The brawls outside of the Ishgar's Strongest tournament were far from finished. Even though Cobra and the others managed to defeat the Wizard Hunters in Crown Castle, Gray and his team still had to defeat Brax within the Christina to ensure that Hisui and Emerald were freed from what was Pergrande's dirty trick. Gray was supported by Wendy, Cynthia, and Juvia in the effort to take Brax down. The mage of flame was stronger than Gray expected and the backup was appreciated despite his efforts to go solo.
Brax wiped his chin, spitting out some blood from the last hit Gray landed on him: A solid, enhanced punch across his jaw. "So you think a little buff is gonna keep you from losing to me!?" The commandant stood back up, growling towards Gray.
"That spell feels even stronger than usual, Wendy!" Cynthia said with a confident grin.
"Mhm…!" Wendy nodded. Her expression was serious, but she was also just as surprised as everyone else. She used the spell not too long ago but it didn't feel nearly as empowering. In fact, she was feeling a bit strange since Prometheus attacked her the other day… "Gray-san, we're behind you!"
"Go, Gray-sama!" Juvia yelled, swiping her arm to the side, ready to support Gray when he needed it. They were going to fulfill Mii's request together, because that's what Fairy Tail did.
"BURN!" Brax threw his chakrams forward, fierce lines of flame shooting towards Gray and the others to scorch them to cinders.
"FREEZE!" Gray threw his hand outward, emitting a powerful frost to clash with these flames. It was a fierce stalemate of elemental rivals, but Gray wasn't going to lose. The two elements ended in a stalemate, pushing both sides back from a mini explosion. But unlike past clashes, Gray was able to hold his ground this time. "Yeah, this might work!"
"Might!? Don't so ahead of yourself, Fiore trash!" Brax snarled, grinding his teeth in anger at the audacity of these Fiore mages. Did they really think they could stand a chance against him like this!? He had to remind them of their place. Brax threw his chakrans out in two separate directions, watching as the moved to converge on Gray from his left and right. "Arc Fire!"
Gray grinned and sprinted forward, ice shooting out underfoot so he could increase his speed and skate. "Ice Devil's…" With his increase in speed, he was able to avoid the incoming chakrams and make a beeline right towards Brax, blades of ice appearing on his arm and opposing arm's shoulder. "Ice Devil's Bladed Dance!" Leaping forward, Gray spun around several times, aiming his bladed arms at Brax. The hits totaled to seven, but Brax was able to dodge or block all but two, but those two hits did leave their mark, cutting into his white cloak and his cheek. "Gotcha!"
Brax recoiled from the hit before snapping his fingers with a malicious grin. Before Gray knew it, he was ignited in a fierce explosion of fire. It was so strong he was thrown backwards, hitting the nearest wall. "Yeah?!"
"Gh…" Gray shook his head, slowly attempting to stand up. Unfortunately for him, he was just now realizing how much damage he sustained prior to the others coming to aid him. Brax was throwing him around for the most part and he barely managed to strike him…but fortunately for Gray, he had allies to support him.
"Flame Nova!" Brax caught his chakrams as they returned to him, throwing them towards Gray while he was struggling to recover.
"Water Nebula!" Juvia exclaimed, throwing her hands forward to throw a powerful cyclone of water outward. With Wendy's enchantment, she was able to kill the flames, resulting in a thick cloud of steam that flooded the area.
"Damn!" Brax growled, vision clouded.
"Sky Dragon's Wing Slash!" Wendy was already behind Brax before he knew what happened. Her arms were extended, 'wings' of wind cutting into his side merely a second after the steam even appeared.
"Where did that one…!?" Brax was quick to return fire, thrusting his hand forward to envelop Wendy in a wave of fire that pushed her into a nearby wall. But just as he dealt with one….
"Twin Talons!" Cynthia emerged the second Brax put his focus on Wendy. She aimed two fiery kicks at Brax's face, but he used his free arm to block them easily. "Ack…!" And then Cynthia was struck with a kick to her gut that sent her rolling across the floor.
Gray used the time bought not only to recover, but to forge a bow and arrow of ice. "Ice Devil Zeroth's Destruction Bow!" Gray fired the arrow towards Brax and there was an explosion of purple ice. This stopped him from attacking Wendy, who was barely able to defend and escape. "Got him!"
"Got me?" Half of Brax's body was frozen over, but to say he had been bested was an overzealous assumption. With a flex of his arm, the ice around his body shattered and melted to nothingness. "You've hardly done much to stop me!"
"I think he's right, it doesn't feel like anything we're doing sticks…" Cynthia gulped. "How do we hurt this guy for good?"
"I'll tell you how. You don't." Brax clicked his chakrams together, fusing them together to create an elongated blade. "BURNING SWORD!" Giving the Fairy Tail wizards no time to react, he slammed this sword down onto them, cutting through the Christina with a powerful explosion of flame. It wasn't just the ship of Blue Pegasus that was cut cleanly, but there was a deep, burning gash in the earth that spanned for a kilometer or so. Gray, Cynthia, Wendy, and Juvia were all caught in the blast and thrown about haphazardly, landing somewhere outside.
"I-It burns…" Juvia was receiving the worst of it. She attempted to use her Water Body to avoid the damage completely, but the heat was so much, that the moment it made contact with her, it turned into boiling steam that burned her.
"Ouch…" Wendy's defensive enchantment barely kept her in the game after that attack.
"Damn…this guy really isn't messing around…" Gray was face down on the ground, but he clenched his hand into a fist, picking up some dirt.
Brax was going to attack one more, but he was halted by a mixture of snow, wind, and ice. It struck his back, the impact noticeable enough for him to turn around. "What the…?"
"You will not…get what you desire…" Ren panted heavily, glaring at Brax. The members of Blue Pegasus were far from finished! Hibiki, Eve, and Jenny all attacked at once to capture his attention and it worked, but…that was the extent of their plan.
"I have a lot of witnesses to burn to cinders today." Brax just shook his head. More work, but it was worth it in the end. He threw his chakrams forward, but Cytnhia intervened, sucking the flames from the weapons to make them harmless and fueling herself. Even if the Burning Sword did not damage her directly, the ensuing explosion was still enough to bruise her. "Thanks for the food!"
The dragon slayer! He was wondering where she went after the explosion. "Kids…!" Cynthia lunged forward, aiming a powerful punch at Brax's gut, but he caught her arm before she could make contact. "Always doing the damnedest things!" He then lifted his knee, sharply slamming it into Cynthia's gut to knock the wind out of her. He couldn't expend too much effort fighting someone immune to fire, so he could incapacitate her and leave her for later.
"Gah-!" Cynthia coughed, the air escaping her lungs. While she was coughing profusely, Brax tossed her at the Blue Pegasus members, who struggled to catch her and their injuries just made them topple over.
Brax slowly approached the downed Gray, stepping onto his head to force his face into the dirt. While Brax had this many people down, he only suffered moderate damage at the end of it all. "Don't you see now? You never had a chance to begin with. Fairy Tail and Blue Pegasus together weren't able to even get too close to the power of a Commandant. This mission of yours was a failure from the start."
"Ggg…" Gray groaned as he was forced into the ground.
Brax shook his head, gripping Gray by his hair with one hand to pull him out and up to face him. "That defiant look on your face pisses me off. Who are you trying to stand up to? All you had to do was leave things alone and you would've been just fine. But you just had to stick your nose into this business!"
"This business...Mii's business…is our business." Gray spat. "Because we're her family…and she needs Fairy Tail more than she'll ever let us know."
"T-That's right! We won't let Mii-san down!" Juvia exclaimed.
Brax could only shake his head. "This belief you have in family…it's cute, I will admit. But it's also your downfall. Because of your intervention, now you have to die alongside Blue Pegasus. It's a shame, but I'm just following orders." Brax's free hand turned into a sharp blade of fire that he stabbed through Gray's chest, aiming right for his heart. He wasn't taking any chances and he was making an example out of the ice devil. "This is what happens to those who stand in Pergrande's way."
"G-GRAY-SAMA..!" Juvia's eyes were wide in horror.
"Gray-san…!" Wendy screamed.
Gray had no words. His eyes went wide from shock and his mouth just hung open and his body…completely froze. Literally. The Gray that was stabbed began to lose pigment and was revealed to just be an ice clone cleverly placed the moment Blue Pegasus took Brax's attention. "W-WHAT THE!? W-Where's the real-!?"
Gray was a few feet away from Brax, within his Frozen Monarch's mode. He kept this hidden until the last second; needing to make sure this would be enough to put Brax down. The temperature in the area lowered considerably to near zero, the magic power radiating off Gray causing the area to shake. "This is what happens to people who talk down on Fairy Tail! You can try to diminish our bonds all you want, but you're about to see just how strong they are! Ice Make: Absolute Zero!" A powerful wave of ice shot from Gray, instantly freezing everything over in front of him, moving towards Brax instantly.
Brax's shock quickly faded, a smirk now appearing on his lips as he held his arms outward, a tornado of flames erupting around him, staving off the ice that Gray created. "Hahaha! I guess I underestimated you a little bit, but this little chill isn't going to be enough to stop me!" Brax's tornado of fire continued expanding outwards, slowly overpowering Gray's ice despite his boost in power. "I witnessed me kill the god of ice with my own hands! What makes you think your ice is any different!?"
"Because my ice isn't alone!" Gray yelled!
There was the sound of inhalation that was barely audible through all the rumbling. But it was Cynthia who recovered from the wind being knocked out of her, continuously consuming Brax's fire. She was killing it slowly. Along with Cynthia were Wendy using her winds to kill out the flames along with Ren and Hibiki using Air magic, Eve using his snow, and Jenny using her Artificial Dragon takeover to use absorb the flames. All of these elements together slowly allowed Gray to overpower Brax.
"Gh…W-What is this?!" Brax growled.
"Fairy Tail has a bond stronger than anything in this world…but Fiore itself also has a strong bond!" Gray yelled. "We've overcome far too many challenges to be put down by someone like you!"
"I'll burn you all to CINDERS!" Brax yelled, attempting to expand his flames outward. There were eight people fighting against him, he had to…! Wait…eight? But…there were nine people…!? Gray, Juvia, Wendy, Cynthia, Ren, Jenny, Eve, Hibiki…..Brax then sensed a presence above him and that's when his eyes widened.
Ichiya was up above, leaping into the eye of the storm and crashing down in his Maximum Manliness form, a muscular arm drawn back. "MEEEEEEEEEEN!" Brax was so focused on his tornado, he could not possibly muster a defense for Ichiya slamming his large fist on Brax's crown, the impact creating a resounding shockwave that boomed out.
"G-GAAH!" Brax recoiled hands grasping his hand. He couldn't afford to focus on his tornado. This was the opening they all needed.
"TIME TO FREEZE!" Gray yelled, putting his all into one final push. With nothing to defend himself with, Brax had no choice but to succumb to frost. His body was rapidly freezing over despite his efforts to resist it.
"D-DAMN YOU…FIOREEEEEEEEE…!" Brax yelled as his body was encased in ice at absolute zero. There was nothing he could do to free himself from this torment.
"D-Damn…" Gray returned to normal, nearly collapsing on the spot. "I was saving that to beat down Natsu one day…but I had no choice but to pull it out here…"
"D-Did we win..!?" Eve asked tentatively.
"I hope so, he's strong…" Wendy said with a soft exhale. Cynthia was supporting her to stand, while Juvia leaned against Gray.
"That should keep him for a while…but not too long." Gray said with a grimace. He hated to admit it, but he wasn't sure how long that would hold. "I don't think he's conscious, but who knows how long it'll be until he wakes up."
"Leave the rest to us!" Happy, Carla, and Lector flew by, picking up the frozen Brax and lifted him into the air. "We'll drop him in a river somewhere! Even if he wakes up, he won't remember where he is!"
"You cats are evil." Jenny wasn't objecting to this, though. "Wait, before you go!" The model then reached out to grab the device Brax stole from them. "Now we're good to go!"
"Off we go!" Happy said with a taunting smile. The Exceeds then flew off, plotting to drop Brax in a riverbank somewhere before he thawed out.
"I'm glad that turned out well…" Ren slicked his hair back. "But we have a more pressing matter on our hands now…our poor ship…" Christina was cut cleanly in half.
"Do not worry, Men." Ichiya said confidently. "We've repaired this heart and soul of Blue Pegasus before, and we shall again! Men!"
"It's that kind of leadership that we follow so adamantly." Hibiki adjusted his mostly ruined tie. "We can still complete the mission that was entrusted to us. So you can rest easy and recover, Fairy Tail. We will ensure that Mii's request is complete…and while that is done…"
"You want Natsu and the others to kick the crap out of everyone in the tournament?" Gray let out a slight laugh. "Don't worry. They'd do that even if you didn't ask them to."
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Kagura hit her limit. The battle against Renae took a lot out of her and Medusa was just as strong. It was evident on the Mermaid's face that she wasn't going to last much longer against the woman. Still, she was going to give it her best shot, swinging her sword at Medusa, but the woman was able to avoid them despite how fast she was…or rather, Kagura was slowing down due to her injuries. Even her gravity couldn't help her too much. "Hah! Yah!"
"Clinging on to the end? I didn't realize Mermaids were such cockroaches." Medusa scoffed while evading Kagura's attacks. Despite her condition, Kagura was still slashing with a lot of intensity; her speed just wasn't keeping up. Medusa evaded a downward slash then grabbed Kagura's arm, pulling her close, face to face. "It's time to settle this."
"Gh…" Kagura glared into Medusa's eyes and that was her mistake. The second she did that, her body froze against her will. "W-What…I…I can't move…!?"
"I am simply going to avoid dragging this out, for your sake." Medusa rolled her eyes and kicked Kagura in the stomach with enough force to send her blade flying into the air.
Kagura coughed while rolling along the ground a few times. There was nothing more she could at this point, her body couldn't move…wait… "Ngh…" Her gaze went to her flying sword. She could attempt to pull a fast one. As a last ditch effort, she manipulated the gravity around her sword to fall towards Medusa, who didn't seem to notice.
It looked like it would have worked, if not for the tiny spark of flame that erupted and diverted the sword elsewhere. Medusa noticed then, expression souring for a multitude of reasons; Kagura's trick and the one that came to her aid once again was Rob. "I don't recall asking for your assistance. Stop sticking your nose in my affairs."
"Just thought I'd try to help you avoid any unnecessary injury." Rob said. "We're still a team here after all."
"Only until the end of the day. " Medusa scoffed.
With her last ditch effort a failure, Kagura could no longer keep her eyes open. She did what she could to the best of her availability and passed out, rendering her defeated. "Fiore now suffers its first lost with Kagura Mikazuchi at the hands of Medusa! Another 5 points for Minstrel! No team has full members now!" Chapati announced.
"We're climbing back fast." Rob said while taking a puff from his cigarette.
"Of course we are. The previous days were an issue because none of our guilds get along and we were getting in each other's way. This is the best way for us to act without interfering with one another." Medusa stated, already walking off. "You and your little brother are the only two Martells left standing. So unless you're standing by and allowing the others to outshine you, I suggest you keep moving, Rob."
"One day I'll get a thank you…" Rob just let out a quiet chuckle. But Medusa was right; it was about time he got moving for once. There was still plenty of light left in the day. It was the afternoon now, so only a few hours remained until it was night time…
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"It's 2:00PM. We have until 7AM tomorrow. So that leaves us with 17 hours left…" Reve was thinking to himself. The rest of the competition was lucky that they hadn't encountered him, but he was still stuck with Shade lingering in his shadow. That's why Reve was sticking in places with only sunlight. Shade could handle the sun, but too much exposure to light was a weakness he couldn't ignore."I gotta get rid of this guy before the sun sets. It's almost that time…"
"Pondering how to get rid of me?" Shade asked, snug in Reve's shadow. "You don't have a lot of time. When the sssssun sssssets…or…." His gaze tilted up to the sky, where clouds were starting to obscure the sun.
"…Damn." Reve said. So much for that. Soon enough, the sunlit area he was standing in was covered by the clouds. He glanced around, spotting Shade's eyes move from his shadow and all around the cover of darkness.
"Thisssssss issss my perfect chance!" Shade emerged from behind Reve and aimed a claw swipe at his back that landed, tearing through Reve's shirt and drawing some blood. Reve staggered from the hit and quickly turned to shoot Shade, but he was already gone into the cover of darkness. "Thissss is where you fall, Reve Volver!" Shade attempted this again, but Reve was able to dodge it by rolling to the side.
"The only thing I'm planning to fall on is my bed after I take the victory for Fiore." Reve said without missing a beat, dropping his pistol and let it fade away in favor of his six chambered magnum.
"Kehehe, am I forcing you to usssssssse one of your best weaponsssss already!? You have sssssssix ssssshots!" Shade said as if Reve didn't already know that. "But a sssssingle one will not hit me!" Shade then opened his mouth, letting out a high pitched wail of sound magic. This powerful sound caused the ground to erupt and explode, sending Reve flying backwards after receiving damage.
Reve narrowed his eyes and landed on the ground, a bit bruised and cut up, but he still wore his smirk and pointed the magnum at Shade. "I only need one bullet for your downfall." The confidence and arrogance and his voice was amazing. He was making this claim with full belief he only needed one bullet. "I already told you, anyone who tries to hide in my shadow never lasts long."
"Kehehehahahahahaha!" Shade couldn't help but laugh. He wasn't sure if Reve was being delusional or serious. "And how do you intend to use one bullet when you cannot even ssssstrike me!"
"Like this." Reve slowly turned his magnum to the sky and fired. The large bullet ascended into the air, its sheer power pushing the clouds apart and exposing the sun once more, causing the light to burn Shade.
"KSSSSH!" Shade hissed as the light of the sun came down on him. It did hurt, but not enough to fully incapacitate him. This just put him in an unfavorable position, fully exposed to light with no shade in sight.
"I was going to wait until you tried to attack me from my shadow." Reve said, glancing back. "With how the light was shining down on it, you would've had to emerge from the head first, which is a bit too far now to get a fast strike in…but you went ahead and got sloppy far sooner than I thought. I guess that's what I get for assuming a Hunter knew the correct time to strike…but it really didn't matter in the end." Reve's lips were forming his infamous cocky grin, the magnum in his hands replacing with two rifles he gladly pointed forward at his exposed target. "No matter what option you took, it was going to lead to the same outcome: me shooting you down."
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Heartless finally had the encounter she was waiting for. It took her a while to hunt down Little Queen, but she finally managed to do so. "Little Queen…"
Little Queen turned around, lifting a brow at Heartless. "You…what do you want from me? A swift defeat?" Little Queen lifted her hand into the air, narrowing her purple eyes at Heartless. "I do not have time to waste. I have failed Her Majesty once before already and I shall not do it again."
"…I understand that sentiment, but I need you to listen to me for a moment. I am, in some essence of the word, your mother." Heartless stepped forward, placing a hand on her chest. "I lack what many call a heart. Not in the physical sense, but emotionally…at least, that's how I felt for the longest time. But when I lay my eyes upon, I feel a pain in my chest."
"What?!" Little Queen's eyes widened. "My mother? Do not be so foolish, I have no recollection of any past. No mother or anything else. Are you trying to disarm me with your wild fantasies!?" Little Queen sent a blast of magic towards Heartless, who defended against it with a heart shaped shield. The shield shattered and Heartless slid backwards, but she didn't fall.
"I understand what happened. Your memory was damaged when you were sealed away." Heartless shook her head. "Does the name Clarissa Heart ring any bells?"
"…!?" Little Queen's eyes widened. "Clarissa…?" That name did sound familiar. It made her assault pause as she felt fragmented memories returning to the surface, but the pieces did not make sense as they were. "You are attempting to deceive me…and yet…I can vaguely remember. Why did you…show up now…when I have a job to do…?!"
"I'm sorry for my poor timing, but this was the only chance I had to speak with you again…" Heartless took another step forward. But that's when it happened. In a flash of light, a beam of light pierced through Little Queen's chest. Since her guard was down, she had no means of defending from it. "…!?"
"…!" Little Queen's eyes widened. The blow was not fatal, but it did put her out of commission. "Ngh…w-what…who…?" She wasn't able to question things for long as the injury caused her to pass out, defeated. The culprit…?
"And with that. Little Queen has been defeated by Lucia, granting Pergrande 5 more points to extend their lead!" Chapati exclaimed.
It was Lucia. She was standing behind Heartless, Excalibur extended with a narrow glare at the Master of Dealer. "Retribution."
"Little Queen…!" Heartless' eyes widened and she rushed to Little Queen, who was slowly teleporting out of the arena due to the rules.
"…I think…I remember you…" Little Queen whispered before she was warped out, leaving nothing in Heartless' arms.
Heartless shook her head, quickly turning around to face Lucia. "A sneak attack…I should've seen that coming…"
"You took something away from me, so I will do the same for you." Lucia stated with a fierce glare.
"…I'm afraid I don't know what you mean…" Heartless shook her head. She did not understand.
"It figures you would not recognize me, demon scum." Lucia spat. "Your vile deeds in Seven resulted in the death of my father and many members of the Magic Council there. Yet somehow, Queen Vena ultimately excused your actions!"
Oh. Oh no. Heartless' eyes slowly widened. "Wait…are you…"
"That's correct. My father was a member of Seven's Magic Council. And he was brutally murdered by you and your betrayal!" Lucia exclaimed. "You even almost had my brother nearly killed. I have been waiting a lot time to enact my revenge on you, Heartless! You may have been excused by Queen Vena, but you cannot escape the weight of your sins. I wield this holy blade, Excablibur, to purge demons like you from existence. And today…today is the day I fulfill my duty."
Pergrande: 150
Active: Keele, Aki, Blair, Mii, Lucia, Shade, Cloud, X, Rajaron(?).
Alvarez: 130
Active: Jacob, Oriana, Julius, Ken, G, Zero, Ragen.
Fiore: 125
Active: Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Jellal, Sting, Minerva, Luke, Reve, Bacchus.
Seven: 115
Active: Ace, Tia, Jack, Heartless, Joker, Daigo.
Joya: 110
Active: Allegretto, Polka, Rondo, Jazz, Yeager.
Bosco: 100
Active: Gaia, Edna, Verona, Lore, Magnus, Hiruka, Yakuza.
Minstrel: 100
Active: Rob, Raku, Medusa, Byrnhild, Tyson, Amadio, Felix, David.
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Next Time: Vengeful Sword.