Within the expanse of tranquil time, the only sound that echoed through the timeless void were Chelia's heartbroken cries. The battle against Dimaria took a sharp downward spiral as Raven was erased from time itself. Anyone who died while in Dimaria's 'world' ceased to exist. This was a harsh reality they learned the hard way. All Chelia could do was cry. The emotional shock and trauma paralyzed her. "Raven…!"
"He's gone…" Alex was trembling. She couldn't even fathom what it was she just witnessed…what it was they were up against. Not that she planned on backing down, but the shock stunned her. For a moment, she questioned how they were going to beat the deity that stood before them.
"I still do not understand…I told him I would kill him last. Yet he threw himself in harm's way. Why would he intentionally hasten his own death?" This still confused her. Not that she cared in the end, but it was a perplexing action she couldn't quite wrap her head around. But as soon as the question left her lips, Cynthia was in her face, her leg swinging violently at her cheek. A vicious torrent of fire and wind followed suit, actually managing to throw Dimaria backwards slightly.
"BECAUSE HE LOVED HER!" Cynthia snarled, the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. In the years she knew Chelia, she'd only seen her cry one time. That was after the culmination of everything that had happened prior finally hit her; she didn't cry before then, and after that, she never cried again.
"Y-You monster…!" Wendy barged her fangs. This was the first time in a really long time she felt legitimately angry. The sky dragon rushed forward at speeds faster than most could comprehend. A solid punch landed against Dimaria's chest, a tempest of wind and omega flames following suit. Dimaria was blown backwards and the dragon slayer duo of Fairy Tail began their assault, both of them relentlessly attacking Dimaria.
"…." Ultear could only watch. After what she just witnessed, she wasn't sure what to do. The battle against Zen on the Isle could have easily gone just as south without Chelia using the Third Origin. But they didn't have that option this time, and things looked extremely grim. "What can I do…to protect these girls…? I…" All she could do was watch Cynthia and Wendy fight with all their might.
"Ultear…!" Alex shouted. "You can't…look like that!"
"H-Huh…?" Ultear snapped out of it, staring at Alex with a shaky expression. The situation left her at a loss.
"You're the adult here!" Alex said. "You're the one we have to depend on right now! If you look like that, then they might lose hope too! I-I know this situation is scary, but please…keep a brave face for them…! They're counting on you, too!"
"A brave face…" Ultear didn't even think about her position for a moment. It was…strange. She spent all this time attempting to atone for her sins. In the past, all her life was worth was a single minute. When did it evolve into this? Watching over these girls as they put their lives on the line for everyone else not only once, but twice? They were depending on her…so in a way, her life really did mean something here. If that was the case, she couldn't let these girls down, especially after the heartbreak Chelia was going through. She may as well be frozen in time too at this rate. She just…didn't know what to do!
Wendy and Cynthia were attacking away at Dimaria with their combination attacks. Wendy aimed a blazing roundhouse at Dimaria's skull, the natural wind around her body fueling the omega flames into the mix. Dimaria blocked the strike, firing back with a punch of her own that slammed against the sky dragon's midsection. While Dimaria was in the midst of attacking Wendy, Cynthia moved in with a rising claw strike. "…!" Dimaria moved her body to the side, easily evading the physical attack itself, but a rising stalagmite rose after Cynthia's attack, piercing the vessel of Chronos in the side. "Insolent mortals…!" Dimaria's patience was growing thin. Her leg swung, colliding against Cynthia's skull to send her flying backwards.
"Ngh…!" Cynthia dug her hands and fingers into the ground, forcibly slowing her momentum to a halt before wildly lunging forward once again while rearing her fist back. The red flames that ignited around her fist briefly flashed a vibrant blue color, one that was vaguely reminiscent from several years ago. "Omega Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Blue…?" Dimaria was curious, but ultimately going to fight back of course. Her own fist lit up in yellow magic and she swung it at Cynthia's. The two met in the middle, causing a fierce shockwave to echo out the moment their fists collided. "Your struggle is useless! You will all end up just like that pathetic human!"
Cynthia was struggling to hold her ground against Dimaria. The time goddess was exceptionally strong, but the way she talked down to them angered her. "His name…was Raven!" The omega dragon yelled.
"…!" Dimaria noticed it a bit too late. Wendy slipped past her with her arms out, a fierce trail of wind following suit that pierced into her already sliced side. This brief moment of pain allowed Cynthia to push forward, where an explosion of blue fire and time magic erupted on the both of them, causing them to slide backwards. The two dragon slayers then took the offensive, aiming two strong punches at Dimaria's face, but the Spriggan recovered in time to stop their tiny fists just short with her own hands. "You shall pay." The goddess uttered once more, her palms releasing a threatening amount of magic beginning to pour from her hands.
"Earth Dragon's Sharpened Horn!" Alex yelled, sharpened pieces of rock and earth forming around her skull, and she rammed herself into Dimaria's stomach. Even a goddess wasn't going to enjoy taking a blow like that, and she ended up releasing Cynthia and Wendy while taking a step back. "Sorry I'm lat…!" And before she could get another word out, Dimaria caused a powerful eruption of her magic once again, engulfing the three girls in its wake.
"Oof…" Cynthia wasn't looking too great. One eye was clenched and she was on a knee, panting heavily. "I'm not…gonna let her get the best of us…" She took one glance at Chelia, who was watching the battle, but at the same time she just wasn't there. Her expression was dull.
"Physical ability raise!" Wendy casted an enchantment on herself, Cynthia, and Alex to increase their physical strength for a short time. They were able to make a small push against Dimaria and she hoped this would give them the decisive edge they needed. With that done, Wendy pushed off once more, faster than the wind itself to close the gap between herself and Dimaria. "Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" Her foot whipped along Dimaria's face, a vicious torrent of wind following suit after the direct hit. The enchantment proved useful since Dimaria was forced backwards despite how hard she tried to hold her ground. With this, Wendy tried to push again! She was so fast it was actually irritating the Spriggan! Wendy appeared at Dimaria's left, swinging another wind infused leg at the woman's chest, but this time she blocked it.
"You insect…" Dimaria spat before holding her hand out, a strange clock-like seal appearing on Wendy's body.
"H-Huh…?!" Wendy blinked before her body was wracked with immeasurable pain! For a brief moment, all of the pain she'd ever experienced came back to haunt her! Her eyes went wide and she couldn't move for a moment; in fact, all she could do was struggle to even stand. This left her open for a small, but potent blast that sent her tumbling away. In the midst of her tumble, Dimaria fired a beam that pierced right through her left thigh. Wendy did manage to catch herself, but she was now in a crouched position, hissing in pain. "M-My leg…"
Dimaria was going to fire off another beam, but her arm was deflected by Cynthia's own, thus causing the beam to fire off into the open sky. "HA!" The omega dragon yelled, parting her lips to release a point blank blast of fire and earth at Dimaria. It was a direct hit and Dimaria let out some noise of pain and annoyance, but unfortunately she wasn't going to let herself be pushed back anymore by these brats! The Spriggan forced her way through the fire and flames just to land a punch on Cynthia's face for more petty revenge, but it was strong enough to send the girl stumbling back. And just like with Wendy, a piercing beam followed and struck Cynthia's right arm! "Ow…!" She whined, now clutching her arm in agony. Why…why was it always the arm!? It wasn't a Cynthia fight unless her arm got injured somehow!
"Watch out!" Alex pushed Cynthia out of the way, her body covered in pitch black armor that came from her own skin. It was part of her Prototype magic, and it saved her hide as Dimaria aimed another beam for Cynthia, but Alex's intervention caused the beam to pierce through her side. Thanks to her armor, she wasn't as injured as she should have been.
"A-Alex…!" Cynthia stared up at her.
"I'm going to protect you and everything you care about." The armored Alex gave her younger sister a nod while turning to Dimaria, the ground beginning to quake around the Spriggan. Multiple stalagmites rose up, all of them super charged with magic and they all pointed directly at Dimaria. "Because that's what Gaia wanted me to do…and it's what I want to do too! Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Earth's End!" With the spirit of Gaia flashing at her side, Alex unleashed the secret art! The beams of magic from the stalagmites converged and exploded on Dimaria for an earth shaking explosion!
"…I remember that attack. It didn't feel good…" Cynthia recalled when Alex used that on her during their fight in the Games.
The smoke around Dimaria was thick and didn't clear anytime soon. That's why nobody could see the beams she fired, all at Alex. If it wasn't for her armor, they'd be fatal blows. The beams pierced through several spots of her armor and the red head collapsed on the spot. Alex was just gasping for air, her eyes slowly staring up at a very injured, but very angry Dimaria. "Ow…"
"I'm growing tired of this farce…" Dimaria said with a low tone. She was going to finish these girls off before they became too much more of a problem…and that's when the little detail that slipped her mind reminded her of its existence. Ultear's orb slammed into her gut. It didn't hurt that much, but it was an annoyance. "…?" But something was wrong. When she looked around, there were dozens of the same orb floating around her!
"Flash Forward." Ultear said. This command caused the orbs to bombard Dimaria relentlessly! She had to step in to prevent the girls from getting fatally injured or worse. It may have been an awful thing to say, but since she only had to use her magic on Chelia, Wendy, Cynthia, and Alex now, she could expend a little bit to fight.
After the bombardment ended, Dimaria slowly turned her head to Ultear, her yellow eyes fixating on the time mage. "You…the one that defiled my world…" Of course…in the heat of battle, she forgot that all she had to do was get rid of Ultear. The moment she did that, those girls would freeze and her world would be pure again! So without wasting another moment, Dimaria flew at Ultear with malicious intent.
"Ultear…!" The three girls fighting cried in worry.
"Here she comes…!" Ultear didn't really have a plan at this point. It was just to do whatever she could now. As an instinctive reaction, her fist ended up sliding into her open palm, a chilling aura flowing from her body. "Ice Make: Rosen Krone!" When she threw her arms forward, frozen flowers emerged to bind and constrict Dimaria's movements. It didn't work and she was met with a fierce punch to her gut, one that caused her to fold over. The Spriggan followed up with another punch to the temple, nearly crushing Ultear into the ground as a result. "Ngk…!"
"I gotta move…" Wendy said while attempting to stand, but with her leg injury, that was a difficult task. Cynthia and Alex weren't exactly in moving shape either.
Dimaria leaned down, gripping Ultear by her hair to lift her up. "You defiled the world of a god. This is the worst sin you have committed, and you shall be sentenced to death."
"I've already died once…but I'm not going anywhere until they're safe!" Ultear brought one hand up, a magic sword materializing into existence. Dimaria wasn't expecting such a quick draw and Ultear managed to slash at her arm, allowing her to be released.
"Insolent!" This didn't last long as Ultear was met with a foot to her stomach, pushing her backwards. Several more beams were released in her direction, but her orb countered them by splitting off into separate futures! Dimaria continued to rapid fire pace, just waiting to see how long it took until Ultear broke. Ultear was slowly losing the exchange as the beams began to graze her body. Ultimately, she lost when a beam slipped through her defenses and struck her lower right side, causing her to hiss in pain. And that was Dimaria's opening. The time goddess was going to finish this farce once and for all…! Until a kick to her face stopped her. She stumbled back, now just pissed beyond belief at the interruption.
Luke landed on the ground, panting softly since he was barely able to make it. "It's kinda easy to tell where a fight is when everything's sto…WHOA! Is that Dimaria!? I didn't know she could do that!?"
"Luke-san…!" Wendy's face lit up with a smile.
"You again? You're defiling my world again…!?" Dimaria had it. This was going on for too long.
"What's with the grim…" Well, one look around and the copycat could put two and two together. The unresponsive Chelia and what was a discarded bow. Luke simply nodded and turned to face Dimaria. "I got this." His body immediately lit up in a black and white aura, shifting into his Chaos Unison state. "All right…time to put the grumpy god to bed." Without wasting any time, Luke and Dimaria pushed forward, their fists colliding with one another. The collision of god and pseudo god slayer caused another shockwave to boom out! Since Luke was sustaining himself on his own magic, Ultear didn't have to worry about anything.
"Agh…" Ultear fell to a knee, panting heavily. Keeping up with the girls and trying to fight took a toll on her now injured body. "I can't keep this up for much longer. We have to finish her off now!"
"Chelia, we need you!" Cynthia yelled…but there was no response. Chelia didn't say a word. She was just frozen. "Come on, Chelia please!"
At this point, Luke and Dimaria were locked in close combat. Luke did have an edge, but Dimaria was strong regardless. Her magic infused fist stuck the copycat in the jaw, leaving a mark, but he fired back with an explosion Black God's Bomb! The impact was surprising to Dimaria and she slid backwards with a sudden cry of pain. "So that is God Slaying Magic!?"
"That's right!" Luke said with a smug grin. Dimaria was pretty tough and even though she was still standing from the beating before, Luke had an edge that could put her down if he played his cards right. "It's almost kinda funny how bad this is for you!"
"DON'T YOU DARE MOCK ME! I AM A GOD!" Dimaria shrieked at the top of her lungs. She lifted her arm up, causing a sudden surge of magic to explode around Luke. A direct hit noted by his sudden shout of surprise.
"Gah…!" Luke flipped before placing his hands at his sides and immediately shot them forward. "Chaotic God's Unholy Ray!" Beams of black and white shot forth, all of them splitting off into different directions before converging onto Dimaria. The Time Goddess did shoot her own beams to destroy as many as she could, but in the end, several landed against her and exploded.
"GRAAAH!" Screaming, the time goddess flung forward, slamming her palm into Luke's face to grip it and drag him along the ground. That hurt a lot, but Luke fired back by slamming a White God's Fist into her kidney. That hurt more. Once he was released, he swung his leg around for a swift round house just as Dimaria did the same. The two were sent spinning away from one another and landed rather awkwardly on the ground.
"Damn…she's tough!" Luke admitted with a small smirk. This was kind of enjoyable, going up against a god. "But she's getting cornered…just need a little more…"
"Cornered?! Me?! Don't be stupid!" Dimaria shouted, yet as she said that, the Takeover around her head faded in and out. Was she…was she running out of magic!? No, this couldn't be! She had to end this. With all ten of her fingers pointed forward, potent beams shot forth, most of them flying towards Luke.
"Hah! Won't work!" Luke conjured a mirror in front of him. This mirror easily reflected the beams aimed at him back at Dimaria, but she avoided those. That was never her goal to begin with, she just needed to distract Luke….because the rest of the beams were aimed at Ultear and the other girls. "Oh shit..!" He didn't have time to cover them all! So, without thinking, he quickly sprinted forward and used his body as shield! Luke was durable and managed to sponge a few hits, but his reckless move left him pretty injured! The copycat landed on the ground with a few holes in him, but luckily nothing that was fatal. It just hurt a lot. "Damn it…that's what I get…for trying to be a hero." And there went his momentum…all because he did prioritize a few lives over victory, which honestly…was a Luke thing to do. He didn't want anyone else to die if he could stop it. That's the kind of mindset he gained after Heather, Zalen, and a few other's deaths in the past…
"You were all going to die regardless." Dimaria shrugged and fired off another set of beams at Ultear. Now that Luke was in a bit of shock, this made things so much easier. She could pick them off one by one now.
"Ultear!"
Ultear's eyes were wide as the beams came with the sole intent of killing her. Nobody could move in time to try and stop it. But, just before the beam struck Ultear, it was deflected away in a flash and destroyed a nearby building. A familiar sizzling sound echoed through the emptiness of time and everyone was shocked at they saw. It was Chelia, using the Third Origin once again. The look in her eyes was no longer dull, but those blue eyes were filled with unspeakable rage and pain. "…I'm taking this."
"Ah…" Luke blinked several times at Chelia. This was his first time seeing her in Third Origin after all. Neither heaven nor hell had no fury like a girl with a broken heart, and there was no way he was standing in the middle of that.
"Chelia wait! If you do this, you could…!" Ultear tried to warn, but Chelia shook her head.
"I have to…avenge him…" Chelia clenched her hand into a fist.
"Chelia no! Your magic…!" Wendy tried to object, but again, Chelia just wasn't listening.
"I'll kill you all!" Dimaria growled before deciding that Chelia was now her opponent, her entire body glowing in a vibrant yellow light. "I'll make sure you join your friend in hell!"
"The only one going to hell is you!" Chelia fired back while also rushing at Dimaria. The two of them met in the middle, their fists colliding against one another's cheeks. Both held their ground, only Dimaria was fast enough to follow up with a crushing blow to Chelia's skull with her elbow. "oof..!"
"Humans this…humans that…all you do is defile the world the gods left for you! You are all nothing but filthy sinners!" Dimaria's voice was still high as she landed another blow on Chelia. All the others could do was watch as the two women exchanged strikes, each one getting heavier than the last. "This is why Ishgar is a land abandoned by the gods!"
"I don't want any gods like you around!" Chelia yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks as she landed a wind infused punch into Dimaria's chest. "God's that take away and leave nothing but destruction! And you took Raven away from me…that's why I…that's why I'm going to kill you!" It was very rare for Chelia to exclaim such a thing, but the pain in her heart was too strong, and she was taking all out on the one responsible. The two head butted one another, only to stagger back after the self-inflicted injury. Chelia's body was releasing so much steam one could see her face contorting and twisting in agony.
"Chelia, please stop! You can't keep this up!" Cynthia pleaded.
"I can see her body falling apart…!" Alex whimpered.
Dimaria lifted her hand up, a gigantic magic seal forming. This was the biggest one yet, and from it, the fist of Chronos himself emerged, towering over everything in Port Hargeon. It wasn't just the fist, but the upper torso of Chronos was revealed, two hands and a head, all for them to bear. They were really up against the god of time itself now. "It seems you just don't understand yet! This is the power you're up against! This is the power of the Spriggan 12, power that none of you can hope to match! Chronos himself will now deliver judgment upon you mortal fools!" Dimaria had a bit of an insane grin going on now that she pulled out her true ace. The fist of Chronos lifted up and slammed directly down onto Chelia, causing an earthquake.
"CHELIA!"
"This is the price you pay for defiling my world!" And just like before Dimaria snapped her fingers…but nothing happened. She planned to erase Chelia just as she did Raven, but that only worked if they were dead. But that meant…
"I don't care about your world…" Chelia had both hands on the fist of Chronos, using that to barely keep herself from being crushed. Despite that, blood trickled down her forehead and the steam around her body intensified. She was burning up magic that didn't even exist now! "Y-You took him from me…and for that…I have to make you pay no matter what." Chelia's eyes narrowed and the black wind around her body picked up, turning obsidian while wisps of ice began to flow around her.
Ultear's eyes were wide. Was Chelia truly going all the way!? "Stop this! If you do an attack like that, you won't make it!"
Love did crazy things to people. Raven put his life on the line and lost it for Chelia. Now here she was, blinded by the same emotion along with a mix of others, doing the very same. Putting her life on the line to avenge her love and keep her friends safe. After all…they were the most important things to her. The sky began to howl, the clouds splitting apart even in this frozen time. A magic seal formed in the heavens above far from sight, and that's when Chelia lifted her gaze up to Dimaria, giving a frightening stare that not even Chrono's vessel could shake off. "A god like you doesn't deserve to go to heaven. God Slayer Secret Art: Heaven's Wrath!"
"What the…?" Cynthia looked up to the sky.
"Holy shit…!" Luke's eyes were wide. The power to slay a god…was this what it truly meant!? He could feel it all the way from the ground. It resonated with him in a strange way.
A gigantic beam dropped down from the heavens above, composed of the three elements Chelia could control: wind, ice, and darkness. This gargantuan beam had only one target in mind: Dimaria. With widened eyes, Dimaria pointed her hand up, commanding Chronos to bring up his free hand to stop this attack. It did clash with the god's hand, but it was rapidly beginning to deteriorate. "W-What is this!? I-I can't…!?"
"I told you already, didn't I? I slayed a god before you. You're nothing special!" Chelia let out a battle cry to push her own attack forward and finish the job. "A god like you doesn't deserve to exist! I won't let you hurt anymore people! THIS IS THE END FOR YOU, CHRONOS!" The power of love and the power to kill gods was always Chelia's strongest asset. Just as she said before, she slayed the god of Ice, Zen, with this same power and in the end, the two Gods were the same. With the entirety of the vast sky at her disposal, Lamia Scale's god slayer made sure to put it all to good use, not even thinking about the consequences. The only noise that could be heard over the intense rumbling was Dimaria's scream of pain. A bright flash of light enveloped the area, bringing nothing but silence to the area.
Dimaria was forced back into her normal form, ultimately defeated by Chelia's technique. Little but little, time began to resume. "My world…is crumbling down…" Dimaria collapsed to the ground, unconscious. In truth…Chelia's last technique was overkill. But that was the last magical technique she'd ever get to perform.
"Holy shit…" Luke could only stare in awe. Chelia was truly a God Slayer. He had no idea why this magic existed to begin with, but when he stared at this young woman, he could see why. To be entrusted with that sort of power and actually use it the way it was intended was…well, phenomenal.
Chelia's body reverted to normal, steam viciously flowing from around her. She was already in sensitive condition, but she really overdid it this time. She fell to her hands and knees, panting heavily as the strain started to make her body collapse. Black sparks danced around her and she contorted violently, screaming in pain. "A-AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"C-Chelia…!" Wendy and Cynthia picked themselves up, forcing their way over to Chelia.
"Oh no…that was too much strain…!" Ultear's eyes went wide again and she tried to stand up. "She won't…!"
"Oh no…not like this…! Chelia!" Alex hurried over to Chelia as well.
"C-Carla…" Chelia whimpered, barely managing to get that word out.
"…!" She was right! Wendy had to turn back to Carla and went to heal her. "D-Don't worry Carla…! I'll fix you up r-right away!" There was too much going on. Just as time resumed too.
Carla coughed a few times, one eye open. She had no idea what happened after the beam pieced through her. "W-Wendy…? W-What's going on…?"
Chelia cried as she felt so much pain shooting through her body. Her eyes were growing heavy and she had her gaze focused on one thing: Raven's bow. She reached out to it slowly, but her fingertips were just shy of reaching it and her body collapsed on the spot, tears flowing from her eyes nonstop. "I'm so sorry…" Those words were meant for both Raven and the others. She failed them. With all the strength leaving her body, she closed her eyes.
"H-Hey! No! Wake up! Chelia! Chelia…!" Cynthia started to cry.
"Is she…" Alex brought her hands to her mouth, eyes wide.
"…" Ultear couldn't say a thing. Here she came to protect them, but she ultimately failed in doing so, and now Chelia was…
"Chelia…" Luke could only stare. The uproar of the battle drowned out anything else. They were lucky nobody had taken notice of the ruined landscape that occurred within a split second to them.
It was at this moment that Sherri made it onto the scene before Taya. The older Blendy eyes widened and she practically shoved everyone aside to cradle Chelia in her arms. "Chelia! Chelia, what happened! Speak to me please…! We have to get her to Aira or Ivixa, quickly...!"
There was no response. Chelia just lied limp in Sherri's arms. Her expression showed the heartbreak that words couldn't convey. Her failure to protect the one she loved after swearing to protect him. Dimaria was right about one thing…she was a sinner. To someone who cherished love so much, she committed the biggest sin of all.
.
.
Next Time: Stealth.
