Erza and Gray stood side by side, breathing hard and making good use of the short reprieve granted to them. Gray's pants were torn and ripped, barely held together by the belt still somehow cinched around his waist. Erza had returned to her favored loose pants and cloth, not quite understanding why she seemed to fight better when she wore no physical armor but not about to argue with those odds.
Verlane and Ajax were in a similar state across the room, although they somehow seemed much more put together than the two weary wizards. Their suits were marred by tears and the left side of Ajax's pants still smoldered, but they were not quite as out of breath as their opponents.
"You can't win," Ajax stated for what had to be the hundredth time. "Give in. We may be tired now, but we are still stronger than you will ever be. So stop wasting energy and stop fighting."
"Dude, give it a rest," Gray groaned, cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck. "We're not going to give in, you're not going to give in, so let's just keep duking it out until we win. Which is what's gonna happen."
Verlane scoffed at the cocky wizard, twirling his wrist in a circle as he prepared his magic. "You keep saying that, but I sincerely doubt it. You're both what? Twenty? How can you think to compete against us when we've lived for centuries?"
"That's still something that's not quite clear to me," Erza interceded, summoning another sword to fill her left hand and match the one in her right. "How is it that you managed to stay here for a hundred years without anyone questioning you?"
"They said something about memory magic upstairs," Gray added, frost gathering around his fists. "But they never really explained it. He really just brought it up to threaten Lucy and say he was gonna erase her from everyone's memory."
"Did he now," Erza contemplated, eyes narrowing as she imagined just how many ways she would destroy these despicable monsters. Coming to a realization, she turned to Gray. "Do you know what they are?"
"Lying bastards?" Gray repeated before shrugging. "I dunno. They said something about demons, didn't they?"
Erza nodded. "They're demons who feed on ethernano. That's why they contained it; to become more powerful and stronger."
"And two mere humans could never defeat us in combat." Ajax stepped in, and the Fairy Tail wizards watched in quiet surprise as one of the wounds on his shoulder began to heal itself.
Then Gray smirked. "Well, someone obviously needs to do his research. I don't think I ever really introduced myself. Gray Fullbuster. I'm an Ice Make mage. But I got a little extra from my old man. Nothing really special." He allowed the black marks to take over his bare skin, covering his right side almost completely, much like when he had infiltrated Avatar. He bared his teeth. "Just a little Demon Slaying magic. Which means that you picked a fight with the wrong team bud. You really fucked up when you started hurting our friends. And now you're gonna pay the steep price.
"A Demon Slayer? Those haven't existed for many, many years," Verlane scoffed, crossing his arms. Gray shrugged.
"One thing you should know about Fiore; it contains a shit ton of lost magic. Dragon Slayers, God Slayers, Arc of Time, Sensory Link or whatever Meredy uses, and who knows how many other forgotten types of magic. Point is, it doesn't really matter if Demon Slaying magic hasn't been around for a bit. Cause I'm right here, ready to grind your ass into the dirt. And," he glanced sideways at the scarlet warrior by his side, "Erza might just beat me to the punch."
She rolled her eyes. "Let's just get this finished, hm? I'm beginning to grow tired of this endless game. And this place has no good strawberry cake. I would very much like to go home as soon as possible."
"Why? For a certain blue head?" Gray teased.
"Oh aren't you one to talk? But now is not the time for that! Need I remind you, we're supposed to be fighting these demons."
"But by comparing me and Juvia to you and Jellal, you basically just said you like him."
"I did not!"
"It's true though, isn't it? Come on Erza, just admit it."
"You are such a child, Gray."
"You haven't denied it!"
"These are Ishgar's strongest?" Verlane and Ajax exchanged a long suffering look, both more than weary of this conversation they were forced to bear witness to.
"I won't claim that title," Erza interceded, finally returning her attention to the opponents before them. "God Serena may have been named Ishgar's strongest, but that title most definitely belongs to Gildarts."
"Although," Gray grinned, "if we can finish this quest and he couldn't, doesn't that technically make us the strongest?"
"As soon as you can beat Gildarts in a fair fight all by yourself, I'll consider it."
"Yeah, I doubt even all seven of us together could beat him. He's pretty insane." Gray shuddered, remembering the intense waves of magic power that constantly radiated from the older wizard.
"Seems like someone is wishing for help," Verlane interjected, searching for control of the situation once more. He sent out a bolt of black light aimed to take out the Fiorians' legs. They easily leapt out of the way, both smirking at each other.
"Oh, we're more than capable of dealing with you ourselves. In fact, just one of us could likely take you out." Erza's hair danced around her head, ponytail streaming behind her.
"You would boast so easily after you struggled so much to fight us before your friends showed up?"
Erza shrugged. "Just as you've been growing stronger the longer we stand here, so have I. All this energy and power I lost has been regained, and now I stand here stronger than ever. So let's end th-" She stopped suddenly, staring with narrowed eyes at the demons. "You never explained how your memory magic worked."
"Really, Erza?"
"You're still hung up on that?"
"That's what you're worried about?"
All three men spoke at once, and they avoided looking at one another awkwardly by continuing to stare at the scarlet rose. She didn't back down and continued to glare at Ajax. "Explain yourself."
"We have bigger things to worry about," Gray tried. But he knew he couldn't stop her. Once she had something in her mind, she couldn't let it go. She'd been like that for the last eleven years they'd known each other. So he sighed and let the magic dissipate from his fists, shifting his weight to rest mainly on his left side.
Verlane and Ajax locked eyes, both confused and exhausted. What was up with these wizards? They were just too random.
"Well?" Erza crossed her arms, swords vanishing and giving her the appearance of one waiting to hear a child's explanation of the mess they had caused.
Ajax threw up his arms. "What do you want me to say, you crazy bitch? That we used memory magic to keep people oblivious as to what we were doing?" Erza nodded while rolling her hand, obviously looking for more.
Verlane sighed. "We made it so that no one stayed here for too long. When they left, we changed their memories so they couldn't recall any details and left the whole experience blurry in their minds. And we've altered the memories of everyone here. No one knows how old we are or how long we've ruled or if Ajax's father ruled before him. And that's what worked for us until you came along."
"So that's why Evia's memory was foggy. Why she couldn't remember if Verlane had been a child when she first arrived."
"Evia was in on this?" Ajax's voice dropped, a threat lingering in the quiet tones.
Gray shook his hands out, his dangerous smirk returning. "Yeah, so what if she was? We were ready to turn your entire mansion against you, and we could've, even without the knowledge of what you are. Evia and Mak were just the beginning. They've been helping us for a long time. Wendy would've died without them. But it's not like you care. You only liked Shelia, the submissive girl who never fought back. I have a feeling you'd hate Wendy. Cause she never stays down for long."
Verlane growled, sounding truly like the demon he was. Gray's smirk only grew, the black marks creeping fractionally farther up his skin. "Satisfied?" He asked, and Erza nodded, body hidden by a wave of golden light before reappearing, Ataraxia Armor donned and eight swords at the ready.
"While I'd love to interrogate them farther, I really do grow weary of this place."
"Well, we grow weary of you!" And together Ajax and Verlane attacked, letting their blades of darkness swim through the air and attempt to encircle their enemies. Erza and Gray moved as one, the former flipping through the air while the latter launched himself to the side in a much less graceful manner.
Gray conjured up a shield, holding them at bay while Erza sent her swords flying forward, darting and weaving and slicing and cutting. The tactic worked for long enough, allowing the mages to catch their breath even as sweat continued to trickle down their spines. But then: snap. The sound echoed several more times, and Erza watched in abject surprise as her broken swords came soaring over the top of Gray's wall. They dove out of the way of the falling metal, and Erza let them vanish before they could cause any more harm. A sound of frustration left her lips. While she had the energy to summon more weapons, what was the point if they were just going to be destroyed before they could do any real damage?
The demons burst through the shield of ice, the frozen fractals raining down on everyone's heads. Gray was the first to retaliate.
"Ice Make: Geyser!" He shouted, letting the ice flow from his veins and out of his hands. The Ice-Make spell combined with his Demon Slaying magic to slam with more force into his opponents. They stumbled backward, able to avoid the full brunt of the attack and yet still affected by the intense magic power. Gray grinned without any amusement behind the expression; at least they were getting somewhere. But it wasn't happening like they wanted it to. They couldn't let the demons' black light touch them or they would be drained of ethernano, and yet their attacks weren't working with the same force as they should have. And Erza seemed to be reluctant to summon another sword, although he understood her hesitation.
Then there was a moment of clarity. The type of moment when time stands still and all the pieces click into place. The type of moment Mavis searched for with every plan she made. The type of moment when Gray and Erza locked eyes, thoughts matching and evolving and plan forming and expanding. They grinned, and the only warning Ajax and Verlane got was the insane spike in magic power from both wizards before their plan sprung into action.
Gray shouted, icy shooting from his palms as he poured all of his remaining power into the spell. "Ice Devil's Zeroth Long Swords!" He continued to yell as a blade appeared, and then another, and then another. His stores finally depleted after ten swords appeared in a perfect circle, ethereal weapons nearly burning with the desire to be used. He fell to a knee, fist slamming against the ground as he heaved for breath. "Erza!" He shouted hoarsely, glad to let her take it from there.
Which she did. Almost immediately.
"Requip!" She flipped through the air, hair streaming as she changed yet again. She landed gracefully, once more arrayed in her Heaven's Wheel Armor. She stood tall, stretching her arms out before her. "Dance, my blades of ice! Heaven's Wheel: Circle Zeroth Sword!"
The frozen swords began to spin furiously, moving so quickly it looked like one single picture surrounding the Knight. Then they whirled forward, piercing needles of ice and magic that were too fast to avoid. Each blade slammed through one of the demons, cutting them deep and sending them flying to the ground. They howled, clawing at the wound as if it would change the past. Ice exploded across them, hiding them almost instantly and expanding even more. Recognizing the danger, Erza grabbed Gray by the arm and started to haul them away. The ice surrounded support beams and poles, cracking them under the intense power Gray and Erza had poured into their attack. All around them, the building started to shake and tremble, a million times more violent than before.
Gray laughed as a chunk of ceiling tumbled down and crashed into a mountain of ice, directly over where Verlane and Ajax had disappeared. "We did it," he croaked, voice sore from all the yelling he had done.
"We're not out of the woods just yet," Erza cautioned, although she couldn't keep the relief and pride out of her own voice. "We must leave at once or we'll be crushed, same as them."
Gray nodded, shaking free of Erza's hand and rolling his shoulders back. They started running clear of the falling debris, barely able to dodge many pieces due to their failing energy. But though he was tired, Gray couldn't stop grinning. "That was a unison raid, right?" He hollered, sparing Erza a glance as they dashed through the labyrinth of tunnels.
"Don't know why you're so surprised!" She shouted back. "You've done unison raids with Juvia before!"
"Well yeah, but it was still cool! Imagine how shocked Natsu's gonna be when we tell him!"
"We didn't accomplish a piece of truly difficult magic just for you to rub it in his face!"
"But now he's the only one on the team who hasn't done a successful unison raid!"
"Don't let Happy or Carla hear you talking like that!"
They kept up the banter even as they picked up the speed, Erza conjuring a sword to keep away the larger pieces of rubble that threatened to crush them. With her blade and Gray shattering other stray pieces of stone, they managed to emerge from the basement in one piece. The building had not stopped shaking for a moment, evidenced by the crumbing walls and ceilings all around them.
"How do we get out from here?" Erza called, glancing both directions in confusion as her mental map of the place started twisting and melting and basically becoming useless.
Gray shrugged before pointing to the left. "There's a bloodstain going that way. Maybe that's the way Mak and his friend went."
"It's worth a try," she agreed. They took off yet again, Erza letting her Heaven's Wheel armor evaporate and leaving her in her Heart Kreuz Armor, left shoulder bare and revealing her Fairy Tail emblem to the world. Gray's pants somehow had managed to remain on his body, and the glare Erza sent him incentivized him to keep them there.
They raced through the halls, running even faster when they began to recognize the route they were on. Erza kept her eyes and ears open for any stragglers, but thankfully, they seemed to be the only ones left in the crumbling building. Well, the only ones left who were alive. It hurt, seeing twisted legs or broken hands or swathes of hair and knowing there was nothing they could do for those crushed by the very same building they considered home.
Gray pushed Erza to the side, and she nodded quickly at him in thanks when the spot she had just vacated was quickly crushed by a broken support beam.
There. Just ahead of them, the entrance loomed. One door was already completely blocked off, and the second was on the way. Even as they ran, they watched the wall above the doors slowly begin to crumble. The rubble fell, too much for them to shift, too much to open the door, too much-
Gray's hand shot out, freezing the debris in midair. He froze it to the wall, keeping it in place even as his other hand sent a lance flying at the door. As it hit the sturdy wood and iron, the door exploded, leaving them with enough room to burst out into the open before the building completely crumbled behind them.
Erza and Gray didn't stop running for another hundred feet, making sure they were far enough away before they finally stopped and gasped for breath. They grinned at each other, hands braced on their knees as their lungs heaved and brows dripped and muscles ached. Behind them, Grimstone Manor continued to fall, a monument to the downfall of the demons who poisoned Benos for so long. But no longer. Now, both Benos and its people were free.
They did it! They did it! (Don't mind me just casually singing Dora the Explorer in my head). But yay! After so, so long, Gray and Erza finally beat them. What did you think of their unison raid? I feel like I kinda rushed through this fight, and I apologize cause I'm not super great at writing action scenes like this. But hopefully it was still enjoyable! This arc is almost over...