Sooooo I am back hehehe.

Sorry for the late update, but my computer suddenly stopped working a little while ago. With the Corona Virus problem happening, I had to repair it myself which took a lot of time and effort.

Sigh, hope no further delay happens from here on. Hope you enjoy this new chapter that kicks start Arc 2.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail nor Fate/Stay Night.


Arc 2

Chapter 1: The Oración Seis


Looking down from the rooftop of the temple, his gaze fell upon the citizen of the city which he was king of. Gathered around a big, vivid fire, dancing and singing in celebration of his return from the quest of slaying the beast of the Cedar Forest, they looked so happy and joyous. As a small smile formed on his lips, a voice interrupted the silence.

"You look happy, Gil. Did something good happened?"

"Not really. I was just looking at the people down there celebrating our glorious return. I can't help but be fond of being their king when I look at how hard they work each day to create a better future for their sons and daughters."

"...You know, sometimes it is difficult even for me to understand you."

"What do you mean?"

"You say you love this city and its people, yet you never seem to care about them. You look worried for their safety, but never took action to protect them. Isn't the king's role that of guiding the subjects? But I never see you do that, and instead your tyrannical way of ruling has caused much suffering."

"..."

"But perhaps it is not my role to say this. I am but a tool, and as such I don't have the right to do so. I'll just have to follow you wherever you go until the end of the world."

"Hmph, fool. Who said you can't say that? If you want to say something, just say it. And it's not like I am not aware of how badly my way of ruling are. Yet it is a necessity for protecting them is not the only way to guard them. It is my duty as the king to oversee this world and establish the future of this planet, but it is up to each and every one of them to create their own personal futures."

"And you're no simple tool. You've been with me for quite some time, fought and journeyed together with me through this vast land. You are the only one whom I can speak freely, who I consider my equal in this whole universe. Listen here, Erkidu. You are my -"

As Gilgamesh opened his tired eyes, the light of the morning welcomed his awakening. Bathed in the warm radiance of the sun, he took a brief look to his surrounding before setting off once more.

A nostalgic sight. A familiar scent. Cedar Forest was still the same even after many years since his last visit.

Walking past the first few trees, he made his way. It was time to pay homage to his old friend's grave before departing to Edo, location which was supposed to be the headquarter of the Oración Seis and where Wendy was waiting for him.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

She felt nothing. Absolutely nothing. Complete emptiness. Not a single tear was shed, much less a cry. She looked sad, but her eyes showed no emotion. Loneliness filled her heart, yet her mind was calm. Why? Was it because she hated him? Sure their relationship had not been the best, but no child would hate their parents right? She didn't know.

Laying before her was the grave of her deceased father, who had died of illness while on a quest for his guild. Yes, the same father that had once caged her inside their villa and took away her freedom. Yes, the same father that had sent an entire guild in pursuit of her after her escape and hurt her dear friends in the process. Yes, the same father that had always cared more for his work rather than her. But that had been in the past, he had changed ever since their family's entire fortune had been lost and he had started anew as a commoner.

Perhaps the grudge was just too big to completely vanish, or not enough time had passed for her to forgive the man's sins. But how could she not feel at least a bit sorry for the death of her dad? It was weird, so weird that made her uneasy. She could not understand...

It was a day like many at Fairy Tail, or so it was supposed to be. Not that there were normal days at all in such chaotic guild, but it was probably part of its charm which at least made life never boring.

Lucy certainly didn't expect otherwise when she arrived at the guild's main hall late in the morning. Natsu had once again sneaked inside her apartment and had woke her up in the worst way possible, which by now had pretty much became a sort of routine.

After such lively and abrupt awakening, things could certainly not go worse or at least she hopped so. But perhaps her luck was abysmal because contrary to her wish things did indeed went worse for her.

"What exactly is this?" asked Lucy, perplexed by the huge board that hadn't been there the day before and was now covering a large portion of the east wall.

"We've come up with an organization chart of the Dark Guilds. They seem to be awfully active recently, so I thought it would be good to keep track of their moves."

Mirajane poured a cup of her famous coffee, which Lucy couldn't help but compare to the one Avenger had prepared for her, and proceed to give the blonde girl a detailed explanation of the chart in question.

Out of the many names written on the large surface, three immediately jumped on the eye as they alone occupied at least three quarter of the entire space. They were the strongest dark guilds which stood at the top of the chain food and controlled single handily almost all of the criminal activities of Fiore.

Tartarus, known as the lair of the Devil, was a total mystery. Its very existence was doubt by many, and there were practically no information about it, but the gruesome rumors surrounding the dark guild made it seem like Hell itself which perhaps was not a far-fetched hypothesis since the name itself derived from the Greek Underworld.

Grimoire Heart, probably the largest and strongest of the three, was a strange one. To begin with it was

And lastly Oración Seis, formed by only six members and the most active of the bunch. In terms of money and influence they were certainly the one with the upper hand.

Together they formed the Balam Alliance, not really a true alliance but more of a non-aggressive pact between the three so that none could interfere with the other two.

"And you're not the only one to think in this way, Mira. In fact me and other guild masters, along the Council, have decided it is time to put a stop to them. As such we're going to take them down starting from the Oración Seis!" followed Makarov as he made his entry in the hall, his face serious unlike usual.

Everyone went silent for few seconds, unable to understand the meaning of the old man's words. Take down? Who? The Oración Seis? Really? Lucy was shocked, like her friends who all looked confused by the sudden declaration. Not that they were not confident in their strength, but attracting the ire of all the dark guilds was not a good perspective.

"Take them down? What exactly is this about, Master?"

"At the regular meeting a few weeks ago, the Oración Seis came up on the agenda. Seems like they're scheming something. As such it was decided that we would form an alliance with Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus and Cait Shelter to defeat them once for all. Not only that, but the Council also approved of this plan, and sent some forces to back us u-"

Before he could finish tho, light suddenly emitted from the lacrima he was carrying around and a big hologram screen picturing a familiar face appeared in mid air.

"Muwhahahaha, exactly! Rejoice, for you'll have the big honor of fighting alongside me, the Demon King of Sixth Heaven! I shall put up a show so hot that none shall forget!"

With a smile bright as the sun, Nobunaga immediately lighten up the tense atmosphere with one of her usual, cheerful laugh that anyone inside Fairy Tail could recognize from a mile away. The spirit inside the hall was now fired up, especially that of Natsu who was literally burning of excitement.

"Nobu! So you'll also go? Now I'm feeling all fired up!"

"Who is she?"

Lucy couldn't help but wonder who was the woman that was on the screen. Was she also a member of Fairy Tail? She hadn't seen her around in all the time she had spent there nor ever heard of her even before joining the guild, but her personality certainly fitted in it. She kind of reminded her of Natsu in that sense. Maybe she was away in long quest? But then Master referred to her as someone from the Council. Who was this mysterious person?

"Oda Nobunaga, known also as the Demon King of Sixth Heaven, is a mage of rank S of Fairy Tail who is currently working as a captain of Shinsengumi. She is our second strongest mage, but it's been a while since she returned here at Magnolia so that's why everyone are excited to see her."

S rank mage and second strongest of the guild...Second strongest...

"Wait, is she stronger than Erza and Mystogan!?"

"Yup. It's been a long time since we had a match so I don't know how large is the gap between us now. But the last time we did fight, she utterly defeated me. There is no doubt that she's incredibly powerful. Even Laxus never managed to snatch a win against her, tho maybe now things could be different."

"I still remember when she would join hands with Gildartz and Nightingale. There were no mission that the three of them could not accomplish, tho a lot of damage would always be left behind haha…"

Looking dumbstruck, the Celestian Spirit mage found herself incredulous at the idea that someone more powerful than Laxus could even exist. What kind of 'monsters' dwelled in Fairy Tail that she had yet to meet? Erza was already a one woman army, and there were people stronger than her?!

The ones to answer were Erza and Jellal, who found themselves taking part in the discussion as they caught wind of Lucy's question, both smiling fondly while talking of their elders. It had passed around two weeks from the Prison Tower incident, and the two were almost fully healed. But despite that, Master and Nightingale had been adamant on not letting the two taking any quest until complete recovery.

Nothing really changed from before the whole mess, except maybe now they seemed more open with their feelings or so Mira said. Especially the blue headed mage who used to be a person of few words, and now spoke quite freely without much reservation with others.

"We shall put up a huge party when I'll make my triumphant return! But for now let's focus on the problem at hand. Here are some info about our targets."

Some images flashed on the screen as Oda started to read the report in her hand aloud.

First was Cobra, the one which they had more data on. A poison type Magic user with tanned skin, maroon spiky hair and purple, slanted left eyes. A purple scaled snake of big proportions was near his feet, probably a familiar of sort. While not much is known of his fighting style, his strength was on par with at least an S rank mage. Multiple small guilds had in the past been destroyed all by him.

Angel. A Celestian Spirit mage with long, silver hair, a blue ribbon and a feathery, quite daring dress on. Arguably the weakest of them, but the most versatile thanks to the many keys in her possession which identity was currently unknown.

Midnight. An effeminate man with black, spiky hair along white strands, black lips and wore a leather jacket. No data on his magic. What was surprising was that all images of him had the person seemingly asleep while surrounded by tons of corpses.

Cu Chulainn. Wielder of a cursed spear that missed no target once thrown, a skilled warrior of unheard ferocity that left no survivor on his road.

Brain. An old, tanned man with long, white hair and marks on his face. No data on his magic. Some sources had him as the leader and Master of the guild.

Unknown. No one seemed to have ever heard or seen the last member, but his existence seemed to be confirmed by certain rumors.

"Wait a second, is this all? It's not much information if you ask me. Won't it be dangerous to face them without a plan? We don't even know what some of them are capable of."

Gray had his share of doubts, which was understandable seeing that half of the six dark mages abilities were unknown which gave them no way to prepare a strategy beforehand.

"Ah ha, I see you are still as cautious as ever Gray. Indeed this little amount of data is pretty useless overall, but that's why we're forming an alliance. If our number is higher than theirs, even if they'll ambush us we'll still manage somehow. Once there, we'll simply improvise a plan as the situation evolve and overcome any difficulties as they present."

"That doesn't sound reassuring at all."

"Hahahaha, stop being so pessimistic fool. If worst came, I'll pull a Okehazama and lead us to victory! Hm, what is it Okita? We need to finish the preparations for the mission? Can't we just leave it to the underlings? No? What do you mean no? I'll not lower myself to do such tasks unworthy of my r-"

A katana sliced. Bullets were fired. And then static followed as the communication got suddenly cut. Everyone in the guild dropped a sweet altogether, used by those kind of antics when dealing with the crazy Gun Magic user.

"Cough, cough. Well now I'll announce the members that will take part of this mission…"

And of course Lucy got selected. Not that she was really surprised since not a lot of members were available either due to injuries or because they were away from the guild. Neither when Master called Natsu and Gray since those two were most likely the strongest non-s ranked mages at Fairy Tail. The last two tho did gave her a bit of shock...


-Two days later-

Was it anger? No, his defeat was a result of his own weakness and arrogance. Shame? More likely since for someone boasting to be the strongest dragon slayer in the country such defeat was quite a blow to his own confidence. But no, not even this excuse was true at all. He felt no animosity toward Fairy Tail since it was Phantom Lord that drew the first blood, but then he could not find an answer to why he felt such strange emotions toward that guild.

What was the deal with the old man? The bitter taste of defeat and the sense of humiliation were still there inside him, making him feel weak and pathetic. And Makarov Dreyer dared to ask him to join Fairy Tail!? Madness!

He had never heard something so stupid in his entire life. Why should he, Gajeel Redfox, ex member of Phantom Lord, join his former enemy? Why would Fairy Tail accept someone like him in the first place?

It was beyond his understanding. He had destroyed their guild building and hurt some of their members. It was not something that should be easy to forgive.

Friendship? Family? None of those words held any meaning to him. He had always relied on himself. Friends and comrades were only for weaklings. Yet why did he lose then?

Perhaps that was the reason why he accepted the absurd proposal. An answer, he needed an answer.

It was but a small rural town located in the west side of the country, in a mountain region surrounded by forests. Nothing out of the norm at first sight, just a plain old town. Ancient styled buildings that seemed to have at least few decades of life made up most of the place which was probably smaller than Magnolia in size, all of them very simple at the exception of few such as the tall castle that stood right in the middle of it. Edo was its name.

But it had not always been like that. Once upon a time it used to be a big, lively city, but after a certain tragedy in which many lives were lost and most of the city destroyed, it became what was nowadays. Unfortunately information regarding the disaster or its causes were unavailable, and no trace of it could be found anywhere.

According to the Council there were still people living in Edo, not the descendants of the ones that originally lived there but travelers that came at a later time. Unlike in the past its population was not big as it used to be, but at least life started to move again.

Strangely enough tho, ever since their carriage made its way in the town, the mages of Fairy Tail didn't meet even a single person. It was like a ghost town, devoid of life and filled with a deadly silence.

The man with long, black hair and iron piercings, his name Gajeel Redfox, gripped his black, sleeveless coat while grunting under his breath as his whole body fell in a state of illness caused by the weakness common to all dragon slayers. He thought to be immune to such stupid thing unlike his rival Salamander, yet there he was unable to contain his need of throwing up out of the window of the vehicle he was in.

Near him was Panther Lily, his Exceed partner with brown skin who had a pair of white trousers on and carried a magical sword on the back. Like usual he was one of few words, silently meditating on his own.

Sitting across him were Lucy, Natsu and Happy, while outside in the driver seat were Gray and Juvia. An unorthodox bunch to say the least, not fit for the kind of mission assigned to them since trust was required and Gajeel certainly had none for his 'comrades'.

"Hm, there is someone in the middle of the road."

A cloaked person suddenly walked out of a side alley, stopping in front of them a few meters ahead. Standing immobile in the middle of the street, he showed no sign of wanting to move away.

"Hey you there, where do you think you're standing? You're obstructing the passage. Get out of there."

No answer. Either they were ignoring Gray or they hadn't noticed the carriage, which was highly improbable since outside of the sound of its wheels nothing else could be heard.

"Did he not hear me? Is he deaf? Hey you-"

"Everyone get out, now!"

At Juvia's shout, everyone did as she said. A wave of acid corroded the entirety of the carriage as the group jumped out of it in the nick of time. Another second and not even a bit of them would be left, just like the now completely melted vehicle.

"W-What was that!? Are everyone ok?"

"Ouch ouch, Juvia feels a little stunned. Thankfully Gray-sama has cushioned my fall with his beautiful body."

"G-Gratz that I was helpful Juvia, but now get away from me."

"Grrrr. You punk, who the hell are you?"

In response to Salamander's question, the cloak got unraveled, revealing a face they had seen previously in the reports given to them by the Council.

"Welcome to Edo, you maggots from the light. I'm a member of the infamous Oracióus Seis, the name Cobra. On the order of our leader Brain, I'll put an end to your miserable lives here and now."

"O-Oración Seis!? B-But how did they knew that we were coming?"

"Who cares. You actually saved us the trouble of finding you lot!"

Cutting out the small talks, both Natsu and Gajeel wasted no time to return the enemy's greeting with their own ones.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

A vortex of fire and iron erupted from their mouths, hurling toward Cobra with tremendous destructive power.

Perhaps it would be difficult, but it was not like Cobra had no way to avoid it. But even so the dark mage, to their shock, did not try to dodge, and instead accomplished the impossible by blocking their combined spells with only his right hand covered in purple scales.

"Hahaha, is this all? I sure hope not since I expect much more from you two dragon slayers."

"I am just getting started, bastard. Unlike Salamander here, I am far from showing my full power. I'll make you regret ever meeting me."

"Shut up, Gajeel. I'll handle him myself. You stay back."

"We should help them. Not that I doubt Gajeel or Salamander, but the quicker we deal with the enemy, the better. We must finish this before other members of the dark guild arrive."

Increasing the size of his body to that of a tall, muscular person, Lily grabbed the now enlarged blade on his back and prepared to join the battle.

"Yeah, I feel the same as Lily. We can't afford to face multiple powerful, dark mages simultaneously. Open! Gate of-"

But just as Lucy was about to summon a spirit, a looming shadow fell on her from above.

An armored man with a red spear in hand had jumped from the rooftop of a nearby house and was descending on the blond mage, ready to pierce her with the cursed weapon.

"Watch out Lucy! Ice Devil's Destructive Bow!"

Creating a bow in his left hand, Gray shot multiple arrows of ice.

None of the projectiles hit the target, all swept away a mystical gust of wind which resembled a blessing of sort, but the attempt gave enough time for Lily to intercept the lancer's strike.

"And here I thought that it would have been an easy kill. Seems like this time around I'll need to take things more seriously!"

Filled with a murderous aura, Cu jumped on his prey like a voracious beast. Swirling his demonic weapon left and right, he engaged in a rapid exchange with both Lily and Fullbuster.

"E-Everyone, be careful behind you!" screamed in panic Happy, as he realized that all around mechanical soldiers were starting to emerge from the soil.

"We're surrounded from all sides! This is an ambush and we easily fall into it! We need to retreat and reorganize ourselves!"

"Tsk. Easy to say, but I don't think they'll let us go so easily."

"G-Gray-sama, behind y-"

Too late for Juvia to do anything. She saw one of the puppets approaching quickly Gray, but was too far to do anything as she had her hands tied in dealing the ones on her front.

As for the devil slayer himself, the opponent in front of him gave him no space to disengage and a moment of hesitation would prove lethal.

"Ice make: Eagle!"

As a metallic limb was about to slice his back, an eagle of ice intercepted the soldier in time. But it was not Gray's, but someone else's.

"Y-You are-"

The user of the spell was a man with silver, spiky hair and a white coat on. It seemed like Gray knew the identity of the mysterious newcomer, but the situation at hand didn't allow for a proper introduction.

"We'll talk later, Gray. Now it's imperative to get our assess out of this sticky situation."

"I hear you, fools. How do you think to escape from here with all routes blocked, eh?"

"Where do you think you're looking? Iron Dragon's Sword!"

"Take this! Fire Dragon's Axe!"

A sword of iron and a blazing kick approached from two different angles, but Cobra did not falter. With a swift motion he blocked both attacks and send the two dragon slayers back, showing overwhelming force.

"In this way! Now, Jura-san!"

Stone pillars emerged from the ground around the mages of light to form a wall. A hole then formed beneath them, revealing an underground tunnel from which they made their escape.

Once they fell inside of it the ground got once more covered, leaving no way for the two dark mages to pursuit their prey.

"Tsk. They escaped from the ground. What now, do we chase after them?"

'No need. They pose no problems to us. We shall proceed with our plan without further delay. But do remain vigilant, we can't allow interruption on the project.'

A voice ringed inside the head of the two Oraciòn Seis members.

Brain, their leader, spoke through their minds.

The armored man grimaced for a second, clearly not happy with the order. There was no anger in his red pupils, just displeasure. Why leave an easy prey? If it was for him, the enemy would already have been killed off, but Brain clearly had other plans in mind and so he did not comply much.

"Relax big guy, I shall keep my ears open."

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

It was odd. Too odd to be a mere coincidence. The first time maybe, but for the same thing to happen not twice but thrice was not normal.

"Hmmm, what's this? Seems like a landslide has blocked the path. Isn't this the third time already?"

Even her own underlings were thinking that the situation was far too strange. Someone was trying to hinder their way to Edo. But who? The Oraciòn Seis? But how did they knew about the mission? Maybe a leak of information caused by a spy?

"With the road in this state, we have no other way but going back and take the long path. This will delay reasonably our schedule."

As Okita stated the obvious, Nobu could only growl in frustration before yet another unexpected obstacle which further delayed their plans.

"Tsk. I just hope that this is just my imagination and nothing more, and that the brats don't get into any sort of trouble before our arrival..."


Author's note:

Journey to the end: What can I say, Gil likes to make people waiting for him XD

Kensei-1085: Was it obvious? Hope not, but with Kingu around sooner or later people would have to guess it right.

Dxhologram: Yup, at this point there is no way to hide her identity anymore.

Gen2324: Can't say much, but our dickwizard and his tower are indeed present.

fruitspunchsamurai-987: The third arc is where Gil will be the main focus, but for now he'll get to appear in this arc soon after a bit of introduction first. And a worthy opponent will show up in the next few chapters.

Got a bit rusty from not writing for a while, but I think the chapter ended up alright.

Babylonia has aired its last episode, but the journey is not yet ended. The Knights of Round Table are awaiting in Camelot, and Solomon Singularity's adaptation has been announced. Can't wait for both. And on FGO I recently played the first Lostbelt, which I daresay is on par with the Sixth and Seventh Singularity in terms of quality.

Now a bit of information. The first part is a bit of flashback for Gil, similar to the one in anime but with a bit of my own. Then a bit of information regarding the Oración Seis and their base. And finally a first, direct confrontation with two of them. Things happened very differently from canon, but the overall plot will probably not change much. Unlike the manga, instead of Erza we got Gajeel and Juvia this time around. Hopefully I'll give them some time to shine.

This is all. If you have anything to say, just leave a review. See you next time, bye.