Aiden's Revenge! The mad scientist makes his comeback! Fairy Tail, White Eclipse, and Cosmic Star ban together to put an end to his schemes once and for all!
.
.
A battle of titans was ensuing in the furthest corner of the fused landmass. Gildarts, Sidney, and Evanee were doing battle against Sirius, the second in command of the angels. It was a three vs one battle and the results were…not so surprising at this moment. Gildarts reared his real arm back, gathering as much magic and pure physical might as he could. "Crushing evil, spreading the truth…EMPYREAN!" The ace of Fairy Tail thrust his fist forward, colliding with Sirius's armored arm. There was a deafening shockwave booming outwards from the impact.
Sirius was able to defend against the hit, but Gildarts practically crushed his armored arm in the process. The angel slid backwards, letting out a grunt of pain in the process. "The power these humans possesses…!"
"If you're calling me a human, then you truly don't understand what you're up against." Evanee said, appearing to Sirius's left. She exhaled a purple mist from her lips; powerful toxins that would damage anyone near it. Sirius redacted predictably, flying into the air, but Evanee was already there with her arms extended. She fired off a blast of celestial nymph magic directly at his chest. While the sky was littered with dark clouds, it was still technically daytime, which empowered the strength of her attacks.
"Gah!" Sirius tanked the hit and landed on the ground, but Sidney wasn't letting him rest. "How did you…!?"
"Ghostly Wail." Sidney opened his mouth, his ghost magic manifesting in a verbal sense. It turned into sound, a high pitched scream echoing from Sidney's mouth that captured Sirius and sent him flying backwards, making cracks in his armor.
"Guh!" Sirius grunted, making sure to slide to a halt so that lingering poison didn't get him. "I don't understand how you're all this strong!? It wasn't like this years ago…" Sirius wasn't going to give up, however. He spread his wings as a bright light emanated from his body. "Angelic Flash!" This light succeeded in quickly expanding outwards, briefly blinding the trio of aces. A magic circle appeared in the air. "Angelic Radiance!" From this circle, a golden beam of angelic magic shot downward like a laser, cleaving across the ground quickly before exploding violently, spanning an exceptionally wide radius. It was a perfect display of his power.
…And that explosion was quickly snuffed out.
"What!?" Sirius' eyes widened. "But…!?"
The explosion broke apart and Gildarts walked from the smoke. While there was no denying the initial hit, he was able to completely stop the explosion in its tracks and had a few bruises to show for it. "That one had a little kick in it, but that's it."
Sirius grit his teeth. "This can't be happening. Not when we're so close…!" He was about to take off into the air, but the moment his feet left the ground, Sidney was above him. The Ghost Mage slammed his leg on Sirius' head for a fierce axe kick that crushed him into the ground. Not even a second after that, Evanee used her nymph magic to grab Sirius by the ankle and hurl him into the toxic mist cloud. Luckily Sirius' armor protected him, but that armor was already suffering heavy damage. "Angelic Beam!" Sirius fired a golden beam from the palm of his hand. It was gigantic and could easily swallow the three aces before him.
But considering their level of power, that wasn't going to be the case. Sidney stopped this blast himself by blocking it and batting it off to the side, causing a small explosion in the distance. "We don't have the time for games any longer." Sidney said while putting his hands together, pulling them apart slightly so Eclipse magic could gather in the space between his palms.
"You think you can be rid of me so easily?!" Sirius flew forward, but Gildarts stood in the way.
"I think we can." Gildarts opened his hand, a net of crash magic shooting towards Sirius. This direct hit did no damage, but it did completely destroy the golden armor Sirius was using to defend himself. "And now that you're stripped bare! You have no means of defense."
"Not that it mattered." Evanee was…disappointed. For someone as high rank as the second in command, she expected more of a challenge. She already knew she didn't need Sidney and Gildarts in this fight, they all could've handled this separately, but she was hoping for more of a fight. So with a sigh, she simply raised a hand over her head, nymph magic taking the shape of a swirling orb in the palm of her hand. "Don't waste my time with this nonsense again."
"Agreed." Sidney nodded.
"Then let's finish this!" Gildarts drew his arm back once again.
"No, stop…!" Sirius pleaded. "Lord Yggdrasil, aid me…!"
"All Crush!"
"Eclipse Tower."
"B Naturae."
Three attacks converged on Sirius all at once. When coming together, the might of three aces could overpower just about any foe. There was a massive explosion, so powerful that it could only take the form of a flash of light. When that light died down, Sirius was a broken heap on the ground, barely conscious from all the damage he sustained. "Ugh…how…are you all so powerful…"
"I already told you." Gildarts said while taking a small breath. "We got something worth fightin' for."
"So do I…!" Sirius attempted to stand back up, but he couldn't even move. "I fight for my Lord Yggdrasil…so why now…twice…you humans have stood in my way…!"
"You can fight the good fight, but your resolve isn't enough to overcome ours." Gildarts said.
"I wouldn't go that far." Evanee shook her head. "He simply never stood a chance to begin with. End of story. Are we done here now?"
"There are more important things to take care of. This battle won't resolve itself." Sidney said, vanishing in puff of smoke.
"I'm leaving too." Evanee just walked off, leaving Gildarts on his own.
"Ah…it's probably better this way." Shrugging, Gildarts started to walk in a different direction. He knew that Sirius was incapacitated and was no longer a threat, so his attention could go to something else. A brow rose as he sensed some particular movements. "That's odd…what's he trying to do…?"
.
.
Reve, Rob, and Taya were on equal footing against a foe like Zihark. Three S class wizards were going all out against an angelic commander. Reve spread his arms apart, calling forth numerous guns to appear all around Zihark. "Devli's Wheel!" The guns all fired down at Zihark from all angles, not giving his foe any reprieve.
Zihark was no slouch, however. He was able to weave through the bullets and even slice through them. If he was dealing with just Reve it would've been no problem. But he was firmly reminded that he wasn't, when a vector of Taya's latched onto his leg, keeping him in place. "Hm?!"
"Inferno." Rob said while flicking a few embers towards Zihark. With a snap of his fingers, those flickers turned into massive explosions that swallowed the angel. "Not bad, Taya, You're a lot faster than before."
"That training helped." Taya said.
"Wait, you two know each other…?" Reve said while raising a brow. As if this was the time, because Zihark was coming in fast. Reve's Precision Eyes allowed him to see Zihark coming in slow motion, but his body wasn't fast enough to dodge what happened next.
"Octoslash!" Zihark's massive sword cut through Reve, Rob, and Taya all at once in numerous places. Taya was the only one able to defend herself with her vectors, but even then that only reduced the damage in the long term. Zihark turned on his heel, preparing to strike again, but Rob was on the offensive.
Rob twirled his finger around, creating a tornado of flame around Zihark. "Fire Spin." These flames were harsh and scorched the land around them. Zihark was trapped within the eye of the heated storm while Rob narrowed his eyes.
This wasn't going to be enough to hold Zihark. He could easily jump out of something like this, but the moment he tried, he found his feet were glued to the ground. Taya's vectors latched onto him from underground, keeping him in place. "This again!?"
Reve attacked from above, pointing two sawn off shotguns in his direction. "Spread Shot!" From the barrels of both guns, bullets exploded in a fan like shape. Since Zihark was trapped in a blazing tornado, that left his escape rounds limited. A few of these beams did strike Zihark, but the angel was adept with his sword. He was able to deflect these beams of magic through the tornado, much to the surprise of Rob and Taya. All they saw were green beams of magic shooting out, piercing them in the shoulder or side. This motion also eliminated the tornado of flame.
"This one is quite annoying…" Taya said while brushing off her injuries. Nobody expected Zihark to put up this much of a fight.
"He's just stalling." Reve said while keeping an eye on Zihark. "That sword's reach is a problem, though. Even from this distance, he can still slash at us."
"Scared of a little sword, cowboy?" Taya said with a smirk.
"Hardly." Reve scoffed.
"Still, if we don't find a way around his range, we'll be in trouble." Rob pointed out.
"Speak for yourself." Reve rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to be lumped into the same group with Rob.
"Hm…?" Zihark's ears twitched. "Someone's approaching…"
"Taya-nee…!" That was Nami. She heard the battle and even saw Taya, quickly rushing over to her sister whom she hadn't seen in years; not since the Tartarus battle in Crocus. "I…!"
"Nami…?" Taya's eyes widened a bit.
This brief pause was exactly what Zihark needed. He burst from his position, flying past Reve and Rob while making his way to Nami, his sword extended. "You!"
"No!" Taya started running towards Nami to intercept Zihark.
"What!?" Rob was unable to follow Zihark's movements.
"Shit…!" Reve could see how this was about to end up if he wasn't fast enough. He took aim at Zihark and fired, just as Taya lunged forward. A lot happened at once. Reve's bullet did strike true…it hit Zihark in his sword arm, but unfortunately, it was too late. Zihark's several foot long blade pierced through Taya's heart…and not just hers, but it caught Nami as well. The sisters were impaled on the same sword and everything froze. "…!"
"…!" Reve stopped in his tracks.
"W-…What…happened…?" Nami felt a searing pain in her chest, even though she was looking at her sister's front. "Taya…?"
Taya tried to use her vectors to soften the blow, but unfortunately, it just wasn't enough. Zihark pulled his sword out of them, swinging it once to flick the sword clean. "…I'm sorry…" Taya coughed, collapsing to the ground with Nami.
"Taya…!" Reve quickly rushed over to Taya, even though this meant Zihark was getting his chance to escape. "Don't tell me that little flesh wound is enough to take you out…?!"
Taya gave a pained laugh. "Sorry…it looks like I wasn't quite strong enough…" Taya wanted to smile, but unfortunately, she couldn't. Her body hurt too much and she could feel her strength slipping. Still, she weakly reached up to cup Reve's cheek with what little power she had left. All while she held her sister's hand in her free hand. "This is embarrassing…I…never wanted you to see me like this…"
"No, we can still fix this…" Reve said while shaking his head. He was just saying words at this point out of rare desperation. The only time he felt this way recently was when Zalen sacrificed himself to buy them time in Alvarez. This would have been the second time Reve lost someone important to him while he was unable to do anything. That wasn't what he was about…!
"I'm sorry I…got in the way…" Nami coughed, frowning. "That's…all I ever do, huh…? I dragged you down with me…I'm sorry."
"It's…not your fault, Nami. I wasn't a good sister…" Taya admitted.
"T-That's…not…true…" Nami objected, though her eyes were growing heavier. "You were…the best sister I could…ask for…" Her arm fell limp and her eyes closed. Though her wound wasn't as severe as Taya's, she bled out and very fast too.
"…Thanks…both of you…" Taya managed one last smile. "Can I see you…smile before I go, cowboy…?" Truth be told, Taya couldn't really see anything at the moment. Her vision was already faded, but she felt Reve's presence with her until the very end. The hand resting on his cheek fell to the ground as Taya took one last breath and fell limp.
Reve's body was shaking while Rob looked away. Reve immediately turned with his gun pointed at…nothing. He wanted to shoot Zihark, but the angel already made his escape with the fatal injuries of Taya and Nami as decoys. "DAMN IT!" Reve screamed in frustration. Zihark got away…and took Taya and Nami's lives with him in the process….
.
.
"Huh…?" Cynthia stopped in her tracks. Taya's scent completely vanished from her nose and it was cause for concern. She felt her heart drop in her stomach and stopped moving. "What…?"
"Cynthia!" Wendy dove and quickly grabbed Cynthia, who was almost attacked by Verona. "What's wrong!?"
"I…I don't know…something happened to Taya, but…" Cynthia shook her head. She had to focus. "I'm sorry…! I'm focusing now!"
"Come on, girls." Verona said while narrowing her eyes. "Only two minutes left. I can't trust you with this information if you can't prove you're strong enough to make use of it." Wendy and Cynthia nodded to each other, moving in to attack Verona at once. They were getting repelled by this monster of a woman, but that didn't stop them from trying despite how easily she shrugged off their attacks. Magic didn't work on Verona, due to her dispelling magic. Any physical attack was countered as well.
"Man, they're getting mixed." Yumia said while sitting down. "Should we do something?"
"Nah. That woman is something else." Yukia shook her head. "I'm content just watching."
"…" Beat didn't say a word…
"Hah!" Cynthia attacked from above, while Wendy attacked from below. They were trying their best tag efforts to get the jump on Verona, but she was too skilled. She blocked Cynthia's leg, grabbing it and throwing her down onto Wendy. The two bounced, and with a powerful explosion of earth, the two of them were knocked back. "Agh.."
"Oof…" Wendy grunted. It didn't even feel like Verona was really fighting them, yet they couldn't even do anything. "She's so strong…"
"But we have to do this…!" Cynthia said while helping Wendy up. "One more time…we can do it!"
"Mhm!" Wendy nodded in agreement. "As long as we trust each other…"
"That's a given!" Cynthia nodded.
"You only have one more chance." Verona said. "You two are so strong, you remind me of my sister and I when we were younger…perhaps that's why I'm so inclined to do it this way. I have no faith in humanity after what I've been through."
"W-What you've been through…?" Wendy asked.
"I'll save you the sob story." Verona said while shaking her head. "You've likely heard the story before anyway. The Celestial Spirit King, Desdemona, and Yggdrasil created an object called the Mirror of Truth. It was to show the true face of humanity and was a test to see if they were worthy of surviving. Most humans fell victim to it and turned vile and murderous…except for me. I was immune to its powers and was tasked by those three to keep the mirror safe for as long as I could, and I did! But what did I lose in the process? Everything. My mother, father, brothers…and my sister right before my eyes. All because the mirror turned everything around it into their own darkest desires. Eventually…it got to me too." Verona stared at her hands. "In my fit of rage, my anger was released by the mirror and as a result, I nearly slaughtered humanity as a whole."
"T-That's horrible…" Cynthia gasped. Verona shared a body with her for a year…
"Ever since then, I held a grudge towards humanity and the higher beings that sit and watch from their lofty thrones." Verona spat, venom dripping with every word she spoke. "I lost faith in humanity…because whenever something good in the world is born, it will try to beat it down and rob it of that good until it has nothing left. But…then you came along, Cynthia."
"M-Me…?" Cynthia pointed at herself.
"I lured you in to the mirror of truth. Honestly, I simply wanted a way out after sitting in there, trapped for ages." Verona admitted. "But I saw the world through your eyes. How passionate you were to protect everything around you. That love you feel for Wendy and for Fairy Tail…it rekindled a bit of hope within me. That's why I know you can do this. I know you better than you think. You want to save everyone you can. Your friend Mii is really important to all of you…but you must seize the way to save her with your own hands, from me. You have one more chance. What will you do?"
"We'll do it together." Wendy said while stepping forward. "I can't claim to understand how you felt all those years ago, but I also know what it's like to lose something so close to you. If you're putting faith in us…then we won't disappoint you."
"That's right!" Cynthia nodded. "So…you better brace yourself!" She and Wendy nodded at each other before sprinting forward. Just when it looked like Cynthia was about to attack, she leapt over the woman, landing a few feet behind her. "Let's do this!"
"Together!" Wendy and Cynthia created a large fiery twister that surrounded Verona. Due to her dispelling magic, the actual twister itself didn't touch her. The two girls then moved in to strike with respective claw attacks, but Verona was able to narrowly dodge them. That was only the opening act as the two girls jumped into the air together, pulling their arms back. "TWIN WAVE!" Their unique attack, a brilliant beam of fire and wind shooting down from the sky directly towards Verona.
"I admire the effort, but it's not enough!" Verona held her hand out, her dispelling barrier causing the beam to bend around her body. It looked like Wendy and Cynthia weren't going to make it, but Cynthia dove down, spinning to aim her leg for Verona's skull. Verona was able to block this with her free arm, narrowing her eyes. "You're close, but…!"
"It's enough!" Wendy stated with absolute certainty. She was behind Verona. "We win!" Wendy slammed her leg on the back of Verona's neck. There was no magic imbued in the attack, but the woman's position made it impossible for her to properly defend, as the Twin Wave was only just now dying down.
"Holy…!" Yukia and Yumia exclaimed in unison.
"They pulled that off…?" Beat was stunned.
Verona staggered forward, rubbing the back of her neck. Wendy wasn't exactly a powerhouse like Cynthia, but… "Hahaha…I knew I was right to trust in the both of you. I may not trust humanity as a whole, but if you're part of the next generation, I think there's some light left."
"Yeah!" Wendy and Cynthia high fived each other, returning to normal so they could conserve their magic.
"Now…allow me to uphold my end of the bargain." Verona said while sitting down. "The weakness to Yggdrasil is a very simple one. His fate…? In my opinion, today is the day he dies, at the hands of his daughter, Mii Koryuji."
.
.
The past often comes back to haunt people. No matter what stage of their life, it will always rear its ugly head in some way. Gray, Ultear, and Lyon did battle against Deliora to finally severe those horrid ties to their past and allow Ur to rest; Natsu battled against an enraged Rahkeid who realized his only purpose in life, and Selene was faced with the horror of a fallen lover reborn from the dead.
"Damn!" Gray said while leaping backwards. "Even my devil slaying isn't enough on its own. I need a solid blow…"
"What, so I'm reduced to buying you time?" Lyon scoffed. "That's not how this works!" He created an Ice Make: Dragon and sent it towards Deliora. The demon roared as the dragon of ice slammed into it, but it hardly did any damage.
"Stop being picky about it! This is a group effort!" Ultear said as multiple copies of her orb appeared in the sky. "Luminous Minutes!" These orbs flew down towards Deliora, violently pelting it with brute force. They weren't making a lot of progress this way, and the demon let out a sweeping laser from its mouth to catch the three ice makers in its explosive wake.
"GAAAAH!" All three of them shouted as they hit the ground harshly. A single blow like that was already pushing them to their limits, as much as they hated to admit it.
"M-Mom really fought this thing, huh…?" Ultear said with a sweat drop. "No wonder she had to resort to that…"
"And it's my fault." Gray said. "I was too careless back and didn't think about the consequences, but this time is different…We can do this!" Gray said as the devil slaying markings covered half his body. "One good shot! I can trust you two, right?"
"As if you had to ask, right, Lyon?" Ultear spoke first, not really giving Lyon a choice in the matter.
"So be it…" Lyon said with a sigh. He wanted the glory, but if this was a group effort, he could accept that. So Lyon put his Dynamic Ice make to use, creating multiple dragons that launched themselves at Deliora to distract it.
"Ice Make: Rosen Krone!" Ultear slammed hands into the ground. By making use of a lot of magic power, she created beautiful ice roses to rise up from the ground and wrap around Deliora. It wasn't going to hold the absurdly powerful demon for very long. "Now, Gray!"
Gray jumped into the air, lifting his hands above his head. "This is where we put you to sleep forever! Ice Devil Zeroth's Blade!" A gigantic sword of ice was created within Gray's hands and he brought it down on Deliora. The power of Devil Slaying allowed Gray to combat his demon once and for all, slicing Deliora in half from the top down. A monster that Ur struggled with…while the three of them individually were not as powerful as Ur Milkovich, together, they were greater than anything she could ever hope to be. And that was precisely what she wanted for them to begin with. With that final blow…Ur could truly, finally, rest in peace…
.
Natsu was dodging the blades of pleasure Rahkeid sent his way. "Fire Dragon's…Claw!" He lunged forward, aiming a blazing kick at Rahkeid's chest. This kick was ultimately blocked by Rahkeid's arm, but his usual stoic expression was completely gone.
"I'll make you suffer the same way I did." Rahkeid said while swinging at Natsu. Natsu was sliced across the chest with Rahkeid's swift chop. "Father threw me away because he was thinking of nothing but you!"
"Sorry about that, but it's not my fault." Natsu shook his head. "Brother was shortsighted…but he found himself in the end. Can't you be happy about that?"
"How can I be happy about that!?" Rahkeid snarled, tendrils of white pleasure wrapping around Natsu. "What purpose do I have now, but to live on spitefully to erase you!?"
The feeling of pleasure was extremely unfamiliar to Natsu. But it also didn't matter, for he didn't succumb. His flames burned hotly, incinerating the magic before it took hold of him. "That's not for me to decide. But if you plan on standing in my way, then I'm gonna stop you!" Natsu let loose a Fire Dragon's Roar, though Rahkeid was able to block it with his cross. Natsu then launched himself forward, slamming his skull headfirst into Rahkeid's chest, pushing him back.
Rahkeid recovered from this quickly, growling still. "I don't even know why I'm entertaining this farce." Rahekid snapped his fingers. "Soul of the Forbidden Meal!"
"Huh?" Natsu blinked and suddenly he felt extremely hungry. He forgot that Rahkeid's power was to overload the senses and his stomach was in pain. "Ugh…! What the hell…!?"
"What a struggle this is for you." Rahkeid said while slowly approaching Natsu. "There is no fire around for you to consume, and your comrades are occupied. Perhaps now I can get some solace knowing I can at least destroy you…even if you were Father's greatest creation…"
"Gh…." Natsu tried to stand up, but when he did, he saw that Selene was getting knocked to the ground too. Unlike him, she wasn't even putting up a fight against Takeru. "Selene…what are you doing!?"
"I…I can't…" Selene was too stuck in depressive thoughts. The moment she laid eyes on Takeru, she stopped moving completely. Her shadow grew darker and she couldn't move at all. "It's my fault he died back then…I just stood and watched…"
"That's not…" Natsu couldn't muster the strength. He saw Takeru wordlessly approach the downed Selene. "Takeru! Snap out of it you bastard! I'll kick your ass…!"
"…" Takeru didn't say anything. It was more like he couldn't, as he was reduced to a puppet of Neinhart's. He simply inhaled and exhaled a Shadow Dragon's Roar that swallowed Selene, throwing her back against a nearby rock. She didn't even have her diamonds up, so it was a heavy blow.
"Focus on your opponent." Rahkeid said. "Although that won't matter soon, since you're going to die here." But Pandora appeared to block his attack, although she was struggling with her current level of strength. "Hm? Pandora?"
"Ngh…" Pandora was using her staff to block this attack and save Natsu. "I…I can do no more than this, I'm sorry. If I had any semblance of magic within me…"
"…!" Natsu's eyes widened. He didn't think Pandora of all people would actually be saving him in this moment. If only he had some fire…
"You look hungry." Brax made himself known to Rahkeid, who just finished batting away Pandora, right into Mira's arms.
"Who are…?" Rahkeid began. Before he could finish that sentence, Brax hurled a wave of flame directly towards Natsu. The suddenly eruption that followed cause Rahkeid to leap backwards. "What!? Fire!?"
That settled the issue of Natsu's hunger. Flames were just as much food as anything else to him. "Wow…thanks! Now I'm all fired up!"
"Good. Can't have you kicking the bucket." Brax said while stepping back. That was clearly the only intervention he had planned.
"You…!" Rahkeid was simply about to use the same method once more, but Natsu was too fast. With lightning sparking around his body, Natsu slammed his fist into Rahkeid's cheek.
Natsu felt a power unlike any other. Brax's flames were extremely powerful and he felt stronger than ever. With this, he was confident he could finish this in one shot. "Lightning Flame Dragon's Hammer!" This impact created a powerful torrent of fire and lightning to completely consume the off guard Rahkeid and take him out.
"No…not again…" Rahkeid grumbled before fading away.
That was two down, but the issue of Takeru remained. The silent puppet. Selene slowly looked up at Takeru, tears in her eyes. "I'm really sorry, Tak…I wish there was more I could do, but I can't."
"…" Takeru frowned. His body was moving against his will, but he was actively attempting to stop himself. "Serena…I…" Takeru was about to say something, but his form started to fizzle and fade. Either he was trying to stop himself from doing something he would regret, or Neinhart was defeated. Either way, Takeru used the last of his strength to kneel down in front of Selene. "You're stronger than you think…just…remember that…" Takeru said before impaling himself with his own sword of shadow, surprising everyone.
"TAK!?" Selene cried out. Takeru gave Selene one last smile before he faded away… "N-No, wait…! I….!"
Just then, Lisanna and Evrgreen managed to wrap up the rest of the demons. "W-What happened…?"
"We're okay now…" Gray said with a heavy sigh. "That was tough…."
.
.
Blair and Vernal were the ones who faced Neinhart and Raven. But Blair had a straightforward plan: go straight for Neinhart. She knew he was the one controlling her brother, and she planned to put an end to it by sprinting ahead.
"Shall I cover you?" Vernal asked Blair.
"Just don't get in my way!" Blair yelled.
"Take care of the pest." Neinhart demanded. Raven had no choice but to obey, taking his bow and aiming numerous arrows at his sister.
"Fury Burst!" Raven yelled, his arrows extremely powerful. But despite his marksmanship, he wasn't landing any hits on Blair. This was because Vernal was intercepting shots. Her magic was paper magic, flinging various, decorative papers at Raven's arrows. The two met and exploded in the middle, giving Blair more than enough room to continue rushing forward.
"Can't you do anything right?" Neinhart sighed, flicking a gigantic blast of magic towards Blair. He expected this to blow her away, but instead she ate it when her demonic arm like it was nothing. Now this was cause for concern. "W-What the…!?"
"Sis…!?" Even Raven was surprised. He had no idea what became of Blair, so this was a first for him.
"You've missed so much! Your sister has become a near evil force of nature!" Vernal hummed.
"Stop her now!" Neinhart yelled at Raven.
Raven had no choice. He flicked his fingers and created a magic seal under Blair, which trapped her in a cylinder. "Sorry…but I have no choice. This spell binds the magic in your body, and considering you just ate some…this should be enough to keep you still…so then…"
"Tch." Blair sucked her teeth. "You really think this will hold me? You don't know your sister at all anymore." Blair said as black and red lines started to appear along her veins, spreading from her demonic arm all the way through her body. "I'll teach you why you don't fuck with me."
"W-What is this…!" Chelia gasped.
"Pay attention class!" Vernal said with a grin. "Blair is using her demonic powers to their full potential, even though its total overkill in this battle! Watch as the mighty Therion enters her Nightmare Mode! She only does this when she gets really mad!"
Blair let out a piercing cry as her demonic arm ripped through the magical prison Raven attempted to put her in with ease. "That's ENOUGH!"
"W-What the…?!" Raven gasped.
"Ah ah ah!" Vernal said while holding a piece of paper into the air. "Bigger!" The piece of paper quadrupled in size, but that still wasn't enough. "Bigger!" That piece of paper ascended to the sky now, and she grinned at Raven. "Since dear Blair doesn't have the heart to do this, I'll do it in her stead! Ascending Angel!" Vernal then slammed this gigantic piece of paper down on the Historia of Raven, flattening him completely.
As for Blair, she was completely mauling Neinhart. It was a violent combination of her gauntlet blade and her demonic claw, tearing into him with everything she had. "If you think this is hell, I'm just getting started! I'll tear you apart and grind you into dust!" She jumped into the air, holding her demonic arm up as a sphere of anti-body curse formed within her hands. The weakened Neinhart could only scream as Blair descended to the ground, crushing him into the dirt with that sphere. "Impulse Desire!" The ground exploded in crimson. It drowned out whatever noise Neinhart made as his reborn body was torn apart by Blair's attack, vanishing into complete and utter nothingness when she finished. "Whew…"
Dimaria was shaken by this. "What…what are those mages…?" She couldn't sense any magic power from Blair, meanwhile Vernal felt like she was just as strong as her.
"Now…" Blair turned her attention back to Dimaria, allowing Nightmare Mode to fade. "Back to you…"
.
.
Underneath the Reaper's Castle was a gray pool of liquid. Sting, Rogue, Kuro, Bickslow, Leon, and Ilaria wandered into the depths, based on what Bickslow and Ilaria felt. "…It's right under us…" Bickslow said.
"What is…?" Sting said while tilting his head. "I don't see anything…this place feels weird too…" He was standing on what felt like heavy water.
"The souls." Ilaria said, pointing at what they were standing on. "This is the Purgatory that Pandora mentioned. We are…standing above the souls of all the innocent people Prometheus trapped here."
"You mean all the missing people mentioned are…" Rogue's eyes widened.
"That's right." That voice came from Marde Geer. He was standing at the far end of this pool of souls, clapping his hands slowly. His arm did feel empty without the book of E.N.D resting within it, but that was fine. "This is where Prometheus plans to amass a great deal of power. It takes quite some time to drain the souls of hundreds of thousands, even for the Grim Reaper."
"You again!?" Sting grit his teeth. "Didn't you die!?"
"I was given a second chance." Marde said. "But unfortunately, it seems that Lord Zeref was not…which means I am a demon with no purpose. I was created to kill Zeref, but he's been taken away from this world before I had the chance to do that. He branded me a failure and gave me one more chance to redeem myself…"
"And what exactly are you going to do now that you're here?" Kuro asked.
"It's very simple." Marde said with a malicious smile. "I know that you are here to somehow destroy this place so Prometheus will have no power. To spite the efforts of the humans that ruined my plans, I will make sure you cannot do that."
"You're going to get in our way just because you can!?" Leon growled. They didn't have time for such pettiness.
Marde's smile widened. The curse power around his body amplified tenfold and he wasted no time shifting into his Etherious form. "My plans after so many centuries were ruined by you humans. It has left me stewing in a sense of unfathomable anger. That human emotion has clung to me since the day I was defeated. The only way for me to resolve this anger is to ensure that everything is destroyed as Lord Zeref wished. I will not allow you to interfere with the destruction of humanity this time. Humans are ants that deserved to be squashed underfoot. I will remind you all of the difference in humans and true demons."
.
.
Next Time: Purgatory.