Chapter 172

A Beast vs. A Monster

Natsu and his group slowly made their way down the hall away from the main room, trying to get out as quickly as possible while carrying their wounded. As they made their way, they felt multiple tremors shake the walls as well as the ground they were walking on.

"Sounds like they started fighting now," said Erza, glancing back. "Let's hope when it's over, Gildarts and Willy will come out of it in one peace. Not to mention there's the matter of the Infinity Clock. Byro, what happens now that the Infinity Clock is no longer under the Oracion Seis' control?"

"It should automatically deactivate; now the seals have been removed," grunted Byro. "And we should be safe from Real Nightmare's effects because of that."

"In that case, then we should head outside and regroup with the others," said Mira. "But the problem with that is that we need to find some form of transportation to get off of this thing."

Immediately at the mention of the word, Natsu's face turned blue with fear, his motion sickness about to rear its head. "Do we have to?!" he gulped nervously. "Maybe we can just jump off and land on something soft."

"I believe that I can be of some assistance with that," said Byro. "Or rather someone else." He dug into his breastplate and pulled out the octopus-like creature from before. "This is Kanaloa. He can take us to safety."

"What? That little thing?" Natsu spoke incredulously. "That thing's so tiny! If anything, that thing's better for an appetizer."

But Natsu was wrong, for right then, Kanaloa hopped off of Byro's hand and started to grow in size. In a few seconds, Kanaloa was now several feet high and was so large that it burst through the wall, making a hole to the outside.

"Holy freaking crap!" Natsu gawked with shock. "It's huge!"

"Kanaloa can change his size at will and also has the ability to fly," said Byro. "He should be more than adequate for our means of transport."

"Nicely done, Byro. We can use your friend to pick up the others," said Erza. "Everyone, climb aboard."

Everyone got on top of Kanaloa's head, and the octopus took to the air, using its tentacles for propulsion as the party began their search of the others. As they flew around, Mira couldn't help but look up towards the Infinity Castle. She knew that there was nothing else that she could do at this point but pray that both Willy and Gildarts would come out of their fight in one piece. However, that didn't stop her from worrying.

Erza then called out. "Warren! Can you hear us?! Please respond!"

"Hey, Erza! Is everyone okay?" Warren asked through his telepathy. "We saw a magic attack come out of the Infinity Castle. It practically destroyed the top of a mountain! What's happening over there?"

"Warren, all of the Oracion Seis have been defeated, and all of their seals have been removed," said Erza. "But the situation's grown more dire. Willy's been retaken under control by a spell."

"Wait, run that by me again," said Warren. "Willy's under the control of a spell?! Is that what's been going on?"

"Yes, and to make things worse, Silver Beard's forced him into a berserk-like state," went on Erza. "We did our best to stop him, but most of us were still weak from our recent battles and were defeated with ease. So, we're using Byro's creature to gather those that still breaking the chains while Gildarts is fighting Willy."

"What?! Gildarts is fighting Willy?!" exclaimed Elfman's voice. "But why?! A real man like him is going to demolish him!"

"We didn't have a choice," said Mira. "Willy's power has grown to the point where he was able to overwhelm even Byro and his Nullification Magic. And since everyone else is running low on magic, Gildarts is the only one left who can still fight. Besides, it's not like there was anything else we could have done. All we can do is leave it up to Gildarts. In the meantime, for those who are still outside breaking the chains, stop what you're doing and wait for us to come and get you. After that's done, we're pulling out."

"Roger that," said Warren. "Did everyone get that?"

"Yes," the other Fairy Tail wizards acknowledged.

Erza looked over to Mira and saw that her hands were clenched while trembling. From the looks of things, she was trying her best to keep herself together. The armored redhead looked back towards the Infinity Clock, the sounds of explosions being heard in the distance.

"Gildarts, please do what you can to stop Willy," Erza thought to herself. "And Willy, please come out from this alive."

Back inside, Willy was attacking Gildarts with series of punches and swipes with his claws, while Gildarts parried and blocked. Each one had so much weight and strength that as Gildarts stood his ground, he started moving back a little. Then as Willy threw another punch, Gildarts side-stepped dodging the blow making Willy shoot past him, skidding himself to a stop.

"Hey, now. Take it easy, kid," Gildarts warned. "I'm not exactly good at holding back, but I'm ain't keen on messing you up so much, so if you can hear me, try to calm down, would you?"

Willy responded with another scream of rage as he wildly swung another fist, this time enlarging it. Gildarts quickly jumped out of the way as Willy swung haphazardly making him hit the wall, destroying it with a single blow. Willy then shrunk his fist and held out his hands, extending his claws like before, and began swiping at Gildarts like a madman on a killing spree while releasing a barrage of black crescent blades. Gildarts dodged and weaved, avoiding them as they sliced and cut through the rubble and the ground around him like butter, while Willy pursued him. Then, Willy using both of his hands, created a large shuriken and threw it with a mighty heave.

Gildarts eyes went wide with surprise. "Oh, crap!" he exclaimed. "He's really out to get me, huh?"

The man quickly raised his hand and, using his Crush magic, made the shuriken break into small cube-like pieces. However, Willy shot straight through them and clocked Gildarts square in the face, sending him skidding back a bit. As Willy let out a snarl swinging a leg, Gildarts threw a punch while imbuing it with his magic. As they two collided, Gildarts' fist released a powerful shockwave that pulverized the ground and sent Willy flying from the force. Then, the ground began to grow unstable and started to crumble apart.

As Gildarts and Willy fell through the floor, Willy used one of the pieces of rubble for footing and shot himself towards Gildarts, and gave him a powerful kick to his stomach, knocking him down the ground. Gildarts, while managing to land on his feet, winced as he instinctively held his abs. Willy then shot forward and swung with a roundhouse kick aiming for Gildarts face, forcing the man to bend backward to avoid it. But as Willy missed, he used the momentum to turn himself around and land a punch square Gildarts' hip, the force making him skid backward. Willy attacked once again with a flurry of punches, aiming squarely for Gildarts's abs as he parried and blocked them.

"D-Damn it. This kid's like a wolf!" grunted Gildarts. "He's targeting my wound from when Acnologia gutted me!"

Gildarts tried to gain some distance, but Willy, while morphing his hands into tendrils, relentlessly pursued him, not even giving him a chance to breathe. He made his tendrils shot forward and extend like a pair of snakes, relentlessly pursuing Gildarts with the intent to impale him. Gildarts blocked and defended from the blows, swatting them away if they got close. Willy then retracted his tendrils and made them change into back into claws, and shot towards Gildarts again, quickly closing in.

"All right, now I'm starting to get a bit miffed," panted Gildarts. "I think it's time I use a bit more force."

Gildarts's body began to radiate with magic in the form of a white aura as he powered up. Willy swung sharply, intent on giving Gildarts a powerful punch to his gut, but Gildarts reacted quickly and blocked the punch, by catching his fist and threw it away, forcing Willy back. Then, he swung with a punch of his own, forcing Willy to block, but the attack forced back from the sheer force alone. The two then charged and attacked each other with multiple rapid-fire punches until Gildarts clocked Willy hard on the chin. Willy recoiled in pain but didn't stop as he swiped back with his claw, only for Gildarts to step over to the slide and hit him square in the stomach, using his magic to enhance it. In a mighty explosion, Willy was sent flying, smashing through numerous walls as he did.

But in a black explosion of his aura as well as a mighty roar, Willy charged toward Gildarts again. The two dashed and zipped around while clashing with blows, making the ground shake and crumble around them from their battle. As they clashed, Willy was able to land a couple of good hits on Gildarts, but they hardly did any damage with the way his opponent was. Gildarts, on the other hand, was able to land several hits on Willy, inflicting heavy damage, but the boy refused to go down as he continued to attack Gildarts appearing to grow angrier with every hit.

Then, as Willy flew through the air, he used the ceiling as a footing and launched himself at Gildarts while clenching his fists at the same time. Gildarts quickly crossed his arms to block, imbued magic into his foot, and gave the ground a stomp. As Willy's fists collided with Gildarts' arms, the ground was suddenly pulverized, while a giant geyser of ooze erupted from their collision. Thanks to Gildarts' stomping the ground with his Crush magic, he was able to soften the impact, taking less damage. However, this also made the ground crumble apart along with the surrounding area once again, causing himself and Willy to fall through it to the outside below.

Natsu and his group on top of Kanaloa had managed to pick up some of the other members and were looking around for anyone else. Then, a tremendous explosion came from the Infinity Castle side, and two objects came falling out from it. One was Gildarts, who managed to land on a chain connecting to the castle, and the other was Willy, who made his claws of ooze extend to grab hold of the same chain while he pulled himself up.

"Hey, look! It's Gildarts and Willy!" cried Happy.

Willy snarled with fury as he shot towards Gildarts again and attacked with multiple punches and kicks, while Gildarts parried and countered and nailed Willy straight into his gut, the force of it sending him back. This made Willy's eyes glow with rage as his magic aura exploded while growing thicker and larger in size. Knowing that he was powering up, Gildarts swung his metal fist, clocking Willy right in the face, but much to his shock, he didn't even flinch, much less register the blow, his eyes glinting with angry malice. Willy then slugged a punch right into Gildarts' stomach that had more power behind it. Gildarts felt his breath get caught in his throat as he sent him flying and crashing into a chain.

"Holy crap! Willy sent Gildarts flying with one punch?!" exclaimed Natsu with disbelief. "Just how the heck strong is he now?!"

"His power has been multiplied ten-fold," Byro murmured in an unnerved tone. "I know it's all because of that drug Satoshi injected in him, but I never imagined it would make him so powerful to be on par with Gildarts himself."

Willy crossed his arms and began charging power as the green eye in the center of his chest began to glow. Then, with a loud bellow as he uncrossed his arms, he stuck out his chest and unleashed another powerful beam that had more power than it did before. The beam shot straight towards the chain where Gildarts was sent, but just when it was about to hit, a strange white net encased the blast and dispersed it into pieces. That net came from Gildarts, who had managed to use his magic to save himself before the blast hit. Then, just like before, more cracks began to form on Willy's skin while spurting out large spurts of black liquid.

Wendy gasped in horror. "What's happening to him?!" she exclaimed. "He's losing a lot of blood!"

"That attack is taking too much of a heavy toll on him!" Erza spoke with worry. "At this rate, his body won't be able to take much more of this!"

Mira clasped her hand over her mouth, her eyes also wide with horror from this sight. Gildarts then leaped from where he was sent, clenching his iron fist, and Willy leaped from his swinging a knee. Both of them collided once again from midair and started to slug at each other while falling towards the ground. As soon as they landed on the ground, Gildarts' body began to radiate with his magic aura once again; this time, the aura was even thicker than before and was filled with intense pressure. Not wanting to give Gildarts a chance to counter, Willy let out a roar, intent on taking advantage, shot forward at him. However, he capitalized all too late as Gildarts' body exploded with his magic aura, his eyes going cold and merciless.

Willy swung a fist aiming for Gildarts face, only to have him duck out of the way and give him a swift punch on the jaw, sending him flying as he shot after him. The anger-crazed boy braced himself skidding to a stop, but Gildarts didn't let up, giving him a right punch to his cheek, a left punch to his other cheek, and a powerful kick to his stomach. Each blow made Willy's eyes bug out and a large glob of spit come out of his mouth. The last impact also sent Willy flying, smashing through several trees, and tumbling to the ground, but he quickly got back up and, with another crazed yell, unleashed a powerful black torrent of ooze from his mouth. Gildarts jumped up avoiding the blast, landed just behind Willy, and gave him a swift kick square in the back almost breaking him in half. A powerful shockwave ripped the ground apart, and Willy was sent flying and tumbling on the ground like a ball until he slammed straight into the bottom of a cliff. The impact made the cliff crack and fall apart, burying Willy in a pile of rock. Not too far away, Natsu and his party on Kanaloa came floating down, watching the battle from above.

"O-Oh man. Talk about brutal," murmured Happy with a cringe.

"Willy can't even touch Gildarts now," said Pantherlily. "I'm actually amazed that he's lasted this long with him."

"Y-You think that finished him?" asked Warren tentatively. "I mean, no one can get up after taking a hit like that."

Then, suddenly, the pile of rock exploded as Willy emerged, letting out a bellowing roar as his magic aura began to flare once again in response to his anger, growing stronger than before.

"You got to be kidding me! How is he able to stay up?!" exclaimed Carla. "It's insane! I don't know to call it amazing or something else."

"That may be so, but still, it's not right what's become of him," said Mira. "Satoshi treated him like a slave, a tool used for his own personal ends, and even went as far as to mock him by telling him what he did to his parents. Now he's snapped, turned into a crazed savage, and completely broken, and there's nothing we can do to help him."

Willy's attacks were now unfocused and wild, making them easy to predict for Gildarts, allowing him to dodge and avoid them all, and deliver another hard punch right on the face. Willy skidded back from the recoil from the force but made several sharp tendrils erupt from his body, shooting all of them towards him at once. Gildarts sprinted, dodging and avoiding all of the tendrils, not a single one hitting him, and nailed Willy with a powerful punch to the gut, a couple of punches to his chest, and a mighty smack on his right cheek, catapulting him once again. However, Gildarts didn't let up as he chased after him, punching him several times on his cheeks, a couple on his chest and abdominal region, and finished with a powerful punch right in the middle of the eye on his chest. The strike made the boy's eyes go wide as he vomited out a glob of black ooze, as the force sent him sliding back before coming to a stop.

Willy then powered up once again with a howl and clenched his fist, making it erupt with ooze. It rapidly grew to a large size overwhelming his body, and began to change, turning into a large fish-like creature with large teeth and glowing green eyes. Everyone on Kanaloa gasped with shock and fear.

"Wh-What in the world is he doing?!" exclaimed Byro. "Did he turn into a water creature?!"

"No! That's Willy's Dragon Slayer Secret Art!" cried Natsu. "That Shark Fist thingy!"

"The Aqua Lotus: Shark Surge Fist!" gasped Wendy. "But this one's way different than before! I've never seen it so scary and evil looking!"

The shark set his sights towards Gildarts and let out a roar as it shot straight towards him. But Gildarts remained where he stood, not moving. Then, just as the shark was close enough as it opened its jaws to swallow him whole, he slammed his fist directly into its snout while jumping into the air. It began to crack and crumble, thick white lines spreading throughout its body until it finally burst to pieces, dispelling it completely, and exposing Willy. Before Willy could react, Gildarts shot towards him and gave him a devastating punch right on top of his head, sending him plummeting to the ground, slamming into it with an earth-shaking boom, creating an enormous crater. The party on Kanaloa was amazed.

"I-Impossible! He was able to nullify it?!" exclaimed Byro. "Did he just use his own nullification magic?!"

"No, he destroyed it using his Crush Magic," gasped Warren. "In the blink of an eye."

As Gildarts landed back on the ground, Willy managed to get up once again, pulling himself out of the crater. His body was covered in welts and bruises, the eye in the center of his chest was swollen and black, and the cracks all over his body were now oozing even more black liquid than before. Believing that Willy wasn't finished yet, and knowing that he would have to knock him out to stop him, Gildarts clenched his fist, making his magic power flare as he took a stance.

"Wait, what's Gildarts doing?!" exclaimed Wendy.

"He's overflowing with magic power!" cried Carla. "If he strikes Willy with that much force, he'll be done for!"

"Gildarts! Stop your attack!" yelled Erza. "You're going to kill him!"

Upon sensing the overwhelming power that was radiating from the man, for the first time since he went berserk, Willy's sanity had begun to return, his anger being replaced by fear, as he took a step back, while his green eyes flickered from green to brown.

Gildarts coiled his legs and prepared punch as his magic aura continued to flare.

"NOW, CRUSHING EVIL, SPREADING TRUTH! EMPYREAN!"

All Willy could do was stand where he stood, trembling in fear and staring in horror, while everyone else tried to yell at Gildarts to stop his assault. Gildarts then shot forward, the ground ripping apart from his power alone, and prepared to land a powerful uppercut to finish Willy off. But then, a voice screamed at the top of her lungs.

"GILDARTS, STOP IT! ! ! ! !"

Immediately, Gildarts stopped, his fist stopping just inches away from Willy's chin. Silence fell, the only sound being the wind blowing through the area. Everyone looked on Kanaloa looked across to Mira, who was the very person who screamed, while she fell to her knees out of relief and terror.

The green in Willy's eyes then returned to brown, and the eye in the center of his chest slowly closed up. The horns and fin-like protrusions on his head receded, and his claws turned into liquid, revealing his hands underneath. Then, after a few seconds of standing there frozen with fear, Willy's eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell flat on his back, unconscious.

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As always, thank you for reading this chapter, and I hope to see you next time!

Dragomaster, signing off!