and the people who cannot use magic at all. By making this, I'm able to defeat powerful mages and it seemed that you four will be its next victims." He smiled devilishly before laughing in an evil manner.
"A mage with a possession of an anti-mage weapon... This is pretty bad." Jellal analysed.
"If our magics won't work against it, what can we do about it?" Meredy asked.
"Isn't it obvious? We'll have to defeat that man so that thing won't move anymore... He's controlling the puppet in his hands. If we could take out the user then the robot will be useless anymore." Erza proposed.
"Sounds like a good plan... I'm in." Natsu clashed his fists together, feeling happy despite their situation.
"Looking at the size of that thing, it may be slow but we can't be sure so don't let your guard down... That man could give as much fight as we are so we'll have to fight to our very best...!" The scarlet knight proposed before requipping into her Adamantine Armor.
"I'll hold back the robot while you guys try to disable Rafael from behind..."
"Got it!" Jellal and Meredy nodded in response before leaping out from opposite directions to get past the giant robot. Natsu remained standing beside the scarlet knight which confuses her.
"Natsu?"
"I'm not gonna leave you to that thing... We'll do this together." He proposed but Erza simply denied.
"Natsu, you saw what that thing can do? It's useless against magics. I'll just have to divert its attention so you guys won't have problem from it."
"True, but I can't just let you get hurt by that thing yourself... If we work together we could minimize it... Plus, I don't want to see you hurt, Erza." He solemnly spoke and not before it blushes the redhead madly after hearing his last sentence.
Why did he have to say such sweet words at such a time?
Smiling in content, Erza looked up to the dragonslayer before stroking his pink locks and pulled his head towards hers before gently touching each other's foreheads.
"Thank you, Natsu..."
"No problem... Well then, shall we do this?"
"Just say the usual word." Natsu grinned before clasping his hands ablaze.
"I'm all fired up!"
With that said, the two Fairy Tail mages split themselves into different directions as Erza went towards the front and simply activated her armor, creating a magical circle in front of her shield and closed together to make one powerful defense power against the robot.
"Hoh... The Adamantine Armor... The armor used to withstand even the full force of the Magical Convergent Cannon: Jupiter. I wonder if that will keep you from able to block all its attacks." Rafael remarked as the giant robot began to lock its target towards the redhead with its two large and sharp spears.
A stinging loud collision was heard throughout the room as the giant robot simply drilled its attacks towards Erza's shield continuously. The redhead gritted her teeth in frustration as the force of each attacks rattled her bones. Though able to withstand its initial attacks, Erza had to use much energy in her body to keep her standing against the puppet alone.
On the side of the robot, Natsu sprinted quickly as he tried to maneuver his way across the room before leaping high from a debris and into the air, calling out his flames once more.
"Fire Dragon's Fiery Blast!" Clasping his hands together, Natsu dived down towards the robot's head and slammed it with his flame-enhanced fists that caused it to stumble a bit from its position as the force of the spell forced it to stutter.
Erza took the opportunity to slip her way past from the robot's front and requipped into her Flight Armor to catch Natsu.
The two simply floated away, observing how much the attack could really harm the giant robot as they watched it become static for a moment after taking an attack from the dragonslayer.
Moments later, the robot suddenly swung its giant spear towards the two which they widen their eyes in alarm before avoiding the deadly swing easily.
"What the hell? It has no effect at all?" Natsu spoke in disbelief.
"This will be harder than we thought..." Erza could only ponder in thought as she tried to scan for any weaknesses against their enemy.
"It looks like it doesn't give anything..."
"If that's the case, we should leave the caster to Jellal and Meredy." She looked towards the other side of the room, hoping for the success of the two. With them holding off the giant puppet at bay, they could only place their faith unto those two.
...
...
...
Meredy and Jellal hastily made their way towards Rafael as they sighted his figure a few meters away from Natsu and Erza. Both eyes narrowed seriously before the pink-haired girl summoned three large magical blades and launched them towards him.
Rafael simply flicked his finger before shards of white and dark deflected the blades easily.
"Jellal, now!" Meredy signaled as the blue-haired mage appeared right above her as he began to chant his own spell against the enemy. With two hands placed at front and on top of each other, he activated his spell as seven magic seals appeared around him and marked themselves behind him into a form of a constellation before white streams of light connected each other.
"Grand Chariot!" Shouting briefly, Jellal rains down multiple rays of lights towards Rafael in blinding speeds that came out from the magic circles above. However, the black-haired mage simply smirked before releasing his own magic to counter the devastating spell.
"Umbra!" Placing both hands down, similar black rays spurted out form the ground and eventually met up with the rays of light that resulted multiple explosions that caused another tremor inside the room.
Jellal widen his eyes in surprise as he saw his spell eventually countered with same manner but with different form of magic.
"What the-" He landed a safe distance from the man beside Meredy and stopped attacking each other briefly.
"Heavenly Body Magic... a caster magic that allows the user to use the power of the astronomical objects." Rafael explained.
"You seemed to know about our magics." Jellal remarked.
"Of course, just as I'm exploiting the depths of magic, I've taken the liberty of studying each one of them... I'm surprised that one of you possessed a rather Lost Magic, the Maguilty Sense." He smirked before looking at the pink-haired girl who simply raised her guard up cautiously.
"I see, so you studied all of them..."
"Not all of them... some magics are still hidden from the knowledge of man so I can't say that I knew all of them... The world of magic is vast and mankind could only take a small glimpse on it."
"So I take it that you're a researcher of magic too..." Rafael lightly nodded in response.
"... Then would you tell me about the Last Ages?" He demanded which shocked Meredy.
"Jellal?! What are you doing?" Despite her protest, Jellal ignored her and wanted to listen intently to him if he had the knowledge of the lost magic even he was the enemy. He wasn't expecting an answer but Rafael surprisingly complied.
"You're mentioning about a forbidden taboo that can shake the streams of time at the cost of one's time and body. But why ask me?"
"I figured that if you and your master were here for the Arcanex which involves time then that would make you knowledgeable about other related time magics, right?" He clarified.
"Well, you guessed correctly. I also knew some time magics."
"Then may I ask you about the Arc of Time?"
"Jellal! Don't give away information that easily." Meredy tried to dissuade but the blue-haired mage simply turned towards her.
"This is the only chance that we may able to understand Ultear's magic and the Arcanex as well..."
"That's true but how can you be so certain? We can't trust that guy.."
"Trust me on this, Meredy... If he was telling the truth then I will bet on everything I have to save Ultear when all are revealed to us..." He answered seriously which made her hesitant to answer.
"Fine..." She finally agreed before glancing back to Rafael.
"So will you tell us about the Last Ages?"
"I don't see a problem..." He calmly answered before starting his explanation.
"... I take it that you all knew that what you're talking about is a taboo, right?" He paused to answer to which the two nodded lightly.
"... Last Ages was originally an ancient spell used by ancient people to redone the outcome of the future when doom and destruction are upon them... It was originally referred to what mages call today as the magic to turn back time. However, it is not the physical body that travels back in time but rather the conscious mind of the person." After saying that, Jellal and Meredy could only look at each other as they somehow knew that related topic.
"... When used by the person, other people- no, rather the whole world experiences a prediction of an incoming future which had happened long ago. This was supposed to be the last spell to be ever used on man if doom is approaching to the world. However, the use of that spell will destabilize the current flow of time." He grimly spoke.
"... If one stretched far on turning back time, it would undoubtedly create countless ripples on the stream of time that will result on more destruction from both past, present and the future. That is why many haven't applied the elements of magic towards time since this was a great enigma to mankind. Only one was able to construct such unbelievable feat in turning back time, the infamous Black Mage Zeref." Jellal and Meredy simply froze on their positions not until recomposing themselves.
"... It is he who took the concept of the Last Ages from the ancient times to construct to what was known as the Eclipse Gate." The two widen their eyes in surprise as they found out the root cause of existence of the gate was from Ultear's forbidden taboo.
"T-That's impossible!"
"I won't force you... The Last Ages was already reduced into a mere legend today and it's original knowledge was lost forever. Creating a replica of the same magic is merely an imitation but will not harness the same strength as the original had been. That is why the Magic Council forbid in exploiting its false knowledge as it would bring only harm to the people trying to cast it."
"Are you saying that the people trying to cast it knew that it was going to fail even after understanding it?" Meredy asked.
"Yes and no... People who are naive to think that they can turn back time by the use of the false taboo are simply the ones who are despaired to eventually know the truth of it. In the end, their lives were nothing more but a waste on such an ancient magic's false power-" Without finishing his statement, Meredy quickly launched herself towards Rafael with a giant teal blade in her hands to which the black-haired mage simply blocked it with his hand.
"Are you saying that Ultear's sacrifice is nothing more but a waste?! Are you saying that using that forbidden taboo was in vain to save the ones she truly cared about?! Answer me!" She glowered in anger as she tried to overpower the man with her strength.
"You're an annoying brat. Die!" He tried to summon white and dark shards around him to impale the girl in front of him but was completely surprised as flash of light zoomed past him and grabbed the girl and not before long a magical circle appeared on his right shoulder.
Without giving him time to react, Rafael was engulfed in a huge explosion of light that caused the two to shield their eyes from the blast.
"Let go of me, Jellal! I won't forgive that guy!"
"Don't lose your head, Meredy! We must be calm in dealing such situations like this."
"How could you say that after hearing everything from him?! I can't just stand there having someone to mock about Ultear!" She was on the verge to cry but Jellal simply gazed towards the smoke before them.
"I know what you feel... In fact, even I wanted to beat him up so badly after saying all that." His voice began to contort in anger as Meredy was shocked to find that he was on the verge of losing it.
"... But even so I must keep myself under control... We're already this far to save Ultear, we can't be all losing our temper when we're so close to our goal." Meredy bit her lip in frustration as she failed to keep herself cool at all times.
As they were talking, a gale of wind soon erupted from the spot where Rafael once was, clearing the dust around him and revealed a mildly damaged appearance on the man body. The spell was simply deadly enough to knock people from that devastating blast. It was quite surprising that he was able to stand up straight from its point blank range.
"I had to admit, that really stings... So I guess, talks are over..." He guessed.
"Yeah... We have no more to talk about!" Jellal replied back with hostility.
"Then, let me give a last piece of the information... If one used the Last Ages, he would experience a drastic change on his body's time and eventually will grow old in just a couple of hours."
"So what's your point?"
"You never know what is the second effect, don't you? Using that false taboo gives one an eternal curse of the taboo itself. Even though you knew that the aging process has stopped, the time of the person still accelerates faster than that of a human being... In other words, the taboo will lead the person faster to his own death as his own time was shorten quickly." He smiled evilly, causing the two widen their eyes in disbelief.
"What did you say?!"
"Let's just say a human being lives to a span on approximately 80 to 90 years of age. With the eternal curse of the taboo, it was shorten to only last 50 years for the human to survive a lifetime. I wonder what will that person would be right now after endlessly suffering from the curse up until now... Pretty painful, don't you think?"
"No-No way... That would mean-"
"Yes... Little by little, the person will approach death without even knowing it."
"That's why she was getting weaker all these years..." Jellal assumed for the worst.
"That is the price of using such a false taboo... Death will come of that person no matter how hard you try to help."
"Maguilty Sense: Blade Dance!" Meredy shouted in frustration as multiple teal blades appeared around Rafael and quickly launched themselves towards him without remorse, creating another smokescreen in the vicinity.
"Meredy!"
"I won't forgive him! I will never forgive him!" She shouted in anger as went straight towards the smoke to continue her relentless attacks.
"Meredy! We need to regroup!"
"Can't you hear what he just said?! Ultear's in danger! We need to get the Arcanex or it will be too late!" She reasoned though her eyes soon widen in surprise as Rafael appeared behind her.
"I'm sorry but my master has already made his way towards the Arcanex and that leaves me to dispose all of you here." Doing a roundabout kick, Rafael sent the pink-haired mage away from her by hitting her in the back which shocked Jellal.
"Meredy!" He called out in worry as he simply caught the girl into his arms, preventing her to crash into a nearby debris.
"Hahaha! There's nothing for you to do... It will only a matter of time before Master Kirge has possession of the artifact. This will be the end of you..." He grinned evilly before summoning a ball of darkness from his palm and tried to aim it to the two.
"End of the line, Crime Sorciere mages!"
"NOT YET!" A very familiar loud voice rang throughout the room which prompted the three to stop their ventures and eventually look towards the source of the voice.
"What are you talking about? This battle is already been decid-" He stopped as he was left to open his eyes widely and eventually leaped back a few meters away from the Crime Sorciere mages as a giant metal arm fell between them.
It was not long before the two eventually looked up and simply stuttered in surprise as the giant metal robot began to fall down towards the ground. Its arm was ripped out from its body as it was seen it becoming more inoperable than it was before. Smoke and fire are visible in other parts of its body which also are sustained too much heavy damage due to its broken armor plates.
It was not long before another loud collision sound boomed throughout the room and eventually had the robot' other arm got ripped off. Jellal and Meredy simply managed to get a glimpse of a scarlet blur and could only smile in delight.
"Wha...What the hell happened?" Rafael stuttered in disbelief. His eyes soon darted over to a crimson blur from above as Natsu descends from the air with a flaming right fist.
"DON'T TAKE LIGHTLY ON OUR BONDS! WE'LL SHOW YOU THE POWER OF FAIRY TAIL!" Natsu shouted in defiance as Rafael was left stare oddly at the sight before him.
Behind the dragonslayer was a hazy but intimidating image of a giant red dragon before him, seemingly angered as the flames grew brighter and eventually neared towards the man and collided his fist into his face that sent him flying towards the debris and crashed eventually. At the background, Erza pierced through the robot's chest as it finally fell down to the ground, completely defeated.
Both mages descended to the ground beside the two with sustaining injuries from their seemingly heavy fight.
"Natsu!" Meredy exclaimed in surprise.
"Don't leave us out yet... we're in this together, Meredy!" He smiled.
"You guys..." Jellal muttered.
At the site of the crash, Rafael stumbled out from the smoke as he was left to stare in disbelief at the sigh of his fallen puppet at the distance.
"H-Hellbringer..." He muttered in a stuttering manner as he looked at his strongest puppet eventually taken down by two mages alone. It was supposed to be anti-mage weapon yet it was defeated by tow measly mages.
"Wha-What did you do?!" He demanded as he gazed over to the two mages guarding the two behind them.
"Erza simply used a new awesome armor..." He gleefully cheered before looking at the redhead who faintly blushed in response. Her armor consist of a breastplate, waistguard, gauntlets and leg plates dyed in greenish silver color. A large silver jousting lance is seen in possession on her right hand with well decorated designs over its tip.
"This is the Piercing Armor! An armor that pierces through everything. Even though you're pupper boasts to have the highest form of armor, my armor simply cancels out that logic and pierce through it."
"That's impossible! No such armor can never be created like that..."
"I wonder about that..." She then turned over to the two together with Natsu and reached out a helping hand. Jellal and Meredy accepted it respectively before facing towards the enemy in complete determination.
"This will be our counter attack! Let's go!" Natsu charged in with Rafael taking caution as he created a thousand shards around and flicked his hands down to which the shards followed. A smokescreen blew up into the vicinity as Rafael smirked evilly at the result.
His brief happiness was soon interrupted as the smoke cleared and revealed an unharmed Natsu with Erza blocking the entire shards with her Adamantine Armor.
"Since when did she-" He stopped before looking to the corner of his eyes and found Jellal and Meredy closing on him on different direction with their respective magics.
"Maguilty Sense: Seven Blades of Light!"
"Heavenly Magic: Prominence!"
Releasing both blades and a huge ray of light, Rafael could only block the attacks with his own body as he was engulfed into a huge explosion that reached a couple meters and shook the earth once again. Smoke cleared as the black-haired mage was thrown in the air due to the intense force of the attack dealt in his body. He gritted his teeth in anger as he once again found himself on the mercy of Natsu and Erza seemingly summoning forth their powerful magics towards him.
"Heaven's Wheel: Blumenblatt!"
"Fire Dragon's Crimson Claw Attack"
Two respective attacks went through the mage's body and was sent furiously towards a nearby giant pillar, generating a huge crash that soon caused the pillar to collapse from the top and eventually went down to the ground together with the mage. Natsu and Erza descended through a safe distance together with the two as they left to stand and wait as the smoke cleared on the spot where Rafael crashed.
Soon after, the mage stumbled out from the smoke with multiple bruises and injuries from their joint attacks. He held his right hand over to his left shoulder as his body was able to withstand the intense force given to him by them.
"He was still able to stand?!" Meredy exclaimed in surprise.
"But he seemed seriously injured." Natsu noted.
"Don't let your guard down..." Erza warned before requipping into her Heaven's Wheel Armor and summoned swords just for caution.
..
..
Meanwhile, Rafael faintly smiled under his breath as his face was shadowed by his hair, completely devoid of emotion. He staggered wearily from one step to the other as he tried to match his distance towards the four. His clothes were beyond repair and his body was already at its limits.
At this rate, he won't be able to do anything to stop them from getting further through the ruins with the master.
"Sorry, Master Kirge... It seems like I have to use it as well." He muttered before a large surge of magical power erupted in his body that covered him wholly with white and dark particles.
The four simply stood their ground and shielded their eyes as they felt a tremendous concentration magical power on the covered mage.
"What the hell?!" Natsu shouted in alarm.
"What kind of power is this?" Jellal felt his body tense up for some reason as he continue to gaze cautiously at the magical pressure surrounding Rafael.
Something is not good with that thing.
"What is happening?!" A mildly wounded Sara called out in alarm as she began to see both Milya and Yue covered in black and white mists that obscured their figures from the dragonslayers.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Wendy simply replied back as she saw their opponents being engulfed in a sphere of white and black.
"Be careful... We don't know anything about them and their capabilities. They must be getting serious from now on." Charle added.
"Aye."
Milya blankly looked beside her companion and simply frowned in thought.
"Yue... This is..."
"It seems like Rafael has unleashed it."
"Then that means-" She was about to speak before Yue interrupted her before nodding in response.
"The real fight starts here, Milya... Rafael must've acknowledge our enemies as a real threat. We should dispose of them as quickly as possible."
"Like you never asked." She smirked evilly as she looked over to the two wary dragonslayers one last time before being engulfed completely by the sphere together with Yue.
...
...
...
On the other hand, Gray and Lucy widen their eyes in alarm as they felt a strong magical presence surrounding the entire room as their eyes tracked the source of the magic.
"What the hell is this magical pressure?" Gray stuttered in disbelief.
"This is not absolutely from Natsu... It feels dreadful." Lucy added.
"Princess, look!" Loke soon pointed over to the white-haired mage who also began to be coated by some sort of a white and black sphere. The two simply widen their eyes in disbelief as they had no clue of what's going on.
"Tsk, that damn Rafael... Isn't it too early to use it?" Roddrick clenched his fist tightly in anger as he muttered to an open space before returning back to the two.
"What the hell is going on?" Gray demanded.
"It seems one of my guildmates had decided to use our limit breakers... That simply put us to acknowledge you all as formidable enemies." He smirked as the sphere began to coat him completely.
"What do you mean by that?" Lucy asked curiously.
"You'll find it soon enough…" He trailed off his words with an intimidating manner as his figure disappeared from the sphere and covered him completely thus concealing his presence from the two who were extremely confused and agitated at the same time.
As the sphere continued to rotate and cover Rafael in complete obscurity, Natsu and the others simply back away for caution as something is about to happen anytime soon.
"Everyone, get back!" Jellal shouted.
With the group keeping the safe distance, Rafael finally finished his chanting and finally whispered deeply before unleashing the unknown magic.
"Limit Breaker: Ascendance!" Without warning, the sphere immediately bursts violently as mist of white and black scattered from all over the place as the group simply shielded themselves from the shockwave.
Eventually, the force died down as smoke obscured the surroundings between them and the unknown mage. Natsu and the others waited tensely at the smokescreen before as if they were expecting something inside it.
A small gale of wind carried the smoke away, causing them to widen their eyes in shock and disbelief to what they saw. There stood Rafael who had seemingly undergone into a huge transformation. His hair was no longer black as it was replaced into some kind of a greenish white ethereal one. Two streams of white and dark magic attach themselves in his arms as it swayed above him. His face was no longer human-like as it features a rather pale white skin with a pair of yellow dark eyes which then glared towards them.
"What the hell is that?!"
"This is the Limit Breaker... A magical release to push our magic's true potential." His voice sounded otherworldly as he slowly lifted his hand and a magic circle flashed in front of him and casts his own magical spell towards the four.
In just a moment, Erza and Jellal felt their bodies became limp as they simply fell to the ground like ragdolls much to their dismay and surprise.
"Erza! Jellal!"
"I-I can't move!" Erza stuttered in disbelief as her body won't listen to her as if her body was simply disconnected to her brain as she can't move it on her own despite not being wounded in the process.
"You bastard! What did you do?!" Natsu soon began to flare himself in crimson flames.
"Don't even try to underestimate our powers, Salamander... My magic is Puppet Control so naturally with my magic pushed far to the limits, I can even manipulate the body of my enemies though you are an exception since you easily burned the ethereal strings that tried to bind you in the process." He explained.
"P-Puppet Control?! E-Ethereal strings... Since when did it have us?" Jellal tried to ask.
"Ever since I unleashed my magic limit breaker. I have ascended to the point where I can use the other plane to initiate my strings. Not even your five senses could sense it binding you in the process..." He paused.
"... This is Absolute Control!" He shouted in an evil manner before laughing hysterically to which Natsu simply gritted in frustration.
"Let them go!"
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. Instead, let me have something that will keep you company." He raised his other hand in gesture as if he was about to attack.
And not before long Natsu had to hastily dodge an incoming teal blade that tried to cut him down from behind, causing a small blast as the dragonslayer skidded away from the vicinity before looking in utter surprise as Meredy had struck down her magic against him. Even the pink-haired girl was shocked to find her body moving on its own without her consent.
"W-What...? N-Natsu?!" She stuttered in disbelief.
"Meredy..."
"Hahaha... That's right! Let's have a little entertainment between you two." Rafael laughed once again as he watched amusingly at the two mages.
Natsu simply stood there completely dumbfounded at the turn of events. It was then, he noticed a trail of tears coming out from the pink-haired girl from her eyes, causing him to freeze in shock.
"N-Natsu... ... ... Run."
A/N: And that's a focking wrap! I'm really sorry guys for not updating so early. School has eaten my time here and I had to postpone this in order to prepare myself in the upcoming finals. I'm really uncertain about the next update because I have to review for a long time to get a pass on my grades. Hope you all understand.
Now for the chapter, well shit... Meredy is forced to fight Natsu. Quite unexpected...
Well, I did thought out my own way to think up of the enemy's magic so yeah, I wanted to have some intense and emotional battle in between since I'd like my fights that way.
We're getting on halfway of the arc itself so the girls' arc will circle around once more so hang tight in there if you want to experience more love than fights. We're almost there in saving Ultear lol!
Anyways, this is it for the chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed it and thank you all for waiting. I deeply appreciate it :)
See ya around, guys and don't forget to leave a review!
- wiErD SpeCtrumz blacking out... ... ...