Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!

Linkonpark100; Well, possibly in the future, but this arc is coming to its conclusion soon.

DocSlendy; Exactly, poor Shinobu!

Hellspam; Hehe, sorry, but that's what cliffhangers are for, gotta have them for the suspense, you know? Well, I'm glad that I got you to watch a good show again, that's something good!

Guest 1; Yup, another one. But that's all for the suspense and all. I'm glad you liked the fight scenes, a good couple this chapter as well to round it off, perhaps~

Guest 2; Hehe, I'm glad you liked the fighting scenes, and yeah, they are going to go at it alright.

ShadowUzumaki55; Yup, it certainly was intense. Yeah, seems like Mira got a powerup from Zeref, maybe more will come to the cast in the future for the other characters as well. Yeah, I thought that from watching everyone, and especially Shinobu, she would naturally start at least being able to mimic his fighting style, but making it into her own as well. She isn't going to be the strongest in the world, but she'll be at least able to hold her own a little better in the future. What's going on in her head, is something only Erza can tell. In the future, I plan for her to have such a thing, but not right now. I'm glad you liked the fight. Aries really is becoming rebellious, isn't she? But that's how Aries is, she's worried for Shinobu and even going against him is a better idea than him dying in her eyes. Hardcore...well, that's nothing really.

Neonlight01; Hehe, she certainly did. Since it is for Shinobu, Zeref will aid his friends in becoming stronger. Erza in the future will be getting a powerup that she didn't get in canon, and it is going to be something good. Levy's really come along way, hasn't she? And she'll keep growing as the time goes on. Maybe he could give her some training, I could see her asking for something like that. Well, he's down, but he isn't out just yet. He's got some tricks up his sleeves. Yeah, in the future, I plan on things like that happening.

Guest 3; I had been thinking about doing a Future Diary fic, and that would be quite the good idea to do. Though I haven't a clue on what kind of Diary he would get, but that's a surprise pairing huh. It actually sounds pretty good to me.

Lightwave; I'm glad that it was exciting! Well, that's something he has had to deal with in his past, which Ultear will comment on in this chapter actually. Levy kicking some ass was a good thing I thought and Mira kicking the crap out of Zancrow...was expected really, wasn't it? In the future, Zeref just might get a powerup for Erza, but in this chapter, she shows that she is quite tough as well.

AlphaOmega; Levy's been watching her friends, and knows how she is going to do it, huh. Yeah, I feel like she doesn't get enough in canon, but that will change in this story, as well as the other people that don't get enough attention. That's how Mira roles, after all. She knows how to give a fight alright. Erza will be getting something in the future. Since they've been together for so long, Aries is going to show a rebellious side, and wont allow Shinobu to fight alone if she can help it. Hmmm, you'll see what happens with him.

Anime PJ; You're right, I live to tease~ But in all seriousness, I think that it is a good thing, as it makes people want to see what happens next, building suspense and tension and all that. Hehe, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, I hope that I can entertain you even more in the future. Aah, he'll be getting something done to him alright.

Skull Flame; Hehe, she could be, she could be~ God, that would be quite funny, actually. I can imagine Erza doing something like that. Calling Mira a Sith would be funny as hell. Hmmm, you'll see who it is, though it has been hinted at in the past chapters. It would be fun to see if anyone figured it out before now. Hehe, Levy kicking some butt, thanks to the influence of Shinobu, is something that I can see happening anyway. And thank you!

Ragna; Yeah, I remember it, don't worry. Heh, that would be quite funny to do, and I could totally see that happening as well. Well, he has Kagura in the harem, and she is apart of Mermaid Heel. But damn, I could see that happening as well.

Guest 4; Well, he has a few stalkers yeah, and yup, another one hehe~

Guest 5; There is a fist fight in this between Shinobu and the antagonist.

Guest 6; I have tried my best to make it as epic as I can at least. I personally think it is a good ending. Hehe, yeah he certainly is.

With those reviews out of the way, it is time to commence the next chapter!


The final confrontation part 4!

Falling, was what Shinobu did.

His eyes were still, his body leaked more and more blood, his body felt like it was on fire. He could barely keep his eyes open, his mind full of regret and pain, his body's sensations feeling terrible.

He couldn't see straight, he felt numb in and out of his body. He couldn't really begin to think straight at all. With all of the burns and aches that his body felt, he couldn't even begin to think about what was happening with him, not that he cared right now with what happened.

But the thought that did fill his mind was...his friends.

"Aries-chan...Virgo-chan...Levy-chan...Mira-san...Erza-san...Kagura-chan...Sherria-san...Hisui-sama...Yuki-chan...Jenny-san...Juvia-san...everyone...you all became my friends, in the end...you became friends with an experiment like me...and even...Meredy-san was a nice little girl...Ultear...I couldn't ever...save you...I couldn't bring you back to me...back to my side...I couldn't do anything for you...I'm sorry...that I failed you as a friend..."

He thought about his friends, and how much they mean to him. Despite not being friends long with some of them, they were people that accepted him without reservation, even after some of them found out who, and what he really is. They didn't care, and they made him smile again, they made it so he could be happy again without a worry in the world.

He then thought about Zeref...and he began crying silent tears from his eyes. Memories began to surface in his mind when he began thinking about Zeref, and when he first found out that he truly loved her, how he truly felt about her, and knew what it meant to love someone...

He didn't want to ever let that feeling go ever again. He wanted to have that feeling for the rest of his life, he wanted to be with the people that he loved for the rest of his life, and that feeling, he didn't want to let go.

"Sensei...I'm sorry Sensei...you said that I could do it, but I'm failing you right now. Please forgive me if I die...I don't want you to be alone though...please don't become lonely without me...I will...do everything I can to get rid of your curse...to make it go away so you can live a life of love...but don't go to that pink haired guy...he's my rival for Sensei's heart...I wont let him have you...because, I love you Sensei...I'm sorry that I can't continue on anymore...even though you trained me, I failed you...I'm so sorry that I failed Sensei's expectations of me..."

Shinobu's thoughts turned sadder and sadder, deep regrets filling his usually peaceful heart, and mind as well. He couldn't begin to think of anything other than the love that he received from people, and he felt like he was letting them down now, by giving up, which he felt like he had no choice but to do.

[Geez, you're not going to give in, are you?]

Suddenly, a voice came to his mind, that alerted him to a new presence.

"Huh...that voice was...who was speaking then..."

He murmured as his body fell rapidly towards the ground.

His half closed eyes attempted to search for the source of the noise, but he couldn't find anyone that was around. There was nothing around that could've made the noises, and equally, there wasn't any indication that there was something that could've made it in the distance, besides the people above, and he knew it weren't their voices, or voices that he recognized in the slightest.

[I said, you aren't going to be doing something like that, are you? You aren't going to really allow this meanie to beat you, are you?]

Again he heard the voice, and he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He didn't know the voice, and the questions were things that he didn't really want to talk about while falling to his death.

"I don't...know what...to do..."

He admitted to the voice.

He didn't know who it was, and he didn't really care at the moment. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. He didn't even know if he could do anything anymore, with what is happening.

As he fell, he slowly was enveloped by a warm light. A pair of comforting arms embraced him, and suspended him in the air.

Long flowing blonde hair was seen as a new face appeared. Green eyes met Shinobu's eyes, a childlike face appearing before him. A long pinkish dress came into his view, a kind smile appearing on the now realized girls face.

"Hehe, you're quite the self sacrificing boy, aren't you?"

As soon as she said that, his whole world changed, while he was still suspended in the air.

His mind was cast to a new place all together that wasn't like any place he had ever seen before.

This place was bright, beautiful while colour that didn't allow a single spec of darkness to appear at all. As far as the eye could see, it was a void essentially, and only he was there, with another person...that girl that appeared before.

The little girl appeared to be around his age, maybe a little older, though they seemed to be about the same height. The girls long blonde hair reminded him of something from long ago, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Eeh...who are you?"

It was the most obvious question that he had, besides another glaring question that could wait for the moment. He wanted to know if this was a friend, or if she was a foe. If she was the latter, then he would be in trouble, but something about it didn't seem to be the case.

The girl smiled as she walked closer towards him.

He flinched and moved backwards, causing the girl to pout.

"Awwww, why are you doing something like that? You're not frightened of someone like me, are you? I mean, I'm not that scary, am I? I don't frighten you, do I? I'm only a girl, after all~"

He blinked at the question, unsure of how to answer it.

Was he frightened of her? He couldn't say yes or no in this kind of situation. He was merely curious as to what the girl was, who she was, and how he ended up being there in the first place when he was supposed to be falling off a building to his death, most likely.

"W-Well, I don't really know who you are, and Sensei doesn't really want me to talk to strangers since sometimes bad things could happen and all..."

The young girl furrowed her eyebrows as she continued moving forward.

"Strangers, us? Well, at least Zeref is teaching you good morals. Yes, talking to strangers is bad, though a stranger is also a friend you haven't met yet, so it is kind of down the middle, isn't it? I guess you have to feel if the stranger is a good or bad one. We're all strangers in this world, that's how we start out. Friends, even lovers, were at one point strangers to one another, and it isn't like you're the exception. Those lovely girls from before, they were strangers you hadn't met yet, right? Even Zeref was a stranger before you met her, right?"

The girl commented with a smile on her face, and went into a deeper topic that Shinobu found to be slightly odd but couldn't help agreeing with what she was saying, even if it was kind of random.

"Y-Yes, that's right, I suppose. I tend to forget about it, but Sensei and I were really once strangers, huh."

"Yes, that's right. Zeref and you were strangers once, but now you're in love and want to be together, huh."

Shinobu smiled and nodded his head politely to what the girl said.

"So, you really know Sensei then? You're speaking as if you know her?"

He answered back with a question, believing that if this girl did know Zeref, then she couldn't be a bad person.

The girl smiled even wider, nodding her head a single time.

"Yes, that's right. You could say, that we're old friends."

"Ooh, old friends huh. Good thing you aren't a boy or I would become unhappy~ I know Sensei isn't into females so I don't have to worry about you taking away my Sensei~"

The young girl sweatdropped, smiling weakly.

"Right...yeah, she isn't a lesbian or anything I think...neither am I to just say...you know..."

The girl didn't know how to answer that exactly, but Shinobu showed a bright smile.

"Yup! Sensei is all mine, and not some pink haired little bastards either~ I wont be handing Sensei off to anyone but me as she's going to be my wife one day~ Though I don't really know what a lesbian is, it seems like you like to think you aren't one, so I am happy for you. Did you know, we're getting married in the future? Sensei even said as much, and if Sensei is the one to say it, then I totally believe her. Since Levy-chan gave me a last name, Sensei is going to be Zeref Kobayashi...though I don't even know if Sensei has a last name right now or not...aaah, it doesn't matter!"

"Ooh, that's lovely. Congratulations. I hope that you have a happy life together. And I suppose that she would take your new last name, huh. That's amazing, good for you Shinobu."

The little girl said with an uneven smile, unsure of how she should respond to such things. However, she was, happy for them. For reasons Shinobu didn't understand, she was happy for them.

"Aaah, thank you very much Stranger-san! Sensei said that I shouldn't really tell anyone, but since you know Sensei and all, plus you are a good person, I can tell that much, I thought that I should let you know eeh...I don't know your name...but Sensei would be happy seeing an old friend!"

"Zeref, wont be able to see me, Shinobu. Right now, with a few exceptions that hold the emblem on their bodies, only you would be able to see me. At most, she'll be able to tell I am around, but she can't see me, or converse with me like we are currently."

The girl spoke somberly, looking towards her fellow blonde with sad eyes.

As soon as he saw them, Shinobu walked over and gently patted her head, strangely igniting a bright smile from the young girl.

"Don't worry, I will tell Sensei anything you want me too. If you can't tell her anything, then I will be the one who does it. You seem sad that you can't talk to Sensei, so I will do it for you. It isn't a worry. Sensei would also think good of me if I do this, and she might be ecchi with me then we can start a family."

He reassured her, which made the girls face break out into a large smile, but also giggle nervously at the ecchi stuff and also the family stuff as well but the girl chose to ignore this for the moment.

"That's very kind of you, but this isn't a time to talk about Zeref right now. Though, good job with helping her talk with more people. She's usually so down in the dumps and very anti social, but with you, she's really happy, even I can tell that. So keep doing what you're doing with Zeref, and I'm sure that she'll be fine. I also worry sometimes what's going to happen with her."

The girl seemed to be looking as if she was regretful or something akin to that. But Shinobu continued to wear his usual smile, a smile that made everything feel good about the world.

"Zeref-sensei and I are getting married so of course she's happy, I think so anyway...b-but, you didn't answer who you are...I don't even know who you are, what are you? Who are you? Where are we exactly? Am I dead right now blonde haired girl? Is this like, limbo? Between life and death or something like that?"

Shinobu's bombardment of questions caught the girl by surprise, and she was troubled on how to respond.

"Whoa, hold on. That's quite a few questions. Hmmmm, lets see...where we are, I would suspect that this is your...mind. Basically, inside of your head. I think that's a good way of saying it. What I am...hmmmm, that's a good question, and I am not sure if I have an answer for you. I'm not dead, technically, yet right now, it isn't like I'm really alive either. It is something confusing, and you aren't dead right now. Trust me, you aren't dead. But the point is, Shinobu. I've come to talk to you, offer you whatever I can to help you succeed in this battle. This kind of battle is tough, and if that mean man didn't have the power to nulify your power, you'd be able to fight on par, if not overpower, your opponent."

Hearing that, he remembered the battle, and what was happening, what was going on with his friends. Levy and the others flashed into his heart, his breath catching in the back of his throat as he attempted to think more about it.

"Yeah...but I'm beaten. I'm not sure what I can do anymore...I can't win against him girl...eeh, you still haven't told me your name yet...he's too strong for me...even if there was away around his power now, I am...beaten..."

Shinobu trailed off, wanting to know who this girl actually was that was before him, so he could talk with her on a more, even ground, as she seemed to know his name, somehow that he didn't know.

"Hehe, how silly of me. Of course, I will introduce myself. My name is Mavis Vermillion, but you can call me Mavis-chan! Yes, call me Mavis-chan, that sounds good to me! Lets go with that!"

The newly named Mavis spoke with a cheery attitude, showing a wide smile.

Shinobu curiously looked towards the girl, before speaking.

"Mavis...chan?"

Saying the name became kind of confusing to him, as if he had heard the name somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where he heard the name before, and wasn't sure if she knew anything about the reason he was feeling as weird as he was, though she did give him a sense of warmth when looking at her kind and elegant smile.

The young girl named Mavis nodded to the unsure of Shinobu, gaining a wide childlike smile.

"That's right alright~ My name is Mavis alright, I'm glad that I could talk to you like this because, it is really difficult watching you be in pain like you are, both physical and emotional as well as mental torture. But before that, I need to ask you a deep serious question that will effect the very world around us."

Suddenly, Mavis sounded really serious, and that was troubling towards Shinobu.

"Eeh...what's that Mavis-chan?"

Shinobu was hesitant to answer that kind of question, as according to Mavis, it was something deeply serious, and he didn't want to answer something that could effect his very life.

However, Mavis continued without a worry in the world.

"Hehe, do you know if fairies have tails?"

At the question, Shinobu became dumbfounded, and didn't know how to respond to the Loli girl, only being able to look at her with curious eyebrows lifting up, attempting to think of an answer for her.


On the outside world, Hisui, Meredy and Aries were all crying. Each of them were going over what was currently in their heads, tears springing from their eyes, and staining the ground.

"Shinobu-kun...I'm so sorry, it is all my fault for being captured. If I didn't get caught, then you wouldn't of had to sacrifice yourself for someone like me. Please forgive me, I'm sorry for this...it wasn't worth your life, forfeiting your own for someone like me wasn't something you should've done. You should've let me die...I'm not worth dying for...I'm just me...I'm nothing worth anyone's life. I can be replaced...your kindness is very rare...I'm so sorry..."

"Papa...Papa...please come back...it's not fair...me you and Ul were supposed to be together forever...we were supposed to be together as a family, we weren't supposed to be apart like this...Ul wants us to be together, so please come back to us...come back to me..."

"Shinobu-sama...why, did you do something like this? We were together for seven years...the best seven years of my life. You were the best and kindest Master that I've ever had, I'm sorry that I could do anything for you Shinobu-sama...I failed being a Spirit, I failed being your Spirit...I'm so sorry, Shinobu-sama...please forgive me from saving you...Shinobu-sama, I really love you...I wish that it was me that took the attack, not you... .."

Because they saw Shinobu sacrifice himself for them, even Aries in away, they were quite distraught. Meredy couldn't control the sobs that came from her, while Hisui berated how useless she felt right at this moment, Aries doing the same thing, only doing it worse as she believed that she failed him.

The man loomed over them all, with a disgusting look within his eyes.

"Geez, you're crying for a corpse? What's wrong with you all? You're going to be joining him soon enough, it isn't like you're going to get away from me, after all. I will be able to kill you now. He did a foolish thing, saving you. If he killed me instead of saving you, then the world would've been a 'better' place to live. But now, he's only killed himself, you all, and has brought misery to people around him. Wouldn't it of made more sense for you all to sacrifice your lives for the world's? Not his? With him gone, there is no one in this town, bar OP Sensei of his, that could kill me now, and now with him gone, she will become quite mad, and will do what we want her to do."

He expressed his thoughts with the girls while laughing from his stomach, gaining a cramp from laughing too much. His laughs could be heard by all of the girls, Aries and Meredy merely looking towards the ground, unable to speak as sobs escaped their lips.

Hisui looked up towards the man however, glaring very unforgiving and angrily, speaking with a voice full of pain and rage that even surprised the man responsible for the pain that Hisui was feeling right now.

"You, do not get to speak about someone like Shinobu-kun as if he did something wrong. What he did was noble, something only a pure hearted person would be able to do! You don't understand it, but he lived, and...d-d-d-died by his own morals, something lost on you! People with a pure heart would even die for a stranger if they were a good person, and Shinobu-kun is no exception! You're nothing but a coward that forced him to lose, because you couldn't win, and used helpless people like myself and this girl Meredy-san here! You take pride in winning like you did? Do you feel good about winning the way that you did you evil bastard!?"

Hisui couldn't hold back anymore, she couldn't hold back the pain and anger that she felt right at this moment, clearly expressing what she wanted to express and how her pain and rage wasn't going to be sidelined.

The man curiously looked towards Hisui for a few moments, before laughing.

"Hahahahahaha! Ooh, you're a good chick, aren't you? Damn, even swearing, I didn't expect that from a Princess. Your man is dead now sweetheart. Did you get the hot's for the protector man? I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry...I meant to make you die!"

Hisui backed down for a few seconds, contemplating what she was going to say next, as she thought that even if she's going to die, she's going to at least say what's on her mind, before she left this world.

"Y-You're a horrible person, and you're going to get what's coming to you! I swear, you're going to end up being on the receiving end of death one day! What happened to this city is terrible, you're really disgusting and I hope that Shinobu-kun's death wasn't in vain! I hope it weighs heavy on your consciousness! You're going to get punished for this!"

As Hisui said that, the other two girls also thought the same thing.

They thought that the man in charge, and responsible for what happened to Shinobu should be punished for their misdeeds. Since Shinobu had to 'die', then they believed that this man should also have to suffer a similar fate to the one that he had too, and what he had to deal with.

But the man himself merely smugly responded.

"It would come from you, the strong Princess with a good heart. Did it pain you, seeing him die like he did in an effort to save you? Don't you find that cute though? Think of it, he died, protecting you. He's gone now. If the blast didn't kill him, then the fall will. There's no way that he'll survive something like that. He'll be dead by now."

That piece of information made Hisui break out into more sobs. For the time being though, she did her best to control them, even if she wasn't sure on why she should, she felt like she had to control them and stand up for what she believed in.

"E-Even if he is dead...he did a very noble thing, and he will be regarded as a hero for the sacrifice he made for me, for this Kingdom, and for this world as well. Dying for the safety of others is a noble thing to do, and only the most pure of heart would do something like that. So, say what you want to us, say that he died for nothing, because he is the one that taught me...to not be afraid anymore. I'm not afraid of you anymore, and I wont give up because you say that he died for nothing. If anything, he gave his life for someone like me, Meredy-san and Aries-san among others, so do not test someone like me! Even if I cant beat you in a fight, I wont cower away from you, monster!"

The Princess made her resolve known, and squared off against the man.

Even though she was afraid, worrying about her death, she thought about Shinobu, and what happened with him, and how he felt. That gave her the courage to stand against this foe. Even though she couldn't fight on her own, she didn't care at this moment in time. She was going to do all that she could if it meant that Shinobu didn't sacrifice himself in vain.

And it wasn't just the Princess either.

Both Meredy and Aries were inspired by the Princess, standing against this foe, standing next to the Princess with narrowed eyes, even Aries who rarely showed such a side, was showing her anger towards the enemy.

"She's right...she is right! The Princess is right, and we wont back down! Ul wouldn't, Shinobu-san wouldn't, and neither will I! We will stand against you, and take you out if we have too! We will defeat you together! We wont lose to you!"

Meredy made her stance as well, summoning her teal blades around her, and made the sharp swords point towards the mans neck, chest, and upper body in general, showing her willingness to fight.

"Shinobu-sama...was taken from us because of you...he was the best Master ever...he cared for me...he cared for Virgo as well...there wont ever be another Celestial Spirit Mage that loves his Spirits more than he ever did! And you've taken that away! We wont ever forgive you for doing this! I wont let Shinobu-sama's memory die so I am going to fight you as well! I will beat you for taking Shinobu-sama away from us! From me!"

Aries' wool was summoned around her hands, her killing intent known. Aries wasn't usually the type of girl to show such an intent to kill but since Shinobu had gone away, she wasn't going to take it laying down anymore. She wasn't going to allow this person to squash the memories that she held within herself.

However, all of the determination didn't matter to the man, and he laughed at them all.

"Hahahaha! That's really funny, do you really think that you're going to be able to beat me!? None of you possess the power and skill to face me in combat! A Princess who doesn't know Magic! A young pink haired girl! And a Spirit without a Master now! What kind of joke is this!? Don't pretend you know what you're doing!"

The mans hand raised, and that acid type of Magic was gathered in his hands...but none of the girls backed down. Even in front of an attack that finished off Shinobu, they weren't going to back down.


Back down on the ground of the castle courtyard, Ultear was a curious sight.

What she saw was Shinobu, suspended in the air. She didn't quite understand what was going on, but she saw it and didn't know what she was going to do, seeing the boy in the air, as if he was flying, yet wasn't awake at the same time.

"Just what in the hell...how is he floating like...n-no, that's not it. That's not what I should care about right now. Shinobu, I'm coming!"

Ultear didn't really care that he was suspended in the air, all she cared about was helping him, so that's what she did.

She ran up the side of the building, on the way, grabbing Shinobu and holding him in her arms, and that's when she saw the injuries on his body, grimacing at the sight, but she could see and hear that he was breathing, so that made her feel good.

She ran towards the top of the castle, getting onto the roof, and saw that Hisui, Meredy and Aries were about to get attacked by the enemy, which she didn't care for, so she stuck out her hand.

"Arc of Time!"

She activated her Magic, and caused the ground around the man to age, and crack, ultimate break, taking him into the castle, leaving Hisui and the others safe, smirking at the sight. She then quickly reversed the process, so she fixed the roof, leaving the man crashing down the castle.

"Th-That Magic is..." Meredy noted the Magic, and turned towards the direction Ultear was, shedding tears upon seeing Ultear with Shinobu. "U-Ul! A-And Papa as well!"

"Papa..."

Hisui was about to comment, but Aries recognized Ultear as well, opening her eyes wide.

"Y-You are that little girl from long ago, Ultear-san, aren't you?"

Ultear looked towards Aries, smiling happily towards the pink haired Spirit.

"Yes, that's right. We met briefly during that time, and you've been taking care of Shinobu until now, so thank you for that." Ultear smiled, then jumped down with Shinobu, the girls instantly rushing to check on him. "From what I can tell, he isn't dead, but he isn't in a good condition either. The enemy is quite tough, I don't think I will be able to take him on my own power. We need Shinobu...tch, it is a problem that I can't even solve...damn it, I don't even know what's going on..."

"If Sherria-san was here, then maybe she would be able to heal him...but the barrier is...speaking of, how did you get inside of the barrier?"

Hisui wondered, trying to awaken the boy, but he didn't do anything, not responding or anything. It was as if he was dead to the world, and only showed that he was alive because his chest was moving up and down.

"The barrier was placed just as I got inside. The idiot left some Demons down there to deal with stragglers, so I dealt with them first before coming here so there was no surprises. I didn't expect that Shinobu would be caught in an attack by this guy, I thought that he would be too fast for him and would overpower him or something. But to see him like this, could it be that I underestimated the opponent..."

At Ultear's words, Meredy and Hisui held down their heads, while Aries attempted to do her best to make sure that Shinobu didn't die. She made some of her wool to wrap around the wounds. They weren't permanent solutions for saving him from death, it is true, but it was good enough to stop the blood from flowing out for the moment, her usual pink wool turning crimson red from the blood. but with this, his life would be safe, for now, until he got serious medical treatment.

"Ul...he saved me and Hisui-sama...we were...too slow...we were...he fired off some kind of acid stuff, and we couldn't escape...Shinobu-san couldn't...get us out of the way in time, and he used some kind of drug that absorbs his magical attacks...so he took the attack for us...he did it selflessly, and got like this because of us..."

Meredy adopted teary eyes, and for a few seconds, Ultear wasn't happy with the situation. She wasn't happy at all, and wanted to crush something so she could get out her anger. But for the time being, she held it together, and made sure that nothing happened with it.

Ultear sighed out the thoughts she held within her body, and shook her head while patting Meredy's head.

"Then, it just shows how much he really cares about you, Meredy. If Shinobu did something like that, then it means that he's really doing something good for you, and us as well. He is a good guy, Meredy. Do not blame yourself, Shinobu survived much worse than this. He will be able to come back from this. These wounds, weren't nothing compared to what Brain did to us. We used to be beaten to an inch of our lives, tortured for hours on end, so these kind of wounds, wont slow down Shinobu for long. Give him a little time, and he will be fine. Of course, he'll need some healing afterwards, but he's going to be okay, I promise you."

Ultear was confident about it, and knew that Shinobu would be fine. Even if the others didn't see it, Ultear had immense believe in him, and his power to come back from this as well. She knew it to be true, and wasn't going to give up anytime soon. That's how much her belief in him was.

"Y-You think so...?"

Ultear smiled towards Meredy's unsure face, and gave her head another pat.

"Yes, that's right. Brain did worse to the pair of us, made us bleed worse than this, and caused much damage to us, psychological damage as well as physical, so this isn't going to stop him. He'll come back soon..."

As she spoke, the roof broke apart, and the man came out again, his eyes building with some wounds on his body. A mean look was on his face, anger being directed towards Ultear.

"You...bitch. It wasn't enough that you attempted to break out Shinobu and Yukino from their cells, but now you've come to interfere and you even saved that boy as well? Not that it will help you, in the long run. You're going to end up dead in the future anyway. Your Magic manipulates time, right? Then, I'm going to manipulate your destiny, and that is death!"

With that loud roar, he made some of his dark acid, shooting it forward towards Ultear and the others.

Ultear placed herself between Shinobu and the others, and the man, making her time magic appear in her hand, thrusting it forward, and dispelled the acid like attack with minimal effort, to his shock.

"Meredy, stay out of the fight, leave this to me. Just protect Shinobu until he wakes up."

"But Ul that's..."

Meredy went to argue, but she saw the determination within Ultear's eyes, and backed down instantly.

Seeing such a look in her eyes, and she knew that she couldn't argue against Ultear, she couldn't fight against someone like her, and knew that Ultear was determined to fight this opponent. If she could win, Meredy didn't know. But right now, she knew that Ultear had something to prove, and that was something that she didn't want to even think about.

Ultear regarded the enemy with narrowed eyes.

"Your Magic, has a time limit as well. Everything in this world is affected by time, and your Magic isn't an exception. It is quite similar to Maker Magic, and that kind of Magic cannot stand to my Time of Arc Magic. Hmmm, I wonder who's going to win, Taki?"

Saying that with confidence, Ultear made her orb appear in her hand, glaring towards the enemy, who's name is known now as Taki, the name striking no fear into Ultear's heart.

He raised his power up to the sky, encasing himself with more power than he used against Shinobu.

"Ready when you are, bitch."

"Then lets dance, you bitch."

With that, a battle between Ultear and Taki commenced.


In another part of the city, Erza, Juvia, Yukino and Kagura were facing their enemy. They were fighting quite evenly, if they did say so themselves, though they weren't able to get the Demon.

It appeared as if it was stronger and stronger, as the battle went onwards. They couldn't get close to it, and couldn't defeat it.

Yukino's feathers couldn't touch the Demon, therefore there weren't anyway to get the Demon. When she thought that she could get them to land on her opponent, the Demon managed to incinerate the girls feathers away, so they wouldn't work whatsoever.

Each strike Erza gave was parried by the enemy. The flames of the Demon seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. She attempted to do a multitude of striking with swords from a distance, but the flames of the Demon kept burning away the swords.

Kagura used some strikes with her sword, using the air pressure from her sword in a long range attack. However, the Demon was able to use their attacks to completely nullify Kagura's attacks. Even with the other sword she got from Yukino, via her Spirit, she was still having a tough time in getting closer to the Demon.

And Juvia was becoming increasingly tired as well, being used as the defender. She was slowly wasting her magical power on defending, so she wasn't able to use her Magic to attack. If she did, she was confident that she would be able to at least hurt it, however her friends didn't have the chance to even get close to her whatsoever.

"Haaaaah! Take this!"

Erza shifted to her Heaven's Wheel armour, and allowed swords to dance around her form, shooting them off like bullets in a barrage.

The Demon snarled dangerously, and went to burn the swords away with its flames. However, Kagura came from the side on the ground, and raised her Archenemy above her head in a swinging position, building up her magical power at the tip, taking aim at the torso.

"Take this!"

Kagura swung her blade downwards, releasing a slice of air pressure from the tip of her blade. The magical potency of the attack was good, it was filled with the Devil Slayer aura that she held around her, firing it straight for the stomach of the Demon.

Knowing that was the immediate threat, he turned away from Erza, and built up flames within its mouth. Dancing around in the mouth of the Demon, was the immense flames that it had within itself, and fired at the incoming attack from the purple haired girl.

The sea of flames hit against the air pressure attack, and destroyed it instantly, and it headed for Kagura.

"Water Dome!"

Juvia sprung into the action, and made a protective barrier around Kagura, protecting her from the sea of flames, making a sea of steam instead, hiding the girls in the hot steam.

While the steam began filling the area, the Demon forgot about Erza's swords, but she didn't, and she was controlling them with Telekinesis, using them to head towards the face of the large Fire Demon.

The Demon only realized too late that the attacks were coming, and was blind sided by the assault of the swords, managing to move its head so it didn't take any swords to the eyes, but the swords did pierce their target.

STAB! STAB STAB STAB! STAB!

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

The Demon let out a howl of pain as Erza's Demon slaying enhanced swords pierced its face, causing some blood to gush out from the area where they stabbed, momentarily distracting it, the blood hitting the ground and splashing on some of the girls and drenching them in the blood.

"Now Yukino!"

Erza called, waving her swords so she could make a clear pathway for Yukino to fire her attack.

"Slowing Feathers!"

While panting, Yukino responded to Erza's command, allowed feathers to appear around her, shooting them out towards the enemy in the distraction of the steam, the feathers glowing a lime green colour.

The girls smiled as they thought that Yukino was about to land her attack, making the fight go more their way...however, it didn't end up like that in the slightest, and didn't make the situation any better.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

The Demon howled, and pushed magical power from its body, to its face, and broke the swords from its face, and burnt away the feathers that Yukino used, Yukino herself growling at the sight.

The Demon then raised its large hand, and snapped off a buildings large chimney and used it like a weapon, swinging it towards Yukino.

"Argh!"

Yukino went to take flight, but the attack was so fast, and it hit her down towards the ground, and if it wasn't for Kagura coming in at the last second, slicing off the largest part of the chimney and cut it to ribbons that fell to the ground like snowflakes, Yukino would've been flattened, but due to the force, she was hit, and brought down to the ground.

"Yukino!"

Kagura was in concern, going to check on her as Erza hissed at the sight of her friend being assaulted like she was, not standing for it, and took to the sky with her Heaven Wheel Armour at the ready. Juvia also looked on with regret, but also took note of Erza going forward, so decided to keep her watchful eyes on the red haired girl, to make sure that she was going to be safe.

"I-I'm okay. Please don't worry about me everyone. I am, okay. We need to...wait, what's Erza-sama doing?"

Yukino replied with a weak smile concealing the pain that she felt from the hit of the building.

As Kagura checked on Yukino, Erza went up the Demons large body.

"Grrrrrr!"

Noticing the girl, the Demon went to swing with its remnants of a building, but then decided to throw it at Erza. Erza sharpened her expression, cutting it apart without a worry in the world.

"You hurt my friend, so I wont allow you to beat me! All of my friends are fighting now, and if I don't at least do this, then I would be letting down Fairy Tail, and my friends as well! So I am going to beat you now! I wont let you win you bastard! These people are my friends, and if everyone else is fighting, then I am going to do my best as well you bastard Demon! I wont be beaten down like this by something like you! I am going to beat you until there aren't even ashes left!"

Erza determination was high as she flew upwards towards the Demons face, making swords appear around her.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

The somewhat intelligent Demon tightened its fist, and punched towards the incoming girl, flames encasing the large fist.

"Fly my blades!"

Erza danced around the fist, going faster so she appeared above the fist, and sent her blades out at the same time, this time manipulating them to go towards the Demons eyes so it could be blinded.

The large Fire Demon used its other hand to take the stabs, impaling the hand with a timed strike of the swords, causing blood to gush out from the Demons hand, hitting the ground and making pools of the blood.

The large hand of the Demon lowered and it used its other hand to pluck out the swords that were in its hand.

Seeing her chance, Erza charged forward, slicing her swords from all directions as she went forward towards its face, flying at a high speed.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Erza raised her spirits and made it to its face, and went to slash at the Demons face.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

At the last second, Erza saw the mouth open and a large fireball came for her body.

"Flame Empress Armour!"

Erza quickly shifted armour's, and turned into her Flame Empress Armour, protecting her from the flames of the Demon, using her weapon to slash away the remnants of the flames.

She fell down towards the ground as she could no longer fly in her new armour, so she headed for the chest, using it as a stepping stone and propelled herself upwards in the air.

"Damn, she's doing quite well on her own, isn't she?"

Juvia took note of the change in Erza, with Kagura nodding in agreement.

"It seems, that despite her harem obsession, she doesn't want to see her friends be hurt, and that means Yukino as well. Seeing that, and how the others are fighting, she didn't want to hold back anymore...no, I believe that she is summoning some unknown power within herself that even she didn't know about and is using that to level the playing field."

Yukino agreed with Kagura's assessment of the situation, and saw that Erza was glowing.

"She's going to be doing something amazing now. This isn't a place where we can even interfere right now. We've got to believe in Erza-sama's power now, and aid her if we can."

As she said it, Erza was donning a new armour, with a spear in her hand that crackled with lightning.

"Lightning Empress Armour!"

Erza declared, and got above everyone in the sky, even above the Demon. The spear she held within her hand glowed with the electricity that she was building up from the power of the armour.

As the lightning built up around her, a change was happening around her. Lightning thundering around her, warping the area around her to produce rain from the sheer strength that she held within her, attracting a mini storm around her.

Once she was finished, Erza pointed her hefty spear downwards towards the Demon.

"Take this Lightning with your body and then perish!"

Erza's spear lit up, and shot off a large amount of lightning towards her opponent. Because it happened in a flash, the Demon received the full extent of her attack, shocking the large Demon.

"Wow, she's amazing."

Juvia commented, seeing the results of the large Demon being shocked by the yellow lightning.

"Yeah, I didn't expect Erza to have such a power. Maybe she's really bringing out her latent abilities now. Whatever she is doing, she is doing something amazing, I know that I couldn't match that level of power. Erza is on a place that I can't currently match up too. In the future, I will have to train harder to reach that kind of level. Yes, that's what I am going to have to do now, I am going to have to train and attain stronger powers."

Kagura commented as she gritted her teeth, seeing the strength Erza had, and how hers compared, ashamed that she was weaker than the current Erza was, though she wasn't complaining right about now.

Yukino didn't have any words to say about it, and liked the fact that Erza was that strong. With the power she was displaying, she hoped that the Demon would be defeated thanks to Erza.

Erza finished her attack, and her body began falling to the ground.

"I poured all of my magical power into that attack, so if it doesn't work then...I don't know what is going to happen...I've got to think positively. Everyone else is fighting for someone, and I...I am fighting for...my friends as well. I am fighting for...my friends...for the guild...and for those people back at Tower of Heaven..."

Erza smiled as the armour around her disappeared.

She didn't have much magical energy left now. She did her attack, and she couldn't do anymore than that. She was finished now, she couldn't do anything else. From the fights before, and the fight now, she was drained. But she was also glad that she was able to finally use her power to fight against the Demon and save her friends. This time, she was able to do something amazing like everyone else.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

Suddenly, they all heard the Demons cries, and looked towards it.

Smoke was coming from its body as blood was as well. It received a devastating attack from Erza, and was bleeding profusely from multiple areas of its body, but it was still alive and could still move.

"N-No way!"

"Juvia thought that Erza-san would..."

"Damn it!"

Yukino, Juvia, and Kagura were all in states of disbelief. They couldn't believe what was happening before them.

The Demon was standing up tall, and had set its sights on the descending Erza. Erza was too tired to fight against it anymore. She was done with the fight now, she didn't have any magical power to fight anymore.

All she could do is watch on as its large hand went towards its target, Erza Scarlet.

"Yukino! Juvia! We've got to stop it! We can't let it get Erza!"

""Right!""

The pair nodded at one another, and without even sharing words, they knew what they had to do.

Yukino extended her wings, and took to the sky, Juvia having her water follow after the girl.

Kagura rushed forward with her blade, aiming for the leg while the opponent was distracted with Erza's falling body.

"Water Wall!"

The Demons hand went for Erza, and went to attack her, but a wall of water appeared between the enemy, and Erza, blocking the powerful punch from making it towards her.

"Got you, Erza-sama. Lets get you out of here!"

Yukino swooped in and caught the girl in her arms, and went towards the ground.

Reeling from that, the Demon didn't notice Kagura moving on the ground, until it was too late.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Putting what she had within herself into her blade, Kagura swung honestly, using the cannon form of Caelum to point towards the other foot of the Demon, charging it with its energy enhanced by the Demon slaying aura that both she and Yukino had, as Yukino passed hers onto the Spirit as well.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!"

At the same time she sliced through the right leg of the Demon, she shot Caelum and made a huge hole in its left leg, sending it down to the ground while howling in pain, blood spurting from it in large amounts.

Kagura walked towards the others while panting, and saw that Yukino had saved Erza, brought her down to the ground where she was panting heavily. She also saw that Yukino and Juvia weren't in much better condition, herself in the same way.

"Tch, we wont be able to do this if we keep going back and forth like this. Since you're out of the fight now Erza, we've got nearly no chance on winning. We've almost exhausted our magical strength as well. I know that kind of attack wont take it down."

Kagura spoke with regret as she regarded the Demon with a pant, seeing Yukino's Spirit disappearing, indicating that she didn't have the energy to hold onto it anymore, or it didn't have anymore energy left.

Not just Kagura, but all of the girls were getting tired.

They didn't expect it, but they were losing. They were running out of tactics to use against the Demon. Thanks to Shinobu's aura, they were able to fight on even grounds with it, but not push forth for a victory.

Even with the attack Erza gave, the Demon was still able to move, and only had some serious wounds, but not enough to fully kill it. Even with her strength, Erza had regret on her face that she wasn't able to do it.

"Yes, you're right. We're getting increasingly tired, and we wont be able to continue on for much longer. This aura that Shinobu gave us wont be able to hold on forever. We've got to do something. And with myself out of the fight now...I don't know what to do..."

Yukino agreed with Erza's words, putting a hand to her chin.

"But, we aren't able to gain a direct attack. This thing is going to be able to beat us..."

Even though that's what she thought, Juvia disagreed with her.

"Juvia doesn't think that. Juvia thinks that since we've brought it down to a large degree, maybe someone else will come and fight it for the rest of it? Didn't the Sexy-sensei say that she was going to come and help soon? Since she said it, Juvia believes that it is going to happen."

Erza inclined her head with what Juvia said.

"Yes, you're right about that. The Sensei...Sexy-sensei, I like that...but the fighting is taking its toll on us. If we continue going on much longer, we wont be able to win. We've got to do something before this Demon wins. We cannot allow the others to face this. Shinobu, that damn Levy, Sherria and Jenny are fighting to save the Kingdom, so we have to as well. We can't wait much longer for Sexy-sensei to appear either. We're going to lose if she doesn't come soon."

"You didn't mention Mirajane-sama then."

Yukino pointed out, Erza waving a hand at her.

"It was implied that I meant her as well. It isn't like that I am doing this for fun, you know? Anyway, we've got to come up with a plan, since the other plans aren't working anymore. We've managed to shock it, cut off its leg, and seriously injure the other one, but from what I can tell, it seems like it is going to be able to get up again soon...even the fire looks like it is healing the Demon or something..."

Erza got deep in thought, wondering what they were going to do, trying to ignore the pain that she was feeling from the previous power that she used against the Demon. It was hurting her bad, being low on magical power, but she didn't know what to do.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

With a growl, Erza and the others heard the Demon again, standing up with blood coming from its leg, the other leg was now a stump thanks to Kagura, but it was being replaced with fire, making a new leg from the flames.

Even with the injury Kagura gave it, it was still standing up...only this time, no one had any energy to move to face it. Erza was down with nearly no magical power left, and the others weren't fairing much better, only having enough magical power to defend from an attack.

The Demons eyes focused on Kagura and her group, raising its hand and coating it in massive amounts of flames, enough to burn even the atmosphere around them. It became hotter and hotter around them, and they couldn't move.

All of them were too exhausted to move, and could only watch on as it swung its large fist towards the enemy, closing their eyes so they didn't have to view their own deaths...

.

.

.

...but nothing happened.

Half a minute in, and nothing happened whatsoever.

The girls thought that something would happen, like pain but they didn't feel anything at all. It was as if they weren't hurt at all, or they were dead and weren't feeling the pain of death anymore.

"Geez, ladies! Open your eyes!"

A new voice came towards the girls, shocking them with who it was.

Opening their eyes to confirm their suspicions...and they did.

Standing their, was Mirajane, in her new form, holding the Demon back with one of her hands, facing towards the girls as she effortlessly held back the Demon with her hand, using the other to give the peace sign towards the girls.

"Mira, you've come!"

Erza was ecstatic to see Mirajane appear before her, and the others were also happy as well, to have backup.

"Yes...Erza, what the hell is the harem force anyway? Those messages, how the hell did you send them as if you're speaking directly too me...it shouldn't be possible! I don't even know if it was Telepathy or some kind of shit like that, but it is scary! Don't ever do something like that again!"

Erza put her hand to her chest, smiling brightly.

"Yes, the harem force is something beautiful. It is a wonderful power that has been bestowed onto me by the Harem Super Gods...not the regular Gods, but the Super Gods that reside in Super Heaven! The reason I got this ability you may ask? Simple, it is because the Super Gods saw how devote I am to the cause and allowed me to obtain the power to seek out harem members...speaking of, I am feeling a pull towards the castle, I believe there is a girl there named...ugh, Ulrear...no, I believe that it is Ultear! Yes, she's there, and hasn't committed to the harem yet...for some reason I feel like Ultear is going to be a big player within the harem...damn."

As she said that, Yukino's and Kagura's mouths hung wide open, looking at the castle, having the same thought, and that is "How does she know this?" and even thinking about it was difficult.

"This is some creepy shit! You're making it sound like it is some kind of religion or something! And what's with the Ultear shit!? Why is she a big player all of a sudden!?"

The others agreed with what Mira said, but where too frightened of Erza to admit it, but they did nod their heads in agreement.

Erza placed her hands together, and looked towards the sky.

"Of course, you wouldn't understand right now. But in the future, it will be known as a wonderful thing and Ultear, is a big player in the harem. I can feel it in my bones. And now to explain this ability. Now this wonderful ability allows me to cross dimensions and space as well, maybe even possibly time as well. It allowed me to feel all of the powers in the world, and it allowed me to seek out the greatest harem members. Of course, you're still top tier Mirajane. You are still on top now, so rejoice and marry Shinobu already so I can become an auntie already."

Erza adopted a cheeky grin on her exhausted face, Mira shaking her head in disappointment.

"You...eh, I can't even think about it anymore. You're freaking me out now."

Mira shuddered at the redhead, while easily keeping the Demon back.

"Well, that's okay Mirajane Kobayashi."

"What did you just call me!?"

Mira snapped as Erza snickered.

"I presume you're going to take his last name."

"N-No!"

Mira rejected, but Erza wagged a tired finger.

"No no no. Please do not worry Mira Kobayashi, I am going to make an honest woman out of you, with Shinobu. I will make sure that you have the happy ending that you so deserve for all of the trials and errors you and Shinobu have had. Do not worry, I will make sure that Levy doesn't get in the way."

So proclaimed Erza while having a prideful smile on her face, pushing her chest out in pride.

Mira sighed dramatically, placing her free hand on her forehead, and contemplated hitting Erza, but for now, she held it back, and went into a different topic all together, if only to keep her sanity.

"You've done well until now. You've managed to hurt this Demon severally, and the credit of its win is going to you all today. Just allow me to do the cleanup, and kill it. You've done enough, I will have enough power to vanquish this Demon now."

As she said that, Mira pushed the Demon back with her hand, and released darkness from her palm in a wave, blowing it away with a powerful striking power, sending it towards the ground in a large crashing sound.

"Whoa...that's amazing power, where did you even get that form? Have you had it all along?"

Yukino had to know about it, and was naturally curious. However, Mirajane waved her hand.

"I'll tell you all later. For now, just stay back and allow me to finish this bastard off."

As she said that, Kagura furrowed her eyebrows.

"What happened to Zancrow? Your opponent?"

Mirajane smirked as the Demon stood up.

"Well, I pounded that guy to a place where he wont be walking for a few days yet. He'll not be going anywhere for awhile, so we can retrieve him later and see what's going on with that bastard. For now, I'm gonna have to wreck this Demons shit up, so it can't do anything else. The Sensei of Shinobu allowed me to become this strong, so I am going to use this strength and give it that Demon 100 times it has given all my friends damage! It is going to feel my power!"

With that, Mirajane took to the sky and flew towards the Demon.

The Demon stood tall, and with a howl, thrusted its hand forward, but wasn't able to coat it with flames due to using it as a makeshift leg. The fist went to hit Mirajane's small body, but at the last second, Mira thrusted her hand forward in a fist, and smashed it against the much larger fist, a shockwave appearing from their that crushed buildings around the area, but matched one another in strength.

The Demon saw that, and threw its other fist at Mira, retracting its first fist from her. Like the first one, Mirajane blocked it with her own punch and destroyed more of the area in a shockwave.

The pair of them then got into a fist fight, sending powerful waves around their immediate area, blowing debris around the area, and causing immensely powerful shockwave's to devastate the area, but it left the girls unharmed, as Mirajane directed them away from her friends, minding that they would get hurt if they didn't be directed away from them.

"Holy shit, that's some new power she has. I wonder where she got it? Wait, she got it from Shinobu's Sensei, didn't she? Tch, I will have to gain a new power as well. Maybe the harem force can aid me in this..."

Even Erza couldn't deny that right now, Mirajane was quite tough, having her new power to aid her.

The fist fight lasted a few seconds, before Mira got...bored with it, and put more power into her hand, darkness swirling around her fist that was more powerful than the usual Satan Soul's power.

"Take this!"

Thrusting the hand forward, it clashed with the Demons, and easily shattered it. The darkness travelled up the Demons arm, shattering the bones, and shredding the flesh with the immense power she held within the attack.

"Wow, I can't even say how impressed I am with her. She's quite powerful now, isn't she? Mirajane-sama is quite the impressive fighter alright. I am glad that I didn't have to fight against her, I think that I would lose, honestly."

Yukino expressed her thoughts, and the others agreed almost immediately. However, there was a sense of a challenge rising in both Kagura and Erza, and wished that under normal circumstances, they could fight against this being.

The howls of the Demon were deafening for most of the people around. But for Mira, it didn't matter as she went into the air, and gathered some kind of purple and blue light within her hands.

"Whats this power that's radiating from her hands right now? That's immense...I've never felt Mira possessing such kind of power before. Could this power up really have risen her abilities up this high? I don't know if it is on Laxus level of power...but I can't say that I could stand up against it as I currently am...damn, I will have to train even more."

As Erza spoke her thoughts, Kagura was also on the same line of thinking.

"Yes...I do not know who this Laxus is, but I can tell that this kind of power is more than I have felt before from anyone around here. Even Shinobu as well, possibly, though I haven't felt Shinobu release his true power so I am unsure, maybe they are equal. Mirajane is producing a strong power right now, and I am unsure of what to even think about it."

Kagura mumbled her thoughts as well, while Juvia smiled brightly.

"Juvia doesn't mind about how or why. Juvia only cares about how strong he really is, and if she can beat the Demon! If she can do that, Juvia will be happy! Go on Mirajane-san! Juvia knows you can do it!"

Juvia cheered for Mira, while Yukino smiled at the girls enthusiasm as well, finding it infectious, and wanting to do the same as well, but for the time being, she held back her own thoughts and feelings on the matter.

Mirajane looked towards the Demon, and gave a smile.

"I would've considered taking you over, but...Halphas is quite powerful. This is enough for me now, and you've harmed my friends, and this town as well...city, whatever it is. So now, turn to nothing with...Cosmic Beam!"

From her hands, sprung a large beam of pure energy. The beam itself looked to be mystical in nature, almost from space itself, cosmic energy at that.

The beam rained down on the Demon who attempted to struggle against it but Mira saw to it that the Demon couldn't do anything, and was taken by the immense power that it used.

The beam of cosmic like energy washed over the Demons form, blinding everyone around with its brilliant light. The area shined with the cosmic energy that was released with Mirajane's attack.

When it died down, the Demon had vanished.

The Demon was gone from the world, with Mirajane's attack. The girl was now panting at the energy she used, but besides that, she was still okay, and didn't have an injury on her.

"That was..."

"...totally..."

"...amazing."

Erza, Yukino and Juvia spoke in turn while Kagura watched as Mira descended to the ground.

"You girls alright? You seem to be okay to me at least. Phew, that was a tough opponent, had to pour quite abit of power into that attack then, that was something I didn't expect, honestly. But it has been dealt with. Seems like I've got an upgrade, huh. This is kinda cool~"

The girls didn't know what to say, and could only stare at the girl with white hair, seeing her power as amazing. They could even see the power leaking off her form, but they didn't know what to say to this beauty.


Back with the fight with Ultear, and Taki, they were going strong.

Thanks to Ultear's Arc of Time Magic, she was able to avoid the worst of the power that he had. However, the man named Taki wasn't weak either. Even without the aid of his acid like powers, he was still the formidable foe, and was able to face against the opponent Ultear with his Shadow Magic.

"Haah!"

"Don't think so!"

The man shot forth an orb of disintegrating power, only for Ultear to use her Arc of Time and erase it from history, and sent out her orb at the same time, nailing him in the chest, and sent him backwards.

Reeling from that, Ultear used the opportunity to charge forward with her orb, using Telekinesis to control the orb. She sent it towards the mans head, hoping for a knockout, but Taki used his Shadow Magic, and made himself intangible, sinking into the shadows at the same time, his location disappearing from Ultear's senses.

"Where did he go?"

Ultear looked around for the opponent, while the other girls attempt to help Shinobu wake up so he can help Ultear...but he didn't seem to be responding whatsoever. His eyes were closed, and his wounds were fixed the best that they could be under this kind of situation, but nothing short of a miracle was going to help them now.

"Shinobu-sama...please come back soon...I don't know what else to do...please wake up Shinobu-sama..."

"D-Don't worry Aries-san, Shinobu-kun is going to be fine. Since he's still breathing, I know that he will come back soon. Even his friend, that girl who's fighting said the same thing. He's going to be fine, I know that he is going to be fine."

Hisui comforted the pink haired Spirit, but secretly wished that Shinobu was awake at this current time, unable to see a reason as to why he wasn't waking up at all. Each time they shook him, it didn't affect him. Nothing was working, and they were running low on time.

Meredy merely kept trying to rouse the person she named her Papa, but to no avail. She wasn't having any luck whatsoever. She wasn't getting any kind of response from the boy, even if she tried her best, which she was doing at this moment in time.

Ultear continued looking for the opponent in the shadows. She could see his movements around the area, but she couldn't get him. Whenever she would catch sight of it, and throw her orb, it was already too late.

She hated admitting it, but she was having a difficult time in getting the opponent with what she needed to get him with, and she couldn't go all out, with everyone around. Since they were behind her, if she released her full magical power, she would hurt them as well, and while she didn't really care about the Princess, the other three were people that she did care about.

"What!?"

Ultear was caught by surprise when the man named Taki came from her shadow, and before she could act, he hit her dead centre on the chest, knocking her back quite a considerable distance.

Ultear sharpened her eyes, and made her orb known to her, bringing it upwards.

"Flash Forward!"

Returning to her feet, Ultear threw her orb at the opponent and used the spell Flash Forward, to increase its speed, but to no avail.

By the time that it got to the opponent, it missed all together, turning into a shadow so it just went through the opponent as if he wasn't there at all.

She clicked her tongue, and summoned her orb to her side, her frustrations growing immensely.

"Die you bitch!"

From behind her, Taki popped out of the shadows, and went to attack.

Ultear, knowing he would do a move like that, made a sword of magical power appear in her hand, and slashed it towards the opponent. With the speed that she used, he didn't have time to sink into the shadows, or become a shadow himself, therefore he jumped backwards, getting a slash to the chest, causing pain to come to his body from the slash.

The man named Taki recovered from the attack, growling as a shadow danced around his palm.

"You can't age a shadow! You can age my Demon power, but my Shadow Magic cannot be aged at all!"

With that, Taki sent a wave of shadows towards Ultear, who attempted to use her Arc of Time Magic, but it didn't work. She couldn't age the shadows, and became worried for a few seconds, but then smirked and she put her hands together in a stance.

"Ice Make: Dahlias!"

In front of Ultear, a dahlias was made of ice, purple looking ice. It sprung around her, and gave her protection of the attack that came from Taki. The Shadows and Ice made contact with one another, and shattered apart, nullifying one another's attacks, greatly surprising that of Taki.

"Whoa, you're quite strong, aren't you bitch? I thought that Shinobu would be tough, but you're quite tough as well. If you two teamed up, I would surely be beaten by your combined efforts."

The man confidently spoke, but Ultear had a sneer on her face.

"You keep calling me a bitch...well, maybe I am a bitch. But today, I'm fighting to protect my friend, my Shinobu. I might've left, and I don't deserve his kindness, but I am going to protect him until he wakes up."

"You sound confident that he's going to wake up."

Taki pointed out, with Ultear continuing to smirk.

"Ooh, I don't doubt that he will. I know Shinobu, and I know how tough he really is. If anyone can recover from this, then it is him. Do not worry, I am merely but a placeholder for him, until he can come back into the fight. I wont be the one who defeats you, that honour goes to Shinobu."

Hearing what she said, it was as if there was a burning sensation coming to him right now, and he wasn't sure what he should even think about. His eyes narrowed considerably as his strength began to fall. Because of the pressure of the fights from Shinobu, and Ultear, he was beginning to feel the effects of the fight, and knew that he wasn't going to be able to fight for much longer.

"Honour? Killing me is an honour now is it? Do you really think that your little friend is going to kill me?"

Ultear looked towards Shinobu, her eyes lingering for a few seconds, before giving a wide smile on her face.

"I know he is going to kill you, so don't ever underestimate him. He's stronger than the current me, and the current you as well. You say that he's weak, but he really isn't."

"Hmph, he is weak though. He did a stupid move, and protected his 'friends' rather than taking out the enemy. That's stupid to do. If you have a chance for victory, then you grab it with both hands. You don't sacrifice that so you can keep your 'friends' safe."

He spoke with a victorious smile, his eyes showing how confident he really was.

Ultear though began to laugh to the confusion of the enemy.

"Hmmmm? What's so funny? Has something happened?"

He genuinely didn't understand what she was laughing at. Ultear though shook her head.

"It's nothing like that. But you've completely missed the point."

"I've missed the point? What in the fuck are you talking about?"

Taki was becoming quite disinterested with Ultear now, and wasn't happy in the slightest.

But Ultear continued to laugh at the man, to his ire, the irritation building up inside of him.

"You don't understand at all. People like us, don't understand peoples motivations like Shinobu. I can't say that I would sacrifice my life for someone that I hardly know. But that's the difference between people like you and I, with regards to Shinobu. He's a kind person, he's a person who doesn't belong in the shadows like us. He belongs in the light, like his Magic. So that's why, he is going to beat you. As they say, light beats the dark, and you're no exception. His light, will destroy your darkness."

As she said these words, the man named Taki laughed. He laughed so hard that he even coughed a few times. He found it so funny that he couldn't stop laughing out loud, something that irritated Ultear and the others to no end.

"You're freaking high you are! Don't you see what's going on you stupid girl!? I don't see why you think you can do anything to change this! You're going to die, your friends are going to die! The bullshit about light and dark is just shit! Mix white and black together, and you get gray! Is that what colour you are, Ultear!? It isn't like you're an Angel either!"

He argued against Ultear...as that's all he could do now.

He didn't show it, but he had a worried expression within himself. He didn't want to succumb to the fear that he felt. But he somehow was able to hold it together, though found it tough to keep himself together.

"I've never said I was. Maybe, I am gray. I'm not completely evil, yet I cannot walk in the light. I'm one of the few who cannot be in the light, and chooses to stay away from the dark. I am...something unique. Unlike myself though, people like Meredy can stand next to Shinobu, in the light. The innocence of that girl, and the innocence of Shinobu draws them together. Unlike myself, Meredy can be with Shinobu if she chooses to do so."

Meredy, from Shinobu's location, squeezed his hand as she gently shook her head again and again, as Aries looked down at the ground, as if she knew something was going to happen. Hisui on the other hand, didn't really know much about the history between Shinobu and Ultear, so she was only following some of the conversation.

"N-No Ul...we have to be together...with Papa..."

Meredy whispered it so quietly that she didn't hear it, and continued on regardless of what Meredy said, deeming it irrelevant.

"Now, until Shinobu comes back. I'm gonna have to show you the meaning of-"

At that she stopped when she felt something from behind her.

Quickly turning, she saw something quite extraordinary.

Shinobu's body suddenly glowed with a powerful and beautiful light golden colour, that shocked everyone around. The power raised towards the sky, and a ball of light left Shinobu's body, appearing next to him.

What appeared was the girl, Mavis Vermillion.

Though no one could see her, she was looking down at Shinobu with a wide smile on her face.

"Shinobu-sama...?"

Aries went to speak, but she was cut off when Shinobu's eyes suddenly shot open, glowing a golden colour for a split second, before it returned to the usual green colour, and he sat up.

"Shinobu-kun I..."

Hisui went to speak as well, but Shinobu cut her off as he looked around the area, seeing the eyes of Meredy, Aries, Hisui, and Ultear on his own, and even the enemy as well.

He turned towards Meredy first, giving the girls head a small comforting pat, making the young girl blush. Ultear watched on with happy eyes, glad that the pair were close.

Slowly, he stood up as Taki's eyes sharpened on the mans face, unhappy with the very figure that was before him. He didn't like that Shinobu had stood up, seemingly fine again, and shot forth some darkness towards the ground.

Shinobu placed his hand out, and erected a barrier around all of them, protecting them. Taki, to say the least, was absolutely shocked by what they had just seen, shocked that his Magic blocked the power.

"Th-That's not fair at all! Wh-When did you do something like this!? My Magic should work against all of your powers, even your defensive Magic! It should cut through it like paper!"

"Hmph, I told you, that Shinobu has this now, didn't I?"

The man glared towards Ultear as she walked towards Shinobu.

As she did, Shinobu's breath hitched in his throat, wondering what was going to happen. But she then placed a hand on his shoulder, and smiled towards him, showing him a bright smile that he hadn't seen on her face in along time.

"Don't worry about the Princess or anyone else's protection. Leave that to me. I will protect them, you just make sure that bastard goes straight to Hell, or whatever you wanna do with him."

"Ultear I..."

Ultear looked at the ground, nodding a single time.

"I know what you must think of me now. I'm...different to the one you knew, and I never got a chance to apologize for my actions back then, and even now...everything I do, isn't because I necessarily want to do it...Shinobu. I just want you to know that, no matter what you think of me, I still...deeply care about you, and I always will care about you as well. I have done things in my past...and I am not proud of my actions. I don't like what I did to you, who was the only good thing in my life at that time, and continues to be so. So...even if you hate me, I will...still be beside you, no matter what happens in the future. I will be by your side, always."

Hearing what was enough for him.

Just hearing those words brought immense relief to his being, and he couldn't say anything more about it, and didn't think he had the right to say anything more about how Ultear had changed, as that was her business, and not his. If she wanted to talk to him about it, then he would receive it. But right now, he knew that he didn't have the luxury of time, and he had to defend his friends from the enemy.

Shinobu looked towards the left of him, seeing that Mavis was stood there, giving him a bright smile.

"Don't worry Shinobu! You'll be able to fight evenly now. Since you have my aura within you for the time being, he can't stop your attacks, or add the power to his own. With your power now, you can beat him, I know that you can."

He smiled back at the words that she said and thanked her silently, but since no one else could see Mavis, they were wondering who he was smiling at and wondered why he looked so happy towards something that wasn't even there.

"Shinobu-sama...I can fight with you. I-I wont allow Shinobu-sama to become injured again."

Aries tried to join the fight, but Shinobu held out a hand, stopping her advances.

"Sorry Aries-chan, but this time, this is my fight, and mine alone. I don't want anyone else interfering. He's caused enough damage to the point that I am really angry right now. I'm sorry for being selfish, but that's how I want to do it this time. Please respect my wishes."

Aries at first wanted to complain, but she then saw the look he had within his eyes, and she knew that since she saw that, he would be okay. That look was all she needed to know that he was going to be okay...as this time, he had the look that expressed his passion and power, something that Aries took seriously.

So, Aries did the only thing that she could, and bowed her head in resignation.

"Okay Shinobu-sama...I will do as you ask."

He nodded with a "Thank you." coming from his mouth.


His eyes then went back towards Taki.

"You did something unfair, and made it so my attacks wouldn't be able to face against you, to be absorbed by your magical powers. However...this time, I am not fighting alone. A new friend of mine allowed me to use her aura for awhile, so your aura can no longer nullify my own. Now, we can fight on an even battlefield, and that's something that you cannot fight against. This power, I will use to beat you. I'm the apprentice of a very powerful wizard, and I cannot stand down now. I will face you with all of the power that I have within myself. Do not mistake though, the aura doesn't amplify my abilities, it merely puts us on equal ground again, and this time, I am going to beat you."

"Th-That's a lie! I wont let you!"

He became enraged, gathered his acid like powers around him, shooting them at Shinobu. Shinobu gathered light by his mouth, summoning the light around him, eating it and making light dance at the back of his throat.

"Light Devils Rage!"

Springing from his mouth, Shinobu released a beam of pure light towards the enemy, and broke apart the attack instantly. Taki opened his eyes wide and dodged to the left, unable to turn into a shadow in time.

The light attack nicked his shoulder, making him bleed profusely from a single attack. The attack made the man howl out in pain, and slam his hand into the roof, causing it to break.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! What the fuck is this guy!? H-How in the fuck did you even get to break my powers!? I was supposed to be someone who has all of the powers that could fight against you, Devil Slayer! I was supposed to be the one who could make a difference in this world! I wasn't supposed to be the person who lost! Don't make me lose you bastards!"

His anger was released, exploding into the air. He clenched his teeth together, and ripped off his mask, showing his surprisingly handsome face to everyone, appearing to be around the age of 15-16 years old, his black hair shadowing his eyes, but on his face, there were scales, as if it was a lizards scales scattered around the face.

Shinobu looked upon the enemy, knowing that he was a Demon now, no exception. He couldn't see any human left within him. It was as if his dna had become that of a Demon, and even Shinobu couldn't save him in the end.

"You, think you're better than I am, don't you Shinobu? You, with your friends, with your Sensei, and everyone else. You got to have love, that I never got. I'm going to end your life because I hate that even if we started out the same, you got everything I never got!"

Shinobu lowered his eyebrows, shaking his head from side to side.

"I, don't know what you're saying. The reason I have love, is something I don't know. Maybe I am lucky in the regards that I can have people like that. But...if you hate me for that reason, then why don't you go and find out what you need from love. I'm sure that if you do, you'll find it as well."

Even though Shinobu said that with a kind smile, and heart, the man merely sneered towards Shinobu, unable to take what he said.

"You act all high and mighty, but I'm going to end you right now!"

With those words, Taki allowed his corrosive powers to shoot out towards Shinobu.

"Light Devils Streak!"

Shinobu disappeared from view, going faster than he had ever been before, moving quite fast. The streams of corrosive power shot at Shinobu, and Shinobu dodged them elegantly, as if he was dancing.

Moving at such a speed as he was, he was able to dance around all of the streams of attacks, which melted the floor. Ultear quickly used her Magic to fix that little problem, and made it so that it wouldn't break under Shinobu's feet, something she suspected that the man was doing.

"Tch, you're a bastard you are! Stop dodging my attacks!"

He complained, shooting out more and more attacks.

Shinobu simply was too fast by this point, moving at a pace that they weren't able to keep up with. His speed was immense, it was so fast that he wasn't able to even see anything that was going on, Taki that is.

"Light Devils Purifying Fist!"

Shinobu finally crossed the distance, and delivered a super powered punch to the mans chest, causing him to spit out blood and bile as the light power travelled into him, dispelling the darkness around him.

"Gwah! Y-You bastard! I've had enough of you! Die!"

The man erupted magical power around him, shooting it out like rockets around him, and they all headed for Shinobu, who had to jump back to avoid the brunt of it.

Even though his attacks could now hurt his attacks, destroy them, he was also caught by someone with immense levels of power, and even if he didn't want to see it, Shinobu was having a hard time.

Shinobu, with his increased speed, was able to dodge all of the attacks, the attacks melting the ground around him. Taki thought that he got him, surrounding him with the acid like powers...but he was wrong.

"I don't think so! Arc of Time!"

Ultear sprung into action, and fixed the ground around Shinobu, so his feet didn't get burned.

Taki growled at seeing that, and pointed his hands towards Ultear and the others.

"You've interfered for the last time. I'm going to burn you away!"

The man named Taki charged up his attack, making it stronger and stronger, forming an orb. Ultear got ready to defend the others, Aries stood beside her and Meredy stood in front of the Princess in protection. Mavis on the other hand merely looked on towards Shinobu.

"I don't think so!"

As he was able to fire an attack, Shinobu appeared, and punched him into the ground, making it crack around him from the force that Shinobu used in the attack, something that impressed Ultear.

"That's kick ass Shinobu. Kick his stupid ass."

Ultear murmured to herself, but it was caught by Meredy who smiled brightly towards the older girl.

Shinobu then stood upright, and glared towards the man without his mask now, and gathered light around his body.

"You really think that this is going to work with me!? I am stronger than you! I am better than you are!"

The man returned to his feet, growling as he thrusted his hands towards Shinobu, shooting off a large amount of the acid like Magic that he had. Shinobu responded to that by using the light around him and concentrating it into a single point in his hands, the condensed light filling the area with a beautiful light that made the girls feel tingly.

"Light Devils Wave!"

With a single shout, Shinobu pushed his hands forward, and released the light power. The light went forward, in a single orb at first. But soon, it spread outwards, growing in size, the orb then turning into a wave like appearance, and washed over the acid that the man shot out.

In the middle, the wave of light, and the darkness of the acid collided with one another, creating a single mass in the middle, a battle for supreme domination beginning on the roof.

"D-Don't think you're going to beat me!"

The man upped his magical power, adding it to his attack in an attempt to overpower Shinobu's attack.

For a few seconds, the mans attack seemed to be winning from the added power. But Shinobu then interjected with his own, amplifying his power to a new height, and made it stronger than the mans power, completely breaking apart the Demons power.

Due to the difference in power, Shinobu's wave of pure light was eventually able to overcome the acid, crushing it in the wave of light, and headed for the Demon man, sending him crashing down into the ground, creating a broken part of the roof, while the roof was fixed itself by Ultear...as she wanted to witness this battle to its full extent.

The man, Taki, on the ground, panted heavily, wounds appearing on his body. His body stung due to the fact that he was hit with a Devil Slayer Magic, and since he was a Demon now, he felt the adverse effects of it, and made it so that he wouldn't be able to escape the glaring weakness that all Demons had, and that was...Shinobu's Devil Slayer Magic.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! I can't lose to you bastard! This isn't right! I have more power than you have! I might be the weakest of the group, but I'm more than enough for you, boy! I am more than enough to take you down!"

The man raised his spirits and stood up quickly. Despite the blood coming from him, he wore a sneer on his face, surrounding his hands in darkness.

Shinobu regarded the man carefully, surrounding his own hands with light.

"Tch, do you think you're going to win, boy!? I am going to beat that grin off your face! I am going to beat the living shit out of you! I wont allow you to win against me! I am all powerful! You're just a useless experiment that should've died already!"

Even though he tried to hurt Shinobu's feelings, berating him...it didn't effect him.

He had been called many things in his life, and this wasn't something that mattered to him.

"If that's what you say. Or is it that you're trying to prolong the battle? Maybe you think you're going to win because of mean names?"

Taki growled, and lunged forward.

"Die you fucking bastard!"

With a fist thrusting, the man launched some darkness at Shinobu.

Using his speed, Shinobu avoided the punch of darkness that was released and thrusted his own hand forward, shooting off a light blast right back at the male opponent.

Taki clicked his tongue, and quickly moved to the left, evading the attack.

"Don't think you're better than I am!"

"I don't think I'm better than anyone. No one is."

Shinobu mused to the man, but Taki didn't want to listen and crossed the distance.

"Die you bastard!"

Taki, with anger, hit forward at Shinobu. Shinobu raised his fist, and in time, hit it against Taki's, creating a blast of pure power that spread out, creating a wave of wind to wash over the area, and almost blowing back the others, but thanks to Aries and Ultear, they were able to remain where they were.

"Sorry, but I don't plan on dying because I've got a Sensei to...hehe, none of your business~"

With those cool and embarrassing words for Mavis, Shinobu pushed the hand of Taki away from his body, and hit forward. Taki dodged the attack, sending his own fist forward in an attempt to get Shinobu...however, Shinobu hit the fist away from his body, then hit for the mans face, only for Taki to block the punch with his hands, and then pushed the fist away from him.

"Don't be all smug with me, I wont be losing to you!"

With those words from the deranged man, Taki and Shinobu got into a fist fight with one another.

Shinobu hit Taki, and Taki hit Shinobu. They weren't any longer concerned with anything other than the fight. Each hit they gave, shook the entire area, the amount of power being released was immense. It was only thanks to Ultear that the building they were on didn't crumble down, or it would've been destroyed by now with the powerful fists that they are using.

Neither cared about defending after a certain point, taking the attacks with their bodies. Even though Shinobu was getting slightly more injured, it was nothing compared to what Taki was receiving.

His arms, legs, face, chest, and all over his power, wounds from the light of Shinobu's fist made released blood. But even then, he continued onwards, not caring about the searing pain that he was feeling. But Shinobu was the same.

Thanks to the wounds before, he was feeling worse for wear, but he didn't stop. He didn't have a choice but to fight against Taki, or it could mean the end of his friends. That thought alone was more than enough to continue on, and give more and more damage to Taki, more than he had received.

"D-Damn, this kind of fighting is more than I thought it would be. But Shinobu-kun's doing more damage than the Demon is. He's doing it better than the Demon is. If this keeps up, Shinobu-kun is going to win."

Hisui admitted while covering her face, Meredy nodding in agreement. Though Ultear and Aries didn't say anything, they shared the thoughts of Hisui, and continued to watch the fight for what it was...a brawl.

The fight continued on and Taki noticed that he was taking more damage than he was actually giving out. Sure, Shinobu had some wounds on his body from the back and forth, but nowhere near the amount that he had thanks to Shinobu, so he had one choice left.

"You die now!"

After five minutes of the back and forth, Taki put his power into his right fist, and punched forward with all the power he had inside, hoping that he would be able to take down Shinobu...but he had other ideas.

"Light Devils Purifying Fist!"

Shinobu avoided the fist Taki gave, and placed his light power on a high into his right fist. He then used that fist, and embedded it deeply into Taki's stomach, a breaking noise being heard and he collapsed to the ground, his body shaking, coughing up blood onto the ground, anger rising within him.

"W-Why do my legs shake!? Why do I cough this blood up!? Not yet! I can't lose now!"

Taki slowly raised to his feet on shaky legs. The amount of power that he had around him decreased a sizable amount, but was still quite the posing power he had.

Shinobu saw that Taki was standing up, and sighed while breathing a little heavily.

"Please don't stand anymore. You've not got much power left anymore."

Hearing that wasn't something Taki didn't want to hear, and it was more than he could take. He screamed as loud as he could, and raised his spirits, putting more Magic into his entire being than it should be possible.

"I wont lose to yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou!"

With those words, the man gathered darkness into his hand, along with acid, and lunged forward with his fist.

Shinobu ducked a punch the man gave, and went to hit forward as well. As the man was about to block, Shinobu stopped his attack, mere inches away from the block the man was going to give, and aimed a kick for his legs instead.

Due to being a slight opening in his defence, believing that Shinobu was going for the face, he realized too late that Shinobu went for his leg, and received the attack, bringing him down to his knees.

"Have this!"

Without a moment to spare, Shinobu slammed his light covered fist into Taki's face, his face bending around his fist, and was shot backwards, blood coming from his face. However, just as he was able to go over the side of the castle, Shinobu grabbed his leg thanks to his speed to catch up to him, and spun around, slamming his body into the roof, smashing it apart...which was fixed thanks to Ultear.

Shinobu allowed the mans foot to be dropped from his hand, and looked on as Taki glared up at Shinobu, turning around to face him while still on the ground.

"You think you can beat me...I will kill you! Do you here me! You haven't won this yet! I will fucking murder you, your friends, and everyone in this goddamned town! I will take everyone with me if I have too!"

Hearing that, Shinobu's eyes changed, and he knew that he couldn't prolong the fight any longer.

"I see...so, you're going to do something bad...I'm sorry, then I am going to have to end the fight now."

Shinobu muttered those words, and surrounded himself in the beautiful light that was around the area, looking at the downed, but not out, man with a angry face.

In the air, above the man, five magical circles were made, one after the other, all glowing a white colour.

Light slowly disappeared in the area, and gathered at the base of the top magic circle of Shinobu's final attack, slowly forming a mass in the magical circle. As it did, people took note of the darkened area that the attack made.

"I'm sorry, but this is what I have to do now. If I hold back anymore, innocent people could get hurt. I don't want to resort to using Law, as Sensei said that I shouldn't use it unless it was a dire emergency, and now, thanks to my friends, and to Mavis-chan, I am able to do this kind of attack now."

"D-Don't you dare! I'm going to kill you!"

The man didn't want to accept what Shinobu was going to say, and he didn't want to know anymore about it, so he shot off a darkness shot towards Shinobu's face.

The boy grunted, and released a barrier of light from him, protecting himself from the attack.

"N-No! This can't be! I can't be allowed to die here! I can't die now! I can't die! I wont die because of you!"

The man shot more and more attacks towards Shinobu, but his light barrier protected him, and he made ice within his hands, waving it towards the man, freezing his feet to the ground.

"I'm sorry, that it had to turn out this way. I don't like hurting people, I don't like doing something like that. Fighting is the last thing on my mind, unless there is a reason to fight, I would much prefer to just stay here, and be with my friends...but I'm forced to fight now, for my friends, and everyone else. So, I'm sorry, but this is where it ends."

Taki looked upwards towards Shinobu, and tears stung his eyes. Showing the last shred of humanity that he had within himself, he panicked and cried, showing everyone his human weakness.

"N-No! I'm better than you are! I wont lose to a piece of shit like you!"

The man roared as loud as he could.

Shinobu though showed a cold smile.

"Continue howling to the grim reapers in hell."

Hearing those words, brought utter despair to Taki, while Ultear smiled brightly, muttering "So fucking cool, that's an awesome line." with Hisui hearing it, and mentally agreeing with her.

Shinobu raised his hand, and then brought it downwards.

"Devil Slayer Secret Art! Gods Holy Judgment Light!"

With that shout, light shot down in a large column of light. Each time it hit one of the magical circles, the beam became denser, stronger as it passed through each magical circle, enhancing the overall power.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

He didn't have a choice but to scream as the brilliant light washed over him. It was so beautiful, that it brought tears to Hisui's eyes, who hadn't ever seen such a beautiful light, and feeling within herself as well.

"He's amazing, he really is."

"Hehe...I can't believe it, this kind of power is amazing after all. I cannot even compare this to anything else...Papa..."

"Well, it is only natural, Shinobu has always been strong. His power now reflects the power in his heart."

"Shinobu-sama's power is...so warm..."

Hisui, Meredy, Ultear and Aries spoke in turn, while Mavis placed her hands together in a praying like stance.

"This is it my future little fairy...show the world how much power that you really have within yourself. This is the kind of power that you hold within yourself, I know that you can do this..."

Mavis held confidence within Shinobu's power, holding it to a high regards.

The light made the building shake, breaking it apart at the seems. If it wasn't for Ultear, the castle would've been destroyed by the intense attack that Shinobu had unleashed.


The light was finished with about a minute later, so was the Demon man. He was still alive, but that was because Shinobu held back just enough that he would be alive. But his power did beat him to a point where he wont be able to move anymore for awhile. He left him alive for the single fact, he needed to know what was going on with him, and if he had any information about Brain, or the other people he warned would be coming.

Once the enemy was defeated, Shinobu looked towards the defeated Taki with a somber look on his face.

"It's horrible, the hate and anger that was within him and how he seemed to lose himself at the end...I don't even know who he was, honestly. I never even got to find out his name..."

Hisui, Meredy and Aries looked upon the man with the same sad eyes that Shinobu had, while Mavis smiled softly, but it could be seen within her eyes that she didn't like seeing what happened to the city or its people either.

Ultear looked towards the downed man, and frowned.

"He wasn't anyone. Like the rest of the world, he wasn't anyone. All of us aren't someone unless we're acknowledged by others. At least, that's what I feel like. Taki there, wasn't anyone other than someone that came from a past like us. A nameless face in the sea of other nameless experiments."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Shinobu questioned Ultear as he looked back at her, gaining the others attention.

Ultear took a deep breath, and went to explain.

"I'm saying that, like us, he was experimented on as well. Brain, took what was that poor soul, and turned him into something that cannot ever be looked at again. Unlike us, he didn't have a high level of power, and he broke easily. His mind and spirit broke during the capture that he had with Brain, and now, he's nothing but a mindless man that followed his own basic instincts to kill and become stronger. In away, I pity him. But...you shouldn't feel bad about beating him. If he wasn't stopped, he would've destroyed this world. The mans name, was Taki."

Hearing the name, Shinobu graced Taki with a smile.

"Taki...san huh...that was his name...Taki-san...was experimented on like us by that vile monster Brain..."

Just thinking about it angered him more and more. He couldn't believe how much pain Brain had caused, and continues to cause during his time. It made him sick, what Brain had done, and he didn't like it in the slightest.

Ultear nodded with a sigh escaping her lips.

"That's right. He was...like us, but unlike us, he didn't have people like us. He didn't have a you, or a me to comfort the other. Shinobu, you're a special kind of person, you're really a good person...and once upon a time, he was an innocent child as well. I'm not trying to condone what he did, and what he was planning to do, but the life he had, and what he grew up as, it could've easily been you or I who turned out like that. It could've been both of us turning out like that man, if we didn't have one another, and that's why I thank God that I had you with me during that time, and even after that, because I never forgot the kindness you brought into my life."

Shinobu lowered his head, casting his eyes away from Taki, unable to look at the man anymore, feeling pity for him, pity that he ended up in a state like this, a state where he wouldn't be able to go on anymore.

Shinobu looked out towards the city, seeing that there were still Demons there, still rampaging around the city, and breaking it, destroying it, and he found it to be quite sickening if he was honest with himself.

"All of those people down there, must be in pain and misery, right?"

Hisui came to Shinobu's side and said this while looking down at the city.

Meredy and Ultear joined them with Aries, while Mavis stood at the back, cocking her head to the side in wonder.

"I want to help, but even I can't take those down now. I've got nearly no amount of magical power left to face all of them. They are too much to face the current me...I cannot face all of them alone."

Meredy got close to him, and patted his hand, gaining his attention.

"Don't forget, we're here as well. You aren't alone."

"She's right, Shinobu. We're by your side as well, and we'll do whatever it is that we need to do to make this better. After all, this could've been prevented if I...well, it doesn't matter now. Damn Hades...bastard..."

Ultear added into the conversation with Aries placing hands on Shinobu's shoulders.

"Shinobu-sama, please take the rest of my magical power to give you yours back. Since it is Shinobu-sama, I know that he'll be able to do something amazing. So, please take the power back from me, and have what I have so you can use it to defeat the enemy."

"Aries-chan that's..."

Shinobu didn't know what to say, as he felt Meredy take his hand in her own hand.

"Yeah! Take my power as well Shinobu-san!"

Ultear smiled, placing a hand on his back.

"Well, if Meredy is doing it, then I might as well do it as well. I can't be outshone by Meredy now. Shinobu, take our Magic and have it within you. Use it, to clean these Demons off the face of Earthland."

Finally, Hisui placed a hand on Shinobu as well.

"Please, I've done nothing but get captured during this tale. I haven't been able to do anything but be helpless, and if I can at least do something, so I will do it as well, Shinobu-kun. Please, take my magical power, I must have some kind of power, since that portal gate thingy looked magical. So take what's inside of me, and use it for your own."

Shinobu looked at all of them, then Mavis caught his eyes, and gave him a single nod of her head. Seeing that, Shinobu smiled towards each and ever single one of them, taking in their smiles.

"Okay...if we work together, then I know that we'll be able to do it! Please stand in a circle around me, and I will charge an arrow built of our magical power! We'll be able to do this yet!"

[Right!]

With that, Aries, Meredy, Ultear and Hisui stood in a circle around Shinobu. Shinobu placed his hand outwards, and made a bow of pure light, pointing his hand upwards and putting his other hand downwards.

"Now, concentrate and allow your magical power to flow out towards me. With it, I can fashion a Devil Slayer arrow. Hopefully, it will be powerful enough to defeat the enemies that are around."

The girls nodded, and slowly, an aura came from their bodies, a magical aura at that. On the bow, an arrow of pure light was being formed, from everyone's power. Shinobu concentrated on the arrow, and made it a larger and larger arrow from the power that he was receiving.

Aries body began lighting up, and she then disappeared from sight, using all of her magical power that she had left, giving Shinobu a bright smile as she left, he also returned it.

Soon after that, Meredy and Hisui fell to the ground in a pant, and followed by not long afterwards, was Ultear.

Shinobu, still in the middle, now held a large arrow of purifying light power. Since it was Devil Slayer, it would kill any Demon, and the power rolling off it was the combination of his own, Ultear's, Meredy's, Aries' and finally, Hisui's. Alone, they weren't strong enough to face the threat of the enemy, but together, they were able to make a mass of power that built up in the sky, and made a bright beaming light that would vanquish any power.

"Now, be vanquished with the holy light!"

Shinobu let go of the arrow, and it fired into the sky.

In the sky, the arrow flied high, until it stopped above the city. It then began breaking apart, to form smaller arrows of light, making a large magical circle from the magical power that was being brought on by the light of the arrow.


With Mirajane and the others, they noticed the arrow in the sky being shot out.

"Who could that be? What kind of Magic is that?"

"I don't know, but it looks beautiful."

"Juvia thinks that it is really beautiful as well."

"I don't know what kind of power it is, but it is making me feel good inside of my heart."

Everyone had a blank expression on their faces as they attempted to work out who could've done it, besides Kagura that is, who wore a smile.

"Hah, don't you even know who this is?" All of the girls looked towards Kagura with a confused expression, but that was soon replaced with smiles when Kagura spoke next. "This is our friend, after all. This is Shinobu, who is doing this after all. He's the one who is doing things like this, now. He must've won his battle, and now is helping us all out."

At that, no one knew what to say, so they kept their mouths closed, and watched as the arrows of light fell from the sky like rain drops, but rather than touching any human, they all slammed against the Demons and killed them one by one, taking them out.


In another part of the city, on the outskirts, Levy and the others were continuing to fight the Demon's off, albiet with exhaustion written onto their faces. It was obvious that they were getting tired by now.

However, when they felt like giving up, they all saw in the sky that light was raining down.

"Wh-Whats that!?"

Beth panicked at the lights that were coming down towards them, but Levy simply smiled at the light as it hit the Demons, and in turn, incinerated them out of existence, leaving nothing behind.

"Who could've done something like this?"

Bacchus questioned, noting the defeat of the Demons.

"Yeah, who's doing this?"

Ren added, sitting down on the ground with a heavy pant.

Sherria shrugged her shoulders as she healed one of the members of the fighting force, making sure that nothing too bad happens to that person, something that brought relief to the person being healed.

Jenny placed her hands together, as she smiled brightly.

"This has to be the Angel of course. He is commanding the power of light, making it come down onto the evils of the world, protecting us from the nastiness of the evils of the world. It has to be the Angel of course, that's who it is now. We have to believe in the Angel boy now, and I can't wait to become his human bride."

Levy sweatdropped at the female who had starry eyes at this very moment in time that kind of scared her if she was honest with herself, but could only nod her head anyway.

"She's right, unfortunately. She's right about the fact that he's the one who's doing it. It must be Shi-chan who is doing this right now. Yes, there's no doubt that it is Shi-chan that's the one who is doing it now. It has to be, Shi-chan is protecting us now! He's saving us! Shi-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan! You're amazing Shi-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

Levy cheered as the light rain continued pouring from the sky. It was amazing, to see all of the light raining down from the sky, and it was only becoming more and more brighter as time went on, the King not far away having his hands together, silently thanking Shinobu and his friends for what happened and knowing that in his heart, these children had saved the Kingdom, and his daughter as well.


For a few minutes, the light continued to rain down, until all of the city was cleared of the Demons, leaving none in the city whatsoever. There was nothing left of the Demons, and Shinobu had officially ran out of magical power, sinking to the floor while panting heavily.

"Ooh...is it over now...?"

Shinobu questioned to himself aloud, not really expecting an answer from anyone.

Mavis walked over towards Shinobu, placing a hand on his shoulder as she smiled proudly.

"You did it, Shinobu! Well done, I had no doubt that you would be able to do something amazing like you did. This just proves that you're a good hearted person, and just how strong your friends truly make you. What that poor man was saying, I wouldn't let it get to you, if I were you. He was very, disturbed and with maybe some help, he can be fixed. But for now..." She stopped when a shadow suddenly loomed over them. "No...it can't be..."

Mavis suddenly became shocked, her eyes shooting wide and she turned towards the sky, gulping at the same time upon seeing what was in the sky, seeing what was there, worrying for the safety of the others around her.

Shinobu shot his eyes upwards as well, and something shocking was in the sky.

What he saw couldn't be put into words. It was a huge creature with wide eyes, and bright eyes, that could light up the most darkest of areas. It was a creature that made everyone's skin tingle within the world, making everyone feeling immense fearing feelings.

"Wh-What the hell is that thing...?"

Hisui's fear came to her, and she crawled behind Shinobu.

"U-Ul, what is that thing? It's...strong...pure power..."

Meredy felt fear as well as she also walked closer to Shinobu, clinging to him for dear life.

Ultear, also felt fear as she looked towards the sky, not liking what she saw in the slightest.

"I-I don't know what that is, but its magical power is off the charts. Its got a higher power level than anything I've ever sensed before, combined. This is...too monstrous, I've never even conceived such power being in a single entity before...it is too much..."

Shinobu looked towards Mavis, and saw the fear within her eyes as well, which only made his fear even worse.

"Mavis-chan...that thing...Sensei once told me about such a large creature which such a large level of power, and said that if I ever come across it, I should run away or it would do something dangerous...Mavis-chan tell me straight...is that creature..."

Mavis turned towards Shinobu, nodding her head a single time.

"Yes...that creature is known as Acnologia."


End chapter!

So, quite a chapter huh! Mavis showed up! Mavis has officially been brought into the story, but why is that Shinobu can see her? But some characters also shined this chapter as well, with Erza and her group plus Mirajane coming in at the end to finish off the Demon. Ultear stalled for time for Shinobu to come back, and then Shinobu finished off the enemy, and the Demons in the time with the help of Hisui, Meredy, Ultear and Aries. But now, Acnologia has appeared! Some of you guessed from chapter 24 that it was Acnologia who appeared! But what does Acnologia want? All (nearly that is, gotta have some secrets for now) will be revealed soon!

I'm sure some are wondering how he is able to see Mavis and all, and how she seems to be at least somewhat knowledgeable at that...well, that's something you'll have to wait for, hehe~ It will be explained in the future what Mavis and Shinobu's connection is. And before anyone says it, no, Shinobu isn't going to be able to face Acnologia in a fight for quite sometime yet, and even if the current one teamed up with Zeref right now, they wouldn't be able to win.

Eeh, nothing else to add but, until next time!

Shinobu's harem; Ultear, Mirajane, Aries, Virgo, Wendy, Carla, Lucy, Sherria, Hisui, Sherry, Levy, Zeref (fem), Jenny, Yukino, Kagura, Erza, Jellal (fem).