Until The End, Part 6
In another residential district, fifty civilians scream as they are being chased by over a hundred Lahmus behind them. But the large army of Lahmus soon stop when they notice Rafi, Reza and eight other Qital Dire Warriors standing together in horizontal rows at the other end of the street. After all the civilians ran past them, Reza yelled to the other warriors standing with him, "Brothers! Let us trample over our enemies for Azadistan!"
Rafi and the other eight warriors yell in response as they and Reza charge towards the Lahmus. When they reach them, they all began swinging their arms and fists around to punch through the beasts and send them flying into the air.
After punching sixteen Lahmus into the air, Rafi looks up and sees one Lahmu swooping down on him. The Lahmu squeals as it tries to grab his head with all four claws. But Rafi quickly activates the extra pair of arms on the back of his armor, and they grab onto the Lahmu's front arms when it is near him. The Lahmu swings its back claws at Rafi's head but they miss him by a few inches. Rafi holds up his left arm and a red blade flips open from the bottom of his gauntlet. Huge amounts of fire burst out from the blade and Rafi swings it diagonally to slice through the Lahmu.
Reza grabs a Lahmu by its right front claw and delivers a powerful toss, sending it colliding against three other Lahmus that are flying in the air. When he sees another Lahmu pouncing at him, Reza quickly lifts his leg up and kicks it in the chest to send it crashing through ten more Lahmus behind it.
Meanwhile, in the shopping district, Velvet, Laphicet, Jack, Magilou, Rokurou, Violet, Sorey, Mikleo, Edna, Eizen and Eleanor are fighting against multiple Lahmus.
Velvet grabs a Lahmu with her demonic arm and tosses it into the air. The Lahmu soon crashes onto a nearby fruit stall in front of the pavement. One Lahmu crawls over from behind and pounces at her, but Velvet whirls about and simply takes it out by swinging her demonic arm horizontally and punching the left side of its mouth with her large fist.
"TRIFLARE!" Laphicet shouted as he swings his arms horizontally and creates a wall of fire at two Lahmus in front of him. The Lahmus cackle as they burn into ashes.
Eizen swings his fist and punches a Lahmu directly onto its mouth, sending it flying through the air and crashing through the window of a store behind it. Another Lahmu crawls over to Eizen from his left. He quickly turns to the Lahmu and dodges a horizontal strike from it by ducking down. Eizen runs over and delivers an uppercut to its torso with his left fist. As the Lahmu gasps for air, Eizen throws his other fist at its mouth and sends it sprawling through the ground.
When Eizen turns to his left, he sees three more Lahmus charging towards him. Edna runs over to the Lahmu in the middle from behind and thrusts her umbrella at the back of its mouth. As the Lahmu stumbles forward, it and the other two turn around to face her. Edna quickly swings her umbrella horizontally at them, causing them to stumble back. She soon jumps high into the air, opens her umbrella up and twirls it around to rain multiple ice balls covered in snow onto the Lahmus. They all squeal in pain as the ice balls land on them. And while they are distracted, Mikleo holds up his staff as he stands nearby.
"AQUA SERPENT!" Mikleo shouted as a ball of water forms in front of him. The ball transforms into two large sea serpent heads and they roar as they fly over to the Lahmus. Edna quickly lands on the ground and leaps back before the sea serpent heads pass through the Lahmus. They squeal again as the high velocity of the water reduce them into bits of flesh.
In front of the fountain located at the center of the district, Jack leaps into the air to dodge two horizontal strikes from a Lahmu in front of her. After performing a flip, she stabs both her daggers right into the Lahmu's mouth, causing it to wobble about. As it struggles to shake her off, Jack proceeds to stab its mouth several more times with her daggers until the Lahmu finally falls back and collapses onto the ground. She removes her daggers and jumps off its body.
Nearby, Rokurou backs away to dodge a few horizontal strikes from a Lahmu. He soon swings his right dagger diagonally upwards to slash off the Lahmu's left front arm. He charges forward and swings his left dagger horizontally to slice off its mouth from its torso. Rokurou whirls about and runs over to another Lahmu behind him. The Lahmu swings its front claws horizontally at Rokurou and he dodges them by rolling over the ground. As he gets up, he swings his daggers down to slice off both its front arms. He crosses his daggers in front of the Lahmu's throat and when he swings both horizontally, Rokurou slices through its throat to cut off its mouth.
When Jack and Rokurou turn their heads, they see four more Lahmus flying over to them. Magilou runs over and with a smirk on her face, she holds out a card in front of the Lahmus and shouted, "SPELL ABSORBER!"
A huge ring now magically appears on the ground. When the Lahmus fly above it, Magilou yelled as she swings her arm and holds her card up in the air, "HYDRO STORM!"
A huge tornado of water burst up from the ground and spins the Lahmus around. Seconds later, the Lahmus are sent flying out of the tornado. One of them crashes through the wall of the top floor of a nearby apartment building. Another one crashes through one of its windows.
The third Lahmu crashes through the rooftop of another apartment building. And the last Lahmu flies over to an iron statue of a knight holding a halberd beside him placed in front of a blacksmith's shop. The Lahmu lands on top of the statue's halberd and the spike on top of its blade pierces through its throat. It squeals for a moment before its mouth slumps to the side and all four claws hang limply in the air.
As they fight in front of an alleyway, Sorey swings his sword vertically to slice a Lahmu in half while Eleanor deflects a horizontal strike from a Lahmu in front of her with her spear. She swiftly swings her spear horizontally to slice off its mouth.
Suddenly, they both hear a scream. Sorey and Eleanor quickly turn to the alleyway and sees a girl running out from it while being chased by two Lahmus.
"HELP ME!" The girl screamed.
"Why are you running away from us?! This is actually quite fun!" One of the Lahmus laughed as it is about to catch up to her.
Sorey swiftly runs over to the Lahmu and swings his sword horizontally to slice off its left front arm. After the Lahmu falls to the side, it turns to Sorey and asked with a grin, "Why do you do-"
Before it could finish, Sorey turns to the Lahmu and swings his sword diagonally to slash through its mouth.
"Get behind me!" Eleanor said to the girl as she runs over and hides behind her. Eleanor holds up her spear and gets into her fighting stance.
"She's my toy! Give her back!" The Lahmu cried as it crawls over to Eleanor and delivers two diagonal strikes at her with its front claws. Eleanor blocks both attacks with her spear before she stabs it into the ground. While holding onto her spear, Eleanor leaps into the air and delivers a powerful kick to the Lahmu's mouth to send it tumbling onto the ground. Violet quickly leaps over to the fallen Lahmu, brings her right fist down and punches through its chest to finish it. Eleanor turns around and kneels to the girl's level.
"It's okay. Everything is fine now." Eleanor said tenderly as she gently places her hands on the girl's shoulders. However, the girl began to sob and weep.
"N-no! It's not fine! All my friends and teachers are going to die!" The girl cried woefully.
"W-what? What do you mean?" Eleanor asked incredulously.
"They are trapped inside the schoolhouse! And they can't come out because the monsters have surrounded the building!" The girl explained.
"Which way is to the schoolhouse?" Violet asked the girl. The girl responded by pointing her trembling finger at the alleyway.
"T-That way. From w-where I came." The girl whimpered. Without hesitation, Violet quickly turns and runs into the alleyway.
"Hey, wait!" Eleanor cried to Violet, but she ignores her. "You can't go there alone!"
"Don't worry." Sorey said reassuringly. Eleanor turns to him and sees Sorey smiling and winking an eye at her. "Violet is tougher than she looks."
Inside the schoolhouse, about nineteen children and three adults stand around the large classroom and whimper in fear, knowing that the building they are currently in is surrounded by twelve Lahmus that are ready to attack them the moment they try to step out.
"I'm getting bored." One of the Lahmus said to the other as they hover outside the schoolhouse.
"Then let's get on with it!" The other Lahmu replied. All twelve of them burst into laughter as they rise in the air and look down at the rooftop of the schoolhouse. They swoop down and burst through the roof, causing all the children and teachers to scream in horror. As six Lahmus land on the floor, everyone panicked as they try to run away from them. One unfortunate man trips over and collapses onto the floor. A Lahmu crawls over and stabs its left front claw through the back of his right thigh, making him yell in agony and causing the other civilians to scream louder.
"Let's see what is inside of you!" The Lahmu said excitedly as it holds up its other front claw and prepares to stab the back of his head.
Suddenly, Violet burst through the schoolhouse's entrance, leaps over to the Lahmu and throws her right fist at the right side of its mouth. Her punch sends the Lahmu flying through the air and slamming against the chalkboard at the other end of the large room. After landing on the ground, Violet helps pull the man up from the floor.
"Go." Violet said to the man as he staggers over to the other civilians who are standing against the wall at the right side of the classroom. Violet looks around and finds herself being surrounded by the Lahmus. Five of them are crawling towards her while six are hovering in the air. The children and teachers quietly watch with apprehension, wondering if Violet will be able to take down all the Lahmus by herself with only her fists. Without showing any fear on her face, Violet quietly holds up her fists and prepare to fight.
One hovering Lahmu attacks first. It flies over to Violet and swings its left front claw diagonally at her. Violet dodges it by rolling over to her left. As she gets up, she sees another Lahmu on the floor pouncing at her. She jumps high in the air to dodge it. As she flies over to another hovering Lahmu, she performs a flip and brings the heel of her right boot down onto the top of its mouth, sending it crashing onto the floor below. Violet lands on top of the Lahmu and crushes its mouth underneath her feet. Violet turns to her left and sees another Lahmu crawling over and swings its right front claw down on her. Violet quickly stops its attack by grabbing its claw with both hands. The tip of its claw barely misses her face by an inch. She manages to push the Lahmu away from her, causing it to stumble back. She quickly jumps up and delivers a powerful kick to its mouth, sending it crashing through a window.
One Lahmu swoops down on Violet from behind and brings its front claws down on her. Violet dodges it by rolling to her right. She whirls about and delivers a spinning kick to its front claws, causing the Lahmu to fall onto the ground. Violet slightly turns to her right and sees another Lahmu crawling over to her. It swings its left front claw horizontally at her, and Violet swiftly grabs it with her hands. As she turns back to the other Lahmu who is trying to get up from the ground, Violet lifts the Lahmu up in the air and slams it onto the top of the other.
One Lahmu manages to leap past Violet from her right and swings its right front claw to slash across her back. Violet yelps in pain as she stumbles forward. She turns to the Lahmu who slashed her back and sees it turning around to face her. It jumps towards her and swings both its front claws horizontally. Violet crosses her arms in front of her face to block the attack, and the impact sends her stumbling back. Another Lahmu hovering in the air takes the opportunity to fly down and swings its right front claw downwards to slash her back. Violet yelps again before she swiftly turns around, jumps into the air, and delivers a punch to the Lahmu's mouth, sending it flying through the air. The back of its mouth slam against the top of the schoolhouse's exit, and it collapses onto the ground.
Another Lahmu flies down to Violet on her left and slashes across the left side of her lower torso with its right front claw. Violet cries in pain as she turns to her right and collapses onto the floor. Another Lahmu crawls over to her and brings its left front claw down onto her right prosthetic arm to crush it.
Violet gasps in shock before looking up at the Lahmu in front of her. All the remaining Lahmus in the classroom laugh in glee as the others land on the floor and crawl over to her.
"This human is strong! Let us tear her open to see what she is made of!" The Lahmu in front of Violet squealed.
"And when we are done with her, let's tear up the others as well!" One of the other Lahmus suggested.
Violet looks around and sees the children and teachers who are still standing against the wall at the left side of the classroom and keeping themselves away from the fight. She could see the looks of fear and hopelessness on their faces as they stare back at her. Some of the children even begin to weep for her. Violet lowers her head and closes her eyes, knowing that these innocent people still have so much to live for. To find their love and happiness and live their lives to the fullest.
Wanting to keep fighting for them, Violet tries to get up with her remaining arm, but the Lahmu in front of her brings down its right front claw and stabs through her left shoulder to pin her down on the ground. As the Lahmus laugh evilly, Violet groans in pain as she struggles to get herself up.
"Can't you stay down? You are going to die anyway." The Lahmu sneered at her.
"No…I can't die…I promised the people I care back in my world…that I will keep living…just like everyone here deserves to live a long life…" Violet said. The children and teachers widen their eyes and gape their mouths open upon hearing what she said.
"Why do you humans keep living for? Your lives are always full of pain and violence. This is why we are better than you." The Lahmu said.
"You're right. Sometimes, living is painful…but as long as you know that there is someone out there who makes you happy…and someone to love…who also loves you back…then you'll know that your life is worth living for!" With her eyes now brimmed with tears, Violet looks up at the Lahmu and cried, "I WANT TO KEEP LIVING!"
"HAHAHAHAHA! You're so funny!" The Lahmu chortled in response. It brings its right front claw up and prepares to deliver one final blow to Violet's head.
Suddenly, a scythe twirls through the air and slashes through the Lahmu's mouth and right arm. Violet widens her eyes in shock, trying to comprehend what had happened.
"What just-" The Lahmu gets cut off when the scythe flies back and slices through its upper torso. The impact also sends the Lahmu's dismembered limbs falling onto the floor.
Violet and the other five Lahmus turn to the exit of the schoolhouse and see Celty grabbing the scythe. The Cherry Blossom Holy Knight gets into her fighting stance as she prepares to fight the Lahmus despite her injury on the lower left side of her torso.
The Lahmus soon crawl towards Celty. She runs over to the nearest Lahmu and swings her scythe horizontally to slice off its mouth. The next Lahmu pounces at Celty and she dodges it by rolling to her left. After getting up, she turns around and swings her scythe horizontally to stab its blade through the back of its torso. As the third Lahmu crawls over to her, Celty quickly dematerializes her scythe before it swings its left front claw horizontally at her. She dodges the attack by rolling over the ground and past the Lahmu. The fourth Lahmu crawls over to her and swings both its front claws down at Celty, who quickly gets up and leaps into the air to evade the attack. After performing a few flips over the Lahmu, Celty lands beside Violet and holds out her hand to her. Without saying a word, Violet grabs her hand and Celty pulls her up from the ground. The two women turn back to the remaining three Lahmus and they get into their fighting stances. Celty summons her scythe again and they both run over to the Lahmus.
When Violet runs over to a Lahmu, it swings its front claws horizontally at her. Violet dodges them by sliding through the floor on her knees and leaning herself back. When she reaches its torso, she gets up and delivers an uppercut to its mouth. As the Lahmu stumbles back, Violet lifts her leg up and kicks its torso to send it flying out of the building through the exit.
Celty swings a few horizontal strikes with her scythe at the Lahmu in front of her. The Lahmu blocks the attacks by crossing its front claws in front of its mouth. But while the Lahmu is still holding up its claws, Celty takes a step back and readjusts her scythe. As she steps forward, Celty swings her scythe upwards. Its blade goes under the front claws and stabs through its mouth. Celty pulls out her scythe from its mouth, knocking away its front claws in the process. Celty runs over to the Lahmu and finishes it by swinging her scythe downwards and slicing it in half.
Both Violet and Celty run over to the third and final Lahmu, who quickly flies into the air. Celty swings her scythe horizontally in the air, but the Lahmu dodges it by hovering back. However, Violet soon leaps into the air and throws a punch across its mouth to send it falling back onto the ground. As Violet lands back down, Celty quickly runs over to the Lahmu, leaps into the air and swings her scythe down. As she lands, the blade of her scythe stabs through the Lahmu's chest, causing it to squeal. After removing her scythe, Celty turns it and brings it down again. The blade slices through the Lahmu's throat, and its mouth slumps to the side.
Celty dematerializes her scythe and she wobbles side to side due to her blood loss. As she falls back, Violet quickly runs over to her from behind and catches her with her left prosthetic arm.
"Are you alright?" Violet asked. Celty responded by turning her head to her and nod. Violet smiled at the demihuman before looking up at the children and teachers at the right side of the classroom. "It's safe now."
The civilians smile at them and wipe away their tears.
"Alright, everyone! Let us leave the building in an orderly fashion!" One of the teachers said to all the children. Celty slowly gets herself up and wraps an arm around Violet's shoulders. The two women carefully turn around and watch the civilians make their way out of the building through the exit. Some of the children and teachers thank them as they walk past them.
"Thank you so much for saving us!" One boy said to Violet and Celty as he and a girl stop in front of them.
"We promise to keep living and find love and happiness one day!" The girl added with a wide smile.
"Stay strong, you two." Violet said softly as she smiles back at them. As the boy and the girl turn and leave the schoolhouse along with the other children, a teacher now walks over to Violet and Celty.
"Thank you, both of you, for what you have done for us. But may I ask you something?" The teacher asked worriedly. Violet nods her head in response. "Have either of you seen a girl with black pigtails and wears a pink dress? She managed to run away from here before those monsters surround the building and trap us inside."
"Yes, I do." Violet said. "My friends and I found her in the shopping district at the opposite end of the alleyway. It was because of her, we learnt of your predicament and I came here to rescue all of you."
"Oh, thank you so much!" The teacher cried in relief as she bows her head to them. "We will never forget what you two have done for us."
Both Violet and Celty bow their heads back to the teacher before she leaves the schoolhouse as well. Celty lowers her head and places her hand over the wound on her lower torso.
"You don't feel good, do you?" Violet asked the demihuman. Celty responded with a slow nod. "Alright, release your arm for a moment." Celty obliged and removes her arm from her shoulders. Violet kneels on the floor and holds out her left arm. "Now sit down on it."
After Celty sits down on her arm, Violet stands up and the demihuman finds herself being carried and lifted in the air. She quickly wraps her right arm around Violet's shoulders again to support herself.
"Good." Violet said. "Now hang on, I'm going to take you to my friend at the shopping district who can heal your wound." When Celty responded to her by placing her other hand on her chest and bowing her head to her with gratitude, Violet gave her a weak smile. "You're welcome."
With that, Violet quickly runs out of the schoolhouse with Celty and she makes her way back to her friends at the shopping district. All the children and teachers cheer as they watch her run past them.
Mirajane, Gildarts, Cana, Romeo, Mickey, Lucas, Medea, Noel, Tsubaki, Jude, Milla, Leia, Ludger, Ivar, Sami, Vasda, Flynn and Brave Vesperia are fighting against the Lahmus on the street of the residential district nearest to Crocus's main entrance.
While still in her Satan Soul form, Mirajane lifts a left leg up and delivers a powerful kick to a Lahmu's mouth as they hover in the air. After her kick sends it soaring, another Lahmu flies over to her from behind. But Mirajane quickly turns around and swings her demonic claws to slice through its throat.
Mirajane turns to her right and sees another Lahmu flying over to her and swings its front claws down at her. Mirajane quickly uses her own claws to grab them, and they barely miss her face by a few inches. However, another Lahmu flies over to her from behind and swings its front claws horizontally to slash across her back. Mirajane yelps in pain for a moment before she whirls about and tosses the Lahmu over to it, sending both falling to the ground. Another Lahmu flies over to her from the left and manages to grab onto her with all four of its claws. As Mirajane struggles to break free, three more Lahmus fly over and cling onto her with all their claws as well.
After taking out four Lahmus in front of her with her cards, Cana turns around and looks up at Mirajane when she heard her struggling. She quickly draws out another card from her bag.
"The Prayer's Fountain!" Cana shouted as she throws the card onto the ground. Suddenly, four sharp arrows made of water burst out from the card and fly up to the Lahmus. The arrows pierce through the Lahmus and they raise their lifeless bodies up in the air. After being released from their grip, Mirajane turns around and gives a nod to Cana. Cana gave her a thumbs-up before she turns around and sees twenty-one more Lahmus charging towards her.
One Lahmu leaps through the air and pounces at her. But suddenly, Gildarts lands right between his daughter and the Lahmu and he pulls his clenched fist back. He lets out a yell as he throws a punch right into the Lahmu's chest. The Lahmu squeals as his punch not only burst a hole through its chest, but also sends it flying through the air and colliding against the twenty other Lahmus behind it. The impact also causes their limbs to tear off from their bodies as they all sprawl through the ground. Cana turns around and draws out ten more cards in her hand as she and her father now stand back-to-back.
"This fight ain't over yet, sweetheart." Gildarts said to Cana, getting into his fighting stance as he sees ten more Lahmus flying towards him.
"That's my dad." Cana responded with a smirk as she sees nine more Lahmus crawling over to her. They both yell as they charge towards their enemies.
One Lahmu swings its front claws down onto Karol, who quickly rolls over the ground to his left to dodge the attack. After getting up, Karol uses some amount of Volt's Lightning to charge towards the Lahmu. He swings his hammer horizontally to break the Lahmu's front claws as he runs past it. After skidding to a halt, Karol turns around and jumps into the air. He lets out a yell as he swings his hammer down onto the top of its mouth to finish it. When Karol looks up, he sees another Lahmu flying down to him.
Romeo quickly runs over and stands in front of Karol before the Lahmu proceeds to swing its front claws at him several times. Romeo quickly deflects all its attacks with his flaming fists. Afterwards, Romeo leaps back, swings his right arm horizontally and throws a purple fireball at the Lahmu. It successfully lands onto its chest and the Lahmu squeals as it slowly burns into ashes.
When another Lahmu crawls over to Romeo from the left and pounces at him, Karol quickly runs over and swings his hammer horizontally at its mouth to knock it away from them. One Lahmu jumps off from the rooftop of a nearby apartment building and tries to swing its front claws down onto Karol.
"PURPLE NET!" Romeo shouted as he quickly throws another purple fireball at the Lahmu. The fireball transforms into a net that traps the Lahmu inside. The Lahmu squeals as the net shrinks, burns through its body and exploding it into ashes.
"Thanks a lot for your help." Karol said to Romeo as he holds up his fist to him.
"Likewise." Romeo smiled at him as he bumps his fist against his. "You guys at Brave Vesperia are really good fighters."
On the rooftop of an apartment building, Judith thrusts her spear through a Lahmu's throat before she lifts her leg up and kicks it away from her to pull her weapon out. Another Lahmu swoops down on her from behind and swings its front claws horizontally at her. But Judith dodges the attack by leaping into the air and performing a backflip over the Lahmu. While she is in the air, Judith quickly throws her spear at the Lahmu and it stabs through the back of its mouth. The spear pierces out from the front of its mouth and stabs into the roof tiles while the Lahmu's lifeless body collapses to the side.
When Judith lands on the roof, she turns to her right and sees another Lahmu flying over to her. When it swings its right front claw at her, Judith dodges it by rolling forward over the roof tiles. She quickly runs over to her spear and another Lahmu flies over to her from the left. It swings its front claws down onto her and Judith dodges it by leaping through the air and grabbing onto the hilt of her spear. While still clinging onto her weapon, Judith straightens up her spear, twirls around and delivers a kick to the Lahmu's mouth to send it hovering back. After pulling her spear out and landing on the roof tiles, Judith leaps into the air again and delivers a downward strike onto the Lahmu to slice its body in half. After landing on the roof again, the other Lahmu flies over to her from behind. Judith whirls about and swings her spear horizontally to slice its mouth off from its body. Three more Lahmus fly up from the ground and hover in front of her. She quickly gets into her fighting stance and prepares to fight them.
"SOUL EXTINCTOR!" Mirajane shouted as she fires a large blast of dark energy at the three Lahmus to obliterate them into ashes. After the blast dies down, Mirajane flies over to Judith and gives her a wicked smile as she extends her hand to her. "Shall we work together?"
Judith nods her head as she smiles back at her. She briefly runs to the edge of the roof, jumps into the air and grabs onto Mirajane's hand. As Mirajane flies through the air, Judith looks down for a moment to see the ongoing battle between her allies and the Lahmus throughout the street. When Judith lifts her head back up, she sees six Lahmus flying over to her and Mirajane.
"Throw me up!" Judith shouted.
"You got it." Mirajane replied before she swings her arm up and tosses Judith into the air.
Judith performs several flips as she flies over to the nearest Lahmu and stabs her spear through the top of its mouth. As Judith lands on the ground below, Mirajane stops and holds up her right hand to fire a beam of dark energy through a Lahmu that tries to fly down to the krityan.
After removing her spear, Judith looks up and sees twelve more Lahmus crawling towards her. Her lips form into a smirk as she holds up her spear.
"Come on." She said before charging towards them.
Meanwhile, after thrusting her demonic claw through a Lahmu's chest and out from its back, Mirajane uses her other claw to push it off her. She turns to the next Lahmu who swings its front claws horizontally at her. Mirajane quickly grabs its claws and tears them off. After tossing them away, Mirajane twirls around and delivers a spinning kick to the left side of the Lahmu's mouth and sends it crashing through the wall of a nearby apartment building. Mirajane turns to the last two Lahmus and sees them swinging their claws diagonally at her. Mirajane dodges their attacks by hovering back, and she holds up her hands and fires two beams of dark energy through their mouths.
As Mirajane looks down and watches the two Lahmus plummet through the air, she also sees Judith taking out another Lahmu by slicing through its mouth with her spear. Four other dead Lahmus lie behind her. When she sees the remaining seven Lahmus charging towards Judith at once, Mirajane quickly holds up her left claw at them.
"DARKNESS STREAM!" Mirajane shouted as a black magical glyph appears in front of her claw. Seven long black arms emerge from the glyph and fly down to the Lahmus. They gasp as the hands wrap around their bodies and carry them up in the air. Judith watches as the hands tighten their grips around the Lahmus. As Mirajane clenches her claw, the Lahmus squeal as the hands explode and they all burst into ashes. Judith turns around, smiles at Mirajane and gives her a thumbs-up. Mirajane responded to her with a nod.
Medea holds out her hands and fires two beams of dark energy at two Lahmus in front of her. Fifteen Lahmus charge towards her from behind and one of them manages to swing its left front claw to slash through her upper torso. As both halves of Medea's body fall onto the ground, the Lahmus laugh in delight.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Killing her feels wonderful!" The Lahmu squealed as it stares at the blood on its front claw. But soon, their laughter dies down when the blood suddenly disappears. The Lahmus look down and see Medea's body vanishing into thin air as well.
"If you enjoy that, how about this?" Medea said to them. The Lahmus turn around and see her now hovering in the air and spreading out her black cape to resemble a large pair of demonic wings. She holds up her right hand and summons a dark silver metallic staff.
The Lahmus laugh as they fly up to her. As they do, Medea quickly swings her staff diagonally to form nine large dark pink magical glyphs in front of her and her cape.
"RAIN OF LIGHT: MACHIA HECATIA GRAEA!" Medea shouted as nine beams of dark energy burst out from the glyphs and fire at all the Lahmus in all directions. The Lahmus squeal as they are caught in the beams and turn into ashes. Medea later lowers her staff, and all the glyphs disappear.
"Hmmm, now that is wonderful." Medea said with a smirk.
After tearing off its left front arm, Mickey tosses it aside and yells as she delivers a clothesline to the Lahmu's mouth, sending it falling onto the floor. As he rests on her right shoulder, Pii-chan chirps as he holds up his right wing. Mickey turns to her right and quickly runs over to another Lahmu that is crawling towards her. She gets down and slides through the floor to dodge a horizontal strike from the Lahmu. When she gets up, Mickey quickly throws her right fist onto its chest. After the Lahmu falls onto the ground, Mickey jumps on top of it and swings down her fists to smash its mouth. A Lahmu crawls over to Mickey from her right, but a sword quickly slices through its throat from behind. As Mickey gets up and turns to the Lahmu, she watches it collapses onto the ground, revealing Raven standing behind it while holding up his sword.
"Thanks, old man." Mickey said as she and Pii-chan nod their heads to him.
"Anytime, darling." Raven smiled as he lowers his sword and gave Mickey a salute. He turns to his right and runs off.
Tsubaki yells as she swings her sword upward to leave a slash on the Lahmu in front of her from its lower torso to the top of its mouth. As the Lahmu falls back and collapses onto the ground, Tsubaki whirls about and sees another Lahmu crawling over to her. When it swings its left front claw horizontally at her, Tsubaki dodges it by rolling over the ground to her left. As she gets up, the Lahmu leaps over to her and swings its right front claw horizontally. Tsubaki quickly turns around and blocks the attack with her sword, though the impact sends her stumbling back for a moment. The Lahmu proceeds to deliver several more strikes at her, and Tsubaki backs away as she blocks all its attacks. Behind her, Noel also backs away as she fires her revolvers at any Lahmu that tries to crawl over or pounce at her. Three more Lahmus soon fly down and land in front of Noel.
When both women are near each other, Noel turns around and rolls over the ground while Tsubaki leaps into the air, performs a backflip over her and lands on the ground. As she turns around, Tsubaki's device flies over and hovers in front of her. It opens and fires three large white nets at the Lahmus, pushing them away from her by several meters. As the Lahmus are now hanging above the ground with their claws spread out, Tsubaki twirls around as her sword magically transforms into a winged staff. She throws her head back as she lifts her staff up in the air.
"Punishing…JUDGMENT!" Tsubaki shouted as she throws her head forward and swings her staff down to fire a beam of white energy at the floating device in front of her. The beam goes through the back of the device, and it fires three larger orbs of white energy at the Lahmus. The Lahmus squeal as the orbs slowly turn them into ashes.
Meanwhile, after shooting down the Lahmu in front of her, Noel looks up and sees two more Lahmus flying down. When they swing their front claws down at her, Noel dodges them by leaping into the air. After performing a flip, Noel turns around while still in midair and rapidly fires several bullets at the backs of the Lahmus. She quickly dematerializes her revolvers and summons a rocket launcher. She briefly aims her rocket launcher at the Lahmus and fires.
Tsubaki turns around and watches the explosion occurring in the air. Noel soon lands on the ground and dematerializes her rocket launcher. As she gets up and summons her revolvers in her hands, she and Tsubaki smile and nod to each other.
Jude, Milla, Leia, Ludger, Ivar, Sami and Vasda defeat multiple Lahmus as they stand close to each other in a circular formation. Milla, Leia and Ivar take out several Lahmus that crawl towards them by swinging their sword, staff, and daggers. Jude delivers powerful punches to push the Lahmus away from him and his allies. Sami continuously swings his batons to shoot rings of fire at the Lahmus on the ground while Vasda kept firing bright blue orbs of energy to take down those that are in the air. Ludger uses his guns to shoot down any Lahmus that crawl towards him. When he looks up and sees one Lahmu swooping down and ready to swing its front claws down on him, Ludger quickly turns his guns into swords and swings them horizontally to deflect its attacks. As it hovers back, Ludger leaps into the air and swings his swords down to slice through the Lahmu's body. As Ludger lands on the ground, he and everyone else look up to see twenty more Lahmus flying down to them at once.
"GET DOWN!" Vasda shouted. As Jude, Milla, Leia, Ludger, Ivar and Sami do what they are told, Vasda lifts herself up in the air and spreads out her arms. "SOLAR RING!"
A bright white ring forms around Vasda and it grows larger as it rises to the oncoming Lahmus. The Lahmus stop in midair and try to block the attack by holding up their front claws in front of them, but it proves useless as the ring simply slice through their bodies. The Lahmus squeal as they slowly burn to ashes by Vasda's attack.
"Whoooaaa…" Leia uttered as she and the others slowly stand back up and watch Vasda's attack die down. When Vasda gently lands back on the ground, Milla places her hand on her shoulder.
"Good job, Vasda." Milla said as she and Vasda smile at each other.
"Tch. Showoff." Ivar muttered, watching the display with envy.
Lucas holds up his double-bladed sword in front of him while he is being surrounded by eleven Lahmus. He runs over to the Lahmu in front of him and it delivers two horizontal strikes at him with its front claws. Lucas blocks the attacks with both blades of his sword before he twirls around and slices off the Lahmu's mouth from its body with a horizontal strike of his own. One Lahmu leaps over from behind and swings its front claws down at him. Lucas whirls about and blocks its overhead strike by holding up his double-bladed sword. The two stay in a brief stalemate before Lucas pushes the Lahmu away from him. He quickly thrusts one of his sword's blades through its chest. He later pulls his sword out and the Lahmu collapses in front of him. Two more Lahmus crawl over to him from both sides and swing their front claws diagonally at him. Lucas holds up his double-bladed sword and twirls it around in the air to deflect their attacks. As the Lahmus stumble back, Lucas runs over to the one on his right and delivers two diagonal strikes through its body. While the Lahmu's dismembered body falls onto the ground, Lucas whirls about and runs over to the other. The Lahmu manages to recover and swings both its front claws horizontally at him. Lucas dodges them by ducking down, and after twirling around, he swings his sword horizontally as he gets up and slashes through its chest.
When the seven remaining Lahmus try to pounce at him all at once, several bullets rain down on them. Lucas briefly watches all of them collapse onto the ground before he looks up and sees Patty standing on the rooftop of the apartment building beside him. As Lucas smiled at her, Patty twirls her double-barreled pistol around in her right hand and winks an eye at him.
As Yuri performs a backflip over a Lahmu to dodge a horizontal strike from it, he delivers a kick to the back of its mouth while in midair. After Yuri lands on the ground, he charges towards the Lahmu from behind and swings his sword horizontally to slice through its mouth. When he turns to his right and sees three more Lahmus approaching him, Yuri quickly gets down on a knee.
"LONE WOLF STORM!" Yuri shouted as he swings his right arm down and slams his fist onto the ground. He fires a blast of green energy which turns into a wolf's head. As the head opens its mouth to reveal its fangs, the blast collides against the small group of Lahmus and sends them all falling to the ground.
Flynn deflects a vertical strike from a Lahmu by swinging his sword diagonally upwards. As the Lahmu stumbles back, Flynn delivers two horizontal strikes across its chest before finishing it by thrusting his sword into its throat. After pulling his sword out, Flynn turns to his left and sees three Lahmus charging towards him. Flynn leaps back in the air and a phoenix appears behind him.
"RISING PHOENIX!" Flynn yelled as he flies down to the Lahmus and thrusts his sword as he skids past them. The Lahmus squeal as they fall back onto the ground and burn in flames.
Estelle takes out another Lahmu by swinging her rod horizontally across its mouth. She turns to her left and holds up her shield in time to block an overhead strike from another Lahmu. She charges forward and knocks the Lahmu down with her shield. As it falls onto the ground, Estelle finishes it by swinging her rod down onto its mouth. One Lahmu charges towards her and swings its left front claw at her. Estelle turns slightly to her right and quickly blocks its attack with her shield, but she yelps as the impact sends her flying through the air and slamming against the wall of the apartment building behind her.
"ESTELLE!" Yuri shouted as he and Flynn turn to her.
"LADY ESTELLISE!" Flynn cried as they also see six more Lahmus crawling towards her as she gets herself up.
Both Yuri and Flynn immediately run over to the Lahmus from behind and perform the same attack together.
"DRAGON SWARM!" Yuri and Flynn both shouted as they swing their swords diagonally several times to cut through the Lahmus until they find themselves standing in front of Estelle.
"Thank you." Estelle said, bowing her head to them with a smile. Yuri and Flynn bow back to her before they turn around and see five more Lahmus crawling towards them. Yuri, Flynn, and Estelle hold up their weapons as they get back into their fighting stances.
Suddenly, all the Lahmus freeze and lower their claws when they heard a silent screech coming from Rip. As Yuri, Flynn, Estelle, and everyone else in the street lower their weapons and wonder what is going on now, the Lahmus turn to the direction of Crocus's main gates and crawl and fly their way out of the capital.
"Where are they going?" Estelle asked in confusion.
"What's going on here?" Jude said as he, Leia, Milla, Sami, Vasda, Ludger and Ivar watch them depart.
"Trying to flee without finishing the fight, eh?!" Ivar yelled furiously as he clenches his daggers and chases after the Lahmus from behind in a mad dash.
"Ivar, wait!" Milla shouted to her handmaid, but it fell to deaf ears as Ivar kept running after the Lahmus. Most of them are now crawling through the gates or flying over the walls.
"I will teach you all a lesson for your cowardice, dishonor, and-"
Ivar soon cuts himself off and skids to a halt when he hears the loud boom of Cambion Mons lifting its left front leg up and smashing through the right side of Crocus's main gates. Ivar looks up and sees huge chunks of debris fall and crash onto the ground and buildings below, barely missing him by several inches.
As Ivar stands still and gazes at the giant machine just 250 meters away from him with his eyes wide, Cambion Mons places its left front leg down to leave a large crack on the road and create a strong gust of wind that blows through the handmaid's clothes and hair. Cambion Mons now lifts its other front leg up and smashes through the other side of the gates, and that is when Ivar finally whirls about and flails his arms around as he shrieks and flees in terror.
"FALL BACK!" Lucas bellowed. Everyone else on the street obliged as they turn to either their left or right and run away before Cambion Mons crawls over to where they originally stand. As Cambion Mons places its legs down while crawling, the giant machine leaves behind huge cracks on the brick roads or smash through the top of the buildings below it.
"That thing is heading towards the Flower Light Palace!" Karol cried as he, Judith, Patty, Gildarts, Cana, Jude and Ludger watch the machine while hiding inside an alleyway.
"Not if I can help it!" Gildarts yelled as he runs out of the alleyway. He goes over to the middle of the road and looks up to see the back of Cambion Mons. He looks down on the road and pulls his right fist back.
"MIZUWARI!" Gildarts shouted as he gets down and slams his fist onto the road. The impact of his attack results in a powerful shockwave that can be felt throughout the residential district. It also creates a long fissure along the road, and Cambion Mons tilts to the left as its legs sink inside it.
"Alright! Way a go, Gildarts!" Karol cried happily as Judith, Patty, Cana, and Jude cheered in the alleyway. Ludger smiles and nods his head in approval.
Gildarts grins as he sees that his attack has stalled the giant machine. Unfortunately, that is when seven tentacles emerge from both sides of Cambion Mons. Gildarts's smile vanished when he sees that one of its back tentacles turns to him.
"That can't be good." Gildarts said worriedly.
"Father, look out!" Cana shouted from the alleyway. When the tentacle fly towards Gildarts, he quickly pulls his left fist back.
"EMPYREAN!" Gildarts yelled as he delivers an uppercut and manages to send the tentacle flying upwards. However, another back tentacle from the right side of Cambion Mons flies over to Gildarts and coils around his body. Gildarts yelps in pain as the tentacle tightens its grip and lifts him up in the air.
"Oh no!" Patty cried as she, Karol, Judith, Cana, Jude and Ludger watch in horror.
"Hang in there!" Cana yelled as she runs out of the alleyway. Gildarts groans and yells in pain as the tentacle slowly crushes his body. Cana quickly takes out a card and throws it over to her father. When the card is near him, it traps Gildarts inside. He disappears and the card plummets through the air while the tentacle clenches itself. Mirajane quickly flies over and catches the card with her claw. She swiftly rolls to the left when one of the back tentacles thrusts itself into the ground below.
Everyone in the shopping and residential districts watch as all seven tentacles at the left side of Cambion Mons are now pinned through the road to support the giant machine. The other seven tentacles on the other side also thrust themselves into the ground below, crashing through the rooftops and floors of several apartment buildings in the process. After the tentacles are secured, Cambion Mons moves its body to the right, pulls its left legs out from the large fissure and places them on the road. It lifts itself back up and all its tentacles go back inside its body.
Gildarts, Cana, Karol, Yuri, Lucas, Noel, Velvet, Rafi, Reza, and all the other mages, Mizuhans, Qital Dire warriors, Rune Knights and former praetors could only stand and watch helplessly as Cambion Mons continues crawling over to the Flower Light Palace.
"It would seem Captain Mathias, Team Natsu and the others have failed to stop its advance." Velvet said grimly as she, Laphicet, Jack, Violet, Celty and everyone else in the shopping district look up at the giant machine.
"Is there anything we can do to stop that thing?!" Laphicet cried.
"No, we can't." Edna replied as she stands beside him. "Its shields are still up, so no matter how much magic we use on it, our efforts will be futile."
"No…" Laphicet said dishearteningly. Velvet and Edna place their hands on his shoulders as he now lowers his head.
"I'm sorry." Velvet said sadly to him.
After seeing Cambion Mons coming towards them, all the surviving civilians who are still outside the palace walls scream as they desperately try to squeeze through the gateway, not caring that they are pushing and hitting against each other.
"No! Stop!" Captain Charlton yelled, trying to calm the civilians down.
"Everyone! Don't rush!" Sayyid added.
"No pushing! Please!" Pascal cried, but their pleas are greatly ignored.
"Everyone! Protect the civilians!" Tenya shouted as he, Elfman, Lisanna, Tokoyami, Asbel, Cheria, Sophie, Salem, Mahdi, Fawaz, Nazrul and the other six Qital Dire warriors place themselves in front of the other end of the bridge and get into their fighting stances. They watch Cambion Mons crawling towards them and the palace. About fifteen seconds later, the giant machine came to a halt and now stands about a kilometer away from the Flower Light Palace.
At the palace's balcony, as the other four knights turn around and flee, Hisui, Toma, Arcadios and Darton gaze at Cambion Mons in despair as the giant machine now aims its main cannon directly towards them.
Cornelia laughed maliciously as she sits on her chair and sees the Queen and her aides standing helplessly at the balcony of her palace through the wide screen in front of her. Mard Geer, Riah, Rip, Bradley, Friedrich, and Wilhelm smile as well as they look at the screen, knowing that they and Cornelia are about to achieve their main goal.
"That's right, your Highness." Cornelia sneered with a wide grin. "Let your death mark the beginning of the destruction of the current humanity."
"After we burn Crocus to cinders, the rest of Fiore and Earth Land will follow." Mard Geer added with a wide smile as he places his hands behind his back.
"What is the current capacity of the cannon's power?" Cornelia asked.
"95% charged, ma'am." Rip responded.
"Good." Cornelia said with a smirk. "Finish them."
Hisui, Toma, Arcadios and Darton watch as the front panels of Cambion Mons open again to reveal its cannon. Darton quietly closes his eyes and lowers his head in defeat.
"Your Majesty…it's been an honor serving the both of you." Arcadios said sadly to Hisui and Toma. As a tear rolls down his cheek, Hisui places her hand on his shoulder. Arcadios turns to the queen and sees a weak smile on her face.
"Thank you for everything you have done for us, Chief Arcadios." Hisui said. Arcadios bows his head to her. After removing her hand from his shoulder, Hisui turns to her father who looks up at her with a somber frown.
"Father…" Hisui said softly as her eyes are now brimmed with tears. She kneels to Toma's level and they both pull each other into one final warm embrace.
As the cannon begins to charge up, Bradley looks down at his radar and gasps as he sees one large red rectangular-shaped object heading towards their current location.
"Ma'am! There is one enemy ship approaching us from the left!" Bradley yelled. Cornelia snaps out of her thoughts as she, Mard Geer and Riah turn to him.
"What?!" Cornelia responded incredulously.
Less than two kilometers away from the left side of Cambion Mons, Macey's ship flies towards the giant machine.
Only six people are on board the ship. Macey, Archer, Lyon and Raine stood on the front deck while Colette and Sherria are sitting in the control room and driving the ship towards their target.
"Are you guys ready?" Macey asked Archer, Lyon and Raine as they all stand beside her. The three of them nod their heads while gazing at Cambion Mons. Macey looks back at the giant machine and lets out a sigh. "Let's hope our plan works."
Sovereign: I would like to thank LayLay lives, Amanny, AquaBluey, giovannigreen00, rebbes12 and Crimson-Tuna-Sub for reviewing, favoriting, following, and checking out my story. Thank you!
Chapter Revised on 3rd April 2021.