Thank you to everyone who read last chapter.

Chapter 74

Oracion Seis' Zero

Natsu

I cracked my knuckles, ready to knock some sense into this dark mage. I assumed when he said he killed a Wizard Saint he was referring to Siegrain. Fortunately, we already knew that wasn't true. We made sure everyone was still alive.

"Sorry, but it'll be us taking you down!"

Zero laughed in our faces, "As if someone as weak as you could beat me!"

"Grah!" I leapt at Zero and swung at him with fists wreathed in flame.

Zero sidestepped away from me and proceeded to leap high into the air to avoid Gray's follow up spell. Happy rushed at him at max speed, but he simply grabbed Happy by the head and threw him to the side. He landed safely on his feet.

"I like you." He said, "You've got some bark!"

He dashed at me and swung at my stomach. I sidestepped out of the way and replied with a fist of my own, this one aimed at his smug face. I managed to get a good hit, but he didn't so much as budge.

"Ice Make: Arrows!"

I jumped back as the barrage of ice arrows engulfed Zero. The ice hit their mark but didn't so much as faze him.

"This time I'll get you!" Happy shouted, "Max Speed Attack!"

Happy rammed headfirst into Zero, and like all the attacks before, did nothing to affect him.

"My turn." He extended his hand at me and fired a blast of darkness magic from his palm.

I had hardly any time to react as my whole body was engulfed in darkness. My whole body wracked in pain as I was thrown from my feet. I heard Happy cry out in pain, and Zero fire off another blast of darkness. Once I recovered from the attack, I saw that Happy was lying on the ground and Gray was on his knee. This guy was strong, but I was determined to take him down.

I got back up to my feet and stared him down.

"Still got some fight in you?" he asked, "Good, show me what you've got!"

I charged at Zero. My arms were engulfed in flames as I jumped up and slammed them down on him. Streams of fire shot out of my arms, giving the rough appearance of wings.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Beat!"

I went at him with all my strength. My spell cut through the ground around us as Zero became engulfed in the wings of fire. He took a step back and grimaced. I definitely did something. Before he could counterattack, Gray came in with an attack of his own.

"Ice Make: Hammer!"

A massive hammer of ice descended upon him as my flames died down. I felt the cold of his spell as it slammed into Zero. The floor cracked beneath the force of the hammer, and Zero was smashed to the ground.

Gray and I stood our ground for a moment. As much as I would like to believe that we beat him, it didn't appear that the target of our spells was affected much from them. My suspicions were proven true when darkness erupted from the hammer, shattering it to millions of little pieces.

Zero laughed, "Looks like you both still got some fight left in you!"

"I'm all fired up!"

Zero stopped laughing and shot me a look, "Good, let's see if you can burn through this: Genesis Zero!"

Zero gathered a massive amount of darkness magic to the palms of his hands. The whole area around us began to tremble. The foul magic he was gather grew stronger and stronger until finally, he unleashed it on me. Dark phantoms descended on me. I tried to fight them off with my magic, but it was an endless parade of phantoms that threatened to swallow me whole. Every phantom I eliminated was replaced with two more. I was quickly overwhelmed, and the light disappeared from my view. I felt like I was consumed into nothing.

I flared up my magic in an effort to displace his spell. My flames burned brightly in the darkness, but there was nothing around me. There were no phantoms, only darkness.

"Gray!" I shouted, "Happy!"

There was no response, only the echo of my voice.

"Let me out!" I swung at nothing, "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

I felt my heart race. There was literally nothing. It felt like I was being swallowed whole by the nothingness of…nothing. I felt trapped, and despite the seeming endlessness of the darkness, I felt confined.

"Anyone!?" I shouted out for someone, something, but there was no response.

"MOOOO!"

Something grabbed ahold of my scarf. It looked like a large white hand reached into the darkness. Suddenly, I felt the hand pull. It was then that I realized that the spell was trying to pull me in the other direction. I wasn't sure what was trying to pull me out, but I was going to do everything I could to help it. I shot my fire behind me in a hope to propel me forward. I'm not sure it helped much, but I was moving towards the hand.

"MOOOO!"

The sound of ripping was all I heard as the light blinded me. I felt myself hit the floor. I smelled Gray, and Happy, and even Lucy and Siegrain. My eyes shot open. I looked up and found Siegrain engaged in close combat with Zero. He had his meteor active and was actually pushing Zero back somewhat. Next to me was Taurus, and Lucy was helping Gray to his feet.

"Natsu!" Happy cried as he flew into me, "I thought you died!"

I gave Happy a reassuring smile, "It'll take more than that to take me down. Thanks Lucy!"

"Thank Taurus, he's the one who pulled you out!"

"Thanks."

Taurus gripped his axe, "Anything for Miss Lucy!"

"Dark Rondo!"

A dark ray of magic pushed Siegrain back towards us. His arms were crossed in an effort to protect himself from the attack. His sleeves were torn to shreds from the blast. His arms showed bruising, but besides that, he appeared to be fine.

"How'd you guys know we were here?" Gray asked.

"Wendelyn told us." Lucy replied, "She said you three went after Zero."

"Enough chit-chat." Siegrain piped up, "This guy is extremely dangerous. Be on guard."

Zero gathered magic in both hands once more. This time I was ready. I wasn't about to get caught in Genesis Zero again. That was a terrifying spell.

"Zero Slash!"

I realized this wasn't Genesis Zero when his darkness magic shot from his hands like a whip. I jumped out of the way, along with everyone else. His attack tore into the ground and knocked up a large pile of rubble. The whips changed direction and aimed for Lucy and Siegrain.

"Happy!" I called out.

"Aye Sir!"

Happy flew to Lucy's aid and maneuvered her out of the way. Siegrain wasn't in need of saving, he was able to get to evade the attack with his own magic. Once I got to stable footing, I dashed at Zero.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

"Mooooo!"

Right beside me, Taurus swung his axe at Zero as well. With the combined effort of mine and Taurus's attack, we managed to knock Zero back and force him to cancel his spell. Siegrain dashed in and went for an attack. Zero wasn't fazed to much by our combined attack, so he was able to counter Siegrain relatively easily. The two were holding each other at bay, neither able to take the advantage.

"The lacrima!" Siegrain called out.

I looked to the lacrima and saw that the timer was down to ten seconds!

"Alright, let's do this!" I shouted.

Siegrain powered up further and managed to get the upper hand on Zero. He spun him around and flung him into the air. Happy flew at him and latched onto his back. He flew Zero around in circles before throwing him right in the direction of the lacrima. I exploded from the ground and gathered up fire dragon slayer magic in my right and left palms.

"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

My spell intercepted Zero and sent him crashing into the lacrima as it hit zero. With a massive explosion, I was knocked back to the ground. Fortunately, Siegrain was in place to break my fall.

"Ice Make: Gungnir!"

Without wasting any time, Gray launched a massive spear of ice at Zero. Zero cried out in pain as the spear pierced and enveloped him.

"Taurus!" Lucy called out.

The massive bull-man charged at the now froze Zero. The ice was already beginning to crack as Zero threatened to escape, but Taurus made it in time to shatter the ice for him. His axe broke through the ice and sliced into him. Zero coughed up blood as he sailed back and fell to the ground. Blood seeped from the cut on his torso.

"Not bad…" I remarked.

"It's not over yet." Siegrain warned me.

Zero slammed his hand on the ground and picked himself up. His eyes were closed and he had a slight smile on his face.

"Not bad…not bad at all." He said, "Looks like you foiled all our plans…"

The room began to grow dark, both literally and figuratively.

"You took down the rest of Oracion Seis." His power began to grow.

"You even took down Nirvana." His power grew darker as it climbed ever further.

"And you even found the strength to challenge me."

His eyes shot open, and the killing intent shot out in all directions. I was paralyzed with fear. Never before had I felt power like this. It was dark, demonic. It was something truly evil.

"It's not everyday I get a real challenge!"

He let loose a wave of his magic. It over came us, and I could do nothing as he threated us.

"Enough of this!" Siegrain shouted as he stepped forward, unfazed by the massive overflow of magic, "You will be judged by the Seven Stars: Grand Chariot!"

Seven magic circles appeared above Zero and fired down on him. The spell enveloped Zero, and momentarily blinded us. Unfortunately, when the dust had cleared, Zero was still standing.

Zero gave a maniacal laugh, "Is that the best you've got!?"

Siegrain powered up further, but even I could tell he was reaching his limit. His heavy breathing gave it away. He clearly hasn't gotten the chance to rest since he was poisoned by Ophiuchus. No matter what we threw at Zero, he just kept getting back up. Just what would it take to take him down.

"Maybe." Siegrain conceded, much to my surprise, "I might not be able to beat you, but she can."

Siegrain pointed to the entrance of the chamber. Standing in the large archway behind Zero, was none other than Wendelyn. She was clutching the wall for support, but had a determined, angry expression about her.

Thank you for reading! Despite her injuries, will Wendelyn be able to topple Zero? Let me know what you think in a review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!