Geoffrey's Legacy
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Fairy Tail - all rights and stuff belong to Hiro Mashima. If I was the one to start Fairy Tail, fan-service wouldn't be so prominent and there would be side-series' focused on Irene's ascension to a Queen, how the Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale and Phantom Lord guilds came to be, Makarov's rise to Guild Master and how Gildarts joined Fairy Tail and became Guild Ace. I only own self-made characters, magic and storylines (I don't).
"If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?" - William Shakespeare
Chapter 21.
The noise of splintering wood cracked through the air as blood stained the ground and massive bodies hit the floor under a ferocious assault from an unforgiving, manic, black maelstrom of power and destruction.
Wood shattered as it impacted against iron, offering little resistance.
Blood was spilled as iron tore through flesh without relenting
Bones cracked, snapping and fracturing under hurricane-like blows.
Muscles strained and cramped as they were flexed, their full strength exerted in meaningless attempts to destroy.
The Iron Dragon Slayer was nigh unstoppable and some measly giants weren't going to stop him.
Gajeel leapt to one side as a club smacked into the ground where he'd stood, forming a small crater, but he paid it no mind. He leapt onto the club as the giant moved to lift it and felt magic power rush into his right arm.
"Iron Dragon's Club." He growled, swinging his transformed arm and relishing in the sound of metal impacting against flesh and a jaw snapping shut from the force exerted against it.
The giant moaned, staggering backwards and dropping its weapon in shock.
"Keh, pansy. I'm just getting started."
The giant shot Gajeel a hateful look as he leapt forth from the club, propelling himself upwards until he was face to face with his adversary.
Gajeel cupped his hands in-front of his mouth and smirked when he saw the giant's face morph into one of fear.
"Iron Dragon's Roar!"
A powerful vortex of compressed air and iron burst forth and slammed into the face of the giant, and Gajeel watched as it fell onto its back, arms flailing as it attempted to remain upright.
The ground shuddered as the massive figure hit the ground in a heap, followed by Gajeel's more soft and controlled landing.
The Iron Dragon Slayer took note of the horrified, pained screams and chuckled to himself as he walked over to inspect the damage.
The other giants - having seen their fellow brethren disposed of so easily - looked hesitant to attack.
Ignoring them, Gajeel inspected the damage caused by his signature roar technique.
A sizeable pool of blood was expanding underneath the giant's head. The left side of its face was simply gone, torn asunder by the attack and shredded right down to the bone where not even muscle remained. Similarly, the monster's left eye was absent, having been destroyed by the attack.
Clearly, the giant had tried to save itself by turning its head to one side, but it was all for naught. It had no doubt received a fatal injury and likely had less than a minute to live.
Finished with the inspection of his handiwork, Gajeel turned and glared at the remaining three who still hadn't moved.
"What, you gonna cower in the corner like little bitches? Come here and fight me. Avenge your friend." He growled, but none of them moved.
"So what, huh, was this asshole nothing to you?"
Still no response from the three giants.
Gajeel huffed, glanced at the downed giant which had stopped breathing, then purposefully kicked the body of the deceased.
Immediately, the trio broke away from each other, roared and charged at the Phantom Lord mage who grinned eagerly, his skin darkening and taking on a metallic sheen.
"Gihihihi, that's more like it."
He watched as one of the giants ran in an arc, approaching him from his left, whilst another did the same to approach from his right side.
They thought their three-way attack was gonna take him down?
Gajeel nearly laughed at the ignorance, leaping aside as a club smashed into a ground where he stood, before another collided with his back, cracking against his scales and forcing him to stumble forwards.
"Heh, what was that? That didn't hurt at all."
He launched an Iron Dragon's Roar at the third giant who raised his bat to strike him. Taking the attack to the chest, the giant cried out in pain as he stumbled back, then Gajeel spun like a ballerina, raising an arm as he did so.
"Iron Dragon's Sword." He snarled, feeling his arm shift into a large sword with shark teeth-like edges which hummed with life and spun rapidly, similarly to the blades of a chainsaw.
The technique met a fist - one of the giants had the audacity to throw something as simple as a punch.
Who the hell did they think he was?
The Iron Dragon's Sword RPM increased dramatically, its dull, angry whine becoming a high-pitched screech, and the offending giant screamed as he was relieved of the fingers on his right hand.
Blood flew through the air, staining the ground and Gajeel himself, and as the giant fell to its knees, crying in agony over the missing fingers, the Iron Dragon Slayer pressed on with his advantage.
After using his other hand to knock back one of the giants with his Iron Dragon's Club, the Phantom Lord mage ran forwards and carved through the wounded giant's wrist, separating it from its forearm with ease.
The giant groaned falling forwards and Gajeel simply raised his arm.
It gurgled as the saw-like sword met its throat, tearing through skin, muscle, its windpipe and the jugular.
The scene, to put it simply, was nothing more than a fucking mess.
The giant gasped soundlessly as it fell to one side, its throat wide open for the world and his wife to see. Gore was splattered everywhere; blood was pouring from the massive, irregular shaped hole in the giant's throat like a waterfall, spilling onto the floor and growing in size, whilst his eyes flitted back and forth in a panic as he gurgled weakly, blood spilling out of his mouth..
He distinctly heard Lorraine whistling in appreciation in the background.
Totomaru, on the other hand, muttered something about him being a bloodthirsty psychopath.
Knowing it would be dead in a few seconds, and the fact that he could chew out Totomaru later, Gajeel turned to the giant who had struck him in the back previously.
"You fuckin' want some!?" He snarled, allowing his sword arm to revert back as rushed towards the giant who roared and raised his club.
"Iron Dragon Roar."
The ferocious attack struck the giant in the chest, knocking it down through the sheer amount of force behind the technique.
"Iron Dragon's Club."
His arm shifted into a club, extending as he raised it above his head, watching as the giant growled and sat up, moving to stand up again.
Gajeel wasn't having any of that.
Letting out a guttural roar that even surprised himself, he brought his arm down and club smacked against the giant's head with a tremendous amount of force.
The giant jerked, and as it fell backwards, Gajeel noticed there was a colossal dent in its forehead, his attack having no doubt shattered the giant's skull.
Oh well, too bad.
He wasn't here to play nice and ensure these giants got out with minimal injury.
They got what they got, and if it meant he killed them then so be it.
An angry roar brought him out of his thoughts and Gajeel scoffed, leaping to one side as a wooden club came down where he stood.
"Oh, you want some too, huh, jackass?"
He turned to the final giant who was bleeding profusely from the chest, blood leaking him multiple chest wounds where his Iron Dragon's Roar managed to do some proper damage.
Still, it wasn't as severe as the giant who took a roar to the face.
Gajeel assumed their chests - centre mass - was more durable than their faces, but he could care less about how their biology worked.
The giant lumbered towards him and snarled, then threw a punch.
The Iron Dragon Slayer retaliated in kind.
"Iron Dragon's Hard Fist." He growled, watching with slight satisfaction as the giant's fingers crumpled underneath his own, clearly broken.
The giant whimpered, backed up momentarily as if assessing its options, then threw a kick.
Gajeel shifted slightly as the foot hit him - he didn't make any effort to move - and watched, disinterested, as the giant's big toe crumpled against his body.
"Eh, you had your shot, pathetic bastard. My turn." He said, gathering his magic power.
The giant stumbled back, wincing in pain and trying to balance most of its weight on its other foot.
Gajeel smirked and threw his right arm forwards, pointing his arm at the injured leg.
"Iron Dragon's Club."
The technique shot forth, cutting through the air like the worlds most menacing battering ram and slammed into the giant's shin. It screamed in agony was the bone snapped under the force exerted against it, falling over like a puppet with its string cuts.
"M-Mercy." The giant rumbled, holding out a hand in a 'hold on, I surrender' gesture.
"Whatever." Gajeel swung his arm and the giant went limp as the Iron Dragon's Club crashed into his face.
The gremlins were in disarray, even before she'd begun her assault.
They were so disorganized and cowardly, shoving and pushing each other as if to say 'hey, attack this one first while I get away' that Coco almost regretted volunteering to fight them.
It was so dishonourable that she nearly felt sick.
However, she expected nothing less from simple-minded monsters who stabbed each other in the back to survive.
Suddenly appearing within the horde of gremlins, Coco's axe kick snapped the neck of the creature she stood behind.
It crumpled to the move and she slid out of the way of a knife thrust, grabbing the offending wrist and twisting her body, allowing herself to grab the gremlin's neck and smash its face into the forest floor.
Ignoring its cry of pain, she pushed forwards and executed a front flip, dropkicking another gremlin who watched two of its brethren go down within the span of four seconds.
Upon landing, she stepped backwards as gremlins on either side at her lunged with knives, allowing their makeshift blades to sink into the throat of the other.
They gurgled, eyes wide in shock as the fluid of life spilled out of their bodies as they staggered and dropped to the floor.
Turning on the spot, Coco punched an approaching gremlin in the face. The nose of the creature crumpled under her blow and it smirked, lunging at her with a knife. The legionnaire grabbed the creature's wrist, twisted until it let go, then swung her leg up to the gremlin's manhood.
As it doubled over and squealed like a pig, Coco kicked the gremlin in the side of its head and it went down.
Summoning her magic power and initiating her Athletic Magic, Coco became nothing more than a blur of punches and kicks as she tore through the gremlins at speeds most mages couldn't hope to follow, much less visually keep track of.
A clean fist to the cheek.
A precise kick to the temple.
A sharp pull which tended to result in broken fingers.
An open palm strike to the knee.
A sudden twist which, more often than not, resulted in sprained wrists.
100 gremlins fell to 75, 75 fell to 50, 50 fell to 40, and 40 fell to 30.
Deactivating her Athletic Magic, Coco slipped out of the speed boost provided to her by the magic, feeling no worse for wear, and notified that their where only 7 gremlins left, all of whom looked liked apprehensive about fighting her.
The human, mage, who'd decimated their fellow gremlins. Killed some and spared some.
Coco didn't like it, but as a Legion Corps legionnaire, it was her duty and had to be done in the name, pride, glory and honour of the Zentopia Church, no questions asked.
They hissed and one of the gremlins, slightly larger and uglier than the rest, charged at her, intent on drawing blood and slaughtering the human, whilst the remaining six following closely behind.
As it got closer, Coco shifted into a fighting stance.
She slapped a fist away and ducked underneath a knife thrust, before getting within the guard of the gremlin. The gremlin gasped as she planted a fist into its abdomen, followed by a kick between the legs.
The gremlin cried out, glaring hatefully at her, then lunged once more. Coco stepped aside, then thrust her palm against the gremlin's elbow, snapping it like a twig, prompting the injured creature the cry out and drop the makeshift weapon.
Then, she jumped and performed a front-flip, executing a dropkick which downed the gremlin.
That left the other six.
Turning to them, Coco blinked in surprise when one of the gremlins tripped over his own feet and, arms flailing, managed to stab himself in the throat.
'How clumsy.' Coco thought, waiting for the rest to get closer.
She dodged a swipe from a gremlin, before kicking it in the neck. As it crumpled to the floor, Coco turned to another gremlin and grabbed the hand clutching a knife, before punching it twice in the face.
Its cries of pain were soon silenced by an uppercut.
Three left.
As two smaller gremlins held back, a larger one barrelled towards Coco and bellowed as it thrust a piece of wood - fashioned like a spear - at her.
Jumping aside as the spear cut through the air where she'd stood just prior, she lashed out with a kick, hitting the gremlin's wrist and knocking the spear into the air. She followed up with a kick to the back of the creature's knee, forcing it down into a kneeling position, then, after wrapping her legs around the gremlin's neck, twisted her body backwards.
As its head snapped back, followed by the gremlin being flipped onto its back, the gremlin cried out in surprise.
Before it could try getting back up, Coco sat up and punched the gremlin in the side of its head, successfully knocking it unconscious.
Removing her legs from their position around the gremlin's neck, the legionnaire rolled to one side and leapt to her feet, grabbing the makeshift spear before it could plant itself into the ground.
Pivoting, she flung it at the remaining two gremlins who were desperately trying to get the other to approach Coco first.
It pierced through the chests of both gremlins. They gasped and collapsed in synch with each other, dying as they tried to pull themselves off of the spear.
The Legion Corps legionnaire glanced over at where the Iron Dragon Slayer had been fighting and found herself taken slightly aback by how much his opponents had been brutalized.
When he turned around and noticed her looking, he raised a hand and gave her the middle finger.
"Rude." Coco murmured, turning away from the Phantom Lord mage and heading back to her commander.
"Huh, that little legionnaire's got some skills." Lorraine mused, watching as the brunette tore through the horde of gremlins with little effort.
Sugarboy spun around to face her - somehow the air around him started to sparkle dramatically - and settled into what looked like a dance pose.
"Coco's one of the top legionnaires. She's spicy, but from the looks of it, not as spicy as Mr Redfox." He said in a singsong manner.
"Gajeel might be too 'spicy'." Totomaru deadpanned.
"Spicy or not, they both did their jobs well. However, the Dragon Slayer could've been far less barbaric in his methods." Samuel cut in.
Lorraine shrugged as Gajeel and Coco, finished with their fights, began to head back towards them, "If he didn't fight so savagely, I'd think there's something wrong with him. And I've only known him for a week."
"Nonetheless, I suppose it's to be expect from you mages. No subtlety whatsoever." The Exceed added.
"Cause and effect." Lorraine muttered under her breath.
The Exceed gave her an odd look, and Lorraine had no doubts that he'd heard her with his cat-like hearing, but he said nothing more.
The duo soon returned to where they stood.
"Keh, that was too fucking easy. I expected more from those bastards." Gajeel spat, his skin reverting from sliver to cream coloured.
"You, er, had fun though, right?" Totomaru inquired as Lorraine conjured a rag for him to wipe himself with.
The Iron Dragon Slayer shrugged as he wiped his face, "Eh, it was a warmup."
The clearing of a throat caught their attention.
"Commendable work, Coco, Dragon Slayer," Byro said, sparing none of the downed creatures a glance, "We'll move on, but I have no doubt that we'll come across another wave of monsters. Keep a lookout as we move along. The last thing we want is to be ambushed."
Gajeel snorted, "Ambushed? Feh, they'd have to be real fucking good to avoid being heard by me."
"Arrogance is a killer. Just keep a lookout." Samuel said, flying alongside Byro as the Duke began to walk ahead.
Everyone else began to follow to avoid being left behind.
"What do you think we'll buck up against next? We've already dealt with the giants and gremlins, so that leaves Lizardmen, Wyverns and Vulcans." Lorraine said.
Totomaru shrugged.
"Probably Lizardmen. They're a pain in the ass to deal with."
Gajeel snorted, "No shit. Those things surprised the crap out of me when they copied my Iron Dragon Slayer Magic. I only beat 'em cause the copied magic ain't as strong as the original."
They could copy magic? Lorraine hoped they wouldn't be able to access her Take Over, because that'd be a real pain in the ass to deal with and explain to everyone to everyone present why they nearly got incinerated.
"Tire us out with things which can copy our magic, which'd leave us as easy pickings for the Wyverns and Vulcans." Lorraine mused, shouldering Oath of the Huntress.
The dual-colour haired mage nodded, "It's what I would've done... actually, no, I would had the Lizardmen in the first wave of monsters."
"Weaken us at the very beginning, then whittle us down with giants and gremlins, which'd leave us with fumes after taking care of the Wyverns and Vulcans. In that state, we'd be practically unable to fight against the dark mages themselves. My, who knew you could think like a dark mage." Lorraine stated, smirking.
Totomaru chuckled, "That's Phantom Lord for you. Spend a few years under the influence of Master Jose and you'll find yourself thinking differently from how a normal mage would."
"Enough talk, stay focused." Byro said, briefly glancing in their direction.
The trio of Phantom Lord mages glanced at each other, shrugged, then continued walking ahead in silence.
Every now and again, Gajeel would cock his head to one side and glance around as if he could hearing something moving around them.
"You hear something, Gajeel?" Lorraine asked.
The Iron Dragon Slayer shrugged, "Yeah, but the footfalls are far too light to be Lizardmen. Probably deer or badgers."
Lorraine nodded, then leapt to one side as an arrow shot through the trees and cut through the air where her head had been.
"Bastard. They nearly had me there."
Nocking an arrow, she let it fly, watching as another arrow appeared and intercepted it, the metallic arrowheads shattering as they collided.
"Straight ahead. Give or take, 130 metres." Gajeel announced, allowing his skin to take on the darkened colouration of his Iron Dragon's Scales.
"Everyone, prepare for combat." Byro called, casually batting an arrow aside.
Suddenly, a wave of blue, green and yellow fire tore through the trees to their right, prompting Totomaru to retaliate with a wave of multi-coloured fire of his own.
The rainbow fire clashed, the furious roars drowning out whatever orders Byro was giving to his legionnaires and the sheer abundance of fire causing the ambient temperature to rise and nearly trees to burst into flame.
As the flames died down, several Lizardmen burst through the trees on their right side, balls of multi-coloured flames dancing around in their hands.
As his magic power simmered down, Totomaru unsheathed his katana.
"You can copy my magic, but you can't copy my physical skills." He uttered, the colours of rainbow fire dancing along the surface of the katana's polished blade.
The nearest Lizardman roared, spittle flying from its mouth, and lunged at him with hands full of blue and green fire.
"Rainbow Dance." Totomaru whispered.
Blurring from view, the Phantom Lord mage reappeared in-front of the Lizardman and relieved it of its head, then turned to the next Lizardman and swiftly dismembered it. Ignoring the monster's scream, Totomaru impaled the Lizardman through the mouth, before turning to the next one and, slashing it from head to pelvis, cleaved it in two.
Turning to another batch of Lizardman, he ducked underneath a sword of rainbow-colour flame before slicing the offending Lizardman across its abdomen.
As its entrails spilled out, Totomaru kicked it in the chest and it moaned as it fell onto its back.
Then, he turned to another three Lizardmen and dashed towards them, willing his magic to engulf his blade.
The blade ignited, becoming engulfed in rainbow coloured fire.
The first Lizardman shot of blast of fire at him, but Totomaru deftly dodged and slashed the Lizardman from its left shoulder to right hip, leaving behind a long wound which'd been cauterized instantly.
As the creature fell to the floor, the dual-colour haired mage turned to the other two Lizardman and with a vertical swipe of his katana, sent forth a solidified arc of multi-coloured flames which cleaved them in two before they could do anything to defend themselves.
With his foes decimated, Totomaru allowed the flames enveloping his katana's blade to sputter out.
After sheathing the katana, Totomaru waved his hand - employing his pyrokinesis - and within seconds, the trees which'd previously been on fire were put out, although their trunks had been severely scorched.
The dual-colour haired mage smirked and shook his head, "Hmph, I expected you all to give me more of a fight. How disappointing."
Ducking under another arrow fired towards her face, Lorraine let another arrow fly in response, clicking her tongue in disappointment when another arrow came into play from her left and intercepted hers.
"Assholes." She cursed, knocking away an arrow with Oath of the Huntress.
Several Lizardmen emerged from the treeline, the forms looking incredibly off balance and awkward as they clutched copies of her recurve bow.
They hissed, snapped and snarled at her as they summoned arrows and nocked them.
Doing the same, Lorraine aimed and fired an arrow at the Lizardman on her far-right side, but that was intercepted by an arrow fired from the middle of their little grouping.
That was how her little skirmish went on for the next five minutes.
Fire, be intercepted and fired upon.
Intercept an arrow fired at her.
Dodge an arrow she couldn't intercept with centimetres to spare.
Fire, be intercepted and fire upon.
Rinse and repeat.
Collectively, the Lizardman hissed and nudged each other, almost as if they were laughing and saying 'Hey, look at this stupid human trying and failing to shoot us'.
Then, the magic power of one of them flared and shifted into something which was incredibly familiar.
'Oh fuck.' Lorraine thought, realizing that the Lizardman on her far-left was accessing her Take Over.
Somewhere in within her soul, she heard Astrid scoff dismissively.
"Hey, Astrid, this isn't something to be unconcerned about." Lorraine thought, horrified.
Then, anti-climatically, the Lizardman screamed as it spontaneously combusted, an massive inferno of golden flames erupting from its body and engulfing most of its fellow brethren, reducing all of them, bar one, to ash.
The sole surviving Lizardman looked at where its six fellow creatures stood previously and gawked at the small piles of ash which sat in small circles of scorched earth.
The Lizardman let out an anguished cry of some sort and if it weren't for the fact that it'd been trying to kill her moments ago, Lorraine would've felt sorry for it.
"Uh, what the heck just happened?"
"My Take Over isn't your ordinary sort,"Astrid said, icily, "I'm not some simple bird. And my flames can only be handled by whomever I bestow my power to. As they lack the ability to copy my soul, something unique, their attempt to access Phoenix Soul. Even copying God Soul would've annihilated their essence."
"Wow, good to know."
Nocking an arrow and letting it fly, Lorraine watched as the projectile pierced through the Lizardman's eye and no doubt became jammed into its brain.
The Lizardman seized, before becoming deathly still and falling onto its back.
Byro, constantly unfazed and unshaken by everything which happened around him, watched with disinterest as Mary, Sugarboy and Coco defended themselves against Lizardmen attacking them.
"Sir." Samuel said, hovering up and down as something roared behind the Duke.
Turning around, the middle-aged Duke of the Legion Corps found a Lizardman charging at him, razor sharp teeth exposed by the snarl it wore.
"Sir?" Samuel repeated, glancing at Byro as Kanaloa grew in size and moved to stand beside its master.
"Stay back, I'll deal with this one." The Duke stated, watching as Lizardman yelped after it was blinded by Kanaloa spitting ink into its face.
Unable to see, the Lizardman flailed around helplessly.
Byro ran over to the Lizardman and rammed his fist into its gut. The creature doubled over, and unable to see, Byro had all the time he needed to walk around the creature and stand behind.
Wrapping his hands around the Lizardman's head, Byro twisted its head to the right and the creature went limp as he snapped its neck.
Letting go of the head, Byro allowed the lifeless body to fall to the floor.
"Excellently efficient, sir." Samuel said, hovering next to him and inspecting the body of the deceased.
"As always. I wouldn't settle for anything else of myself." Byro stated, looking at his legionnaires and noticing that they'd finished with their fights, three Lizardmen laying at their feet.
Gajeel grunted as he took an Iron Dragon's Roar head on, the only thing saving him from being horribly mutilated was his Iron Dragon's Scales, then jumped to one side as another Lizardman tried to bash him over the head with an Iron Dragon's Club.
The Lizardman pressed on against him, swinging both of its arms.
"Iron Dragon's Sword." Gajeel growled, his arms shifting into jagged blades as he lunged and clashed against the Lizardman trying to beat him to death.
He huffed in anger as the creature began to push back against him.
Gajeel was by no means a weakling, but he was hard pressed to not give in against a monster which was a good few feet taller than him and more than twice his weight in muscle.
The Lizardman hissed as it pushed even more against him, then yelped when Gajeel broke their stalemate, throwing it off balance.
The Iron Dragon Slayer had leapt to one side and cupped his hands in-front of his mouth.
"Iron Dragon's Roar." He called, smirking when the unprepared Lizardman was engulfed by his technique, being thrown back into a tree, causing the trunk to crack and fall on-top of the now unconscious Lizardman.
"Yeah, take that, you bastard." Gajeel sneered, glaring at the remaining nine Lizardman.
One of them let out a strange hissing nose, then cupped its hands in-front of its mouth, no doubt preparing to launch an Iron Dragon's Roar at him.
Gajeel braced himself, crossing his arms into an X.
Then, as the Lizardman unleashed his signature technique, it abruptly spun to the left and took out four of its fellow creatures. One of the Lizardman to its right roared with anger and knocked it out with an Iron Dragon's Hard Fist.
"The fuck?" Gajeel uttered, confused.
"That'd be my doing."
Turning his head to see who'd spoken, Gajeel saw the purple and white haired Legion Corps legionnaire - Mary Hughes - approaching him, sarcastic smirk on her face as she held onto a glowing, wooden hand in her right hand.
"Piss off. I could've handled that." He sniffed, turning back to the remaining five Lizardmen.
"You're welcome." Mary deadpanned, brushing off his rudeness as her smirk grew.
One of the Lizardmen launched an Iron Dragon's Roar, but with a simple flick of Mary's wooden hand, the deadly blast was redirected upwards into the air.
She repeated the same trick with another Lizardman, forcing it to do an about-turn and obliterate the trees behind it.
Gajeel couldn't stop the shit-eating grin that nearly split his face in two upon seeing how frustrated the Lizardmen were getting.
Then, one of Lizardmen roared and charged towards Mary who casually pointed her wooden hand at Gajeel.
"The hell are you doing?" He asked, inwardly hoping she wasn't about to blast him.
"Command Magic - Third Movement," Mary called, her body suddenly being enveloped with a faint, grey aura, followed by an explosion of power which took the form of a metallic dragon racing into Mary's body, as she cupped her hands in-front of her mouth, "Iron Dragon's Roar."
The Lizardman's screams were drowned out as it was engulfed by a storm of compressed air and iron.
"What the fuck? How did you do that?" Gajeel demanded, furious.
The Lizardmen copying his magic was bad enough, but the legionnaire doing it to was a step too far.
"It's one of my Command Magic techniques, which I use through this Holy Tact." Mary said, holding up the wooden hands which had fully opened itself up.
"Right, that still don't explain how you used my Dragon Slayer Magic." Gajeel stated.
"I was getting to that Mr Redfox," Mary replied, "Command Magic allows me to take control of a individual's body and do whatever I want them to do. It works best of humans and only a select few monsters are affected. Now that brings me to-"
"Heads up!"
Heeding his call, Mary ducked under the punch of a Lizardman who'd copied Totomaru's magic.
Gajeel's left arm, and her right arm, took on a metallic sheen as they swung around and decked the Lizardman with the Iron Dragon's Hard Fist, knocking it unconscious with a single hit.
"As I was saying," Mary continued as if nothing had happened, "My first technique, First Movement, allows me to take control of an individual's movement; Second Movement allows me to separate a person from their magic and manipulate their magic into attacking them; Third Movement, a taboo technique, allows me to copy someone else's magic and use it. However, the more powerful and complex the magic, the more tiring it is and less time of availability I have with the magic."
Gajeel grunted. He didn't like it, but at least he now had an understanding.
"So, how long are you gonna be able to use my Iron Dragon Slayer Magic?" He inquired, narrowing his eyes at her.
Mary shrugged, "Depends, If I were to just copy it and not use it, up to four hours. If I copied and use it intensively, maybe an hour or less. Or, I'll lose it the moment I copy somebody else's magic. Your magic is pretty complex. I'd be able to get more use out of the Totomaru's magic."
"Cool. Let's just deal with the rest of these Lizardmen." Gajeel replied gruffly, extending a hand towards the remaining three Lizardmen and beckoning them over with a 'come hither' gesture.
The Lizardmen roared at them, then charged.
One of them never even got close.
Totomaru's katana, engulfed by multi-coloured flames, shot past Gajeel's head and pierced through the mouth of a Lizardman. The creature staggered, collapsing to the floor as it tried to pull the weapon out of its mouth.
"Nice shot." Gajeel heard Totomaru say from somewhere behind him.
"Meh, I was actually aiming for Gajeel." Lorraine's voice replied.
As he heard Totomaru snort, the Iron Dragon Slayer pointed his right arm backwards and flipped the bird at them.
"Assholes." He grumbled, then unleashed his Iron Dragon's Roar at the two approaching Lizardmen. One of them flicked their hand and, against his will, Gajeel spun to face Mary who pointed her wooden hand and forced him to turn back.
The Lizardman who'd copied Mary's Command Magic was engulfed by the attack, but the other one leapt aside and then lunged at him.
"Iron Dragon's Club." Gajeel called, clashing with the sole Lizardman who employed the same technique.
As they were locked into a stalemate, both combatants inhaled and reared their heads back.
Then, the Lizardman suddenly spun around.
"Iron Dragon's Roar!" Gajeel's signature technique burst forth and slammed into the Lizardman's back. Unfortunately, the employment of Iron Dragon's Scales by the Lizardman prevented him from doing much damage, simply causing nothing but a few scratches in its metallic skin.
The Lizardman snarled and then lunged at Gajeel.
Its head snapped back as Mary landed a punch into its face.
"Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs." Gajeel's fingers shifted into thick, metallic poles which extended with great speed, striking the Lizardman in the face, torso and abdomen.
He followed up with an Iron Dragon's Roar which would've been countered, but proceeded unhindered thanks to Mary and her Command Magic forcing the Lizardman to aim its Roar technique at the sky.
"Iron Dragon's Club." He transformed arm slammed into the creature's face, causing an small crack into the metallic armour lining its face.
"Yeah, you ain't so tough. Iron Dragon's Hard Fist." Gajeel sneered, punching the cracked area, causing the Lizardman to recoil in pain as the cracks grew in size
The Lizardman rubbed its face, then threw a punch which went wide.
"Iron Dragon Spiked Club."
Gajeel lashed out with a kick, striking the Lizardman in the face.
There was a dull 'Clang' of metal-on-metal and the Lizardman's metallic armour shattered, falling apart and dissolving into magic particles, revealing its heavily bruised and vulnerable flesh.
"This is what you get for trying to copy my magic. Iron Dragon's ROAR!"
The Lizardman didn't even get to scream as the furious vortex of compressed air and iron slammed into it and reduced it to nothing more than meaty chunks and bone which were scattered around the forest floor.
Next to him, Mary started clapping, her smirk never leaving her face.
"Quit it with that sarcastic bullshit." Gajeel snapped at her, allowing his Iron Dragon's Scales to fade away as he walked over to one of the Lizardmen and pulled Totomaru's katana out of its face.
Mary complied, staring at him curiously, "I've just never seen someone fight so savagely before. Do all Phantom Lord mages fight like you?"
"Fuck knows. I just know that we don't beat 'round the bush when fighting" Gajeel replied, walking back to where everyone else was.
Byro Cracy stared him down, looking as impassive and stern as ever.
"Gajeel Redfox, Mary Hughes, are you injured?"
"Ain't none of your concern if I was."
"No, sir." Mary replied, respectfully.
Gajeel sniffed and walked over to Totomaru and Lorraine who stood nearby.
"How'd your fights go?" He asked, tossing Totomaru his katana.
The dual-colour haired mage fumbled with his catch as he tired to avoid stabbing himself, "It went well. They copied my magic, but they couldn't copy my kenjutsu."
Lorraine just shrugged nonchalantly, "I outshot them."
"I'm sure you did." Gajeel retorted, then cocked his head to one side as his hearing picked up on unfamiliar movement.
"What's-" Lorraine was silenced when Gajeel sharply raised a hand.
"There's someone here." The Iron Dragon Slayer announced, loudly to ensure everyone could hear him.
"Indeed there is." A calm voice said, as a man emerged from beyond a set of destroyed trees.
The members of the Legion Corps backed up immediately, putting distance between themselves and the man as the temperature suddenly plummeted, allowing everyone nearby to see their own breath.
"Let me guess, you're Henderson Quake?" Totomaru asked, bathing himself in multi-coloured flame.
"You known my name? I'm honoured." Henderson replied, bowing mockingly.
"State your business." Byro demanded as Lorraine let an arrow fly, aiming straight for the centre of his torso.
With a mere wave of his hand, the arrow froze mid-flight and shattered harmlessly as the Ice God Slayer casually backhanded it
"I wouldn't do that again, dear," Henderson said, "as for my business, I simply came to see what the massive magic power expenditure was all about. Turns out you were all able to beat the Lizardmen. Quite a disappointment, honestly, I thought at least one of you would've died."
"Seems like you overestimated the Lizardmen or underestimated us." Gajeel retorted, smirking.
Henderson fixed his cold, icy blue gaze on the Iron Dragon Slayer who glared right back at him.
"So it appears. My master would be well aware of your victory over the Lizardmen right about now and I expect him to be quite upset. He spent a great deal of effort and resources finding those troublesome, useless things." He lamented, kicking an unconscious Lizardman.
"Why are you so intent on destroying the Zentopia Church?" Coco inquired.
"Religion has tainted Earthland, but the power of the Church has left a irremovable stain. If you knew what your Church does to maintain her influence, I doubt any of you would be standing here right now." Henderson replied.
"Humour us." Lorraine said.
Henderson chuckled, but his laugh was devoid of warmth and humour, "Corruption and crimes against humanity."
"Doubtful." Samuel sniffed, hovering dutifully next to Byro. Unease had slipped into the latter's usual stoic mask.
"Why? Because you're closest to God and all that bullshit? Give me a break, that's what all powerful religious organizations claim before someone runs them into the ground via exposure." Henderson spat, shaking his head.
Samuel scoffed, haughtily adjusting his glasses, "You won't be able to destroy and expose us, because there's nothing to expose. The Zentopia Church is the very beacon for innocence and faith."
"Fucking infidels, blinded by your damned religion." Henderson hissed, his anger spiking which caused the temperature to fall slightly.
Totomaru moved to stand in the middle of the Legion Corps and Phantom Lord members, providing heat with his magic.
"If you haven't got anything important to add, then I'd suggest you run off with your tail between your legs." Lorraine suggested, aiming an arrow at the cultist who laughed at the suggestion.
"It seems I can't make you understand. Since I have no doubt you'll make it past the Wyverns and Vulcans, I'll leave it to the boss-man to explain why the Zentopia Church isn't as innocent as it seems. He'd get the message across way better than I could." Henderson said.
"I await the explanation, heretic." Byro replied, gaze hardening.
"Heretic? Strong words there, Byro Cracy." Henderson said, then his form rippled before fading away into nothingness.
The surrounding temperature began to rise again.
"Thought Projection," Totomaru said, slightly taken aback, "but for him to be able to affect the surrounding environment means he's got an incredible amount of magic power."
"How dare he defile my pride with his words. I, no we, are going to show them that there is no corruption within the Zentopia Church." Byro said, hints of anger slipping into his voice.
"And what if he's right?" Lorraine asked.
"He mustn't, because I don't know what I'll do if his words are true." Byro responded resolutely.
A/N: Chapter 21 is also here, and my longest chapter to date at just under 6,900 words, excluding this author's note. Hope you all enjoy the chapter and please follow, favourite and review - even if it's just pointing out something like a spelling mistake.
And, for everyone on fanfiction, please stay safe during these dire times with the Coronavirus.