Operation Endgame! Jigan King makes his final move. It's the final clash with Dealer, and everything's on the table!

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Angelic and Demonic forces alike were being pushed back by the wizards fighting in Ishgar. The number of Guisos were rapidly decreasing thanks to the efforts of Dragons and Wizards alike. There were no more than three of these angelic monsters left. "We have the advantage!" Jazz exclaimed. "Press onward and finish them off!"

"Shut up! I don't need you telling me what to do!" Keele shouted while lunging ahead with his Dragon Ape Arm. "Engine: Ignite!" His arm was cloaked in flames and he thrust it forward, slamming it into a Gusios' chest. With a roar, it slid back slightly. That's when Aki came in with a Nightmare Dragon's Roar, adding even more damage to it.

"We could take out the rest of these by ourselves." Aki said firmly.

"Don't act like you're going to steal all the fun!" David laughed at Aki's words.

"We're behind you, Jazz!" Retto spoke for himself and Polka. The countries of Minstrel, Pergrande and Joya were wrapping up any remaining foes nicely. The angelic soldiers realized their place in this battle was rapidly becoming nonexistent. If Gusios didn't stand any chance, then what was the point of them fighting?

"We don't relax until it's over!" Elly exclaimed. "Zell, you know what to do."

"Of course, of course." Zell nodded, flipping through his book to activate his Time's Remembrance. "Why don't we speed things up? Haste." By turning the page, the Commandant activated a speed spell that increased the speed of everyone present.

"Now this is more like it." Cloud said with a grin under his helmet. "I wonder what sort of ingredients can be made from a monster like this. I'm itching to find out…"

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"Damn you…" Yggdrasil was staring at Prometheus. Though the Grim Reaper was frozen in time, his arm was starting to slowly twitch within his prison. It wasn't going to be much longer until Prometheus broke free, and Yggdrasil didn't have the means yet to deal with him. "Michael, you must hurry up. What is taking so long…?!"

Zihark burst through the door, panting somewhat. "Lord Yggdrasil…"

"Zihark. What happened to you?" Yggdrasil turned to his commander.

"The state of the battle is falling out of our favor." Zihark reported, standing up straight while catching his breath. ""Sirius and Cumore are down, and we are rapidly losing Gusios due to the interference of the Dragons from the Isle, and the Spriggan 12 from Alvarez."

"The Isle?" Yggdrasil sucked his teeth. He never foresaw the Island he aided in several centuries ago to bite the hand that fed them. "This isn't good for us. You and Michael are the only other commanders remaining and our forces are dwindling…it appears we have no options at this point but to release Metatron."

"But my lord…he still slumbers." Zihark kneeled. "Even so…if one must sacrifice themselves to awaken him, allow it to be me. We need his power if we are to turn the tide of battle in our favor again. Even if it buys us the time you need."

"Very well." Yggdrasil nodded. "I will not be claimed by Fate. I will break the shackles of the cycle today. Do what you must and awaken Metatron. I will ensure that your services were never in vain."

"Of course, my Lord." Zihark nodded. "It was my fate to assist you until the very end. Though it is bittersweet, I will gladly see this task through if it means you can break the cycle." Though his wing was injured, Zihark forced himself to fly back up to the heavens, where the task of awakening the angel's trump card, Metatron, awaited.

Yggdrasil let out a sigh once Zihark was gone. "This is a battle that took a far greater toll than I ever expected. But it is far too late to back down now. I will do whatever I can to emerge victorious! I will not be stopped by anyone!"

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"Everything's wearing thin…" Erza said while looking around. The battlefield was strewn with demon corpses and fallen angelic soldiers.

"We're approaching the end of the battle." Lucia said. She then tilted her head, receiving a transmission from Shade. "Oh, Shade? What is it? He's making moves? I see…"

"That'ssssss right." Shade confirmed on the other line.

"What's happening?" Freed turned to face Lucia. He didn't trust her at all.

"Your friend Lucy is travelling with Emeraude due south." Lucia pointed. "I suggest you contact as many friends from your guild as you can, otherwise you'll fail to make it in time."

"What does that mean?" Erza narrowed her eyes. "Is that a threat?"

"No, it's a warning." Lucia shrugged. "Feel free to take it with a grain of salt, though. I just thought, since we're on the same side, you'd like to know what's going on."

Erza was silent for a moment, but decided to try and contact Warren. "Warren, Cana, I need a favor."

"What's up?" Cana asked.

"At your service!" Warren said.

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Etherious Marde Geer stood before Ilaria, Bickslow, Sting, Rogue, Leon, and Kuro. His goal was simply to prevent them from interfering with Prometheus out of spite for the collapse of Tartarus. With his increased power, he was far stronger than he was in the past, and it showed with how easily he was able to repel Sting and Rogue in their Dragon Force. "You two don't think you stand a chance against me now, do you?"

Sting slid back across the water, gritting his teeth. "We're just getting started!" Grinning, he cupped his hands at his sides. "White Dragon's Holy Ray!" He thrust his arms forward, releasing numerous white rays of light towards Marde. Marde easily evaded this by leaping into the air, using his wings for flight.

Bickslow was flying in the air while standing on his dolls, keeping track of Marde's movements. "Not so fast! Babies, line formation!" The dolls he stood on let loose a flurry of seith magic to bombard Marde. Marde's movements were very quick and Bickslow was unable to land any meaning hits on him.

"Pathetic." Marde said while flying past Bickslow, striking him as he went by. He knocked Bickslow off his dolls and he violently to the ground. Rogue and Ilaria were next.

"Shadow Dragon's Roar!"

"Soul Chain!"

Rogue opened his mouth, firing off a Shadow Dragon's Roar. It did strike Marde, but it didn't manage to deal any true damage. Just before Marde could react, Ilaria's soul chain did land against him. The damage wasn't physical, and she quite literally latched onto his soul. That's what hurt. "What…!?" Marde snarled at Ilaria, who was holding onto the chain. "What are you? A disgusting halfbreed?!"

"Acid Dragon's Roar!"

"Flame Devil's Rage!"

Leon and Kuro attacked at once. The power of Acid Dragon and Flame Devil Slaying merged together to create a purple, blazing twister that consumed Marde in its wake. Ilaria was just outside of the range of the attack so she was safe. This attack did noticeable damage to Marde since it was imbued with Devil Slaying. "You think yourselves clever, do you?" Marde said while snapping his fingers, manifesting a gigantic rose bud to emerge from the water right behind Ilaria.

"…!" Ilaria realized it too late. By the time she turned around, the gigantic rose bud was already opened and it gathered enough curse power. It fired a powerful beam that struck Ilaria directly. "Kyaaaah!" The soul-binder cried out as the force of the blast caused her to release her soul chain, and she was sent flying across the water.

"Ilaria-san…!" Sting exclaimed in worry, before sprinting towards Marde. "White Dragon's Claw!" Sting swung at Marde, but the absolute demon grabbed his wrist before he could strike. Sting's gut was met with a fierce fist from Marde. "Gack…!" Sting lost the wind in his lungs and he was knocked backwards.

Leon appeared next. "Acid Dragon's Iron Fist!"

And behind Marde was Rogue, sneaking in for an attack while Leon attacked from the front. "Shadow Dragon's Waxwing Flash!"

Leon's punch was blocked by Marde, the acid burning away at his body somewhat. Rogue's attack landed true, causing Marde to stumble forward just a little bit. Marde turned to kick Rogue, but his body turned into darkness at the last second. "Hm…?" Leon grinned, kicking off of Marde while parting his lips. "Acid Dragon's Wave!" From his lips, a destructive wave of acid barreled forward, catching Marde in its wake.

And above, Bickslow was circling around Marde with his dolls in position. "Circle Formation, rain fire!" Bickslow's dolls began a relentless bombardment while Marde was trapped by the acid.

"That's it!" Rogue said. "We've got him pinned!"

That was hardly the case. Marde merely flexed his power and the acid dispersed. It was an explosion that knocked Rogue, Leon, and Bickslow away. "Do not touch me."

Kuro saw this opening and forged a blazing sword. He sprinted across the water and leapt forward. "Coming through! Flame Devil's Flameberge!" He aimed a horizontal swing at Marde's chest, which was blocked, but it still did noticeable damage. Kuro didn't stop, swinging the sword upwards while rising into the air. "Crimson Inferno!" This caused a fiery explosion that almost caught Marde in its wake. "Damn, he's too fast…!"

"Thorns." It was Marde's infamous attack. Thorny vines emerged from all around, piercing Kuro in numerous places.

"Gnk…!" Kuro grunted while ensnared by the vines. He could barely move.

"Explosion." Marde followed up with an explosion on Kuro's location, throwing him from the vines and backwards. As soon as he did this, Ilaria attacked with twin scythes composed of her magic. Marde realized he had no choice but to evade these due the properties of her magic. He was stepping back as the White Eclipse Rookie tried so hard to strike him. "I understand how your magic works. You can bypass any type of magic because you strike the soul directly. A dangerous thing for a halfbreed such as yourself, but…" Marde snapped his fingers and thorns emerged to wrap around and pierce Ilaria.

"Ngh…!" Ilaria struggled within the thorns.

"If a physical object such as this were to grab hold of you, you have no means of escape. Sit there while I deal with the rest of them." Marde demanded.

"We're in a bind…" Sting said while looking around. "Kuro-san and Ilaria-san might be our best bets. Our magic just isn't doing enough damage to him otherwise."

Marde lifted his hand up, manifesting a gigantic wooden pillar above him. "Dea Yggdrasil." He said simply, commanding this titan sized pillar to fall and crush Sting, Rogue, Leon, and Bickslow.

"I got this!" Leon said while standing in front of everyone. He took a deep breath, cheeks inflating with magic power, and he lurched forward. "Acid Dragon's Roar!" A potent torrent of acid shot from Leon's mouth, tearing through the Dea Yggdrasil right down the middle. This allowed Sting and Rogue to move closer, their arms shining with their respective magic.

"White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk!" The Twin Dragons exclaimed while sliding past Marde, thin beams of light and darkness shooting from their fingertips, piercing through Marde Geer's body. This dual attack managed to do some impressive damage, causing Marde to grunt in pain.

"ENOUGH!" Marde said while slamming his hands on the water. This prompted numerous rose buds to appear across Purgatory, and promptly caused them to explode, catching everyone in its wake. All mages were struggling to stand up, the only one who managed to do so was Leon. Such injuries were common to him, but this tide of battle was not going well.

"Ngh…" Bickslow grunted. "This damn monster…" Bickslow placed his hands on the water and remembered something. It wasn't water…they were surrounded by all sorts of souls. If that was the case then…"

"No matter how many ants gather together, you're still ants." Marde said while looking around. "Nothing but insects to be crushed underfoot. Unlike my former subordinates, I do not play with my food."

"You did pretty good." Daityas said as he appeared from hell flames. "Not bad at all!"

"Oh shit…" Sting grunted. Daityas was here too!? Now they were really in trouble!

"Look at all these pathetic humans, I thought you could do better than that!?" Daityas laughed, slowly walking towards Ilaria. "Oh, but you…you haven't even realized your potential yet, have you?"

"Huh…?" Ilaria weakly looked towards Daityas. She was trapped by thorns and couldn't move. "Do I…know you…?"

"No, but I know you." Daityas said, lifting an index finger up. That fingered burned bright orange from the hell flames building within it. "You were the result of one of my nights of indulgence. I don't really care for most of the kids I probably have that are out there, but…I do want to see them at their full potential. So, if you can't make use of what's about to happen, I'll kill everyone here, then everyone at White Eclipse."

"W-What…!?" Kuro was stunned. "Wait….you're Ilaria's father?"

"I'm a lot of kid's fathers, I think." Daityas shrugged.

"Wait…what are you doing, Daityas?" Marde demanded to know.

Daityas ignored Marde and pressed his finger to Ilaria's skull. The heat of the hell flames caused Ilaria to scream in agony. "Your demonic blood just needs a kick start. Let's see how this works now."

"Ngh…AAAAAAH!" Ilaria screamed as she felt her blood boil. Daityas stepped back and Ilaria was consumed in hell fire the thorns burning away. Everyone was shocked at what happened, but those hell flames died down, Ilaria's appearance changed. Those purple eyes of hers turned darker, and black lines resembling cracks appeared along her body in various places.

"Awaken, Ilaria Verdone!" Daityas laughed.

"What in the world…?" Rogue gasped.

"Daityas!?" Marde sneered at Daityas.

"If you think you can take her, by all means. I really want to see how this turns out." Daityas said with a cackle before stepping back. "But surely this won't be a problem for you, will it, Marde?"

Marde didn't like what Daityas was doing. Despite this he turned his attention to Ilaria and fired off another Dea Yggdrasil towards her. This wooden beam was even larger than the last. "No matter, this changes nothing!"

Ilaria's eyes snapped to attention. She couldn't understand this burning sensation inside of her, but it was burning and screaming, yearning to be released. As the Dea Yggdrasil came towards her, she flipped over it, running forward while dragging her scythes along it. Her scythes were ignited with Hell's flames, causing the Dea Yggdrasil to burn to nothing. "This power…"

"Impossible…!" Marde's eyes widened. This power completely bypassed Ilaria's weakness. She could interact with magic now!?

Ilaria used Marde's shock to her advantage, creating several soul chains to latch onto him, which she used to pull herself closer. "I don't have much time with this, I can already feel myself passing out from this power…" She thought to herself, surrounding Marde with numerous soul chains. "Don't even try to pull those chains out, it won't end well if you do."

"Don't command me!" Marde was struggling and Ilaria's words were true. With so many chains latching onto his soul, even the slightest movement caused him insurmountable pain.

"Kuro-senpai!" Ilaria shouted.

Kuro burst free from his thorns, recreating another blazing sword. "I'll burn it all!" He zoomed towards Marde, moving swiftly with Fire Make: Hermes. With this boost in speed, he could attack from numerous angles with his devil slaying sword. "Burning Pillar!" With one final downward swing, a pillar of devil slaying flames burned at Marde, while also destroying the chains around him. Since Ilaria's magic could interact with others in this state, it stood to reason that devil slaying affected this.

"GRAAH!" Marde was heavily damaged, but he wasn't done yet. He was knocked out of his Etherious form, clinging to life out of spite and indignation. "NO…I will not be bested by humans a second time!"

"GYAHAHAHA!" Bickslow cackled. All of this allowed him the perfect time to set up. His dolls were set up in an O formation, spinning around rapidly. "Too bad for you, because this is the end of the line! I'm borrowing the power of these souls to put you down once and for all! OMEGA FORMATION!" Since they were surrounded by souls, Bickslow could use this to his advantage. He fired off a gigantic emerald beam that dwarfed every attack sent thus far.

"NOOO!" Marde had no defense in his weakened state. He was completely blown back by the Omega Formation, his tattered body rolling across the water until he came to a halt on his back. "No…this…cannot be…" Bested a second time. But why….?

"Ngh…" Ilaria's power instantly faded and she returned to normal. She nearly passed out, but was barely able to keep her consciousness.

"Are you okay…?" Leon asked tentatively. Learning that Ilaria was Daityas' child did make him a little weary at first, but clearly the two were nothing alike. At least not yet.

"I'm okay…" Ilaria nodded slowly.

"What happens next…" Sting asked while helping Rogue up. Nobody made a move as Daityas slowly moved to approach the downed Marde.

"Why…?" Marde weakly stared up at Daityas.

"Why? Because it's fun." Daityas laughed, kneeling down to place a hand on Marde's chest. "Also, because I didn't forget how you disrespected me a few years ago. Ever since that day, I was waiting for the chance to get my revenge. I thought I missed out when Tartarus crumbled, but luckily for me, Zeref gave you a second chance. That was my chance to wait for the perfect moment…so I could do this." Daityas plunged his hand into Marde's chest, causing the former demon king's eyes to widen.

"Hrk…!" Marde gasped.

"This is mine now." Daityas pulled out Marde's soul and put it into his own body. The sheer power Daityas possessed caused Purgatory to shake and tremble. That pained gasp was the last noise Marde ever made, as his body slowly sunk into the water below.

"Oh no…" Rogue grunted. "The last thing we needed was him getting even stronger…"

"He played us…" Bickslow glared.

"And this power is wonderful! Not half bad…and it was going to waste with him anyway." Daityas turned to the group in front of him. "Now…as much as I would love to test this newfound strength of Hell's Garden…I can wait."

"H-Huh…?" Ilaria blinked.

"You managed to win after all. I can grant my daughter and her friends a single reprieve, but don't expect me to give a shit about you after this, unless I want to have some fun." Daityas said while pointing above him. "If you all can make it out of this situation alive, I'll be looking forward to torturing you humans again."

"Daityas, you won't get away with that!" Leon exclaimed.

Daityas just laughed at Leon's words. "Bold words, Leon! Bold words." With that, Daityas vanished just as quickly as he came, a veil of flames surrounding him in the process. He was gone.

"…It doesn't sound like he's gonna bother us right now." Kuro said.

"As much as I hate to say it, we have more important things to worry about right now." Bickslow said while staring up. "How are we gonna stop Prometheus from using all these souls? I could only use some of them…but there are hundreds of thousands here…"

Ilaria was shaky in her stance, but she furrowed her brows. "Wait…I have an idea…!"

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"Koryuji's close." Emeraude told Lucy, keeping her eyes ahead. "Perhaps in a few more minutes, we may be able to run into her."

"I hope so." Lucy sighed. "I can imagine she hasn't been sitting still since the angel's descended. I guess I can't blame her. Er, what exactly are you going to say to her? Are you going to apologize for the other day?"

"…" Emeraude didn't answer.

"Oh, come on? I thought we were slowly improving?" Lucy sighed once again. Perhaps she was expecting too much for Emeraude to open up to her immediately.

"Stop moving." Emeraude came to a halt. Lucy blinked but also stopped.

"Um…what's up…?" Lucy asked. Something felt off…and she soon felt it. An overwhelming magic presence nearing them. A rift opened up in front of them and out from it…was Ashnard. The King of Pergrande stepped from the rift and it promptly closed behind him. "Ah…King Ashnard!?"

"Ashnard." Emeraude narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

"I cannot permit you two to traverse any further. You see, Mii Koryuji has failed to uphold her end of the deal we struck." Ashnard told Emeraude and Lucy. "As such, she is to experience the harshest of Pergrande punishment. That is why I must find her before you two do…and beside, this works out for me as well."

"We're not going to let you hurt Mii again!" Lucy said defiantly.

"Move aside." Emeraude wasn't asking. She was making a demand of the King of Pergrande. Though they were related by blood, that didn't mean anything to Emeraude. "I'll crush you for certain this time."

Ashnard laughed at the defiant duo before him. "I knew you would say this." Ashnard held his hand out, a red and blue sword appearing in his grip. This wasn't even his strongest weapon, but he figured it was suitable enough to deal with these two. "But you should know…if you intend to swing at the king, you best not miss."

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Next Time: Ashnard's Assault.