I'm glad at least 1 of you got a laugh out of how I ended the last chapter - I debated whether to include that joke in the end for a long time. Should it be serious or serious/silly like traditional Fairy Tail? Still on the fence but oh well. Read on!

The mage, centuries-old, that had killed thousands was, in fact, naked. Gray blinked. It shouldn't really matter, he supposed. Their goal to stop him hadn't changed; neither did the fact that Deliora was crazy powerful. But there was something unnerving about staring at a stranger's naked body preparing to battle. His nether regions were so… exposed.

As he thought this, he slowly began removing his shirt.

"Not you too," Erza muttered, not taking her eyes from their opponent.

Before Gray could respond Deliora took in a deep breath, likely planning to wipe them out along with the town. Then Erza was darting forward, blade drawn and swinging. Deliora ducked, backing away a few paces, scowling.

Gray and Lyon joined Erza in the chase. Deliora refused to engage as they continued slashing their swords and throwing knives. He was quick but seemed to have no idea how to fight with blades. Every time he'd try to draw a deep breath and call on his powers one of the three would distract him with a new attack that took all of his focus to parry.

It continued for quite some time without any breaks, Deliora scowling and spitting obscenities. It occurred to Gray, then, that something was off.

This was the great Deliora? In the stories told about him, he fought with the strength of a thousand men. Sure, he had magic to wipe towns off the map, but he was also a force to be reckoned with in hand-to-hand combat. What was going on?

"You notice it too?" Lyon murmured beside Gray, chucking on of his many knives at the mage.

"What do you think he's doing? Preparing for a powerful move?"

Lyon frowned as they stood back and watched Erza shout in frustration as he once again dodged one of her moves but refused to engage her in a fight.

"I'm not sure. He just seems… tired."

Gray studied Deliora. He was smirking confidently as he supposedly toyed with Erza but every time he moved away it seemed like he got just a little bit slower and his eyes had dark circles under them. And then he saw it.

"He's fading," Gray muttered.

"What?"

Erza shot a confused glance back at them before continuing her assault. How she heard him, he didn't know. Gray pointed at Deliora.

"Do you see his right hand? It's flaking away."

Lyon's eyes widened in surprise because Deliora's hand was in fact, flaking. Slowly, ever so slowly, pieces of his hand were falling off and disappearing. It looked like he'd already lost part of his middle finger.

"So all we have to do is stall him from destroying the town and he'll disappear on his own," Lyon murmured. "Feels a bit… anticlimactic."

Gray nodded. After everything he'd done to the world, he just gets to fade? After he inadvertently caused Ur's death and her entire family's deaths? But Gray had a feeling Deliora didn't know he was fading, and if he did, he might say to hell with it and let them attack his mortal body and do an Energy Beam on the town anyway.

What could they do though? Gray had a feeling that with Deliora at full strength they wouldn't stand a chance, and they didn't want to provoke any last-minute draws of strength.

His middle finger and pointer finger were almost completely gone already and Deliora still hadn't noticed from dodging Erza's attacks. Gray and Lyon shared a look – they'd continue help distracting him and let nature take its course. For the safety of Hargeon, it wasn't a hard decision.

Gray sprang forward and slashed his swords violently at Deliora, Lyon not far behind. Slowly they managed to draw him further away from Hargeon, just in case he decided to use the beam anyway.

"What's your endgame, little fairies?" Deliora laughed, dodging another swipe from Lyon and Gray. "Shall you swipe your sticks at me forever?"

"Why don't you be a man and fight!" Erza shouted, launching another attack.

Dodging, a bit slower this time, he laughed. "I would never debase myself to fight with ones such as you. Little bugs are all you three are."

"Then why are you backing away from so-called bugs?" Gray grunted, swinging his swords.

"I'm bored," he admitted. "It's been too long since I had a good fight. When last was it, with those purple-haired mages? The ones who sealed me away." A deadly glint shone in his eyes. "When I'm done with you three and the mission I'll find all of their descendants and slaughter them one by one."

Gray and Lyon stiffened. Ultear. They weren't on the best of terms with Ultear at the moment but they were still family – they'd protect her at all costs and Deliora's threats made their blood boil.

"You'll never touch her," Gray snarled, gripping his sword tighter. Deliora turned to him, raising an eyebrow.

"So you know one, eh?" He laughed cruelly. "Mind telling me where this girl is? It'll save me time."

"You'll never make it out of here alive to try," Lyon spat back.

"We'll see."

But now both his hands were gone and he still hadn't realized. Erza shot them a look to shut up and keep fighting so he didn't notice his vanishing appendages.

"No matter," Deliora continued, still dodging Erza's swift swipes. "I'll find her eventually."

The last comment cost him. Erza snuck in for a second swipe and, too distracted by his taunting, he'd moved away a second too late. The blade cut through the flesh on his right arm. Hissing he glanced down. Unfortunately, this brought his attention to the situation on hand (or lack thereof).

His nostrils flared in rage as he held up his arms and stared at the now-flaking arms. The cut seemed to be increasing the speed at which he disappeared.

"You three," Deliora breathed. "You knew? And you didn't tell me?! Aren't the good guys supposed to have a moral code or something?"

The three shared a look of incredulity.

"You just tried to destroy an entire town!" Gray shouted, gesturing back at Hargeon. Deliora loved his arm around as if trying to make a dismissing motion with his hand.

"I'm the bad guy, different rules." He shook his head, staring once again at his arms. "I can't believe this is happening."

That made four of them. Usually, their to-the-death fights weren't so laid back and casual. Gray wasn't sure exactly how, but he was going to blame Natsu. It was like the idiot was there, infecting the fight with his stupidity.

"Well," Deliora said slowly, looking back at his opponents, "if I'm to die, I might as well go down swinging."

And before they could even move he took in a deep breath and blew.

Comments, suggestions, thoughts? Yes, no, maybe so?

3 reviews for last chapter! Very exciting. Slowly I'll drag the audience for this story back lmao. One more fighting chapter, then we're back to Lucy and Natsu! I know that's what everyone is waiting for but I can't just not tie this loose end lol.

Hope you enjoyed! Please review! It helps