The arena was in silent shock at Mii's bold words. She dropped the Eternal Sword, stabbing it into the ground while staring at Beat, the young boy from Joya who had a vendetta against her kind. The arena's battlefield changed to mirror that of a forested area, and yet, with all those trees, Mii stood directly within Beat's line of fire. "I wonder if you can be the one to kill Mii…" Mii said aloud.
"What did she say?" Sting was in disbelief.
"That's insane. She wouldn't…" Kagura trailed off.
Beat held his rifle up, his brown eyes keeping a hateful glare on Mii. As far as he was concerned, any angel was evil, and as such, he would kill them for taking away everything he held dear. "Do you really want to die, because I'll make it happen!"
"Beat." Count Waltz glared towards his subordinate. "You know full well that there is no killing in these Games. If you aim a fatal shot I'll see to it that you are executed."
Mii interjected. "Ah, go easy on 'im, will ya?" The half angel held her arms behind her back, giving her usual annoying smile. "You never really elaborated on the whole no killing rule. I mean, would it be his fault if he shot a bullet and I just so happened to move in the wrong way, allowing it to pierce my heart? That's not his fault, it would be mine for not paying attention~"
"Tch…." Even Count Waltz had no defense for this. The rule was so general, so broad that it got the message across. Never before had someone attempted to loophole their way into death!
"What the hell is she trying to do?" Blair questioned.
"Why would she!?" Lucy had no idea…until her mind flashed back to the events of last night. Emmeraude and Mii's huge fight in the bakery. Was that the reason Mii was going to try and resign herself to death!? That's when Lucy cupped her hands over her mouth, shouting out to the Empress of Alvarez. "Emmeraude!"
Emmeraude heard Lucy, but did not respond. Not out of petty, but simply because she was too fixated on Mii at this very moment. "…."
"Em?" Brandish called out to her as well, but there was no response.
"Why are you calling out to her!?" Natsu asked.
"Because she and Mii had a huge fight last night!" Lucy explained. "It might be why Mii is acting like this!"
"Beat, don't do this!" Polka pleaded. "You're too young for this path of revenge and bloodshed!"
"Yeah, she's right!" Allegretto exclaimed.
"Ha! Kill her!" Rondo was the absolutely bad influence in this case.
"This match has already started." Mii summoned Purple Pot, pointing it directly at Beat from across the arena. "So why don't you show Mii just how badly you want to kill me."
Erza was struggling to get out of bed. She had seen enough. "Mii, this is…"
"You must rest…!" Hisui pleaded Erza. Erza could sit up, but anything other than that was difficult. The healing treatment she did receive was only helpful in allowing her to move. If Wendy were here she'd be in top shape in no time.
"Ngh…I can't stand by while she tries to throw her life away!" That would defeat the purpose of part of their mission! Erza couldn't allow that. But her body wouldn't allow her to move, and thus, she was unable to do much but sit in bed. How infuriating this was…
No one could stop the fight now. It was officially sanctioned meaning that anyone who interfered would be DQ'ed. As such, Natsu and Lucy had to watch as Mii potentially threw her life away against Beat. Beat took aim at Mii once again, white flames gathering around the nozzle of his rifle. Mii was basically offering herself and for the sake of revenge he'd take this one shot. "Flame Angel's….FIRE BLAST!" With the sun shining down on Beat, he used it to release a massive blast of white flame that covered half the arena, soaring directly towards Mii.
"Are you kidding!? He's got that much firepower?!" Zelos was taken aback. "What are they feeding kids these days!?"
Mii's rainbow wings spread out from her back and she took to the air, easily avoiding the attack that scorched the current landscape. The angel whistled at the destruction caused by the single shot. "Wow, not bad. That probably would've hurt a lot."
"What the heck!?" Beat snarled at Mii as she flew away. "I thought you were going to let me shoot you dead?!"
Mii couldn't help but snicker. "Well, yeah, but did you think I was just gonna stand there and let you? The world's pretty tough like that kid. That's why you have to work for it. If you really want Mii dead, show Mii you have the power to do so."
"I can't believe she's goading that kid…" Kagura grumbled.
"That can't be it…" Lucy shook her head. She refused to believe that Mii hated her own life so much that she was willing to stain the hands of a child with her blood. That just wasn't like Mii.
Beat narrowed his eyes. Mii was being difficult despite claiming she wanted to die. It didn't make any sense but in the end he just didn't care. The young boy took aim once more firing off bullets of white flame towards Mii to shoot her down. "Rapid Shot!"
Mii was easily able to evade the scorching bullets that were actually a threat to her. Her movements did leave everyone tense since she mentioned the possibility of dodging into one intentionally. After a few seconds of dodging she pointed Purple Pot forward, pulling the trigger release a massive bullet that took the shape of an emerald sphere.
"…!" Beat realized he didn't have the firepower to outgun that single shot and rolled to the side. As he did, the bullet exploded and he was caught within its radius, avoiding a direct hit, but the splash of the explosion still caught him, causing him to tumble along the ground. "Oof…"
"You're not gonna kill Mii if you're winded after that one shot!" Mii taunted while feathers dropped from her wings. "Angel Feathers!" Those feathers then shot forward on their own, all of them as sharp as blades. A bombardment of these feathers intended to slice and dice Beat to inflict heavy damage on his person.
Beat shook off the impact, growling from Mii's taunts. He was in the shade of a tree, and with most of the soldiers of Joya, his magic changed as a result. "Shadow Angel's Rapid Shot!" From white flames to darkness, black bullets shot forth from his rifle. These bullets collided with the feathers, but he was still outgunned and knew it, so he focused instead on actually shooting Mii, despite the feathers that sliced into him and dealt heavy damage.
A bullet of darkness pierced Mii's side, causing her to grimace. The Angel Slaying effect nulled her innate passive of ignoring pain, and it hurt quite a bit. "Ouch! This kid's really willing to get hurt just to shoot me?" This made her frown. Now she was starting to get a sense of how bad it is. Flying down, she landed on the ground and let out a sigh. "This is really want you want, isn't it?"
Beat sprinted towards Mii with a hammer pulled out of one of his pockets. Now that he was in broad daylight, the white flames returned and as soon as he was close, he swung his hammer at Mii's chest. "Flame Angel's Power Smash!" The hammer was a direct hit, Mii didn't even try to make an effort to block or evade it. There was a burst of flames that pushed her back a few feet and her dress was severely burned, giving way just a bit to reveal one of the many scars under her clothes.
"And Mii takes a heavy hit! But she still seems to be standing!" Chapati remarked.
"Mii…" Lucy was nervous and for good reason.
"That hurts." Mii admitted, letting out a pained groan. She was still resilient despite usually not feeling pain, since she just opted to ignore it when she could. "Anyway, listen, kid. Don't tell me that this is really want. To get my blood on your hands."
"Why do you care?!" Beat asked, rushing forward once more with his hammer in tow. He was taking multiple swings at Mii, but she didn't dodge them. She took each and every rage filled hit, grunting in pain every single time. "You want to die so badly, so let me kill you! Die! Die! Die!" There were tears in Beat's eyes as he swung at Mii. All he saw was an angel to take out his years of grief on.
"Gah…" Zelos was starting to wince uncontrollably. "That hurts…"
"What's wrong with you?" Reve asked.
"Just finnnnne!" Zelos presented his usual smile. "Watching Mii-chan take those hits makes me feel bad. I can almost feel the pain she's in. That Angel Slaying really is no joke! There are all kinds of magic in the world, huh?"
"She's standing firm despite taking a beating with effective magic." Calium remarked.
A swing came towards Mii's stomach but she stopped it with her hand, gripping Beat's wrist with her superior strength. "Do you understand what it's like to have blood on your hands? Once they're stained, you can never wash it off. Is that the kind of life you really want to live!? You're like 10; you need to think about your future!" After berating the child, she swung her leg at his stomach, knocking the wind out of Beat while kicking him into a tree, causing him to recoil and gasp for air.
Beat placed a hand on his stomach, one eye clenched shut as he panted heavily, glaring up at Mii. "W-What do you know about me!? Nothing! You're just like them! I don't care what happens after this!"
Mii shook her head. "I think I'm more like you than I am them. I'm an angel in blood only." But it didn't seem like Beat was willing to talk, so she held her arms out, lowering her guard completely. "But that could change with this very next attack. You might be able to end my miserable existence and finally get what you want. But I wonder if it would make you happy. Would you be satisfied with one angel, or will you continue to stain your hands in blood after this? No matter what happens, you'll be on a dark road."
"She's right, Beat! Stop this now!" Polka pleaded once again, but her words fell on deaf ears.
"With all those hits, he stored up more than enough energy for a fatal shot…" Allegretto grumbled. Was there really nothing they could do!?
Beat took aim at Mii once more, his white magic aura flaring around his body. Due to all the hits he landed before, the Echo ability that all soldiers of Joya could use was fully stacked, meaning the magic charging within his rifle was overflowing and begging to be released. "This will end it! ANGEL TRUMPET!" The rifle made a loud sound before Beat fired a massive beam of white flames towards Mii, consuming her and the battlefield completely. Mii couldn't help let out a scream of pain as she was burned by the flames.
"Mii!" Natsu and Lucy shouted in worry.
"….." Emmeraude didn't say a word.
"A massive attack has been unleashed by Beat! Can Mii withstand this!?" Chapati asked.
"She better! Why'd she just stand there and take it!?" Keele growled. Everything that Mii was doing was pissing him off. This fight should've been over ages ago! Why was she playing around!?
The Angel Trumpet took a lot out of Beat. He fell to the ground on a knee, gasping for air. The magic he used was more than he had, so he was suffering the recoil of it. "That had to do it…" He peered into the clearing smoke, anxiously waiting the result. What was it?
Mii was still standing. Her body and clothes were marred with burns, but at the end of it all, even her hat decided to stay on despite the massive attack. She was panting heavily, sustaining heavy damage that she just couldn't brush off. "That was disappointing."
"W-What…?!" Beat's eyes widened in horror.
"AND SHE STILL STANDS!" Chapati yelled. "AGAINST ALL ODDS!"
"Thank goodness…" Lucy placed a hand over her chest. Mii was stressing her out too much.
"I wonder what they feed kids these days." Mii slowly approached the downed Beat. "That wasn't even close to being enough to kill me. How do you expect to exact revenge with that kind of power? You can't."
Beat growled, attempting to force his body to move. He would not be belittled by an angel like this! "Y-YOU…!" And that's when Mii kicked him in the cheek, using her strength to knock him towards the opposing arena wall. It wasn't enough to get him defeated via Ring-Out, but his back was dangerously close to the out of bounds area. No matter how it was, Beat knew he had lost. "Ugh…" Still, he tried to fight despite this, the lust for revenge fueling his injured body.
Mii took her sweet time, walking past the Eternal Sword to lift it up into her hand again, approaching Beat with a serious expression. Once reaching the struggling child, she pointed the tip of the blade directly to his chest. "As I said before, angels are pretty evil. I sold them out, caused a war that made them suffer, and as a result, they beat me and ostracized me from home. The only thing I had left at that time was a fate that left me to die, and I can't even do that right anymore. I would be just like you if I…didn't have her." Mii's gaze briefly went to Emmeraude. "But I don't have her or anyone anymore. I'm just an empty husk of what I used to be. I have no purpose, and neither will you if you continue down this path. I hope you take my words into consideration; I can't stand watching a young kid with his whole life ahead of him throw it away like I did." And that's when Mii decided to finish the job…by placing her hand on the arena wall.
"Wh…!?" The ground was aghast.
Waltz had no choice. "Mii has suffered a ring out. Therefore the winner of this battle is my soldier Beat, granting Joya 10 points."
"S-She threw!?" Diamond's eyes were wide.
"What the hell!?" Keele and Aki growled in anger.
"Thank goodness…" Polka felt like her heart was going to burst.
"Aw, how boring!" Rondo huffed.
"That could've been problematic." Yumia whispered to Marx and Yeager.
"Indeed. What an odd turn of events." Yeager nodded in agreement.
Beat wasn't sure how to feel about this. What just happened!? The kid growled as Mii walked off. It just felt like she was mocking him. "…"
"So that's Yggdrasill's daughter…" Verona tilted her head. "So then that means his fate is drawing to a close…"
"Are you certain that was the right thing to do?"
That was the voice of Origin. Mii knew it and rolled her eyes, sheathing her sword. "Eh, who knows. I just couldn't stand watching that kid look so desperaAAAAAAAAAH!" Black sparks surged from her left eye once again, completely taking hold of Mii. She collapsed to the ground in agony. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"What's going on?" Ice asked.
"Pardon me for the interruption." Ashnard appeared in the arena, slowly walking towards Mii. "But I have to exact a proper punishment to my subordinate for throwing a match intentionally. You should know that this sort of behavior isn't tolerated…or are you attempting to break off your end of the deal?"
Mii's eyes widened as she hugged herself, attempting to stay conscious. "N-No…that's not…don't…!"
"Hey, is this allowed jackass!?" Jack questioned angrily. Even if Mii wasn't his friend or anything of the sort, he knew this had to be against some rules. "We're in the middle of a tournament, take your issue and shove it up your as-!" Tia clamped her hand over his mouth.
"…" Emmeraude clenched a hand into a fist.
Rob took a huff of his cigarette. The events playing out left a sour taste in his mouth. "So this is how Pergrande does things?"
"It's incredibly brutish and ugly." Renae remarked.
"It's no surprise to me that the man leading the strongest country would act this way," Medusa crossed her arms. For once it seemed like Minstrel could agree on something.
"It is allowed." Count Waltz nodded. "Throwing a match intentionally could lead to other incidents. We need to show the people that it isn't allowed, even if it is for the benefit of one or another."
"So you're letting is slide just because it benefits you!?" Sting roared.
"It cannot be changed." Waltz shrugged. "I decree it so. Argue more and I'll happy remove Fiore from the roster." That shut Sting up real quick. "Someone must be punished for their actions: Beat, for attempting murder on numerous occasions when I strictly forbade it, or the angel, for intentionally manipulating a result in this sanctioned tournament when I made it clear that no such thing would be tolerated. This will be the punishment for anyone who breaks the rules from this point on. King Ashnard, if you would continue." In the end, for the way this battle turned out, someone had to be punished, and Mii was willing to bear all that weight because she felt like she deserved it.
"…Don't punish the kid." Mii said with one eye clenched shut.
Ashnard held a hand up, a bright glow appearing within his hand. A yellow axe imbued with lightning appeared within his grip. "Sparing the child a punishment? How very like you. But just because you cannot die does not mean this will not be pleasant for you. You can recover from most injuries, correct? Let's see how your right arm fares."
"…Please….help…" Mii closed her eyes, unable to do anything but wait for punishment. A punishment she brought on herself. There was a deafening boom as the axe came down. Since she was currently in pain she expected a sharp surge when her arm came off, but that didn't happen. She barely managed to open her eyes, but everything was a haze with how injured she was. "E-Em…?" A chain did wrap around her, flinging her into someone's arm. It wasn't Emmeraude who cradled her, though. "Huh…?"
It was Lucy, holding onto Mii for dear life. "I got you." Lucy told Mii. If it wasn't for that quick chain, Mii may have lost her arm. Lucy took a quick glance back at Emmeraude, who glanced away immediately.
"You're not alone." Natsu said, using both hands to stop Ashnard's axe from coming down. It was a heavy strain on his body since Ashnard was way stronger than he anticipated, but he wasn't going to back down now that his black eyes locked with Ashnard. "So you're the reason she's in pain, is it!?"
Ashnard lifted a brow at this sudden interruption. "Oh? You're Fairy Tail, aren't you? Protecting a traitor? That seems unlike you. Interrupting a punishment does seem like you though. You have no business interfering."
"That's where you're wrong." Natsu snarled. "What we're doing right now is for Mii! Even if she's not one of us anymore, she used to wear our guild mark proudly on her back near her wings! If that means we kept her float, then it's our job to make sure she flies freely again! If your oppressive grip is keeping her from doing that, keeping her shackled to a fate that isn't her own…" Orange flames exploded around Natsu as he consumed the lightning around Ashnard's axe, using this to pump himself into a stronger version of his Lightning Flame Mode.
"Then I'll burn you to ash."
.
.
Next Time: The King of Pergrande.
