AN: Thanks AliceCullen3, Goku275, and Wadeparker.
I didn't get many reviews for last chapter. I wonder if it was unpopular for some reason. If that's the case, then I hope you all like this one.
"Fire Dragon's Claw!" yelled Natsu, throwing a kick that Mard blocked with his Thorn Curse. The vines were incinerated, forcing the Etherious to dodge when his opponent followed up with a flaming punch.
It had been more than half an hour and the dragon slayer still hadn't defeated Mard. However, the demon was scowling.
"The first Face should have gone off by now," thought Mard. "Without the despair of humans, the host's resistance has effectively stalled Master E.N.D.'s awakening. It looks like I need to activate Alegria."
The only problem with his plan was that Mard could not use Alegria while he was preoccupied fighting Natsu. Luckily, fate smiled upon the Etherious.
"Ice Devil's Rage," said Silver, firing a fierce purple blizzard from his mouth and toward the dragon slayer. The storm pushed Natsu onto the defensive, forcing him to cross his arms and summon his flames to protect himself.
Mard smiled, mentally applauding his decision to spare Silver. He brought up his right hand, his thumb, index finger, and middle finger extended, and swiped his arm to the side. "Alegria!"
Under his feet, Cube responded, beginning to change into its true form.
Ruuuuuuumble!
"Alegria," noted Kyôka as she dodged one of Rufus's spells. The ground they were standing on transformed into a sticky goop.
Using her Enhancement Curse to strengthen herself, Kyôka rushed forward and punched Rufus, knocking him into the cursed substance.
The Fairy struggled against the goop, trying and failing to free himself. "What is this stuff? I don't remember seeing anything like it before."
"It's the Cube's true form, Plutogrim," answered Kyôka as the substance spread across Rufus's body. "And, now that you're trapped in it, you will never be free."
Seilah and Orga exchanged punches, augmented by Curse Power and god-slaying lightning respectively. They knocked one another around, too focused on their battle to notice the changes going on around them. At least, until…
Squelch!
"Huh?" went Orga as he stepped in something squishy. "What the— argh!"
Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Seilah kicked Orga's chest, sending him to the (oddly goopy) ground. The god slayer tried to stand up but found himself stuck.
"It appears your resistance to Curses only applies internally," said Seilah. "How unfortunate for you."
The Etherious then walked away, leaving Orga to his fate.
"What!?" shouted Warren. "The ground is…"
"Oh no!" panicked Max. "The gravity's gone!"
"Wh-what's going on!?" exclaimed Millianna. "Blaze! Iggy!"
Most of Fairy Tail had remained together while entering the Cube, with only its stronger members breaking away from the group. They had stuck close to protect themselves and their noncombatants, though it didn't make much of a difference as the ground they were standing on started to break apart.
Millianna saw her children falling among her comrades, Blaze hugging her little brother protectively. She whipped a Nekōsoku Tube around a large chunk of still-solid debris, then tightened it and pulled to slingshot herself towards her kids.
Millianna grabbed the two of them closely, in a vain attempt to protect them as the walls consumed them. As her consciousness faded, she mentally sent out a prayer.
"Somebody… anybody… please save Blaze and Iggy!"
"What is this!?" exclaimed Rogue as a sticky substance wrapped around his body. He had lowered his guard after Franmalth's defeat and was now paying for his arrogance.
"It's sucking me in!" shouted Yukino, her and Rogue getting pulled into the walls. "Aaaaaah!"
Two more Fairies were silenced, helpless against Plutogrim.
"What is this junk!?" Natsu yelled at Mard, his body encased in a bizarre substance from the neck down. "I can't move, you bastard!"
Having regained control over the situation, the Etherious smirked. "The Cube itself is one massive dungeon, contained within the beast named Plutogrim. Now, you and your precious guild are its prisoners."
"For now, maybe, but we'll break free in no time!" retorted Natsu.
"Impossible," dismissed Mard. Suddenly, the demon felt the presence of Magic Power appear in his guild's base. "Hm? It appears that one was able to escape Alegria's clutches. No matter…"
"Heh, shows what you know!" taunted the dragon slayer, whom Mard ignored. Natsu deactivating his Dragon Force, conserving energy for when his comrade freed everyone.
The Etherious then brought a finger to his temple, activating a telepathic broadcast to the rest of Tartaros. "Attention, all members of Tartaros. Alegria has disposed of the invaders! We shall now proceed with the Face Operation as planned. However, one human was able to escape Alegria's influence, and she is still here. The soldier who kills the human will be promoted to one of the Nine Demon Gates. Should one of the Nine Demon Gates eliminate her, that member will personally receive a reward from Mard Geer instead."
"…Further," continued the demon, his mouth twisting into a cruel smile as he gazed upon the Book of E.N.D. in his left hand.
Had he looked at the flesh and blood container of E.N.D. instead, he would've noticed that a scale remained on Natsu's right cheek.
"…receive a reward from Mard Geer instead."
"I guess it's all up to me," said Minerva, frowning at Mard's announcement.
She had narrowly escaped Alegria by abandoning her fight with Keyes and retreating into her Territory. When she returned, Keyes was gone. After walking around a little, she found Rogue and Yukino encased in a wall, and, apparently, they weren't the only victims.
"…Further, the same reward will be given to whomever locates and destroys the captured wife and children of Master E.N.D.'s host. That is all."
Minerva's blood turned to ice. Nobody harmed her family.
"Maybe it's a good thing everybody is imprisoned," thought Minerva as she rapidly teleported around Tartaros's base in search of the Dragneels, using Territory Explosion on every enemy she saw. "They'll be safe as I singlehandedly annihilate every demon that crosses my path."
"There they are!" exclaimed Lamy cheerfully. Before her stood Millianna, Blaze, and Iggy Dragneel. By chance, the three had gotten separated from the rest of their group when the Cube transformed. "Here comes my promotion!"
As she stared at them, a dark look entered Lamy's eyes. "You've had two kids, yet you still look like that! Before I kill you, I'm gonna mess up that pretty face of yours! Fa fa fa!"
The Etherious cackled as she expressed her true demonic nature. "I'll get your daughter next! She would've inherited her looks from you, am I right!? Fa fa fa!"
Lamy was so caught up in her delusions that she didn't notice as an equally demonic presence walked up behind her. "Maybe I can even get Mard Geer to give me your son instead of killing him! I could mold him into a hottie demon, completely devoted to me! Fa fa f—"
Lamy's head exploded, the latest victim of Minerva's magic.
"Disgusting."
Minerva dragged the headless corpse of Lamy a few feet away from the Dragneels. Part of her wanted to teleport the body far away, but she knew that it was more important to conserve her mana for the upcoming siege. Waves of demons would be attacking her until Tartaros ran out of members.
"I can handle this by myself."
"Found you!"
Minerva turned toward the voice, her eyebrows rising as she saw the Etherious. "You're Jackal, aren't you? The demon that attacked Elder Michello. I recognize you from Happy's description, though he mentioned you self-destructing after Master Natsu defeated you."
"Our base has the equipment to resurrect us demons endlessly," boasted Jackal, his right eye twitching at the mention of Happy. "Or at least, we had the equipment until your guildmates destroyed it all! Plutogrim already took them out, though, so I'll just get some revenge by proxy on you!"
Jackal punctuated the 'you' with an explosion, which Minerva countered with one of her own. Irritated, the demon leaped toward Minerva, swinging his fist.
The Fairy, aware of his abilities, dodged and struck him with a fist encased in her Territory, dispersing the spell before Jackal could trigger his Curse. The Etherious was knocked back a few feet, his scowl deepening.
"I can definitely handle this alone," thought Minerva, smirking for a moment before a chill ran down her spine. Acting on instinct, she used her magic to swap places with Jackal. This proved to be the right decision, as another Etherious carved deeply into Jackal's back with a sharp protrusion on his arm.
"Augh!" shouted Jackal, equal parts angry and in pain. "Damnit Torafuzar!"
"It seems you did not escape Alegria by mere luck," said Torafuzar, ignoring his guildmate. "I will take care of you first, then eliminate the Dragneel family."
"Over my dead body!" shouted Minerva. "I can handle two of them."
The Fairy unleashed a Territory Explosion on the demons, who leaped in opposite directions to avoid the blast. Taking advantage of their separation, Minerva decided to focus on the injured Jackal. She teleported behind the demon and delivered another Territory-coated punch.
However, the Etherious anticipated this, turning around as she appeared. As he was hit, Jackal slapped her arm, planting his Bomb Curse. "Take that!"
"Tch," went Minerva as the explosion began. She quickly summoned her Territory around the blast site, containing the explosion to her arm. Pain still tore through her body, though, and her limb hung limply by her side afterward. "I can still handle this by myself. I just have to use my trump card to finish them off before any more demons arrive."
As Minerva spoke, Torafuzar charged and attacked her. She dodged his punches and slashes, choosing to prepare her ace in the hole rather than teleport.
"Niel Wielg Mion," uttered Minerva, performing stances with her Territory-encased hands as she spoke. Jackal joined in on Torafuzar's assault, sending an explosion her way. Minerva felt the ends of her hair get singed as she narrowed avoided the blast. Fortunately, Torafuzar was not as lucky, and getting struck by his guildmate's Curse stopped him for a few seconds.
"Terse Elcantaeus!" finished Minerva, coating the two Etherious in her Territory to deliver the spell. "Yagdo Rigora!"
Before her, the effigy of one of the 18 Battle Gods, Yagdo Rigora, came into existence. This only lasted for a moment, though, as Yagdo Rigora erupted into a massive pillar of light, raining down upon Jackal and Torafuzar.
"I knew I could handle this," said Minerva to herself, using her arm to shield herself from the light. "Although, such a flashy spell doubtlessly alerted the rest of Tartaros to my location. I better—Urgh!"
Minerva gasped as a fist knocked the wind out of her gut and sent her sprawling to the ground. As she brought her head up and got a good look at her attacker, she froze.
"You were lucky with Jackal," spoke Torafuzar, damaged but alive. "His preexisting injuries allowed your spell to finish him off. I, on the other hand, was able to withstand your spell. And now, I will finish you off."
"I can't handle this alone," thought Minerva, despair gripping her heart. She had wanted to protect everyone in Fairy Tail, to repay them for being like a real family to her, even if that meant that she would have to fight alone. Years of her father's 'training' had taught her that accepting help was a sign of weakness, and Minerva wanted to be strong for everyone.
She knew logically that this wasn't true. That even powerful mages like Natsu needed help sometimes. That nobody in the guild would think any less of her for relying on them. But, knowing in her mind and believing it in her heart, despite countless examples instilled into (mainly by her father), were two different matters.
"Help…" wheezed Minerva as she started to rise. Even now, tears formed in her eyes as a sense of shame filled her. The words were an admission of inferiority, as humiliating as strolling around town naked. "Please, if anybody is there, help…"
"Pathetic," criticized Torafuzar as he walked up to the now-standing Fairy. In Minerva's eyes, he was completely right. Yet…
"Please help me save my guild!"
…letting everyone die would make her feel a thousand times more pathetic.
"Nobody is here to save you," said Torafuzar, raising his arm to deliver a killing blow.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that!" shouted a voice that neither Fairy nor demon recognized. An orb slammed into Torafuzar at a high speed, knocking him away from Minerva.
Two women walked up to her, concern etched on their faces.
"Are you okay?" asked one of them, visibly younger than the other.
"Just a little tired," replied Minerva with a weak smile, in truth too drained of Magic Power to even feel slightly suspicious of the two newcomers.
"I can fix that," responded the younger woman. "Sensory Link."
A pink mark appeared on the arms of Minerva and the woman. Suddenly, she felt her Magic Power get partially refilled by a rush of Ethernano, followed by the mark disappearing. Feeling better, Minerva decided to ask a question.
"Who exactly are you two?"
"I'm Meredy, and my friend here is Ultear" explained the younger woman. "We used to be members of Grimoire Heart, but now we're a part of the Independent Guild, Crime Sorcière. We're here to help."
Minerva was mildly troubled by Meredy's words, but she felt like she could believe the self-admitted ex-Dark Mage's words. A feeling of hope flickered through the Fairy.
Together, they just might be able to defeat Tartaros and save everyone.
Omake
"…How creepy," said Meredy, shivering as she looked at the figures of Rogue and Yukino, frozen in expressions of horror. Turning to Ultear, she asked a question. "Why did you want to come here, anyway?"
"I figure that, with Jellal handling Oración Seis, we should check in with Fairy Tail," answered Ultear. With his Second Origin released, Jellal would have no problem defeating them. "With how the guild is, it was obvious they would be fighting against Tartaros. Although, finding the Dark Guild's base and seeing it transform into a monster was certainly a surprise."
"I just wish that we could find the survivors of whatever did this without wandering aimlessly through this eerie place," sighed Meredy.
Moments later, the two saw a massive pillar of light erupt a small distance away.
"Well, that makes things easier," said Meredy with a small smile.
AN: Ultear and Meredy have joined the fight! I said in the AN after Chapter 20 that Ultear didn't participate in the Jellal/Oración Seis battle, and now you know why. Honestly, I don't understand why Meredy did nothing but spectate that fight during the canonical Tartaros Arc.
Goodbye for now!