Chapter 36

Large black Celestial Spirit Magic Seal appeared above the tip of the key as violet-black mist started to creep and blanketed the ground area, covering the Spirit Dome from sight in its wake. Two glowing orbs hovered in the air and movements can be seen. The mist dissipated and revealed a gigantic serpent behind Lucy.

"Ophiuchus, take me to that book." Lucy pointed to the floating book in mid-air. The Spirit quickly complied and swooped down to carry the blonde on its head.

"What the…?" Sael noticed the sudden tremor, almost making him stagger. They were now fighting in the ground after he was sent crashing by the bastard's punch and continuously attacked by the other seven Fairy Tail mages. He whipped his head into different angles, searching for the source of that movement. He eventually found it. There. The bitch is riding a huge black snake towards the…He can't believe that these idiots even have the time to hatch a useless plan. "So, you this was just a diversion. DEMON SHACKLES!" Black chains formed and flew towards the snake.

"No you won't reach her!" Donned in her Armadura Fairy, Erza used her swords to cut the magic chains. Light flashed in Sael's eyes the armor was quickly dissipated.

"DARK R…"

"ICE MAKE: ICE GEYSER!" Gray interrupted the man just as he could cast a spell against the redhead. Ice spikes impaled their opponent but a second later, it shattered. The demon flapped its wings to reach the raven-haired man, claws ready to strike.

"SIERRA!" Juvia transformed into a mass of water, bubbling and smoking as she ran. She encircled their opponent, running at top speed.

"GAHHH!" Sael stumbled back, his hands scalded and red because of the hot water. "DARK ENVELOPING CLAW!" A claw made of darkness erupted from the ground, ensnaring Juvia. The Water mage used her Water Body Spell to escape his grasp.

"SKY DRAGON'S WING ATTACK!" Wendy generated large whirlwind from both of her arms and hurled it towards her target.

"FIRE DRAGON'S WING ATTACK!" Natsu followed. Both attacks were dispelled just before it could even make contact.

"LIGHTNING DRAGON'S BREAKDOWN FIST!" Laxus gathered large amounts of lightning around his right fist, bended his arms and extended the fist forwards. This caused a Magic Seal to appear before him where an oversized version of his fist composed of pure lightning fired at the demon. Caught off-guard as he had just dispelled the previous attacks coming before him, Sael received the full force the lightning, electrifying him.

"ARGHHH!" Sael staggered, spark of electricity dancing in his bare chest. Bruises covered his face and body. "YOU BASTARD!" He growled through gritted teeth. Blood spilled as he spoke. "Book of Pandemonium, give me more power!" Another wave of lurid black substance spilled from the book and quickly covered him. A menacing laugh can be heard as he revealed himself unscathed.

"Fuck!" Natsu seethed.

"Demon, eh? Here's a demon. IRON DRAGON'S LANCE: DEMON LOGS!" Gajeel turned his arm into a large spearhead and fired multiple steel spears towards Sael.

"HEAVENLY ARROWS!" Jellal put both of his hands in his side and released several arrows made of Heavenly Body Magic. The attacks converged. Steel blades surrounded by the light surprised both parties.

"A Unison Raid!" Erza and Wendy exclaimed. The attack wasn't dispelled and immediately connected but a black barrier suddenly appeared around their opponent.

"A Unison Raid. Quite splendid, I might say." Sael sarcastically slow-clapped. "But it was still no match to the Infernal Sphere. Might I remind you that this can only be dispelled by the wench's Spirit Energy. That Law of Contradiction thingy." He bragged. Just then, all the mages surrounding him took on their battle stance and Magic Seal began to appear in front of them. He immediately used his powers to seal all of their powers. "DEMON SHACKLES." Black shackles wrapped around their form, rendering them immobile. He then proceeded to use his claws to beat them. "Hmm, what should I do with you? You're still too young." Sael walked towards Wendy squirming in the chains around her. "Well, since I'm such a gentleman, I will do something related to your powers. Not too bloody." The binds tightened its grasp around the young girl's neck, cutting her flow of oxygen.

"Stop it! Let go of Wendy-san!" Juvia cried. The man took notice of her and walked towards her.

'This girl is the one with the Water Body Spell but hey, since she can't use her powers, a physical attack will do.' He thought. "So you want to go next? Fine by me." He shrugged. "Just like I said, I am a gentleman and I will keep that." Using his claws, he slapped her hard in the face, bruising her pale cheeks.

"Juvia!" Gray's eyes widened in fright as the girl he has grown to love fell down.

"Bastard, let go of me. I'll kill you!" Erza squirmed and tried to resist the chains.

"No. Can't do that, Titania." He then slapped the red-head with greater force, giving her a black eye and sent her hurling towards the Water Mage.

"Erza!" Jellal exclaimed. He turned his head towards the villain. "You! I'm going to kill you!" But the man just gave him a smirk.

"Jellal, former leader of Crime Sorcière and instigator of the Tower of Heavens, it's such a shame that you joined this bunch of fools. We could have ruled the world together." Sael brought the man's face closer but the former Magic Council member just spitted in the demon's face. "Thought so." Sael said, wiping the spit from his face. "Well, time to use this." The snake of a tail wrapped itself in the Heavenly Magic Mage's neck and bit it. "The venom of this snake is potent enough for your blood to make a fountain out of your mouth full of disgusting spit."

"Jellal!" Gajeel watched in horror as the blue-haired man's body started to convulse and blood started to drip from his mouth.

"As for the boys, I'll think about it. Ah." He flew towards Natsu and grabbed his head with his claws then slammed it in the cold, hard ground. There was no time to react for Gray and Gajeel as like the former, they too, felt the crushing sensation in their skull as it made contact with the concrete. Blood dripped from their forehead. "Hmmm. Better. Now, as for Laxus, since you interrupted my most beautiful attack, that should have been fatal to Lucy, I'll try it on you."

"Tch, give me your best shot." Laxus shot him an arrogant glare that somehow disturbed him.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you yet. I'll have you suffer that you would wish for me to kill you already." The demon extended his claws and dashed towards the blond. He then made a clean slash right across his chest. And if that wasn't enough, he repeatedly sliced at his abdomen, laughing maniacally. "HAHAHAHAHA! Take that! And that! And that!"

"AARGHHHH!" A voice full of agony screamed. Lucy refused to look at how her friends were being bled to death by the man. Anger burned in her veins but she still tried to carry on with the plan. If she's captured now, nobody will save them. Lucy ordered Ophiuchus to speed up considering how her friends were taking powerful blows. Sael's eyes shot at her and immediately flapped his wings to float in the air.

'Just a little bit and I'll be there.'

"Lucy!" Sael called in a singsong voice. She has to take out those twelve keys and plunge the thirteenth key to seal this book. Low on both Magic Power and Spirit Energy, she held out her hands but before she could even took out the twelve keys; she slammed into an invisible wall. She staggered in the snake's head.

'A barrier!' Bile rose to her throat. Sael was continuously nearing her, laughing like madman.

"AAAAHHHHHH! LUCE, HURRY!" Natsu cried. She can't hold it back anymore. Her eyes snapped back the kneeling form of her friends. Black-colored energy was now currently electrocuting them. Some of which are too unbearable to see. Wendy was gasping for air. Gray, Natsu and Gajeel's heads were bleeding. There were slash marks on Laxus' bare chest, abdomen and arms, all of which bled profusely. Erza and Juvia fell down and blood came out of Jellal's mouth. She can't believe what she saw. Her knees trembled in fear, tears threatened to fall from her eyes. Strength and courage seemed to have seeped out of her body. Her friends, whose powers were supposed to unbeatable was…was... She can't finish her own thought as doubt gnawed at the corners of her mind.

'Can I do this?' Even her inner voice seemed to break.

'What if I can't?'

'Are we all going to die?' But just as all of her fears and insecurities completely overwhelm her, a voice from a distant memory suddenly blanketed out all of her worries.

'Lucy Heartfilia, will you marry me?' Laxus voice echoed in her mind. Her heart started to beat loudly, that it was the only thing she can hear.

Another voice echoed...

"One day, I'll become an S-Class mage like you guys. Promise!" Those words rang through her mind, her promise, her vow to become stronger not only just for her benefit but also for those whom she hold dear burned in her heart. Time ticked slowly as the maniacal laughter blurred. Memories of the happy times she shared with her friends, guild mates and Laxus returned her strength.

'Natsu Dragneel.'

'Gray Fullbuster.'

'Erza Scarlet.'

'Juvia Lockser.'

'Gajeel Redfox.'

'Wendy Marvell.'

'Jellal Fernandes.'

'and…'

'…Laxus Dreyar.'

'I can do this. I will do this. I have to. For my friends and for my family.' With her bare hands, she punched the barrier. Light flickered and cracking sound can be heard. The cracking of her bones. She winced.

"Fool! You'll only kill yourself!" Sael jeered.

"LUCY!" cried the collective gasps of her comrades

"This pain is nothing compared to what my friends have to go through because of me! I will put an end to this right now because I am Mrs. Lucy Heartfilia-Dreyar, wife of Mr. Laxus Dreyar and the mother of thirty of more children! AAAHHHHHHH!" Ophiuchus seemed to have heard her pleas. It then followed her and pushed harder, coiling its body in struggle and causing another quake in the ground. Light gathered in her fist and formed a sphere. It then started to beat erratically. She pushed her knuckles further. The barrier started to crack and with one last push, it completely shattered. Gathering, what's left of her Magic Energy, she used Telekinesis to take out all twelve golden keys at once and shifted the book to its back cover. She plunged Ophiuchus's key into the single keyhole, turned it and shouted the words Sael, Mnemosyne or whoever demonic bastard he was, dreadfully longed to hear.

"CLOSE! BOOK OF PANDEMONIUM!"

A/N: Hello! I'm sorry for the delayed update! Gomen! Gomen! The internet has gone nuts and won't allow me to publish chapters. (more like preventing me to finish this -_-) Anyways, as a compensation, I have uploaded two chapters but that only leaves two more, so yeah! I hope ya'll enjoy these!

supercrazyperson: And here's the update and finally, Laxus got off of his ass and started helping. Hahaha. :D

twilightamanda: I'm sorry, friend but Yukino wasn't the one who summoned Ophiuchus. She's not the heroine of this story. Hahaha XD