Dragonslayer
Chapter 51: Juubi
"Fairy Tail"- Regular Speech
'Fairy Tail'- Regular Thoughts
"Fairy Tail"- Flashbacks
"Fairy Tail"- Dragon/Demon/Monster Speech/Names of Spells
'Fairy Tail'- Dragon/Demon/Monster thoughts
Fairy Tail- Stating of the year or a place
Summary: I was told I was alone...in a world where NAKAMA were every person's desire. Then HE found me, he said he saw great potential in my small body and he raised me. Because of him I lived...I learned...and I finally found someone I could call nakama. Even if he didn't call me the same. That is why I will do whatever I can to live up to his name. As the son and dragonslayer of the greatest being I have ever met. Acnologia, the Black Dragon of the Apocalypse.
Underground, Edolas
Dark clouds of dirt and dust clouded the air. Sparks of voltage bled from severed wires that drew upon the dregs of power left within the lightning lachryma they were connected to, and small fires littered the ruined underground. The once impressive facility that had been Byro's testing grounds for the Edolesian kingdom's research and development programs, as well as the area where some of the more vile prisoners within the kingdom would be subjected to horrific experiments as test subjects for Byro's more questionable trials, had been reduced to scrap metal and rubble.
In the centre of a massive crater, the epicentre of all this destruction that no one outside of the upper echelon's of the kingdom would ever know about, there lay a dome of sturdy and thick wood. The wood dome then retracted, seeping into the earth it had come from and vanished as if it had never been there in the first place.
"K-King Faust?!" His cry echoed throughout the remnants of the destroyed underground facility. "Byro-san?!" His voiced continued to echo and Hashirama's obsidian orbs glanced around, looking for any sign of the elderly scientist. His ears twitched as he caught wind of the sound of cloth fluttering in the breeze. The Mokuton user's eyes widened in surprise as he saw the black cloak that Byro wore, following its trapped form until he spied the stains of blood that lay beneath the large pieces of rock and steel that had once been the ceiling.
"How did all this...Oh no." The man-made Exceed fell to his knees, his red armour rattling as he raised his shaking hands to his face. "I can't believe he did that. It...It is against the laws of Edolas and yet he still...he activated Dorma Anim."
Flashback
Underground, Edolas
A few minutes ago
Hashirama's eyes were wide and his mouth was agape as he stood alongside Byro. The brown and black furred Exceed could only stare in amazement and fascination at the massive silvery orb of metal before him. It was covered in black markings that were akin to scales and was wrapped entirely in chains, and beside it was another massive orb, the gray lachryma that had once been placed in the centre of the capital city and had been supplying near limitless magic to its populace. The crimson energy of the Nine burned within and Hashirama could see the images of the Bijuu-Exceed flicker in and out of existence. Despite their being converted into pure energy, their consciousnesses still thrived and they were filled with unbridled negative emotions. The hatred, the rage and the killing intent, it all stemmed from the lachryma.
"I trust that all of the necessary modifications have been made to Dorma Anim, Byro?" Faust asked. The old scientist chuckled, a disgustingly wide grin stretching across his face and threatened to split it.
"Of course, your majesty." Byro tapped a few more buttons on the console he was operating. "All central power systems have been removed from the main power lachryma and have been resized and refitted to accommodate for the new lachryma. The magic of the Nine will flow through the dragon knight and by my calculations, the power of Dorma Anim will increase by over one thousand percent. All we need is your command, King Faust, and it will be done."
The wizened king of Edolas nodded as he then raised his arms. His wrinkled hands gripped his large, fur-lined cloak and removed it from his body. The heavy cloth fell to the ground with a 'plop' to reveal the grey haired man was now clad in a skintight, black body suit that revealed the man was surprisingly fit for his age.
"Do it."
"As you wish my leige." Byro replied to his superior with a dramatic bow. He then pulled a few levers, and pressed a blue button before the lachryma containing the pure essence and energy of the Nine was being brought over to the massive silver sphere. It was then that a circular compartment opened in the silver sphere, perfectly matching the size of the Nine's lachryma as said lachryma slid easily into place. With a snap and a hiss, steam was ejected from the hydraulic machines that placed the lachryma into place and the black markings that covered the silver sphere shone red for a moment. The lachryma then began to pulsate, like a heartbeat and glowed with the immense power it held within.
"Attachment complete." Byro replied as he then glanced at the holographic screen that appeared before him. The tan skinned scientist pressed a large red button and Hashirama's awe grew, but this time...it was accompanied by fear.
(Insert Music: Naruto Shippuden- Kaguya Otsutsuki)
The chains that once bound the silver orb were broken, the heavy black metal cracking the ground with its weight, and the object began to morph before their very eyes. Its legs stretched out from the underside of the sphere, smashing into the ground. Its body shrunk in width and lengthened, its tail lashing out as it extended to its full length. Two cylinders ejected from its newly formed torso to make the behemoth's arms and claws that could easily rend flesh from bone emerged from the depths of its internal machinery. Its neck stretched out from the top of its torso, the bulbous end of it taking on the shape of a dragon's head. Its eyes were dark, indicating its current state of inactivation, but even then...the steel behemoth was a fearful creation. "Eternano conducting mechanisms online. Central power conductors online. Capacitors are at full operating capacity and all functioning capabilities are within the limits of their sources of error. Dorma Anim is ready, my king."
The loud whirs of mechanics shifting echoed throughout the underground chamber that Dorma Anim was sealed in, and a small hole opened up at the top of Dorma Anim's head. Hashirama knew his part to play and he sprouted his white feathered wings with a single burst of magic. He flew over to his king and gripped him by his shoulder. The Mokuton using Exceed lifted his superior into the air, carrying him over to the draconian titan of steel.
"King Faust." The man grunted in acknowledgement, glancing up at his biological weapon. His harsh gaze made the shorter being flinch under its intensity and Hashirama gulped, swallowing the lump that formed in his throat. "King Faust, are you...are you sure about this?"
"Hashirama, I told you before that this is the only way for the kingdom of Edolas to establish its rule with finality." The sixth king of Edolas pointed to the ceiling, but it was obvious his vision extended beyond that. "I am doing this for my people. A king's purpose...is to protect his people. This is the only way I know I can protect them from the Exceed. Those creatures need to be killed, wiped off of the face of this world and humanity will finally take its place as the dominant rulers of Edolas as we were always meant to be since the beginnings of our world."
"But, my king..."
"Are you defying me, Hashirama?" King Faust snapped. "Need I remind you that your entire creation, the entire reason you even exist, is because I willed it. I instructed Byro to craft a weapon that could fight against the Nine. I was the one who gave you a purpose and helped raise you for ten years so that you would be ready for this very day. I am practically your father, Hashirama. Is that what you are doing, Hashirama? Betraying your father?!"
The brown and black furred Exceed shook his head immediately. "No! I would never betray you, King Faust!" He then glanced at the dragon knight mecha. "But this machine...this weapon...it was locked away for a reason. The laws of Edolas said it was and the Nine...they told me about what happened forty years ago. Everything."
"Did they now?"
"Yes, my leige." Hashirama nodded in confirmation as they finally reached Dorma Anim's head. He gently rested the elderly monarch into his seat within the draconian machine's head, watching as Faust settled into it. "It takes magic to power itself and Edolas is practically without eternano. Even with the Nine powering it, will you really risk the Dorma Anim literally draining what is left of our world's magic?"
"If that is what is necessary for my kingdom and for my people, then so be it." Hashirama's eyes widened. "Those disgusting Exceed think they are gods! They think they can rule over my subjects and my kingdom just because their queen has the power to predict their deaths?! Shagotte, she is revered, seen as a divine being! A god! I am but a man, Hashirama..." Faust spoke with a sigh, his wrinkled features seeming to become more paramount as he gazed into the eyes of the winged feline before him. "I remember when my father, and his father before him...they told me about the ancient stories and fictional tales of heroes who fought gods. They tried to, but it was far too much for them and so they fell before the might of the divine. However, there were those who did whatever it took to defeat their holy adversaries, taking on the powers from other sources...darker and more vile beings in order to defeat them. The work of devils are the only thing that can defeat gods."
"King Faust..." Hashirama gulped. "What are you saying?"
The king's eyes blazed with a manic light and he placed his hands on the controls of Dorma Anim. The draconian titan roared to life, the lachryma within it pulsating. Hashirama was thrown back as massive pulses of magic were released from the dragon knight, landing back at the feet of Byro. The old man was in a trance of madness it seemed as he just cackled, his eyes alight with amazement.
"It works! IT WORKS!" The booster rockets beneath its feet had white smoke billowing from it. And from those clouds of smoke, the dragon knight began unleashing tongues of flame to allow it to rise. The bursts of magic continued to be released from Dorma Anim and the entirety of the underground quaked and shook from the awakening of the beast.
"Byro-san!" The black eyed Exceed quickly tackled Byro to the ground, and the two of them rolled across the floor as a large piece of the ceiling nearly crushed the laughing scientist. The ceiling continued to fall apart as the support columns literally crumbled from the force of the magic that Dorma Anim was unleashing.
The wild winds from the eternano bursts caused the Mokuton user's fur to billow and his red armour to clatter violent. But in spite of all these sounds, the voice of Faust was still audible throughout the collapsing chamber as it was projected from the speakers of the dragon knight mecha.
"Hashirama, let it be known that man has tried to kill god. It proved to be something that cannot be done! And so, if man cannot kill god..." Dorma Anim's eyes shone brilliantly and its monstrous roar signaled its awakening. Red magic energy flowed around its body like a fiery blaze and gave the already demonic looking creation an even more intimidating persona. "...THE DEVIL WILL DO IT!"
The Exceed's eyes widened as Dorma Anim's booster rockets finally generated the necessary thrust to send it climbing into the air. The roar of the dragon knight echoed once more and the underground facility continued to collapse. Hashirama's eyes widened as a massive shadow encompassed his diminutive form, looking up when he saw a large piece of dark rock descending towards him. He quickly converted to his more humanoid form and clapped his now hand-like paws together.
"Mokuton: Mokujōheki!" Pillars of earth burst forth from the ground on either side of Hashirama. They arched and interlocked forming a dense dome of sturdy wood, and with the Wood Locking Wall spell established, Hashirama was now forced to sit...and wait.
End Flashback
(Insert Music: Death Parade- Moonlit Night)
"Why? Does he not know of the danger that he is putting his people in now that he has once against activated Dorma Anim? Has the demonic power of the Nine corrupted him somehow? Why would King Faust do such a thing?" Hashirama muttered all these questions to himself, but then his eyes widened in realization as he recalled his conversation with the Nine when they told their story of how they escaped to Earthland.
The words of Saiken filled his mind.
"He loved his people and would do anything for them...but that was what ended up being the problem." The six tailed slug frowned as his eye stalks drooped a bit.
"Wh-What...What have I done? What...What has my king done?" The armour clad Exceed looked up at the massive hole in the ceiling Dorma Anim had created, though it would be more accurate to call it a tunnel since the metal dragon had climbed through the earth with the intent of rising to the surface and then to the heavens to accomplish the goal of its wielder.
He recalled his outbursts in defense of his king. He said everything that could be said to defend the honour and integrity of the ruler of Edolas, but he could no longer use them as he had witnessed the madness of his own king. He had accomplished his goal of regaining the Nine to supply magic to his people, he had the power to overthrow Shagotte through mere intimidation, and yet an army was still created. The power of the Nine was implanted into the X-Pills to give magic to the Shiroikage members. Dorma Anim was activated and the lachryma that had once been seen as a light of hope, had now been converted into a literal engine of destruction.
Tears crawled out of his tear ducts, pooling at the corner of his eyes until he could not hold them back any longer. The streams lined his fur covered cheeks. He was a soldier to his king. He was a weapon and a tool to his user. He had been everything and would be anything so long as his king commanded him to do it, and King Faust was not wrong when he had said he was like a father to him. And that was what made the pain the worst as the feeling of his heart being constricted in his chest increased. The winged feline could only continue to cry in anguish and anger at his own loyalty as the memory of Kurama speaking to him emerged.
"Your king is a tyrant under the guise of a saint. He will not rest until he sees humanity above the rest. Extalia still exists and he will bring about another war to see our creations burn..."
Royal Palace, Edolas
It was really quite a stretch to call the Royal Palace a palace anymore at this point. The raging battle from the two versions of Erza had reduced over half of the palace to rubble and the interior appeared as if all forms of natural disasters had wreaked havoc throughout the former architectural marvel. Acting in conjunction with the battle in the courtyard between the members of Fairy Tail and the two pseudo-jinchuriki, which now looked like a war torn battlefield, there had been quite a significant amount of damage done. Now even more had been done when the hulking draconian mass of machinery had emerged from the depths of the earth.
"A...dragon?" Erza's expression of shock was still mimicked by her Edolesian counterpart. "But...But how?"
The Dorma Anim turned its massive body causing more of the remnants of the Royal Palace to crumble as it was no longer supported by the behemoth's body nor the support columns seeing as how they had been destroyed by both the battle between Erza and Knightwalker as well as Dorma Anim's entrance. The red eyed machine then turned its head to the outskirts beyond the kingdom's walls.
A loud rumbling was then heard as the thrusters beneath Dorma Anim's body activated once more. Clouds of smoke billowed out from underneath its feet as the magic energy and fuel necessary to propel the silver metallic dragon skyward were generated. With a roar that was akin to thunder, Dorma Anim was launched through the air and a massive shockwave ripped the palace apart, sending both red heads tumbling through the air as they were blown back.
As Dorma Anim vanished into the distance, its metallic body glinting like a star in the night sky, Erza and Knightwalker were quick to recover their bearings as they now lay within the palace's gardens. They climbed back to their feet before their identical brown eyes met each other once more. With the dragon-like monstrosity no longer present, they were free to focus on their battle once more.
Titania versus Fairy Killer. Armadura Fairy versus Saint Spear: Ravelt. The strongest items within their respective arsenals now facing off against one another in one final bout to determine who was the stronger of the two with only the remnants of a once majestic palace as their spectator.
"This ends now, Knightwalker."
"I couldn't agree more, Namikaze. Now let's see if your armour can hold its own against my spear." Knightwalker smirked. "Maybe I will kill you just like the rest of those pathetic Fairy Tail members."
Erza's fingers tightened around the hilt of the Sword of Kings. "I think you will find that it will hold up just fine." She growled as emerald magic energy and platinum flames flowed around her body in a menacing fashion. Knightwalker's body was outlined in an aura of gold to match the force of the magical pressure exerted by her opponent.
The gravity within the area seemed to increase ten-fold as the two female warriors shifted into their battle stances, their magic energies rising into the air like columns of smoke. This act of intimidation continued for a few moments until they both realized that neither one of them would cower to the other. The glows of magic diminished visibly and Erza closed her eyes in concentration as her magic vanished from view.
Silence reigned supreme between the two red heads and Knightwalker raised an eyebrow in confusion. However, her confusion was quickly replaced with surprise when Erza's brown eyes snapped open and the Fairy Tail mage vanished from view in a blur of colour, her former location now a small crater of cracked earth.
(Insert Music: Fate Stay Night UBW 2014- Souls to Fight)
Knightwalker took a tentative step backwards as her eyes shifted quickly in every single direction within her field of vision. Her senses were placed on high alert until finally she felt a burst of heat and killing intent from directly in front of her. She spun on her heels and swung her spear as Erza swung Caliburn down in a ferocious downward slash. Sparks and embers exploded forth as the two weapons collided.
Knightwalker raised her spear and held it in a vertical position as Erza swung the platinum blade in a horizontal slice in an attempt to rip into her opponent's side. Knightwalker smirked, a toothy grin spreading across her face as blood lust and adrenaline flowed through her body. With a grunt of effort she spun on her heels and swiped Ravelt at her Earthland counterpart, but Erza blocked the blow with the flat of her blade. The force of the attack sent the daughter of two Wizard Saints skidding backwards slightly, but she quickly reacted to perform a downward diagonal strike to divert the downward swing that Knightwalker sent her way. Erza then took a strong step forward and pushed herself towards Knightwalker with tremendous speed to deliver a thrust attack, but Knightwalker hopped to the side while also lashing out with Ravelt so that another storm of sparks and platinum fire would decorate their the air of their battleground.
Erza's speed was great enough that she was now several feet away from her opponent, but she took it in stride as her armoured feet became blurs of pink. She ran in a wide arc, circling her opponent as said opponent followed her, spear at the ready. Erza raised Caliburn and unleashed a storm of platinum fireballs at Knightwalker, but the red haired commander of the Edolesian army was quick to display her skill with the spear. In a blur of motion, the ten fireballs were met with ten fast paced spear thrusts. Each fireball was extinguished by a burst of golden light that burst forth from the tip of Ravelt's spearhead, small explosions of light and fire now dotting the air.
Knightwalker then swiped the smoke cloud that formed in front of her, dispersing it so that she kept the Titania of Fairy Tail within her sights. As Knightwalker did that, Erza saw it as the opportunity to strike.
"Now." She uttered to herself. After what was only a few seconds of fast paced running, Erza dug her heels into the earth, ripping the garden's soil up as she pushed herself in the direction of her enemy.
"Yes, come at me Namikaze!" Knightwalker laughed as she met Erza's charge. "Show me what you can really do!"
"In the immortal words of my nakama..." Erza gripped Caliburn tightly as the weapon's flames burned brighter than before. "I'll wreck you, bitch."
Ravelt and Caliburn collided with devastating force, a fiery shockwave racing out from the point of impact and sent grass, soil and flowers scattering in every direction. Erza then followed up with a strong kick to the head which Knightwalker ducked under before rolling to the side as Erza went with the momentum of her spin kick to then shift attacking limbs, raising her other leg to bring it down in the form of a devastating axe kick. The ground cratered from the force of her heel's impact before raising her forearm up to bat aside the spear swing Knightwalker made to her head.
Knightwalker spun from the deflection, but took the movement in stride as she dug her weapon into the earth. A lengthy scar was torn in the garden's soil as Knightwalker utilized her spear as an anchor to allow herself to hop into the air and lash out with a strong kick to the chest. Erza leaned backwards, her upper body parallel to the ground as she avoided the attack. Once her fellow red head's leg passed safely overhead, Erza righted herself and lunged towards her Edolesian counterpart.
Knightwalker ripped Ravelt out of the ground as Caliburn was aimed at her. Light and fire exploded forth from the impact between the two weapons. Knightwalker quickly took off and circled around Erza to strike from behind, but the Requip user was no slouch in her expertise in swordplay as she quickly turned and unleashed a monstrous swing to counter the thrust of Ravelt. Erza then pushed back and aimed for an upward swing which Knightwalker blocked by holding her weapon horizontally. The force of the strike was enough to lift her off her feet, but Knightwalker went into a backflip to land in a stable position.
Once her footing was secured, Knightwalker continued the exchange of blows by swinging Ravelt up at her armoured counterpart to send a burst of light energy at her. Erza roared and swung Caliburn downwards to match the arc of golden light with an arc of her own platinum fire. The two magic attacks caused a small explosion that turned the azaleas into ash before Erza sent another burst of fire at her enemy.
The Fairy Killer ran forward and then went down on her knees while leaning backwards so as to slip under the fiery attack. An explosion occurred far behind Knightwalker, but neither combatant paid heed to it.
"I've shown you before, Namikaze...your little fireworks won't do much good if you can't hit me."
Knghtwalker hopped into the air and went into a front flip, bringing Ravelt down with terrific force. Erza raised Caliburn and blocked the attack, but the force traveled through her body and caused the beautiful roses beneath her feet to be scattered apart as a crater expanded out from beneath her.
"And I've shown you, Knightwalker...that you will struggle just as much to hit me." Erza put a bit more strength into her swing to send Knightwalker careening through the air. The spear wielder bounced across the ground twice before managing to use her momentum to roll and climb back to her feet. However, Erza gave her opponent no time to breath as she stabbed her sword into the ground to send a stream of platinum flame across the gardens.
"You think a Fairy Tail members has what it takes to defeat the Fairy Killer?" Knightwalker ran towards the stream of fire, but then used her spear as a pole vault. True to her methods, she did indeed vault over the flames. She tucked herself into a ball to cover a bit more distance before she touched down on the ground as Erza moved to close the distance between them both.
"I don't think a Fairy Tail member has what it takes!" Erza exclaimed as she hopped to the side to avoid the thrust aimed for her thigh. "I know I have what it takes!"
She moved to attack with a thrust of her own, but Knightwalker put on a burst of speed to avoid the fiery blade of Merlin before swinging her glowing spear. "HA! Those are some very pretty words, Namikaze! Tell me, do you also sing songs of happiness and tell motivational speeches of friendship and comradery?! Do they give you strength?!"
"My nakama give me the will...the drive to fight with everything I have!" Erza twisted at her hips to bring Caliburn across in a horizontal swipe to try and hit her opponent in the ribs, but Knightwalker dodged it before being forced onto the defensive as she was forced to block the following slashes that came after their predecessor. "I do everything I can in battle for their sakes, but words won't give me the power I need for victory! And I will show you that power!"
Erza roared as she brought her burning blade down upon her spear wielding enemy. Ravelt and Caliburn generated another explosion of sparks and fire that was accompanied by a shockwave. Knightwalker smirked as she twisted her body to get to her opponent's unguarded side. She lashed out with a strong swipe of her golden weapon.
"HA! Don't make me laugh, Titania!" An arc of golden light marked the path of her weapon as the Titania of Fairy Tail ducked underneath it. The Fairy Killer followed up with a quick thrust to the chest of the Titania.
Erza pirouetted out of the way and planted her feet firmly in place as she now stood back-to-back with her red haired counterpart. "If you won't laugh then maybe I will make you bleed."
(Insert Music: Fairy Tail- Natsu Theme)
Outskirts, Edolas
"KARYU NO HOKO!"
"ROWR!"
Blue and white flames burst forth from Natsu's mouth as Edo-Yugito countered with her own blue and black ones. The two high intensity flames scorched the ground they traversed before they collided with destructive force. A dome of flame and light expanded outwards from the point of collision to leave behind a smoking crater, but Edo-Yugito decided to take advantage of the smoke and the transformed Shiroikage member stretched out her arms and expanded the size of her fists to be, from Natsu's perspective, the size of Igneel's head.
"Ice Make: Spikes!" Gray slammed his palms down on the ground and an ice blue magic seal appeared beneath the bakeneko-esque monstrosity. Two massive spikes erupted from the magic seal and stabbed themselves into Edo-Yugito's belly and sent her skyward, but the hellcat jinchuriki was not fazed by the strike as the sharp tips of the ice spell failed to even penetrated her flaming visage.
With a roar, Edo-Yugito continued her attack. Her arms stretched and bent in ways that were not humanly possible thanks to her newfound magic. Magic seals littered the ground as Gray summoned forth more spikes to try and divert the descending claws of blazing hellfire, but Edo-Yugito's limbs either plowed their way through the spikes like they were made of glass or simply veered around them to continue on their path towards the son of Igneel.
"Gray, they're getting closer!" Natsu exclaimed. "Do something!"
"Why am I the one with the responsibility?!" Gray pointed at the incoming fists of flaming feline fury. "Those have fire on them! Why can't you just be a glutton and eat them?!"
"Because that's hellfire you jackass! It tastes like shit!"
"Now is not the time to be picky about eating fire!"
Gray and Natsu glared at one another, lightning sparking between their intense gazes. With their mutual rage towards one another at an all time high, the two mages of Fairy Tail turned to the incoming attack. Natsu's fist was wrapped in orange-yellow flames while a massive gauntlet of black ice coated Gray's own.
"DON'T INTERRUPT!" The two roared in comical anger while also delivering simultaneous punches. The level of synchronicity between the rivals was actually quite impressive and hellfire met dragon fire and divine ice with terrific force. A shockwave tore the earth asunder while gusts of ebony frost and embers of blue-black and orange-yellow flame decorated the atmosphere.
Natsu and Gray were sent skidding backwards as a result of their instinctual decision to meet their opponent's attack head on. Such was the way of the typical Fairy Tail mage. However, the slayer magic users heard the roar of Edo-Han as he thundered across the rocky battleground.
"KARYU NO KOUEN!"
"HYOJIN MEIKU: GUNGNIR!"
The two mages of Fairy Tail unleashed a raging fireball and a massive spear of black ice respectively at their horned opponent. Edo-Han's white eyes seemed to shine brighter as he was engulfed in the glow of Natsu's flames before the two spells generated a massive explosion upon making contact. Fire and ice expanded outwards in a dome and the resulting crater was revealed to be half boiling magma and scorched earth, and half obsidian ice. The resulting smoke cloud climbed high into the air, but a part of the smoke cloud stretched forwards, arching through the air before it dispersed to reveal an unharmed Gobi jinchuriki.
A clawed hand was morphed into a tight fist as it began glowing with steam-like magic energy.
"GRAAAAH!"
"Move!" Gray quickly tackled the pink haired dragonslayer just as Edo-Han brought down a devastating punch that ruptured the earth. The miniature recreation of Kokuo's Five Mountain Jump spell created a fiery shockwave that was no less dangerous to the two Fairy Tail members than the original spell of the five-tailed dolphin-horse.
The Fire Dragonslayer and Ice Godslayer were sent careening across the battlefield. They bounced across the dusty wasteland before rolling on the ground. They utilized their momentum to climb back to their feet just as Edo-Han charged at them once more and lashed out with a strong right hook to Gray's head. The student of Shiva quickly forged a sword out of the ebony ice. He parried the strike and stepped into his opponent's guard before lashing out with a horizontal slash to the chest. Edo-Han stumbled back from the strike before Gray spun on his heels and morphed his sword into a massive hammer. With a loud battle cry, he slammed the hammer against Han's left knee and sent the massive pseudo-jinchuriki off-balance.
"Natsu now!"
"On it! Karyu no Kagitsume!" Natsu jumped up, his leg catching afire just as he delivered a strong rising kick to Edo-Han's chin. The larger man's head snapped back from the force of the strike before Natsu lashed out with two strong flaming punches to the face that had Han stumbling.
"Karyu no Enchu!" Natsu lashed out with a flaming elbow to the diaphragm, knocking the wind out of his opponent's lungs and forced him to hunch over enough to bring his head within striking level. Natsu took the shot as he shifted his body at the hips to deliver another elbow strike to the face before a final rotation of the body allowed the Fire Dragonslayer to crash another elbow down upon his opponent's skull. Han shattered the earth from the force of the impact at which met it.
"Karyu no Saiga!" Natsu reared his leg back, allowing it to burst into flame before swinging it forward. Flames were also ejected from his heel to give it an extra boost in speed just as it went through the motions, meeting the downed Edo-Han's body with terrific force. A streak of fire and dust marked Edo-Han's path as he was sent careening across the rocky wasteland and slammed into a rock formation, bringing it crashing down upon Edo-Han's form. His ears then twitched as he heard Edo-Yugito's roar.
"Keep your eyes on 'im, I have her!" Gray told the pyrokinetic dragonslayer. "Hyojin Meiku: Fuuma Shuriken!" The black fuuma shuriken were hurled from Gray's hands just as quickly as they formed, embedding themselves into the woman's arms. Edo-Yugito gritted her teeth in pain, but the magic of Matatabi easily melted the juvenile godslayer's ice and healed her wounds. The shuriken had done little in their job as the Nibi jinchuriki began thundering across the battleground.
She raised her arms to slash at Gray, but the ebony eyed mage's eyes widened when Edo-Yugito suddenly vanished in a flicker of crimson. It was Natsu's turn to be surprised when his sensitive senses forced him to turn around just as the Nibi jinchuriki reappeared within his field vision due to her circling around. Natsu quickly cloaked his arms in flame as Edo-Yugito released a bestial roar, bringing her clawed strike down upon the Fire Dragonslayer. The magic cloaked woman's attack collided with Natsu's arms and the dark eyed dragonslayer gritted his teeth as the ground shuddered and quaked beneath his feet before it caved inwards to form a crater.
'It's...heavy.' The pink haired mage thought. His eyes then widened when the Nibi jinchuriki's two tails raised up and then dug into the earth. Not a moment later did the ground rumble beneath his feet. The twin rear appendages began to wrap around him like a cocoon, squeezing him tightly like a boa constrictor. And like a boa constrictor, the tails would not let him go until he was dead. Edo-Yugito's white eyes gained a shine of glee and her jagged maw seemed to stretch into a malicious grin.
With a tiger-like roar, the transformed Shiroikage member unleashed a burst of hellfire from her tails. However, the moment the fires were released, their user was caught completely off-guard when the flames receded just as quickly as they had been summoned.
"Faia Doraibu!" With a dragon-like roar, a powerful explosion of blue and white flame freed Natsu from his confines while also sending his feline opponent flying backwards. The Nibi jinchuriki dug her claws into the earth, utilizing friction to halt her movement. Wrapped in the high intensity flames of his Drive Mode, Natsu vanished from view as a flicker of blue and white fire before reappearing behind Edo-Yugito so he strike her in the back.
"Karyu no Tekken!" Edo-Yugito snarled and was quick to spin around and launch a powerful swipe with her claws as they were then cloaked in blue and black flames. Dragon fire and Hellfire crashed against one another, the fires literally turning the ground into lava due to their intensity.
"Natsu, push her back!" Gray ordered. Natsu complied as he pushed himself forwards and opened his jaws.
"Karyu no Hoko!" He unleashed the most powerful of his basic spells, the stream of dual coloured flames sending the pseudo-jinchuriki of Matatabi flying back. The moment she did, a black-blue magic seal formed beneath Edo-Yugito.
"Hyojin Meiku: Doragon!" A dragon made entirely of black ice roared as it was brought into the world. Its blue eyes glowed violently before it clamped its fangs down upon her body. Edo-Yugito's magic cloak made the dragon hiss as it ate away at the divine ice, but the dragon remained stable as it carried her skyward before arching through the air. With a final roar, the ebony reptile slammed the blonde into the ground where Edo-Han was currently rising to his feet with enough force to create a sizeable crater.
"Alright Natsu, let's finish it!"
"Don't give me orders, Stripper!"
Their magic energies flared as they prepared to deal what they believed would be the ending blow for this battle. However, just as they were about to launch their spells, a deafening...something...echoed through the air. The two mages turned to the skies in confusion, and the two pseudo-jinchuriki before them were also forced to succumb to their basic sense of curiosity as they looked for the source of the sound.
"What is that?" Gray asked.
"I don't know." Natsu replied. "But it sounds like it's getting louder...and closer."
His words were revealed to be true and the four combatants were all witness to the descending form of the Dorma Anim. The ground shattered with a resounding boom as the mechanized reptile crashed down upon the battlefield. The shockwave had all four magic users skidding backwards, but they were quick to recover so as to marvel at the red eyed mecha before them.
"Natsu?"
"Yeah?"
"Are there such things as..." He pointed a shaky finger at the taboo of Edolas. "...metal dragons?"
"Igneel never mentioned them, and he usually told me a lot about the dragons when I was a kid."
"...Huh." Was Gray's intelligent reply.
"Han. Yugito. You are needed for the final battle, you have no time to deal with pests such as these Earthland natives." The voice of King Faust echoed from the speakers built into the silver plated dragon mecha. The two pseudo-jinchuriki released enraged roars of defiance and unleashed blasts of steam and hellfire at their lord and ruler, but Dorma Anim was not a magic impervious robot for nothing. With a single swipe of its claws, the attacks that Natsu and Gray struggled so desperately against were completely nullified.
"You have succumbed to the rage of the Nine's powers." Faust scowled within the cockpit of his mecha. "You are useless to me if you do not have the control to go with the power you possess. If that is the case...then Dorma Anim shall make better use of it. I will take back what is mine."
A low hum was heard from the massive crimson lachryma in Dorma Anim's chest. The hum then grew louder and louder until it reached the point that Natsu's ears began to hurt. He covered his ears, gritting his teeth in pain as he fell to his knees. Gray quickly ran over to aid his pyrokinetic guildmate, but the two kept their eyes on the scene before them.
"What the...What is that?" Gray muttered as he looked at the crimson lachryma. The swirling crimson magic energy that lay within suddenly took shape for a split second. One image looked like a massive cat head while the other seemed to be some sort of dolphin with four horns protruding from its skull, both animals being something that the two pseudo-jinchuriki in the robotic titan's claws bore resemblances to. Gray knew that that could not be coincidence.
The surprise on the two mages' faces only increased when the roars of the struggling Gobi and Nibi jinchurikis began to undergo changes. They took on an actual human tone, losing the bestial nature they once possessed as the magic energy was literally stripped from their bodies and sucked into the body of Dorma Anim. The central power lachryma of Dorma Anim released a brief flash of light, almost as if content with the energy it had taken.
Edo-Yugito and Edo-Han were then released from the grip of the red eyed behemoth, falling to the ground with their eyes rolled up into their heads and bathing the outskirts of Edolas in their blood due to the complete loss of their skin when they transformed.
They were dead.
"You...You killed them." Natsu turned up to the dragon mecha with anger burning in his dark coloured eyes. "You killed them! Oi! Listen to me when I'm talking to you, jackass!"
A powerful fireball was launched from Natsu's hands, slamming into the shoulder of Dorma Anim with enough force to cause the dragon knight to backpedal.
"You annoying whelp! Who are you to challenge the mighty King Faust of Edolas?!" The Dragon Knight's crimson eyes shone dangerously. "Begone from my sight!"
Natsu and Gray could stare in shock as Dorma Anim's tail lashed out violently and slammed down on them with terrific force, cratering the earth as a result. The image of the mighty dust cloud was enough to satisfy Faust before he activated the thrusters allowing the Dragon Knight to move towards its intended target.
Extalia.
(Insert Music: Naruto Shippuden- Stand Upon the Roaring Earth)
Extalia, Edolas
Menma snarled, the magic-made exoskeleton of kitsune bones rattling as if it were making its own snarl of displeasure. Apparently the Kyuubi jinchuriki did not take kindly to be calling a mutt by the Apocalypse Dragonslayer. The leader of the Shiroikage assassination squad then decided to act upon his displeasure by swiping the air with his claws. The power of his arm swings was so monstrously large that they generated their own high speed circulation systems, and so two massive tornadoes dug trenches through what had once been the living area of many an Exceed.
Acting in tandem with the Kyuubi jinchuriki, Yagura unleashed a powerful torrent from his jaws while Son Goku released a plume of glowing orange lava from his own. Yagura's waters met with one of the tornadoes Menma formed, turning into a raging typhoon while Son Goku's lava turned the second tornado into a spiraling fire storm. The two elemental twisters made their way towards the dragonslayers.
Juvia and Roshi scowled as their respective elements were forced upon them. Juvia raised her hands to the sky while Roshi planted his palms against the ground.
"You will not use my element against me!" They exclaimed in unison. The rains fell harder and the earth rumbled as a spiderweb of cracks formed in front of the elemental twisters.
"Suiryu no Hahonryuu!" Juvia announced as the rains collected above her head. With a thrust of her arms, the magically formed rain water rushed through the air in the form of a blast of highly pressurized water. The Tearing Torrent spell slammed into the typhoon Yagura and Menma had created. It did not overpower the attack, but it did its job of being mixed into the typhoon itself.
"Yoryu no Funen!" Beneath the firestorm, the spiderweb of cracks widened and grew larger as a massive torrent of lava erupted forth from the the subterranean depths of the floating kingdom. The Lava Plume spell easily stretched high into the sky, exceeding the height of the fire tornado and engulfing it. Parts of the plume of lava arched through the air and forced the others to move out of the way of the falling magma.
"Careful where you throw that stuff!" Fu yelled to her lava using compatriot.
"Sorry." Roshi chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "I sometimes forget that my spells usually cause widespread damage, but in this case...I think you can forgive me for this. What do you say, Juvia-chan?"
"Juvia agrees with you." The blue haired dragonslayer nodded. The daughter of Levia and the son of Volcanus looked back to the elemental twisters before them. She and Roshi made swiping motions with their hands as if they were swatting away a mosquito and the typhoon and fiery lava tornado shifted to crash into one another in a powerful explosion of steam.
"Grrrr...I can't see shit." The Iron Dragonslayer growled. "Wendy, Fu, can't one of you get rid of this steam?"
"Gajeel-kun, that would not be a wise decision." Haku's gaze met Gajeel's as the former Phantom Lord mage gave her a confused expression. "Last time we scattered a cloud of something, it turned out to be advantageous to the enemy. The one who uses Chomei's abilities might possibly have mixed the scale powder in with the steam and if we were to scatter it like Wendy did last time..." The blue haired daughter of Grandine frowned a bit as she once again made aware of her blunder. "...our enemies could aim to detonate it like last time."
"But Fuujin could just eat it like he did earlier."
"He could." Haku agreed. "But it would not hurt to take precautions. Neh, Otouto?"
Naruto did not acknowledge his older sister figure as his nostrils flared slightly. His eyes then widened as he heard the hissing sound that came something being melted. "I would agree with you, Ice Dragon, but not at this time. We need to scatter this cloud now! Saiken's user just unleashed an alkaline substance that's melded with the steam cloud! Wind Dragon, Sky Dragon!"
"On it!" The wielders of the wind and sky unleashed pulses of wind and the steam cloud of melting alkali was sent outwards. Naruto's proclamation was proven to be correct as well as the steam had floated through the air and ate away at the already ruined households and their dead Exceed occupants.
"Yay! Up high, Wendy!"
"Yosh!"
The two wielders of wind gave each other high fives, matching toothy grins adorning their faces. However, their celebration was cut short as the ground beneath them began to shift. The hard, rain soaked stone beneath their feet began to shift as it suddenly began to break down into smaller particles at a rapid pace. All eyes shifted to the Ichibi jinchuriki and the powers of Shukaku were made known to all as the dark sands moved to the will of Edo-Gaara.
"Move!" The dragonslayers all followed Naruto's exclamation. Wendy, Naruto and Fu had taken to hovering high in the air, but the others were left to fend for themselves on the ground. However, they were all quick to observe the rather sluggish pace at which the sands had stretched out after them to try and trap them in its grasp. They went into a series of backhand springs to continue to gain more breathing room between themselves and the sands, but the sand was relentless in its hunt.
"Yoryu no Tsume!" Roshi's hands were covered in lava that took on the shape of five claws. With a roar, the red haired dragonslayer swung his claws at the sands and super heated the granular particles of crushed earth. A large amount of the sand was turned to glass within that moment, but the sands were never ending as another wave of sand flowed across the battleground to replace its lost portion.
"Not even turning it to glass is slowing it down." Roshi scowled. "Haku, how does freezing it sound?"
"As long as that one holds Shukaku's power, I don't think doing anything to the sand will stop it." The daughter of Glacia replied as she froze over the sands with a gust of subzero winds. The blizzard did not hold up well due to the combination of an endless flow of sand and the powerful storm that Juvia's rain clouds brought with them. Said Water Dragonslayer had converted her body into water to prevent a tendril of sand that nearly speared her through the stomach in its attempt to catch her, but it was upon contact with her liquid form did the daughter of Levia notice that particular portion of sand began to move noticeably slower than the rest of its 'body'.
"That's it." Juvia stated with a look of realization present on her face. "Juvia knows what to do!"
"Well do it quick!" Roshi exclaimed as he wiped rain water off his face. inhaled deeply. Water and magic energy swirled and condensed within her gaping maw until it became a tight sphere.
"SUIRYU NO HOKO!" The sphere exploded forth, turning into a powerful blast of pressurized water that washed over the sands. The sands began to slow down, each grain adhering to one another until the massive wave of sand became a sluggish mound. "Juvia cannot create a more violent rainstorm as it would inhibit everyone else, but Juvia did notice that the water is what slowed down the sand. So Juvia used her roar to stop it, and since it is filled with water..."
The blue haired dragonslayer turned to the ice using dragonslayer beside her. The black haired Ice Dragonslayer caught Juvia's gaze and her eyes widened in realization.
"I see what you are saying, Juvia-chan!" Haku smirked as her magic energy flared out in the form of a cloud of frost. "Hyoryu no Hyotenkaga!" The Subzero Fang spell was cast over her hands and a beautiful pair of dragon heads made entirely out of crystal blue ice came into existence. The dragon heads bared their fangs and with a resounding battle cry, Haku punched the sluggish mound of sand. The fangs bit into the soaked sands and the subzero temperatures generated by the daughter of Glacia washed over the sands, freezing it solid.
Edo-Gaara growled in annoyance as he tried to take control of his sands once more, but the combination of water and ice holding it back made it quite clear that this particular amount of sand was no longer his to tame.
"Awww, you want you sand back?" Gajeel teased before a sadistic grin came onto his face. "Gee hee! Well here!" He charged and delivered a strong kick to the newly formed glacier. "Have it!" The ice cracked heavily from the blow, but it was still sent careening across the Exceed homeland towards the pseudo-jinchuriki.
As a counter to the oncoming projectile of ice, Kirabi had been the one to strike as he charged like the rampaging bull his exoskeleton resembled. The glacier shattered like glass as the horned jinchuriki crashed into it and continued his charge. The ground rumbled as he thundered across the battlefield only for him to a complete and utter halt when Gajeel slammed into him. The ground cracked as the two beings gripped each other's shoulders, pushing against one another in a contest of strength.
Hachibi jinchuriki's eyes narrowed as he recognized the Iron Dragonslayer before him, but he remembered having slapped him away with ease. This time however...
"Gee hee hee." Gajeel laughed, his red eyes staring into the white voids that Kirabi's eyes had become. His skin shone like silver as the scale-like patterns that stretched across the bare parts of his body decorated it and the output of his magic energy far surpassed anything he had released throughout the battle so far. Gajeel then dug his heels into the ground and to the surprise of the eight-tailed pseudo-jinchuriki, Gajeel had pushed him back.
The growl of surprise made Gajeel ecstatic. Kirabi roared and his eight tails rose up behind him before moving with great speeds, slamming down on Gajeel with devastating force. The ground quaked as it caved in before a massive crater formed along with a sizeable cloud of dust and dirt. The user of Gyuki's power released what sounded like a laugh as he felt the grip Gajeel had on his shoulders slacken in a manner that made it seem as if the mighty Iron Dragonslayer had fallen.
The moment of celebration came to an abrupt end however, as a pulse of green and steel grey magic energy scattered the dust cloud. Gajeel's grip returned with a vengeance and claws that shone like steel dug into the flesh of the Hachibi jinchuriki. Kirabi roared, but whether it was out of pain or rage, it was really quite hard to tell. The ground cracked heavily beneath Gajeel's feet as his magic output continued to increase. His hair gained silver highlights, his skin became akin to that of steel as scale-like markings adorned his body and an aura of steel grey and green outlined his body.
(Insert Music: Fairy Tail- Mahou Taisen)
"Iron Doraibu!" With an application of his increased strength given to him by his Iron Drive form, Gajeel pushed Kirabi back to the point that he sent the Hachibi jinchuriki skidding backwards and into a house. The impact was so powerful that the entire structure came crashing down on the holder of Gyuki's power.
"Gajeel-san is so strong now!" Wendy exclaimed in awe as she watched from her perch in the air. "Onii-san, what is he doing? What was that spell he used and why does he look so different?"
"Hmm? Oh, it seems I never got around to teaching you about Drive Mode, did I?"
"Drive...Mode?" Wendy tilted her head in confusion at her older brother figure.
"Yes, Drive Mode." The blonde replied. "It is a technique only to us dragonslayers. You have been told about Doragon Fosu, correct?"
"Mhmm." The blue haired twelve year old nodded in confirmation.
"Drive Mode is essentially the halfway point between that and our base powers. We are made stronger, faster and more capable in the usage of our respective elements than before at the cost of expending great amounts of magic to keep it activated. Once this is over, I will be willing to teach it you." Wendy's brown eyes widened in awe at the description of Drive Mode before looking back down at Gajeel's metallic visage.
"Alright you little piece of shit! You think you can take me?! Well think again because you haven't seen what we dragonslayers can do just yet, but right now Iron Doraibu is gonna make you wish you never fought me in the first place!" Gajeel unleashed a burst of magic energy and killing intent, the ground cracking beneath his feet slightly as he tensed his leg muscles. With a resounding battle cry, the son of Metalicana then took off and the ground shattered where he had once been standing.
Kirabi growled as he rose from the rubble he had been buried under. The Hachibi jinchuriki roared and a shockwave of magic energy tore the earth asunder as it headed towards Gajeel, but the Iron Dragonslayer simply raised his arms and plowed through it as his increased weight and durability prevented him from taking any noticeable damage.
"Surprise motherfucker." Gajeel reached his location, standing in front on Kirabi with a snarl on his face. The phantasmal image of his draconian parent roared behind him as he converted his arm into a sturdy club. "I'm gonna use my iron..." He glared at the durable bones which covered his opponent. "...and I'm going to break those bones."
"TETUSRYUKON!"
BAM!
The red eyed man rose up through his knees and delivered a ferocious uppercut to the underside of Kirabi's jaw. The blow struck with such an impact that a shockwave raced out from that point and the lower jaw of the ox skull's actually cracked slightly. Kirabi rose skyward before Gajeel spun on his heels to build up momentum and lashed out with a strong kick that slammed into Kirabi's exoskeleton covered ribs with another Iron Dragon's Club spell.
The pseudo-jinchuriki of Gyuki crashed through several pieces of stone and one house. He was about continue through a second one until Gajeel appeared beneath him in a burst of speed. He brought his arms together and in a flash of magic energy, the limbs became a massive serrated edge broadsword. The sword's edges then began to move like a chainsaw, moving and vibrating at high speeds.
"Tetsuryuken!" He swung his sword arms in a powerful upwards swing that carried Kirabi up the side of what looked like an apartment complex. Kirabi cleared the roof just as it was revealed that the entirety of the building had been cleanly sliced in half due to Gajeel's mighty slash. Kirabi hovered high in the air until Gajeel flickered into existence beside his target.
"Tetsuryuso!" His right arm transformed into a sharp spear before he stabbed into the ox-like man's stomach. The dense coating of demonic magic energy prevented the flesh from being pierced, but that meant little to the Iron Dragonslayer as he extended his spear arm to slam the Hachibi jinchuriki into the ground. He then adjusted his arm's angle, while continuing to extend it, dragging his opponent through the dirt and digging a trench with the eight-tailed monstrosity of magic.
He would have continued, but the Iron Dragonslayer was suddenly forced to stop as his arm burst into pain. His red eyes widened when he saw a being made of violent purple magic energy slithering up his spear arm like a snake. Utakata's slimy body excreted a large amount of acid, eating away at the iron despite its dense structure. Soon the wielder of the Rokubi's power appeared in Gajeel's face and reared back an arm.
"GROAR!" Utakata roared and delivered the powerful punch to Gajeel's face, the acid coating it causing the man's cheek to burn. His arm returned to normal before he was sent flying through the rainstorm filled air.
"Uindo Doraibu!" A sonic boom signaled the shattering of the sound barrier and Gajeel found himself caught in the strong grasp of the daughter of Cyclonus as she called upon her Drive Mode. She continued on her flight path with Gajeel's gums flapping in the wind from the speed at which she flew at. She then went into a front flip, her leg wrapped in swirling winds before she brought it down in the form of a painful axe kick.
"Fuuryu no Rankyaku!" The axe kick crashed down on Utakata's skull and sent the slug-like man down the ground zero. He now lay in his own personal crater and Fu smirked at her handiwork. "Good idea deciding to use Drive Mode at this point. I think the battle might drag out for quite a while if we kept going in our base forms."
"I more or less did it to smash his face in."
"I know, but what better reason is there?"
Gajeel stared into the orange eyes of the Wind Dragonslayer as if he had just seen the gates of Alagaesia themselves. "Marry me." Fu laughed lightly and patted the cheek of her fellow dragonslayer.
"You're cute...but not my type." Gajeel bore a comically stone faced expression at having been shut down. But then again, what kind of response do you expect from a proposal in the middle of a battlefield such as the one they were in? The Wind Dragonslayer's ears then twitched as she heard the loud clicking and roar of her Edolas counterpart. Fuu's wings buzzed, sounding like an angry swarm of locusts as she raced towards the two dragonslayers. "Fuujin, hold this for me!" She then spun around and hurled her catch towards Naruto.
The blonde reacted almost reflexively as he caught the former Phantom Lord mage by the collar of his shirt. Naruto's glowing eyes met Gajeel's crimson ones and raised an eyebrow.
"A proposal to Fu? Really?"
"Shut up."
"I just don't understand why you're so disappointed. You've never met her before and you ask for her hand in the middle of a fight." Naruto replied. "What did you expect?"
"It was an in-the-moment thing! I don't actually like her and want to marry her!"
"You confuse me, Iron Dragon."
"Shut up, you bastard."
Naruto rolled his eyes at Gajeel's words as the nineteen year old continued to grumble about his disdain for the Apocalypse Dragonslayer. The man continued to grumble as Naruto descended to place the son of Metalicana back on the ground. Wendy could only sweatdrop at the scene before her attention shifted upon hearing the boom that came with the sound barrier shattering. The three dragonslayers turned to see a pair of jet streams formed by the high speed aerial battle that took place between the Wind Dragonslayer and the pseudo-jinchuriki of Chomei.
(Insert Music: Fate Stay Night UBW- Blazing Ashes II)
Garden, Royal Palace, Edolas
With a loud battle cry, Erza swung the Sword of Kings down to take away the Edolesian knight's right arm, but Knightwalker raised the back end of her spear so that the fiery blade would come into contact with the polearm and not her actual arm.
The two weapons users then spun around and crashed their weapons against one another once again. The shockwave generating collision ripped the earth apart beneath their feet while also sending them skidding away from each other. Small trenches were formed from their armoured boots digging into the grassy soil, but the soil beneath the Earthland Erza's feet was now a crater as she leaped into the air.
"HRAH!" Knightwalker released her cry of defiance as she raised Ravelt to divert the fiery swing Erza sent towards her. Erza was quick to strike again as she repeated her method of attack, but it was an act in futility as her Edolesian counterpart deflected it once again. Erza then leaped into the air once more, going into a series of twists as she unleashed a storm of fireballs from above that fell towards Knightwalker like a meteor storm from the heavens.
"That won't help you, Namikaze!" Knightwalker's eyes burned with battle lust as she watched the armoured Earthland native descend. "I got you!" She took off at a tremendous speed, easily avoiding the fireballs and the blast waves of their resulting explosions. Erza landed on her feet just as Knightwalker reached her position and was forced on the defensive.
They clashed at speeds no other weapons user could ever hope to match. Flowers, grass, soil and stone were reduced to burning and scorched remnants of what they used to be as fire and light exploded forth with each clash. Ravelt and Caliburn were arcs of gold and platinum to the untrained eye, their arm movements were so fast. The ground cracked before a crater expanded outwards when the two crashed their weapons against each other more.
"Don't make light of me, Namikaze!" Knightwalker howled like a banshee as she twisted her body to avoid the horizontal slash from Erza. The sister of the Ogonno Fuujin followed up with an upward vertical slash, an arc of fire ripping into the earth as she weaved both methods of attack into one, but Knightwalker took a step backwards and shifted her body to avoid the intense fires. Once she was in the clear, she then spun Ravelt in her hands and then leaped and rotated to bring the glowing weapon down upon her opponent.
"GAH!" Erza released a cry of pain as she was struck in the chest. A shockwave formed from the force of the impact and she was sent skidding backwards from the attack. She dug her heels into the earth, tearing the soil asunder as she came to a halt. "That was a good strike." She complimented her alternate self as said alternate Erza attacked with a strong thrust to the chest once more. "But not good enough!"
Erza swung her blade down to divert the strike before taking a strong step forward and swung Caliburn in an upward diagonal slash. Knightwalker shifted her spear into a vertical position to block the attack. The speed of their motions forced them to exchange positions and Knightwalker spun on her feet to try and take Erza's legs out from under her by aiming for her ankles. However, the red haired wielder of Caliburn would have none of it as she hopped over the Saint Spear. She gripped Caliburn with both hands, a blazing determination burning in her brown orbs.
"HRAH!" She brought the Sword of Kings down upon her opponent's skull, but the wielder of the Saint Spear raised said spear up to defend. The ground ruptured as a shockwave expanded outwards from the point of impact.
"So...heavy." Knightwalker muttered as her arms shook to hold back the attack. Her brown eyes then widened when a burst of magic energy exploded forth from Erza and the daughter of two Wizard Saint's then applied a greater amount of force to her strike as platinum flames burst forth from the other side of her blade to act as a mode of propulsion.
"DORYAAAAAAH!" The ground cratered as an explosion of fire and magic occurred. Erza's attack won the round and Knightwalker was sent careening through the air. She bounced across the grass, ripping up soil and flowers before her momentum literally dragged her through the mud. A lengthy trough was dug into the garden as a result, until her unintentional journey across the now destroyed garden's landscape came to a rather explosive end when she was sent smashing into the triple tiered, stone fountain.
A cloud of dust and debris wafted through the air and Erza panted in exertion. Her brown eyes stared at the cloud that obscured her opponent from view as she wiped the sweat and grime from her brow. Once the dust settled, the wielder of Ravelt was shown to be laying against a piece of the broken fountain, her visage dripping wet from the water that had soaked her.
Her lengthy hair been burned short and there were even a few very severe second degree burns present on her thighs, arms and part of the lower left area of her face down to the corresponding collarbone. She breathed heavily, the reddening areas of burned flesh obviously causing her a great deal of pain. Her angry gaze met the tired one of her counterpart as she climbed back to her feet.
"Knightwalker...that's enough. You fight anymore and you may not live to see another day."
"As if I care if I live or die anymore at this point." Knightwalker spat, her legs trembling from the burns to her thighs. "I have always lived for the thrill of the fight, and you are by far the second best I've come across. Which is actually quite funny..." Knightwalker chuckled. "One of the best fight I've ever come across actually being myself."
"I can relate to that." Erza nodded in agreement as the image of her brother came to her mind. She then pointed Caliburn at the commander of the Edolesian army. "If you will continue to fight, then I will oblige you."
A flare of golden energy was her reply as Knightwalker held Ravelt at the ready. The silvery blue image of the Saint Spear was then wrapped in the golden aura it generated due to being a holy weapon. "For a soldier...a good death...is its own reward."
(Insert Music: Fate Stay Night UBW 2015- Excalibur)
The two red heads then took off as their magic energies flared. They were blurs of colour as they wreaked havoc across the gardens and even throughout the rubble of the palace. Large scars marked their paths before they came to a stalemate. Marble, stone and garden land were all sent flying away from the explosive contact the two holy weapons created until they continued their exchange of blows.
Their arms were blurs and Caliburn and Ravelt were nothing more than streaks of platinum and silvery blue, respectively, as they attacked, parried, and blocked. A violent wind storm formed around them due to the pure speed of their strikes, until finally the Titania of Fairy Tail saw an opening. She swung her blade upwards and the ground ruptured from the force of the strike, Knightwalker stumbling backwards. She managed to regain her footing, but Erza had stamped her foot on the ground and took a few strong steps forward to propel herself.
"HRAH!" She hopped into the air and rotated her body to bring the full weight of Caliburn down on her foe, which Knightwalker proceeded to hold off with Ravelt.
A shockwave of magic energy and fire raced out from the point of collision. The two red heads gritted their teeth, grunting in effort to try and overpower each other. Their arms trembled and their magic energies flared like pillars of pure light, but Erza lashed out with a strong kick to the burned area of her opponent's thigh.
"GAH!" The cry of pain lanced through the air and brought the spear wielder down to her knees before Erza continued on with her attack. An arc of platinum fire marked the motion of the blade of Merlin and a loud scream echoed throughout the battlefield as the final blow was struck.
Knightwalker gasped as her right arm fell to the ground, its grip on Ravelt lost so as to allow the holy weapon to fall as well. The Edolesian knight panted heavily, darkness creeping out from the corners of her vision. She looked up at her Earthland counterpart, the Sword of Kings being held to her throat.
(Insert Music: Two Steps from Hell- Master of Shadows)
Skies of Extalia, Edolas
The Wind Dragonslayer and Nanabi pseudo-jinchuriki crashed against one another in a powerful exchange of blows, shockwaves decorating the rain filled skies.
"Fuuryu no Kaze Kiwa!"
"GROWR!"
The Wind Dragon's Wind Edge met an enlarged horn of demonic energy in another shockwave inducing collision that had both combatants shifting away from each other. Fuu unleashed a cloud of scale powder from her mandibles. The bright white powder blinded the daughter of Cyclonus, forcing her to hold her arms up to shield her eyes. Taking advantage of that, Fuu clicked her mandibles and a spark of magic energy ignited the powder and turned it into a raging conflagration that lit up the dark skies.
"Fuuryu no Shinkuudama!" A spheroid of wind was generated before the entirety of the scale powder could be ignited and encased the fires. Without any oxygen to keep it burning, the Vacuum Sphere spell turned the burning firestorm into nothing. Once that was done, Fu launched the sphere of compressed air at her opponent and an explosion of wind occurred upon crashing into the pseudo-jinchuriki's body.
The female jinchuriki tumbled through the air until Fu appeared above her in a flicker of motion. The sonic boom that accompanied her movement acted her herald before she raised her high into the air and brought it down as a devastating axe kick.
"Furyu no Rankyaku!" The green haired dragonslayer then lashed out with a strong wind encased kick, nailing her counterpart directly atop her skull. The Shiroikage member rocketed through the air at a downward angle, but her white eyes suddenly caught sight of the watching Wendy Marvel. Her mandibles clicked and her wings buzzed to help her regain her bearings. Fuu then utilized the speed of her descent to head towards Wendy.
Fu's eyes widened as she saw what was happening. "WENDY! MOVE!"
"Huh?!" The brown eyed twelve year old looked up to see the frightening image of a humanoid kabutomushi beetle with glowing white eyes and mouth descending towards her with the intent to kill. Fuu's mandibles opened wide and Wendy could only raise her arms in a feeble form of defense.
"ARMOUR!" Wendy managed to summon forth her magic, enhancing her defensive capabilities as much as she could in the time in took for Fuu to reach her location. That time only amounted to a few seconds and so, while her bones were not completely broken through, Fuu's sharp teeth did pierce skin and muscle tissue earning a scream of pain from the blue haired girl. Fuu seemed to grin as she held Wendy's flesh in her maw and bit down even harder. Blood flowed down the Sky Dragonslayer's arms and her healing factor tried its best to fight off the toxic magic energy that threatened to dissolve her flesh.
"GAH!" Wendy's eyes widened, releasing a gasp of pain as she was slammed into the ground. The earth broke from the force of the impact, but the Edolas warrior did not stop there as she continued to drag Wendy across the battleground, even smashing her through broken walls. The bleeding daughter of Grandine gritted her teeth, fighting back the tears that came with the fear and pain of her current situation.
"Get! Off! Me!" With each exclamation, Wendy lashed out with a strong kick to the winged beast's stomach. However, she did nothing to faze the Shiroikage member and her flesh being bitten into even further was the reward for her troubles. Fuu then lifted Wendy up off the ground and released her arms from her mandibles, but Wendy soon found the strong grip of her opponent's claws around her throat and she was smashed through a house and cratered a wall as the winged woman finally decided to stop.
Wendy's raised her arm up, wind and magic energy spiraled into a compact sphere of rotating destruction before she thrust it forward. "Metsuryu Ougi: Tenryu no Rasengan!" Her self-made Secret Dragonslayer Art slammed into Fuu's face with terrific force and the drilling effects of the attack did manage to cause the beast pain. With a roar of pain and annoyance, Fuu batted Wendy aside, sending her through the wall she had been pinned to and rolling across the rain soaked earth of Extalia.
Wendy shakily rose to her hands and knees, spitting out the blood that stained her teeth. Though her Armour managed to protect her from the majority of the damage, steam still rose steadily from her wounded body as her magic energy instinctively supplied itself to her cuts and bruises in order to heal them. Her head snapped up when the frightening growl of Fuu met her ears, the Nanabi jinchuriki pushed aside what remained of the wall to gain easier access to her prey. The winged jinchuriki stalked towards the Sky Dragonslayer, raising her claws menacingly.
"Energy Make: Odama Rasengan!" Naruto flickered to the right of the Nanabi jinchuriki and time seemed to slow down as the basketball sized orb of glowing blue destruction slammed into Fuu's body. Fuu's body bent sideways before she was sent spiraling through the air in a powerful burst of blue. She slammed through several buildings and pieces of stone before coming to a halt as she slammed into the body of Edo-Roshi with a resounding crash.
"Onii-san!" Wendy exclaimed before stumbling to her feet and hugging her older brother. Her eyes then widened as she caught sight of the loss of Naruto's left sleeve and the bandages that had once adorned it. The skin was red and the singes that adorned the edges of the remnants of his clothing showed that the cause had been due to some form of fire. "You're hurt!"
"It's alright, my little Sky Dragon." Naruto patted the girl on her head before turning away from her.
"But what will you do, Onii-san?"
"I have a doppelganger to deal with." He replied as a powerful roar and a burst of red fire in the shape of a howling fox head emerged from the depths of the ruined section of Extalia. The daughter of Grandine ran off in a blur of speed just as he pulled up the Five Point Elemental Seal to defend himself as the powerful fiery explosion rocked the battleground.
(Insert Music: Naruto Shippuden- I've Seen Too Much)
Garden, Royal Palace, Edolas
"You've rarely ever killed...haven't you, Namikaze?"
"That is true."
"No wonder..." Knightwalker released a ragged cough. "No wonder...you were so...soft in your swings."
"I killed before when I was child, and it brought me no joy." Erza recalled her days in the Tower of Heaven. Her rebellion had unlocked her magic and allowed her to earn her revenge. "The guild I belong to does not take kindly to killing and it was something that I made to be a part of my philosophy. For many years, I have struck down many enemies, but I have never killed them for it is not something a mage should do. However, as I have been told by Onii-sama and by my senseis who taught me how to use my weapons...I would not survive long in this line of work if I do not find a way to kill."
"Wise words."
"Indeed."
"Haha...You're shaking, Namikaze." Erza looked down to find her Edolas counterpart was indeed stating a fact. Her hand continued to shake slightly even as she focused intently on preventing it.
"I despise killing."
"In the beginning..." Knightwalker's breath began to slow as the final blow Erza had brought down upon her had led to some ribs breaking. It hurt to breathe. "...no one ever likes to kill. You think...not killing...makes you better than those who do, that is shows that you have a higher level of self-control since you've never had to gaze into the abyss as deeply as those of us who kill for a living? I felt the same once...after all...other than defending the crown, I had no right to play judge, jury and executioner." Knightwalker glanced at the fallen Ten Commandments spear alongside her lost arm that was now burning to ash from platinum flames. "But you...live a life on the battlefield...and you realize that killing...is a necessary evil. It will...save you one day...Namikaze."
"But I don't want to save myself! I want to save my friends, but without..."
"Stop being such a child, Namikaze!" Knightwalker snapped, shutting up her counterpart. The Edolesian soldier winced, the shout having jostled her ribs before she was forced to cough up a glob of blood onto the ground before her.
"Knightwalker, you're..."
"Hush you insolent girl." Erza froze at the cold tone of her Edolas counterpart. "How many times have you had this conversation? How many times have you been told that killing is something you need to do?"
"...Once with my teachers. The other with my brother."
"That's one more...than necessary. Listen to me...you are not righteous...or just...for sparing a soul after a battle." Knightwalker wheezed. "Tell me...if you let me live and I somehow found a way to get your world...and I found you...and I slaughtered all of your friends..." Erza's eyes widened at her doppelganger's words. "Would you kill me then?"
"I..."
"If I took the one...you loved the most in all this world and any other...and slit his or her throat before your very eyes...would you kill me then?" Knightwalker asked before spitting out a bit of accumulated blood from her mouth. "You see what I am saying to you, Erza? There may be a silver lining among the dark clouds, an enemy you will fight that has the capability for change to become someone better than what they had originally become...but you need to learn to distinguish those types of enemies from all the ones you have fought now and in the future."
"...And you're one of the ones who I have to put down is what you're saying." Erza said it as a fact, not a question. Knightwalker did not respond as she looked up at the smoke and fires above, the sounds of conflict echoing from Extalia's hovering form. Erza gripped Caliburn tighter in her hands, the platinum flames rising off the blade of Merlin once more. Tears then began to spill from her eyes as she gritted her teeth, taking shaky breaths of preparation.
"I don't want...I can't..."
"You're a good girl, Erza Uzumaki Namikaze." Knighwalker gave her counterpart a bloodstained smile as she watched her opponent cry for her, tears of her own flowing down her cheeks. "But nobody stays good in this world."
With those words, Erza stabbed her sword forward. The sharp blade pierced through skin, fascia, cartilage and bone before exiting out the other end of her opponent's neck. The platinum flames that could turn dragons into burning corpses ate away at Knightwalker's body and reduced her to ash.
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" Erza screamed to the heavens, stabbing Caliburn into the ground and ripped apart the palace ground in a storm of platinum fire to vent her emotions. The daughter of two Wizard Saints lay kneeling in the centre of her personal firestorm. She killed out of instinct in the Tower of Heaven, she killed to survive to prevent Aria from rapid her...but this kill was the first she had ever made of her own free will. She held the life of her opponent in her hands and she crushed it, burning it to ashes in the most literal way possible.
She remained still for a few minutes until she stiffened suddenly. A massive spike of magic energy radiated out across the world of Edolas making the redhead snap out of her stupor as she recognized the energy signature. She tilted her head heavenward, a pillar of black and blue magic energy stabbing into the skies where thunder boomed and lightning flashed above the kingdom of Extalia.
"Onii-sama."
(Insert Music: Fairy Tail- Toki Hanata)
Extalia, Edolas
The pillar of black and blue magic energy died away as Naruto stood tall and strong before his kitsune-like adversary. His Drive Mode made the earth tremble as he took a step forward, the ground cratering beneath his footfalls.
"Mokushiryu no Hakai Tsume." He raised his arms as they became wrapped in the energy of his adoptive father's magic. Menma roared at him like the beast he had become. Crimson flames erupted forth around the Kyuubi jinchuriki's claws.
"Show me what you got, mutt."
"GROOOOOAR!"
Naruto and Menma rocketed off from their positions before unleashing their claws of energy and fire at one another. The two attacks collided with devastating force, a fiery shockwave racing out from the point of impact and resulted in the formation of a massive crater. Their arms shook for a brief moment as they tried to overpower one another, but they quickly pushed back away from each other and circled back for another clash.
Menma attacked with a swipe to Naruto's head, but Naruto hopped and rolled underneath the attack before pushing himself up into the air to bring his energy claws down in the form of a brutal hammer strike. Menma raised his tails over his head to block the strike, the ground depressing from the force of the attack from Naruto. Flames then danced across Menma's tails as he unleashed the fires of Kurama from his body, but Naruto backflipped as the fireblast sent him through the air so that he would land deftly on his feet.
Menma roared and attacked with his tails again, but Naruto's arms suddenly created two whip-like beams which bore sharp tips that were akin in appearance to Acnoloia's tail. "Mokushiryu no Soso!" The Twin Spear spell was a definitive counter to the nine lethal weapons of fiery destruction as Naruto swung at a pace fast enough to hold them at bay. With each deflection he aimed to strike wherever he saw an opening, but the exoskeleton of magic which covered Menma did a fine job of protecting him.
"Annoying mutt." Naruto scowled. As if in response to the insult, three fiery tails stabbed towards Naruto in unison, but the Apocalypse Dragonslayer immediately dropped his Twin Spear spell and caught them and held them firmly in his grasp.
"HRAH!" The Apocalypse Dragonslayer then spun and spun Menma around. The kitsune exoskeleton covered man crashed through several buildings, sending them crashing down until Naruto decided to let go. Menma slammed through more ruined pieces of Extalian architecture until his Earthland counterpart appeared above him with his arm reared back.
"Mokushiryu no Kuroi Kiba!" He roared in unsion with the dragon head of energy that formed around his fist. Menma growled and roared back, a powerful shockwave of magic and fire splitting the earth and made the air quake as it sent Naruto skyward to deflect him. The nine-tailed pseudo-jinchuriki then jumped after his foe and swung with his fiery claws. Naruto gritted his teeth in pain as he was sent to ground zero, tearing the earth asunder from his impact.
The white eyed dragonslayer snarled as he quickly rose back to his full height and inhaled deeply, taking in magic energy into his lungs as the fox skull that encased Menma's head opened to draw in eternano that had exploded from its user's body. Red negative eternano and blue positive eternano combined into the violet-black orb that was the Bijuudama, while Naruto's body swelled as the magic energy he had called upon was swallowed and held at bay until it was ready to fire.
"MOKUSHIRYU NO HOKO!"
"GAROOOOOOOAAAAAR!"
The two beams of energy, one crimson and white and the other being blue and black, collided in an epic explosion of energy that generated a shockwave which literally turned everything within its radius into dust. When the blast died down, Menma engulfed his body in fire and fell towards Naruto from above like a rocket, but the Drive Mode user quickly went into a backflip to avoid the strike. He was sent skidding backwards as a fiery shockwave formed from Menma's descending form, but he was quick to recover and snarled at his opponent.
"Kurama was far better at this than you ever will be." Naruto said, his magic flaring with his rage. "And that's why you will never be able to beat me!"
"ROAR!"
"Mokushiryu no Kohaiha!" Menma slammed his claws on the ground and streaks of crimson flames rushed across the battleground, while Naruto punched the earth and unleashed his own streak of blue and black energy. The Devastation Wave spell tore the battleground asunder once more as it collided with the flames. The rising cloud of embers and dust stretched towards the heavens, but Menma burst through it in hopes of a sneak attack.
"You cannot escape my eyes, mutt." Naruto snarled as he backflipped to avoid the fiery claws of his opponent. Menma went for an overhead strike, but Naruto quickly hopped over the strike, lines of crimson fire lancing from the impact as the ground cracked from the blazing attack. Naruto then landed on the ground as Menma reared up on his legs to strike with his fiery claws once more. The Apocalypse Dragonslayer raised his arm and batted the blow aside like it was child's play, which it technically was since his opponent was no more than a beast wielding the power of his best friend.
"Mokushiryu no Zanso!" Naruto's boot covered feet were cloaked in energy in the shape of sharp talons. His left leg was as straight as strong as a tree trunk, supporting the entire weight of his body as he lashed out with a strong upward kick that dug into Menma's neck and sent him skyward. Naruto then hopped after his opponent and lashed out with a strong spin kick to send the bestial Menma rocketing through the air. The Kyuubi jinchuriki created his own personal crater as he landed in the centre of the primary battlefield as the other dragonslayers and pseudo-jinchuriki were doing battle.
Naruto landed at the edge of the crater of his Edolas counterpart, but he was forced to look away as Edo-Roshi had been knocked back by his Earthland doppelganger from a strong punch that was encased in solidified lava. The wielder of Son Goku's power crashed down on the ground, beating his chest like the ape he had become before unleashed a powerful set of lava spheres at him. He didn't stop there as he unleashed a burst of bluish-green flame from his wide mouth.
However, the attack was effectively halted as Haku and Juvia stood beside the Apocalypse Dragonslayer.
"Mizu Doraibu!"
"Aisu Dorabiu!"
Like said son of Acnologia, scale markings adorned their bodies as they utilized their Drive Modes. Juvia's Water Drive had given her dark blue scales that glittered like the ocean itself. Her hair was let free, no longer in the neat curls which she had made to try and appeal to her beloved Gray-sama due to her time of battle, and bore highlight of violet. Her blue eyes had grown an even deeper shade of blue, and were borderline black almost as if they had become as deep as the ocean trenches themselves. From her forearms, spines with purple webbing in-between them protruded. One could actually compare them to the sailfin of the extinct reptile, Dimetrodon. From her calves, fins made of solid water curved upwards made of hard water and were similar in appearance to those of a shark's.
Haku's Ice Drive gave her already pale skin colour an even paler shade to the point that she was practically ghost white with a tinge of blue. The whitish-blue skin colour that made it seem like she was made entirely out of the crystalline substance which she forged from her magic too as her scale markings were outlined in shining blue. Her hair gained white highlights and made a stark constrast with her naturally raven coloured locks as said highlights made it seem as if freshly fallen snow had mixed into it. Her claw-like nails had gained a sparkling appearance as the keratin gained ice-like qualities. Her eyes that were once a beautiful shade of obsidian gained a rather unique appearance as her irises were now a startling shade of ice blue. Another unique feature was that her breath was visible with each exhalation due to the naturally cold body temperature she now possessed.
(Insert Music: Naruto Shippuden- Uchiha Itachi)
"Suiryu no Tsume!"
"Hyoryu no Haraben!"
The Tundra Whip of the Ice Dragon had completely frozen over Edo-Roshi's attacks, even turning his fires into a crystalline structure. However, due to the momentum of their flight, the icy structures were still on their path...only to then be completely eroded away as the Claws of the Water Dragon ripped through them with the force of a raging tide.
"I trust Sky Dragon is safe?" The Apocalypse Dragonslayer asked.
"Wendy-chan's watching us from behind." Haku replied.
Their gazes never shifted away from their pseudo-jinchuriki opponents even as they spoke. The pseudo-jinchuriki all roared at their dragonslayer opponents before Menma hopped out of his crater and unleashed a powerful blast of magic energy. The other six followed their kitsune-like compatriot's actions and unleashed their own blasts of crimson magic energy.
"They only bear a portion of the power of the Nine, but I had hoped they would be a better match for us in our Drive Modes." Naruto snarled as he opened his jaws. The blasts of magic energy suddenly halted in the air before being drawn into the vacuum forces generated by Naruto's lungs as he inhaled deeply. The magic energy, the heat from the surrounding flames, the magic imbued into Juvia's rain, nothing was spared as Naruto drew in all forms of eternano up until the magic blasts were completely consumed. Once he had done so, the blonde utilized his partially replenished magic stores and made numerous hand motions before swinging his hand in a downward motion.
"Seal Magic: Gravity!" A massive violet magic seal spun to life above the seven pseudo-jinchuriki and the force of gravity increased twenty-fold. The pseudo-jinchuriki all roared as they were forced into place by the Drive Mode enhanced dragonslayer.
"Juvia will end the rains now as per Roshi-san's instructions." The daughter of Levia stated as she looked to her rain clouds. Immediately the rainfall halted and the dark cumulonimbus clouds parted to reveal the night sky alight with the moon and stars. Juvia turned her deep blue eyes to Roshi. "Roshi-san, you spoke of your plan before Fuujin-san went to save Wendy-san. Fuujin-san has brought his doppelganger back into the fray and now has them all in place. Is parting the rain cloud really all that is required of me for your plan to be initiated?"
"Yup." The red haired dragonslayer nodded. "The last part is just something from me, and also because everyone else is doing it."
Gajeel, Fu and Wendy each raised a single eyebrow while simultaneously tilting their heads in confusion. "And that would be?"
Roshi answered the question of the two younger dragonslayer's in the form of his magic energy spiking. Yellow-orange and black magic energy billowed from his body like volcanic ash from an active volcano. His body then became completely black and was an even darker shade that Naruto's own scales. The scales that now covered his body were outlined by yellow-orange magic energy and flowed in a manner that made it seem as if lava was moving across his body. His sharp teeth and nais were now also a deep shade of black. His eyes were now the colour burning magma and his red hair gained highlight of black within them. The ground beneath him bore a deep orange glow and the rippled due to the intense heat his body was now producing, acting in a similar manner to the icy atmosphere Haku's own form created.
"Yougan Doraibu." With his Lava Drive now in place, Roshi cracked his joints. "It's a been almost twenty years since I've had a good enough fight where I've had to bring this out, so hopefully nothing will be too explosive. You all might want to step back a bit."
"Lava Dragon..." The son of Acnologia growled at the son of Volcanus, his annoyance being paramount.
"I warned you." Roshi said with a shrug to Naruto's words. He cracked his fingers before wiggling them as if he were about to play the piano. "Yoryu no Kazanbai!"
There was silence for a moment until a low rumbling sound met the ears of all present. The rumbling them became more powerful and grew louder until it felt as if a continental plate was shifting beneath their feet. Finally, the earth burst apart in violent of explosion of ash and lava. The Volcanic Ash spell emerged and the burning cloud kicked up everything that had collected from the ground. Water from Juvia's rain, the stone and dust from the ground and the remnants of ice that formed from Haku's spells. The pyroocumulonimbus cloud rolled through the air until it finally settled over the wielders of the power of the Nine. The ash cloud suddenly released rumbling sounds and the particles of dust, ice and stone began to make friction with one another. Sparks of violet coloured voltage collected within the ash cloud until finally Roshi called upon the magic energy he used to fuel the cloud. Magic and electricity accumulated into one single force before Roshi swung his arm down.
"METSURYU OUGI: KAZANKAMINARI!" The name of the spell rang out throughout the battlefield and a in a flash of light, a massive bolt of violet lightning fell from the ash cloud. The attack came crashing down with the explosive force of a volcanic eruption. The pseudo-jinchuriki all released cries of pain as they were being elecrocuted by the magically forged lightning bolt. A shockwave of lightning ripped the ground apart before a mighty explosion rocked the entire island kingdom.
A smoke cloud rose into the air and Roshi nodded at his handiwork. The Lava Drive user smirked as he looked at the shocked faces of the younger dragonslayers. Naruto was not as impressed, but with the attacks he created which were reported to have wiped out mountains, Roshi would take what he could get from the blonde dragonslayer.
"Y-You're a Lava Dragonslayer, but..." Juvia paused due to the shock, but Haku finished her statement.
"You summoned lightning."
"Pretty cool, right?" Roshi grinned baring his obisidian fangs.
"It is cool, but that just doesn't make sense." Gajeel said.
"Actually, it does." Roshi replied. "You see, electrical charged are generated from volcanic eruptions when rock fragments, ash and ice particles in a volcanic plume, also known as a pyrocumulonimbus cloud, collide."
"A pyro-what now?" Fu asked.
"Fu-san, a pyrocumulonimbus cloud is a storm cloud made as a result of a volcanic plume. In essence it is similar to the way Juvia makes rain clouds through condensing the water in the atmosphere with her magic, only Roshi-san makes these storm clouds using the lava and ash from his lava eruptions."
"Oh." The mint-haired girl planted a fist in her palm in realization. "That makes sense."
"Juvia, you're a bright girl." Roshi praised the blue haired Water Drive user, patting her on the head.
"Juvia studies when Juvia is bored." The Water Dragonslayer grinned, reveling in the praise. "Juvia likes to be smart."
"So I can see. Anyway, as I was saying..." Roshi turned back to his other dragonslayer comrades. "...as a result of these particles colliding, it generated a large amount of electrical charge which produces lightning. I then take the magic I use to create the cloud and meld it with the static charge so I can then guide the lightning bolt and release it when I want."
Wendy looked up in awe at the Lava Dragonslayer. Her brown eyes sparkled with childish amazement before she turned to Naruto. "Onii-san! Onii-san! Can I learn from Roshi-san too?! I want to make storms like Fu-san and make lightning like Roshi-san!"
Fu and Roshi slid towards Naruto from either side, smug grins present on their faces as they poked the scowling Apocalypse Dragonslayer.
"You hear that Roshi? Wendy-chan wants to learn from us."
"Hmmmm, so it seem, Fu. Oh I wonder, do you think we should teacher her how to use her Drive Mode as well?" Naruto's eyebrow twitched at that and the dragonslayers of wind and lava continued to provoke the blonde.
"Oh my, Roshi, what ever would you mean? Don't you know her supremely overprotective Onii-san wants to teach her that technique?" Fu spoke with a mocking tone.
A massive spike in killing intent and magic energy came from Naruto. The towering son of Acnologia cast a shadow over the two annoyances, his white eyes glowing like stars within the pillar of dark coloured magic. "What was that about teaching my imouto to use Drive Mode?"
Fu and Roshi immediately hid behind Wendy. Gajeel, Juvia and Wendy all sweatdropped while Haku giggled in amusement.
"Ah, otouto is so emotional."
"I will not spare you either, Haku Nee-chan." The divine dragonslayer's dark voice made the Ice Drive user's spine tingle as she broke out into a nervous sweat. However, it was rather humourous to see frozen droplets of sweat fall to the ground as she remained laughing and waving her hand in a nonchalant manner.
"Oh, otouto, you wouldn't dare hurt your beloved Onee-chan would you?"
"You care to test that theory?"
"AIEEEE! I'M SORRY, OTOUTO!" Haku ran up and hugged the taller dragonslayer. "YOU KNOW I LOVE YOU!"
Wendy, Juvia and Gajeel's sweatdrops only increased in size at the sight of the fearsome Apocalypse Dragonslayer being reduced to...whatever you would call this. Fu and Roshi had recovered from their sudden fear of the blonde dragonslayer and peeked out from behind their diminutive Sky Dragonslayer shield. They bore sweatdrops of their own as they watched Naruto try in vain to pry the Ice Dragonslayer off of him as she had literally stuck to his waist with ice
'What...is happening?' The five thought.
(Insert Music: Boku no Hero Academia- Villain Invasion)
The lighthearted moment was brought to a quick end as the sound of a roaring engine met their ears. The Drive Mode users and Wendy all looked to the heavens and caught sight of a shining silver object in the night sky that was obviously not a star due to how it was moving directly towards them. In a matter of seconds, the large mechanical monstrosity that was Dorma Anim crashed down upon the location where the weakened pseudo-jinchuriki were currently struggling to rise to their.
Electrical charge upsetting the synapses in ones body did not allow for a swift recovery in most cases.
"Seems all of you were useless." King Faust's voice echoed from the dragon knight. "Han and Yugito were overcome by their emotions, so I assumed you would have been overcome as well. I would have actually preferred that, but to find that you have actually been defeated by these lowly Earthland mages is beyond insulting to you all as well as myself as the king of Edolas!"
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he watched the Dragon Knight reach down and take the seven pseudo-jinchuriki up from the ground. Through his visual prowess, he saw the crimson energy of the Nine being drained from the Shiroikage members and into the massive crimson lachryma that lay within Dorma Anim's chest. The heads of Shukaku, Isobu, Son Goku, Saiken, Chomei, Gyuki and Kurama became visible to all that observed the process as the energies were accumulated into one singular point. Once the entirety of their magic had been drained, King Faust allowed the now dead members of the Shiroikage to fall to the ground.
"You took the powers of the Nine, King Faust." Naruto snarled. "We'll be taking them back."
"Oh I would like to see you try Earthlandian, but even if you were strong enough to handle these seven, the fact remains that they only wielded a portion of the Nine's power. I on the other hand..." He used the dragonoid mecha to gesture to the central lachryma in its chest. "I have it all. Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son Goku, Kokuo, Saiken, Chomei, Gyuki and even the mighty Kurama. All of their magic energy is mine and it is infinite! You cannot hope to stop the Dragon Knight as I raze the kingdom of Extalia!"
Naruto walked over to Wendy. "You wanted to learn Drive Mode, imouto?"
"Uh huh." Wendy nodded.
"Well, now will be your first lesson and your target will be the giant dragon mecha."
Faust laughed as he heard those words from Naruto. "You think a little girl can beat me?"
"Not by herself, no. I've heard about the Dorma Anim from Kurama; a magical armour capable of absorbing magic energy to continuously power itself and fight as a juggernaut of destruction. Mechanized or not however, your beast is still a dragon and we are dragonslayers." Naruto said. "We have trained to take down any and all dragons."
"And how exactly will you do that?"
"With great ease once my idiot student decides to stop hiding." Roshi said. "Natsu! Get up and give him a taste of what dragonslayers can do, won't you?"
Faust turned the Dorma Anim's head in the direction of where Roshi was looking and his eyes widened as he caught sight of one Natsu Dragneel gripping the tail of his machine. "What?! Impossible! I killed you!"
"I'm more durable than you think! Roshi-sensei made sure of that!"
"Damn right I did!" Roshi exclaimed with a thumbs up.
Natsu returned the gesture before wiping his mouth with part of his vest. "And for the record, sensei...I wasn't hiding! I was recovering from my motion sickness! This thing flies really fast! Also I think Gray fell down somewhere since he slipped off." Natsu muttered as he glanced back in the direction of the wasteland below.
'Do you not care for your guildmate at all?' The son of Volcanus sweatdropped at his student's words.
"Insolent little brat! I'll make sure to leave nothing left this time!" Faust growled from the safety of his cockpit. Dorma Anim's tail lashed out, flicking Natsu skyward before a multitude of compartments opened up from the dragon knight's shoulders and back. With the press of a button, Faust unleashed a storm of golden energy blasts and missiles from the taboo of Edolas. The projectiles all converged upon Natsu's location and engulfed the pink haired dragonslayer in fire and smoke.
"There is no way in hell he would survive that!"
"That would be true." Roshi agreed with a nod. "But you see, my student is the Fire Dragonslayer and providing him with flames is a good way to set yourself up for quite an ass-kicking."
"Wh-What?!" Faust's disbelief was made paramount as he watched the fiery explosion suddenly begin to decrease in size. In a matter of seconds, what had once been a great conflagration had become literally nothing as Natsu released a burp upon consuming the entire explosion.
"Not bad, old man. Now what was that about me not surviving?"
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
"Not for a dragonslayer." Natsu replied with a determined expression. The scarf wearing dragonslayer then raised his hands high above his head. "Fire in right hand! Fire in my left hand! Bring them together and..." Natsu swung his arms down and the two bursts of flame converged and combined into a massive fireball. "KARYU NO KOUEN!"
The mighty blue and white spheroid fell as if it were a meteor from the heavens before it crashed down on the Dorma Anim. The durable dragon's armour was super heated as it the Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame created a massive explosion, engulfing its target in a pillar of flame. The son of Igneel then dropped down atop the burning metal dragon, but he was completely unfazed by the red hot metal as he jokingly rapped his knuckles against the head of Dorma Anima.
"Not bad, huh?" Natsu laughed before hopping off the beast.
"It's super heated now." Naruto said. "Water Dragon, Ice Dragon..."
"Suiryu no Suirou!" Juvia held out her arms and unleashed a massive torrent of water from her hands. The waters then formed a compact sphere, rapidly cooling the red hot metal. Once the entire Water Prison spell's volume had been obscured by steam, Juvia immediately dropped the imprisoning spell to allow for Haku to unleash a cold front from her body. The cold front froze everything between herself and Dorma Anim and then some.
"Now here is a lesson in basic science, Faust." Naruto said. "When you super heat metal and then rapidly cool it...it becomes brittle. No matter how dense or how powerful that metal is, rapid fluctuations in temperature will decrease its molecular integrity and thus make it vulnerable to the point that say...even a blade of wind can cut through it."
To further bring the point home, he and Fu simultaneously made slicing motions with their arms. Arcs of razor sharp wind moved through the air at high speeds before completely severing the mechanical behemoth's arms. The two limbs came crashing down on either side of their former wielder and King Faust watched in fear from the cockpit as Naruto's glowing white eyes seemed to stare into his very soul through the monitors.
"Iron Dragon, make sure he can't move."
"Tetsuryu no Shibari!" Gajeel stabbed his arms into the ground as he converted them into spears of iron. The iron moved deep through the underground before it exploded out from beneath Dorma Anim's feet and formed very efficient restraints. "Those bands are connected to iron poles buried at angles about two hundred metres underground. He's not moving any time soon."
Gajeel then separated his arms from the iron and let them return to their original form, dusting his hands off as if he had just finished taking out some trash. The Dorma Anim was now made useless in almost every single definition of word.
(Insert Music: Boku no Hero Academia- You Say Run)
At this point, Wendy was placed to the forefront of the little group of dragonslayers. Naruto placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Now Wendy...to activate Drive Mode, you need only draw upon your magic and go as deep as you can possibly go." Naruto instructed the blue haired girl. "Take a deep breath and think of the sky. Draw upon your element and firmly grasp it. Have you done that?"
Wendy's face contorted into a look of intense concentration. An aura of light blue magic energy outlined her body as she continued to struggle.
"I think...I think I have it."
"Good girl." Naruto praised her. "Now, think of a dragon. Think of Grandine. Like I told you, Drive Mode is the half-way point between our base power and our ultimate power in the form of Doragon Fosu, and so esentially you become as close to being a dragon as you can possibly be at that point. Imagine you are armed with dragon claws and dragon talons. Your magic is Grandine's magic. The sky is your dominion and yours to control. Take the magic you have drawn upon and combine it with those thoughts. Imagine you are stronger, faster and better than before. Imagine that you are a Sky Dragon, Wendy."
The others watched in fascination as Naruto gently gave his little sister figure instructions. Other than Roshi, due to him teaching Natsu, none of them had seen what a pilot activation of Drive Mode looked like from the outside...and for Wendy's, it was downright beautiful. Her light blue aura increased in size as her output of magic increased. Scale-like markings rapidly covered her skin and gained a cloud white hue. Her hair gained highlights of bright pink and the wind she generated from her increasing powers caused it flutter gently.
"You've done beautifully, Wendy. Now do what I told you to do when I first made you my student, my little Sky Dragon." Naruto released Wendy's shoulder from his grip and stood back. A proud smile adorned his face as he leaned down and whispered in her ear one single word. "Roar."
Wendy's eyes snapped open revealing them to have become encircled by a shining ring of sky blue, something which seemed to compliment her brown irises quite well. The magic output she unleashed increased ten-fold and the ground cratered as the pressure her body exhumed acted upon the world of Edolas. The phantasmal image of Grandine roared behind her and suddenly Wendy felt as if she had been granted new life as her body's wounds became completely healed and she recovered from her fatigue. She inhaled deeply, magic energy and the element of the sky bending to her will.
"TENRYU NO..." Wind and magic energy swirled into her gaping maw, building up to extreme levels until finally the young pre-teen could no longer contain it. "HOKOOOOOOOOO!"
The spiraling vortex of wind tore a massive trench in the ground as it rocketed across the battleground. Faust's scream was paramount for all of a few seconds as the howling winds of the Sky Dragon's Roar drowned them out. The high powered wind circulation system ripped apart every single piece of Dorma Anim's armour and carried it across the floating island, sending them all over the edge. In some form of poetic justice, the sixth king of Edolas fell from grace and descended into oblivion.
Soon, the only thing left of the Dragon Knight was the massive central lachryma that once powered it. Wendy fell to her knees for a moment, gasping in effort as she felt the pull on her magic reserves being much greater than anything she had ever felt before in her life.
"Drive Mode within five minutes huh. She's really somethin'." Roshi praised as he stood next to Naruto. "You must be proud."
"She's my little Sky Dragon." Was his only reply. "And now it's time I get back my little furry pain-in-the-ass kitsune."
Naruto moved to walk towards the massive crimson lachryma. He could literally feel the fiery blaze of power of Kurama within it, fighting to free itself. The energy lachryma pulsed and shone, cracks spreading across its surface.
"Uh...Otouto...I don't think that's supposed to happen." Haku said.
Naruto did not heed her words, but he paused when the fox's head suddenly appeared from the cloud of demonic energy. Crimson eyes full of fear met blue bathed in ethereal white that were alight with confusion.
"Naruto...run."
(Insert Music: Naruto Shippuden- Syukusei no Megami)
Those two words heralded the shattering of the lachryma and a massive explosion of demonic crimson energy. A cascade of effects occurred as the energy sent all the dragonslayers flying back until they were forced to dig their claws into the earth to anchor themselves. The winds howled as cumulonimbus clouds swirled overhead. Thunder boomed and lightning arced through the heavens like lances of the divine before they stabbed down into the earth and wreaked havoc upon the world below. The rains fell in the form of a torrential downfall, falling with such force that it would have stung normal flesh.
"Juvia, please tell me this is your doing!" Gajeel pleaded. The ocean blue eyed dragonslayer turned to Gajeel, and her gaze said it all. This was not the work of the Water Dragonslayer. Nor was it the work of the dragonslayers of Wind and Sky as tornadoes suddenly fell from above and stabbed into random areas across not just Extalia, but all of Edolas.
The storm expanded at a rate that was unheard of for any sort of meteorological phenomenon, but through the darkness of the storm, the mighty crimson glow of demonic energy continued to shine like a beacon.
"What's...What's happening?!" Fu yelled out over the winds.
"Onii-san! I'm scared!" She crawled over to her brother figure with a valiant amount of effort and the son of two Wizard Saints could only watch the events that unfolded. From the accumulation of nine demonic entities' worth of magic energy, there came something that could be described as monstrously powerful. Naruto had only felt power like this when he was with Acnologia, and his wide eyes were forced to gaze upon its wielder as the crimson energy beam morphed and solidified.
The glow died down and in place of the energy explosion, there was now a towering beast of destruction. Its body was brown in colour and stood at a height of at least five hundred feet tall. It was difficult to make an estimation since the beast was so large. The beast took on the shape of an muscular humanoid with elongated limbs and a twisting neck. It possessed long legs, which it used along with its muscular arms to stand. Atop its back was a massive growth that bore an appearance similar to that of a conch shell. The beast's head was altered greatly in terms of what humanoid facial features would look like. A single ear grew on the right side, and its mouth — which contained straight teeth and bore a grin — was positioned to the left side, with a single triangular nostril appearing above it. In the centre of its face there lay the lid of a massive singular eye. Several horns formed on various parts on its head: two above each side of its face, two beneath its eye, and another below its ear. Its monstrously large eyelid snapped open to reveal a massive crimson eye. Its pupil was encircled by two rings in a concentric pattern with each ring having three tomoe decorating it in a manner Naruto could see resembled the Sharingan. From its tailbone, the beast had ten massive tails which swished lazily behind it and seemed to scrape the heavens.
With his visual prowess and connection to the divine element of Energy, Naruto was the only one who was able to see the practically limitless power the beast possessed.
"This power..."
The dragonslayers stared into the face of death and destruction and the creature tilted its head skyward before unleashing a roar which heralded its summoning into the world. It was said to be the progenitor of all that exists in the world. A god that created countries, had the power to swallow oceans, split the land, and carry mountains.
It was known by all these things and so many other titles, but its most well-known and fear instilling title was simple.
The Juubi.
(A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the long delay, but in addition to having some writer's block for this chapter my first semester for my third year of medical school had actually started early in June. June 6th to be precise and it ended on August 19th so they had to cram a lot of work into those three months so I didn't really have much time or motivation to right at the time. But I managed to get this bad boy done finally. I worked really hard to get this chapter out so hopefully you guys like it.
I finally got to bring in the Juubi's revival. Now the next chapter will be the final chapter of the Edolas Arc so expect some very grand attempts from the dragonslayers to try and take down the primordial beast of destruction. Now because Edolas will now pretty much be empty of atmospheric magic energy, the Juubi will not gain anymore power than it does at this point and it really wouldn't need any extra power either since it has the full force of all nine Bijuu-Exceed in its body so I didn't see it as necessary for it go through the evolutionary stages of becoming the blob monster and then becoming that emaciated, humanoid Bulbasaur it became when it 'evolved'.
Hope you guys liked this chapter and remember to review, review, review!
P.S.: As a precautionary measure, I'm putting this. I will be working on Millennium Wars next so those of you who feel the need to write reviews asking/telling me to update that story, know that I will be working on it next so please don't post pointless reviews regarding that as they are VERY annoying. Especially from those of you with accounts since I can't delete them from the review page.
