SailorStar9: We now continue with Chapter 139 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?
Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny and my OCs.
Chapter 139: Alvarez Empire Arc: Defending Magnolia
Under the birch tree...
"I knew I'll find you here." Gray took his place beside Ulyo who was leaning against the tree trunk. "Want some?" he offered her an unopened chocolate pack.
"When I said you own me chocolate, this wasn't what I meant." Ulyo sweatdropped, but took the packet nonetheless.
"About Elia," Gray started. "I'm sorry."
"Not your fault." Ulyo assured. "I should've been more careful."
"I have a special trick up my sleeve, too." Gray smirked, recalling Natsu's declaration. "Zeref, E.N.D, I'm coming for you."
In the Fairy Tail Guildhall...
"Warren, has your scanner picked up anything?" Makarov asked, Warren having set up a city-wide radar, complete with the 3-D map.
"No signs of the enemy in Fiore yet." Warren reported.
"The north, south, or west." Makarov pondered. "Knowing which direction they'll make landfall from will help us devise a plan."
"A diversion to the north with the main force to the south would be the most orthodox strategy." Mavis predicted, returning after visiting the other Guild members. "I just checked up on everyone before the battle begins. Not one is apprehensive about the situation we are in. They're a very hardy bunch, indeed."
"Is that how they seem to you?" Makarov knew better. "The way I see it, they're desperately trying to hold back their unease. They're trying to ease their anxiety and boost their spirits by nestling up to their friends. But that's not necessarily their fault. It's natural for children to be afraid if their parent is afraid. But it's the duty of the parent to stand ahead of their kids and plant their trembling feet firmly on the ground."
Just then, the hanging lamp was blown out when a cold gust of wind blew into the Guildhall.
Under the birch tree...
"What is this?" Gray noticed the billowing dark fog blanketing the ground.
"They're here!" Ulyo frowned.
In the Fairy Tail Guildhall...
"It can't be!" Mavis breathed in disbelief.
"Warren, is your magic radar working?" Makarov demanded.
"Don't look at me." the telepathic mage protested. "Heck if I know what this is. Damn!" he cursed when the radar picked up incoming forces. "Why didn't we see them approaching?"
"All members, prepare for battle!" Mavis gave the order. "The enemy is coming from the sky. Approximately 50 full-sized aerial cruisers."
Outside...
"There are too many of them." Macao exclaimed.
"Just one is big enough to take on the whole Guild." Wakaba gaped.
"That's just one fraction of the Empire's forces." Makarov informed.
"No one said anything about an aerial attack!" Warren panicked.
In the air...
"All right." Ajeel laughed, on board the captain's ship. "Get ready to become clouds of desert dust, Fairy Tail. Let the battle begin."
In the Fairy Tail Guildhall...
"Ring the bell!" Mavis barked. "The enemy is attacking. Approximately 50 aerial cruisers from the west."
In the air...
"Fire!" Ajeel gave the command and the cruiser fleet rained a barrage of blasts at the Fairy Tail Guildhall, only to hit a shield.
In the Kardia Cathedral...
"Enchantment activated!" using the cathedral as a foci point, Freed expanded his Jutsu Shiki to erect a defensive barrier around the town.
In the air...
"A magic barrier spell." Ajeel was impressed. "Looks like an enchantment."
In the Fairy Tail Guildhall...
"Shodai, not even Freed can hold back this onslaught for long." Makarov reminded.
In the Kardia Cathedral...
"Stay strong, Freed." Evergreen encouraged.
"Use my magic power, Freed." Bickslow offered.
In the Fairy Tail Guildhall...
"We never anticipated an aerial attack from the west." Macao growled. "What do we do?"
"No," Mavis corrected. "Everything so far remains within expectations. It appears to be an advance squadron, but luckily, this is a smaller scale attack than I anticipated. Warren, send everyone this message. Strategy D: Flying Dragons and Ospreys, commence attack!"
In the Western Woods...
"This is Osprey Unit in the Eastern Woods." Bisca reported, using her spyglass to pinpoint her target. "Target is too far away."
In the Fairy Tail Guildhall...
"Bisca, if anyone can do it, it's you." Mavis was confident in the sharpshooter's ability.
In the air...
"Attack, attack." Ajeel grinned as the airships continued their bombardment. "Let's see how long you can last. What's that?" he spotted three streaks of light in front of his ship.
"Say hi to the Flying Dragons!" Natsu declared, the three Dragon Slayers having shot through one of the airships and destroying it.
"Let's do it." Gajeel took the lead.
"Shoot them down!" Ajeel ordered, the three Dragon Slayers had taken down a portion of the aerial cruisers.
"Curses." Pantherlily muttered. "There's too much enemy fire."
"Isn't Bisca ready yet?" Carla wondered.
In the Western Woods...
"This is Osprey Unit." Bisca reported, having charged up the Jupiter Cannon. "Magic power charged and ready. Each shot take 15 minutes to charge. I can't afford to miss. By the way, an osprey is a bird that never lets it's prey get away. Focused Magic Cannon, Jupiter, fire!" she fired the compressed magic beam from the cannon.
On the streets...
"Since when did we have Phantom's main cannon?" Juvia gawked, having met up with Gray and Ulyo a little earlier.
"Shodai is really something." Gray was impressed.
In the air...
"Gonna do better than that." Ajeel raised a palm to block off the incoming magic beam, refracting the energy beam
In the Western Woods...
"He diffused it?" Bisca gasped.
"It did take out a few ships, though." Alzack pointed out.
In the air...
"He seriously diffused a Jupiter blast." Pantherlily noted.
"Only option is to fight up close." Gajeel decided. "Let's go to the leader's ship."
"Gajeel," Ulyo's voice fizzled from the communication crystal earring she gave the Iron Dragon Slayer before the battle started. "Have you forgotten the one common weakness all you Dragon Slayers have right now?"
"She's right about that." Pantherlily concurred. "What the..." he blinked when a single slice took out the ship's bow from above.
"Who are you?" Ajeel glared at the intruder, Erza having cut down his men in her 'Heaven's Wheel Armor'.
"The one who will cut you down." Erza declared.
In the Kardia Cathedral...
"Kneel before the Fairy Queen, Titania!" Evergreen grinned.
On Ajeel's ship...
"Several ships have landed." Carla reminded. "We need to go and deal with them."
"We'll have to leave this to her." Gajeel agreed. "We can't do much on a ship."
"There's no need to worry about Erza." Pantherlily nodded.
In the Fairy Tail Guildhall...
"Defeating one of the Twelve will be very difficult, even for Erza." Makarov predicted.
"Let us have faith in her." Mavis remarked.
"Morale will boost sky-high if we can fend off this enemy group." Warren declared.
In the Kardia Cathedral...
"Your enchantment isn't a perfect defensive spell?" Evergreen was surprised.
"Nothing in this world is perfect." Freed reasoned.
"The enemy ships' magic attacks are just too strong." Bickslow remarked.
"But the Flying Dragons and Ospreys reduced those attacks by half." Freed reminded. "I might be able to keep us protected now."
On the Western Hill outside Magnolia...
A portion of the airships had descended on the ground.
"Forward, to Magnolia!" Bakel ordered the land troops forward.
"Breaking through the enemy's enchantment won't be a problem." Kareem related. "He is here, too. The enchantment will eventually fall. To be hones,t I feel this much military might is excessive for such a feeble foe. But it's a soldier's job to carry out his assigned duties."
"How nice of you to land on the ground for us." the incoming Natsu grinned and the three Dragon Slayers proceeded to fight off the ground troops.
"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu sent a wave of fire towards the soldiers.
Bakel simply cut through the fire wave with a pressurized air blade.
On Ajeel's ship...
"Heaven's Wheel: Circle Sword!" Erza sent her swords flying towards Ajeel.
"That lousy attack won't work one me." using his sand, Ajeel deflected the blades.
"Black Wing: Moon Slash!" Erza swapped to her 'Black Wing Armor' and moved right in front of the sand user to release her attack.
"How many people in your Guild are stronger than you?" Ajeel easily dodged the cross-shaped energy slices. "Your cheap tricks are a joke." he kicked Erza away.
"Don't you dare mock Fairy Tail!" Erza glared, slashing at Ajeel again, the sand mage jumping to avoid the slash.
"It's not even worth mocking." Ajeel taunted, engulfing Erza in his sandstorm. "Prepare to decay into sand."
In the Kardia Cathedral...
"What's wrong, Freed?" Evergreen asked, when the Jutsu Shiki user snapped his eyes open.
"Impossible." Freed hissed. "A hole opened in the enchantment?"
In the Fairy Tail Guildhall...
"A crack has appeared in part of Freed's enchantment." Warren reported. "No, wait. A hole?"
"The enemy is has magic barrier canceler?" Mavis gasped.
On the streets of the deserted Magnolia...
"This is a piece of cake, indeed." Wall Eehto marched in with his troops in tow. "We'll teach them how powerful Alvarez is."
In the Fairy Tail Guildhall...
"Such magic power..." Makarov was shocked. "Is another member of the Twelve here, too?"
"They're entering the city." Mavis shouted. "Intercept them, everyone!"
On the streets...
"They've broken through?" Juvia was stunned.
"From Fairy Hills?" even Ulyo was shocked.
In the Fairy Tail Guildhall...
"Just head to the hole in the enchantment." Warren informed. "Who's the closest? Elfman, Lisanna, Mira, get there quick. Another!" the warning bell from his radar was set off. "There's another member of the Twelve in the city."
"Three of them in one group?" Jet gasped. "Can we really defend against that?"
"This isn't happening." Warren stammered. "A massive force of over 300 ships is approaching from the north. And judging from the magic power, it's another three of the Twelve. And that's not all. There's another massive force coming from the south, also with three members of the Twelve."
"We're surrounded on three sides?" Makarov was taken aback.
"No..." Warren wept, turning to his Guild Master. "A huge force of over one million soldiers is coming from the east with three of the Twelve. We're surrounded on all four sides. We have nowhere left to run."
"How did they get east of us?" Macao gaped.
"They'd have to go through Bosco." Wakaba stated.
"We never expected an attack from all four sides." Jet was astounded.
No matter how I calculate it, we have zero chance of winning. Mavis realized in horror.
SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.