Chapter 21: Hopelessness
"This is what the mighty Elfman has to offer? I am rather disappointed." Midnight sighed as he kicked Elfman's motionless body.
The southern district was practically in ruins as most of the buildings had been collapsed by Midnight's reflector magic.
"How should I kill you? I guess I can drop a building on you since that seems to be my modus operandi today." Midnight thought out loud.
Before Midnight could do anything he raised his head and deflected a bolt of lightning away from himself with a glance.
"I am honoured; the guild master himself is here." Midnight remarked.
"Get away from my brother-in-law." Laxus threatened.
"I can finish him off after I defeat you." Midnight smiled loosening his shoulders as he walked away from Elfman towards Laxus.
A golden magic circle appeared under Midnight creating sparks before unleashing a bolt of lightning from beneath the dark mage. Midnight raised his arm distorting the air beneath him causing him to levitate and deflect the lightning.
"You're pretty sneaky." Midnight noted.
"I wanted to end this as fast as possible." Laxus replied.
Blue markings began appearing across Midnight's body as the dark mage laughed. "Normally I would wait but since I'm up against you, I decided to go all out from the beginning."
"Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!"
Laxus gathered lightning around his fist and punched forward creating a magic circle in front of him, from which a giant version of his fist composed of lightning launched at Midnight.
"Your attacks are useless against me." Midnight shouted.
Midnight waved his arms distorting and contorting the lightning of Laxus's attack and the air around of it, scattering the attack to nothing.
Laxus then engulfed his body in lightning and used the enhanced speed to get behind Midnight. The lightning dragon slayer covered his fist in lightning and punched trying to take Midnight's head off. Midnight created a shield of distorted air to block the attack.
"Dark Rondo." Midnight smirked.
Midnight gathered Darkness Magic in his hand and then fired it at Laxus. Midnight then used his Reflector to contort the darkness magic so that it split and attack Laxus from all sides. With nowhere to hide, Laxus shrouded himself in lighting and took the attack.
"I've seen stronger." Laxus mocked as he dusted off the effect of the attack.
"Do you even know what you're up against?" Midnight asked.
"I don't need to know, all I know is I have to defeat you." Laxus snarled.
"You can't defeat me whilst I have this Impulsar." Midnight laughed.
"What's so special about it, it's just a spell that augments your power." Laxus retorted.
"Impulsar is not a spell, it's a curse. A curse as in the power of demons. I know you have Succubus Eye's research. So you already know how fatally the curse reacts with human emotions, in order words the soul. That's because Demon's don't have souls." Midnight explained.
"Impulsar amplifies human magic by using a demon's curse." Laxus muttered. "That's why those experiments were conducted to try and remove the 'soul' from a person."
"While you're fighting here, your comrades around the town are dying." Midnight tried to unhinge Laxus.
"I can't be wasting time with you." Laxus scoffed.
Heeding the warning of Porlyusica about Carla's vision, Laxus decided not to waste any time.
Laxus became enveloped in bright, blinding light as he gathered the energy in-between his hands.
"I don't know what you're trying but it won't work. Genesis Zero!" Midnight gathered Darkness Magic on his hands and summoned thousands of black phantoms which he directed at Laxus.
"Fairy Law, activate." Laxus declared causing the very ground to tremble.
The light gather between Laxus's hands spread out like waves, radiating from him across Magnolia engulfing the entire town in bright light. The phantoms summoned by Midnight were erased by the bright light.
Midnight was crushed by the grand power of Fairy Law. The light from Fairy Law traversed Magnolia seeking out Cobra and Angel.
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Levy hid behind the broken remains of a burning fruit stall as she waited for backup which was surprisingly slow in arriving. Levy was clutching her leg trying to stop the bleeding. Angel had developed strange blue marks across her body and was able to summon more Caelum changing the course of the battle.
Angel had seemingly gone mad with power, not only attacking Levy but ordering Caelum to attack the town and do as much damage as possible.
"Come out; come out, wherever you are." Angel taunted.
"I never thought I would see you again." Lucy called out.
Lucy was flanked by Scorpio, Gemini and Aries.
"What took you so long?" Angel asked. "I'm pretty sure your friend is bleeding out wherever she is hiding."
"I'm sorry Levy. It took a while to get here with all the people running around like crazy." Lucy shouted. "It's going to be alright."
"It must be hard with so many people running towards your guild for safety." Angel smirked.
"We can handle this. You're lucky I got here. If Gajeel got here, he would probably kill you." Lucy warned.
"I am lucky, you brought out all the spirits that betrayed me and joined you." Angel screamed.
Angel then returned the Caelum she summoned and pulled out a very unique key that Lucy recognised.
"That key…" Lucy mumbled.
"Yukino Aguria put up quite a fight until I broke her neck; well Cobra broke it for me." Angel smiled.
"You're going to pay." Lucy shouted.
"Ophiuchus, come out and play." Angel summoned.
Angel summoned forth the humongous snake-like creature, which appeared to be part organic and part mechanical. The massive celestial spirit destroyed the buildings on either side of Angel as it came through the celestial gate.
"You're in for a real treat. You never got to see the full power of Ophiuchus because Kagura won so fast but now you will. Thanks to my Impulsar spell, Ophiuchus can feed of my magic and grow more powerful." Angel taunted.
"Impulsar, that's the spell all those experiments were conducted to perfect." Lucy remembered.
"You're right but unfortunately, I don't have a perfect version." Angel sighed
Ophiuchus lowered itself out of the sky so that it was able to act as a shield, protecting Angel.
"Ophiuchus let us destroy this pathetic town." Angel ordered.
The enormous celestial spirit let out a vicious roar that sent shock waves through Magnolia shattering all the windows in the immediate vicinity. Lucy could sense that Ophiuchus was not the same as it was all those years ago during the grand magic games. Angel's Impulsar spell was indeed having an effect on it.
"Don't worry Lucy, I got this." Scorpio smirked. "Sand Buster."
Scorpio got down on all four limbs, in the stance of a real scorpion. He then pointed his scorpion stinger at Angel and fired a powerful sand tornado at his former summoner. Ophiuchus then coiled itself around Angel without constricting her to block the attack.
"Its steel scales are tough." Scorpio cursed.
"My turn." Angel giggled.
Ophiuchus opened its mouth and gathered energy that flowed from Angel's blue markings through itself and formed into a mass of power. Ophiuchus unleashed the mass of power in the form of a beam at Lucy.
Aries created a thick cloud of pink wool and formed a wall in front Lucy, Scorpio, Gemini and herself. The thick, soft wool absorbed the powerful beam and dispersed its energy away damaging the town further.
"I'm so sorry Lucy, I couldn't block the attack. I'm sorry I had to refract it away from us using my wool." Aries apologized.
"You've grown stronger Aries, much stronger." Angel licked her lips.
Gemini then transformed into Lucy.
"I'm sorry, I can't transform into her." Gemini sighed. "I need to make contact with her."
"No, you shouldn't try and get close to that thing." Lucy warned.
"You've also felt it." Scorpio muttered.
"Yes, Angel has committed a celestial spirit taboo by modifying her spirit." Lucy shouted.
"It was just some tinkering here and there." Angle laughed. "Let's see how you like this."
Ophiuchus began feeding off Angel's magic again and opened its mouth letting loose a high frequency screech that attacked the hearing of Scorpio, Aries and Gemini. Lucy's spirits all clutched their heads trying to lessen the ear piercing screech.
Scorpio fired from his scorpion stinger a thin but powerful piercing beam of sand in the shape of an arrow into the mouth Ophiuchus. The attack pierced the roof of Ophiuchus's mouth putting an end to the screeching.
"Even if you somehow manage to defeat Ophiuchus, I've made it so Ophiuchus will self destruct if he were to lose. The resulting explosion will wipe out most of Magnolia." Angel threatened.
"Then we just have to hit you with an attack powerful enough to knock Ophiuchus all the way back to the spirit world." Lucy shouted.
Lucy and Gemini locked hands together and set their sights on Ophiuchus. "Survey the Heaven, Open the Heaven... All the stars, far and wide... Show me thy appearance... With such shine. O Tetrabiblos... I am the ruler of the stars... Aspect became complete... Open thy malevolent gate. O 88 Stars of the heaven... Shine! Urano Metria!"
88 of orbs light appeared around Ophiuchus, each one representing a star in the classical constellations. The orbs of light then converged on Ophiuchus with tremendous force knocking the beast down.
"You think you can defeat me. You have no idea the power I have." Angel screamed as Ophiuchus got back up.
The blue markings across Angel's body began glowing brighter and brighter.
"Ophiuchus, destroy everything!" Angel shouted.
"Stop this; you don't know what you're doing. Your body is going to breakdown at any minute." Lucy warned.
"Shut up, you don't …" Angel began clutching her head in pain.
The dark wizard began to scream as blood dripped from her nose and capillaries in her eyes began to burst causing scarlet tears to flow down her face. As Angel suffered, Ophiuchus threatened to self destruct as Angel had taunted.
A bright light then flooded Magnolia, targeting Angel and forcing Ophiuchus back into the spirit world. The evil celestial mage was saved from her own power as Fairy Law crushed her into unconsciousness.
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Cobra descended from the sky and delivered a heel kick to Max, as Max's body fell to the ground Cobra charged Warren. Cobra then grabbed Warren by his neck and jumped up to hit Warren's face with his right knee.
With both wizards down, Cobra pulled out a vile of poison from his coat pocket and drank it, charging up his dragon slayer magic. His skin turned dark purple as he prepared to finish of his opponents.
Cobra back flipped away from Warren as he dodged a powerful concentrated whirlwind that came from above.
"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" Wendy exclaimed.
Wendy then landed, placing herself between her comrades and Cobra.
"Wendy, he's too strong he …" Warren tried to get out before he passed out.
"Sky Dragon's Claw!" Wendy yelled as he leapt at Cobra.
Wendy generated powerful, blasts of winds from her feet while swinging her leg down at Cobra. Cobra planted his feet firmly and raised his arms as he took the full force of the attack.
"You're the sky dragon slayer that I've heard so much about." Cobra remarked.
"What of it?" Wendy questioned.
"I didn't want to hurt you but you're forcing me to change my mind." Cobra cursed.
"What do you want?" Wendy demanded to know.
"I don't have to tell you anything." Cobra muttered.
"I have to protect my nakama, Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy shouted.
Wendy lifted her arms above her head creating a bright blue light which generated two powerful whirlwinds around each arm. She then swung her arms releasing the winds at Cobra.
The violent winds blasted Cobra knocking him off balance. Giving Wendy an opening.
Wendy took in a deep breath of air and unleashed a vicious, condensed vortex of wind at Cobra, hitting him directly.
"Sky Dragon's Roar."
Wendy then dropped to her knees and began using her healing magic to try and wake Max up.
"You shouldn't be taking your attention of me." Cobra laughed.
Blue marking began expanding over Cobra's body like cracks in his skin. The poison dragon slayer remained practically unscathed after Wendy's assault.
"You fight pretty well for a kid but just so you know, I let you hit me. I wanted to gauge your power and I'm not impressed. I wonder if you would fight better if your friends' lives depended on it." Cobra smirked.
Cobra created a dark purple magic circle and generated a wave of poison, shaped like a large-fanged snake head, and sent it towards the Fairy Tail wizards. "Poison Dragon's Fang Thrust."
"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" Wendy charged Cobra's attack and swiped at it with her fingers shrouded in magical air leaving a wake of wind behind as she did.
The sky dragon attack collided with the poison dragon attack with Cobra's power overwhelming Wendy's. Wendy was brushed aside like a rag doll.
"I'm sorry; I guess this spell is still unstable. Behemoth gave us this incomplete version of their Impulsar spell so we couldn't use it against them." Cobra sighed.
"So this is what all those experiments were for? I thought it was supposed to strip away your soul." Wendy scoffed picking herself up.
"Unfortunately, I don't have that version. We have to use this Impulsar wisely, if we over do, they may turn on us at any moment causing intense pain or even death." Cobra replied staring at Wendy's right arm.
Wendy looked down at her right arm, it was the arm she used Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang with and it was now numb.
"That's really too bad." Cobra said pulling out and drinking another vile of poison.
"This is nothing. I can beat you with one arm." Wendy retorted.
"Let's see about that. Poison Dragon's Scales!" Cobra swung his arm, creating dozens of scale-shaped blades of poison and fired them at Max and Warren.
"Fast wind that run the heaven... VERNIER..." Wendy gave herself a massive speed increase that allowed her to get in front of Max and Warren in time to intercept the attack.
Wendy then used her Sky Dragon's Claw to generate powerful blasts of winds from her feet while swinging her legs to blow away the Poison Dragon's Scales. The sky dragon slayer managed to blow away most of the scales but the sound of a vicious roar in the distance distracted her and she ended up being struck by one in her abdomen.
"Can you feel the poison spreading through you?" Cobra asked.
"I'm fine. I've been through worse." Wendy lied.
"I grow tired of this. I'll end this quickly." Cobra sighed. "Poison Dragon's Roar."
Cobra gathered all the poison in his body and released the poison from his mouth in the form of deadly spiralling stream of toxic energy at Wendy. The sky dragon tried to move but her numbed body didn't have the strength.
Wendy was then shoved out of the way by Max. The Poison Dragon's Roar struck his chest and the attack and sent him crashing across the street.
"I meant to kill you, not him." Cobra complained.
Wendy looked on wide eyed and stunned as Max's body careened off the street. She felt herself lose to her temper and found strength she didn't know she had. Wendy picked herself up and forced her body into a wide stance. Gathering as much will as she could she spread her arms wide, causing a fast wind barrier to form and surrounded herself and Cobra, preventing either from escaping.
"Shattering Light: Sky Drill"
Wendy then moved her arms in a counter clockwise motion, causing the wind barrier to contract inwards rapidly around Cobra, unleashing unto him the force of a tornado sending him flying upwards into the air and bringing him crashing back down to Earth mercilessly.
Wendy then fell to her knees as her body reached breaking point. The poison in her system was proving too much but she needed to continue.
"This is brilliant. Use another secret art, I want to see another." Cobra laughed.
"Go to hell." Wendy coughed as she struggled to breathe.
"Well, in that case I'll show you one." Cobra opened his mouth and released a dense purple smog into the air. "Poison Dragon's secret art: Imhullu."
Wendy could sense the poison in the smog and knew that if she allowed it to get passed her it would spread rapidly and there would be numerous casualties. The sky dragon slayer inhaled deeply with the last of her bit of strength sucking in air as a vortex that pulled in the smog. As she inhaled the deadly poison she could feel herself slipping but persevered until she contained all the poison within herself.
"I'm shocked that you actually managed to do it." Cobra remarked.
With a smile Wendy's body fell lifelessly to the ground. Cobra approached Wendy's fallen body but stopped when he saw a bright light heading towards him. He could hear faint whispers in the distance calling this light Fairy Law. He braced himself as the light attacked him.
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AN: It's a life or death situation of Wendy. Will she survive or will she die? I'm not even sure myself. Maybe I'll be persuaded by your reviews.