Hello. Sorry this chapter took slightly longer than expected, it's been a while since I've written a team battle. Over a year, to be exact. Sorry in advance if the fight is not up to par D:
Today we hit 900 followers! 100 more and we'll hit 1000. Damn...when did that happen? Thank you very much guys!
I hope you enjoy the chapter and have a nice read!
Fairy Tail has been slowly, but surely getting closer to Grimoire Heart's ship. Having decided it'd be for the best to stay low and preserve as much stamina as possible, they cut through the thick forest at a snail's pace.
While walking through branches and leaves, they have been quietly trying to come up with a way to defeat Hades, a man who manhandled their Master with little to no difficulty, a feat none of them could ever hope to come close to.
Laxus and Erza were the main masterminds behind planning, both of them having witnessed Makarov at his best, which gave them more insight into just how powerful Hades could have been.
One of Laxus' first ideas was using Fairy Law, a spell he'd inherited from his grandfather himself, however, both him and Erza have soon realised, that Makarov must have tried it himself. From how he turned out it must have failed, which meant Hades had a way around the spell.
"We don't have the luxury of time." pointed out Erza while pushing a branch away from her face. "We are at danger of being attacked by the Council at any minute. We will have to be swift about this."
"How the hell do you expect to be quick in taking down the guy who's stronger than Gramps?" asked her Gray from behind. "Just beating him might be impossible, let alone in quick fashion."
"We're gonna hit him with everything we've got as soon as our eyes meet his." said Laxus. "We're all injured and our magic is not full. Erza's right, no matter what, dragging this out will backfire. We either take him down quickly, or he'll start picking us apart one by one, until no one remains."
Everyone's faces grew grim. He was right, none of them was in top condition, especially Gajeel and Gray, who both participated in the fight with their stomachs still pierced. Although their bleeding was stopped, the pain prevented them from moving at top speed.
Erza, who had no major injuries, but was banged up evenly across her whole body, also had trouble maintaining her usual speed and precision.
Laxus and Natsu, although both still lightly burned, were among the healthier members of the group, along with Lucy, whose injuries ended on few bruises and already stitched cuts.
Wendy was the only member of the group without any injuries on her figure, but her magic was quite possibly the lowest. One thing was certain – healing was most likely out of her grasp.
"You don't have to mention we all look like shit." scoffed Gajeel.
"How do we all stand on magic?" asked Lucy. "I'm practically full, but how are you guys?"
"Not well." Erza shook her head. "From what I can tell, you and Laxus are the only ones with plenty of magic left. Rest of us varies from barely half to a little over it." she added, looking at the rest for confirmation, their quick nods backing up her statement.
"That just means we might have just one shot at this." stated Laxus and split a bush in two, revealing the beach in the distance. Right by its shore stood a ship, its black exterior now gleaming from the rain and the light coming from thunders roaring above their heads. At the sight of their goal, everyone tensed up. There was no going back now.
"That being said..." added the Dragon Slayer and turned to everyone. "If we screw this up, we'll have no other choice but take it slower. In case that happens, we'll need a plan. I've got something, but it's your call if you want to go through with it." he told them, their nods being his answer.
Laxus gulped and covered them with the bush once again. "All right. None of you dare chicken out of it, or else I'll grind your ass into the ground. Listen up..."
Mest teleported at the shore, his breath pretty much non existent. He dropped to his knees, his eyes teary and burning from exhaustion, inhuman sounding wheezes coming out of his mouth. Never in his life did he travel this fast and with so little magic left.
Zeref's words and presence kept pressuring his mind like a vise, partially robbing his off stamina. With Acnologia's name echoing in his mind, he clenched his fist on the ground, sand filling up his hand. He lifted his heavy head and looked at the rescue ship his comrades resided in and used his last remaining bit of strength to get there.
He appeared in the middle of the ship, startling two poor freshmen, who dropped their spears at the sight of a man appearing before their eyes. Mest didn't even bother getting up, instead staying on his knees, whispers and murmurs filling his ears. Not so long after he heard the sound of heavy boots walking down the stairs, immediately recognizing the step in those legs.
Lahar walked up to Mest and kneeled beside him, placing his hand on man's back. "Welcome back. Are you done throwing tantrums left and right?"
His voice was not angry, nor accusing. If anything, it was worried, and that did not make it easier for Mest. Knowing full well that his earlier stunt with lacrimas was not the topic for now, he caught his breath and looked into his friend's eyes with enough determination to make him frown. "There's something I have to tell you."
And so, Mest told Lahar everything he'd experienced during past few hours. His talk with Fairy Tail, evading Seven Kin of Purgatory, running into Zeref, Acnologia's arrival. Lahar's face continued to drop more and more, until pure terror took over his body, forcing him to take few steps back, his face white in color. "Acnologia? Did you say...Acnologia?!"
Mest took few sips of the water brought to him in the meantime and nodded. "Yeah, heard it directly from Zeref. He made it very easy to understand."
Lahar's back touched the wall of the deck, his eyes dropping to his slightly raised hands. "How could this happen? First Grimoire Heart, then Zeref, now Acnologia...How could it happen, that all calamities of the world of magic meet in one place in a matter of one day?! What are the odds?!" he lamented quietly into his hands, which were now covering his face. He remained in this position for a bit, before letting them down, his face regaining a bit of its color. "All troops – retreat. I repeat, all troops retreat!" he repeated with a shout. "The investigation is over! Salvage what you can and prepare to sail! We are done with Tenrou Island!"
Rune Knights, although confused, agreed with a loud "Yes, sir!", and began to pack what remained of their ships, their injured already secure in the lower dock of their last remaining ship.
"Wait one second!" protested Mest and stood up. "What about Fairy Tail? We need to warn them!"
"They are no longer our concern." stated coldly Lahar. "Go and warn them if you wish, but we will not wait for you. We've spent enough time here."
Mest grit his teeth and punched the wooden floor in anger. Lahar took off his glasses and massaged the corners of his eyes while sighing tiredly. "We lost our entire fleet to one mage, we were powerless against Seven Commandments and allowed them to control us for months, we could not have arrested Oracion Seiss without the Guild Alliance...The Council, as it is, cannot continue." he said and put his glasses back on. "Perhaps voting in favor of that idea is not that bad of a choice."
With that said, he left Mest alone to himself to command his remaining troops.
Hades strolled across the main corridor of his ship, his right hand stroking his long beard, an amused smirk glued to his old face.
"Two deceased...one with no chance of recovery...two traitors, and two bested in combat. Makarov's brats truly deserve a praise. I've never expected to lose all of my Kin, not in this short amount of time." he monologued as he continued on his way. "You've raised some truly admirable brats, Makarov. I hope you do not hold a grudge against me if I answer their stubbornness with equal strength. I have no other choice here."
Hades entered the main room of the ship, the entrance already opened and ready to take its guests. The elder smirked even wider and walked up to the edge of the ship, immediately looking down. His eyes laid on Fairy Tail's assault group, their eyes glued to his, as both parties stared each other down for a long while.
"So this is Hades, huh?" asked Gray with a dry throat.
Laxus' scowl deepened. "Yeah. Definitely."
Erza noticed his clenched fists, his anger no longer obeying his will. She was in no position to judge, or criticize him – she felt the same. She shifted her eyes back to the elder, sweat running down her face. Although he did not unleash his magic power just yet, his sheer presence was beyond intimidating. She felt like she was staring at a giant mountain, one she was about to challenge with her sword, that now looked like a toothpick in comparison to the difference in size.
Lucy gulped loudly, with Wendy gently hugging her torso against her will. They were both terrified.
"Fairy Tail's Third Generation." greeted them Hades while clapping. "You have my praise. You've managed to crawl through my forces and come all the way here, only to perish, just like Makarov did."
The group frowned at him, clearly touched by his words. Laxus clenched his fists even harder and replied. "We won't lose to a relic as old as you."
"Your determination is, as expected, remarkable. I'd lie if I said I wasn't interested in what you all have to offer. Your magics are quite interesting and in some cases" he said and shifted his eyes at the Dragon Slayers "rare."
"Your words are empty and do not interest us." said Erza. "Save your breath."
Hades scoffed gently in amusement and turned his back to Fairy Tail before walking back into his ship. "Very well. You are hereby welcome to come on board of my ship. Death awaits you."
As soon as his figure vanished, Laxus gently tilted his head to the right. "Gray." he called out.
The Maker blinked. "Yeah?"
"Make a way up, preferably stairs." he ordered him. "With railings." he added after a moment. "Cats." he turned to Lily and Carla. "Find another way in and try to disable this thing. Destroy whatever you want, just make sure we don't fly away with it."
The Exceeds nodded and flew off in opposite direction, Carla taking her time. She hesitated for a bit, before turning back. "Wendy!"
The girl looked at her. "Be careful." said Carla in farewell, before flying off. Wendy watched her friend fly away, nodding to her back eagerly. She had no intentions of dying tonight.
The rest looked up and took one last breath.
"Let's go!" roared Laxus, which gave Gray the signal to mold a stairway that reached up to the very entrance. The group quickly started to climb it. After couple of seconds, they were just mere steps away from getting on board.
"We must fight with our full power from the very beginning, but remember, stick to the plan if things go south." reminded Erza to everyone, as she ran in front. "We have to work together if we want to-"
Her sentence was interrupted by someone grabbing her right shoulder and pushing her back with enough strength to almost knock her over. Erza's body fell onto the railing, and with the corner of her eye she spotted two figures running up front.
Natsu and Laxus ran up ahead, pulling everyone in their way backwards, with Gray and Lucy also being nearly dropped off the stairs. Both Dragon Slayer clad their bodies in their respective elements, before simultaneously punching a giant beam of green energy that greeted them with their fists, a beam they spotted thanks to their advanced senses.
Erza and the others were blown back by the impact, Natsu and Laxus pushing through best to their ability. They bent their back legs and pushed through, successfully breaking the spell, which Erza started to recognize just now. This was...Jellal's magic!
Gray, Lucy, Gajeel, and Wendy were shocked, but soon understood what just happened – the battle had already began.
With the beam dispelled, Fairy Tail was greeted with the sight of Hades standing some distance away, his right arm extended before his figure. Upon seeing his "greeting" did no damage at all, the elder let out an impressed sound.
Natsu and Laxus climbed the remaining few steps at the same time, their figures side by side, and as soon as their pivots touched the wooden flooring of the ship, they both puffed out their chests.
FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!
LIGHTNING DRAGON'S ROAR!
Their roars cut through the ship side by side, fire and lightning filling up the hall, as they made their way towards Hades. The elder did not move an inch from his spot and merely pointed his fingers at the floor and swiped his arm upwards, a dark grey pillar appearing out of thin airthin air. The pillar blocked majority of the roars, their remains spilling to the sides, burning everything on their way.
Predicting what was going to happen next, Hades chuckled at Fairy Tail's creativity. Out of the remains of now dying out roars, Gray ran out of Natsu's flames and Gajeel out of Laxus' lightning, both of them trying to flank the elder. Gray molded two swords, each in his hand, while Gajeel turned his right hand into a club.
Both men dashed forward at the same time and attacked with their weapons, however to no effect. Hades simply caught Gajeel's club with his bare hand and knocked Gray back with a shockwave that effectively disarmed him. Hades then pulled Gajeel forward and kicked him in the gut, knocking air out of his body.
Spotting something above, Hades attached a chain to Gray's body and threw the Maker up in the air right into Erza, who tried to attack from above with her Black Wing Armor. The knight was forced to put away her blade and catch him, breaking her attack. Hades then tried to combine his chain with another spell, only for Gajeel to cut it with his left hand, which was now turned into a sword. Hades frowned and punched Gajeel in the stomach once again, before throwing him at the pair above. Erza grit her teeth and tried to catch Gajeel with one hand, only for Hades to snap his fingers and make him both blow up from a mark he left on his club. The trio was swallowed by the explosion.
Erza, Gray, and Gajeel fell to the ground, with Natsu and Laxus flying over their bodies like two bullets. Their fists collided with Hades' crossed guard he put up just in time, the impact making the entire ship shake, glass in the windows causing lots of noise. Both Slayer immediately continued their onslaught, bombarding the elder with kicks and punches that forced him to block and dodge, not leaving him any chances to cast a spell.
Gray, Gajeel, and Erza stood up and dashed forward as well, slowly surrounding Hades. Seeing this, the Master caught Natsu's leg and Laxus' fist and held them in place, before charging up a spell. A second later all five mages were blown away by a powerful shockwave that shook the entire ship and knocked out all windows in the hall, glass falling to the ground.
Gray, who flew the farthest, found himself just in front of Wendy and Lucy, who both stayed on the sidelines, not affected by the spells that were used thus far. He quickly created a launchpad made out of ice and called out to his teammate. "Natsu!".
Natsu, who was still in the air, understood the message almost immediately, and quickly flipped in the air, his legs landing on the creation. Gray flexed his muscles as hard as he could and threw his teammate at Hades, turning him into a human bullet.
Having understood the message, Wendy and Lucy used Sky Dragon's Roar and Scorpio respectively to create a vortex of wind and sand around Natsu, who clad his cloak of flames once again.
"A Unison Raid?" questioned intrigued Hades, before being smashed into stomach by Natsu's head.
FIRE DRAGON'S SWORD HORN!
Grimoire's Master grunted from pain, his body being pushed back against his will, but his feet remained on the ground. He reached out to grab Natsu and stop his attack, only to be nailed by a nasty right overhand, courtesy of Laxus. Both Dragon Slayers pushed as hard as they could, their bodies glowing from enchantments granted to them by Wendy, and successfully sent the elder flying, his figure crashing into his throne, wood and metal flying in all directions, a dust cloud swallowing him whole.
Natsu stood up from the ground and breathed out, with the rest walking up to him and Laxus. They all awaited the results with anticipation,
Without any warning, Hades blew up the debris and wood that surrounded him, shocking Fairy Tail as well. They could spot his figure standing up in the dust, his shadow walking towards them.
"It is believed..." he said in a loud, echoing voice. "That mistakes made by people sooner or later turn into experience. A naive thought, in my opinion."
Laxus scowled at the sight of unscathed Hades emerging from the dust. Erza quickly raised her blade, with the others putting their guard up as well. The knight cursed in her mind, her hands gently shaking – their plan failed. They would not get a second chance like this.
Hades took off his helmet and threw it to the ground. It turned out to be heavier than expected, as it easily broke the wooden floor upon impact. He then reached out to his left shoulder and undid his cloak. "A true mistake is the one that leaves you with no experience to be gained what so ever. A mistake you have made as soon as you stepped inside my ship." he declared and undid the right side of his cloak, revealing his battle outfit that consisted of black iron gauntlets, dosed over sleeves made ot of chain mail and finished with light grey armor shoulder pads. He had a black shirt and white pants, with deep red flames at the end of his pantlegs. "A true mistake is the one that leaves you with no room for experience to be gained. Making the mistake of taking me as an opponent leaves you with no future at all, Fairy Tail. You are about to find that out."
It took less than a second. In just an instance, the entire hall grew black, gravity raised immensely. Wendy and Lucy immediately crashed to their knees, unable to breathe, as Hades unleashed his magic power on them. Pieces of wood started to be ripped out of the floor and slowly rise up in the air, as they continued to be crushed in the air more and more until nothing but splinters remained.
Gray and Gajeel clutched their chests, both of them having trouble breathing, fighting through it. Against their own will, they both took a step back, something no one sane would ever blame them for.
Erza held her ground, but her blade was shaking than ever before. So this is the power of someone who can best Master Makarov...This man stands above anyone and anything I have ever faced in my entire life. The difference is simply too great…
A drop of sweat fell from her chin to the ground, as it splashed against her armored foot. Erza clenched her teeth and gripped her sword even tighter, killing the shaking. There is no backing out of this now. We all came prepared, we all knew what we'd face here. None of us regrets this!
That was the thought shared by everyone present in the room. Although it was almost impossible, Lucy and Wendy stood up, not letting fear get to them. Everyone regained their posture and simply endured the heavy rain of magic that fell onto them.
Hades, who continued to stare them down with his arms crossed before his chest took a deep breath and stopped his magic, gravity coming back to normal. The pieces he picked up with his magic fell to the ground, as he watched each of his opponents carefully – he had failed. Their spirit has yet to be broken. Pleased his toys still had some use, he slowly placed his arms on his sides. "Now then, I think we've both had enough warm up. Feel free to attack me any time you want."
Silence fell on the ship, neither party moving an inch, both of them measuring each other up. They knew he was plotting something, but Fairy Tail had no other choice but to attack. Having calmed down from the storm, they all thought one thing – the time has come.
Natsu, Laxus, Gray, and Gajeel kicked the ground as hard as they could and roared loudly, before charging straight at Hades, Laxus' plan echoing in their minds as they did.
Me, Salamander, Gray, and Gajeel will act as vanguard. We will be the first line of the front, since we all have similar fighting styles and our magics are compatible.
Natsu and Laxus were the first to strike, with the former using his left fist, and the latter his right. Hades caught them in front of his chest and flexed his arms before throwing both Dragon Slayers in the air. Gray and Gajeel tried to use this opening to their advantage, with Gray's right hand being clad in a gauntlet of ice, and Gajeel's turned into a club. They crashed them into Hades' forearms, but unlike with others, they didn't let him catch them. They continued their rush as best as they could, their strikes being repeatedly blocked and parried.
In the meantime, Natsu and Laxus kicked the ceiling and spread out, both of them starting to bounce off the walls and ceiling like balls, their elemental cloaks surrounding their bodies. Shortly after Hades was being surrounded by balls of fire and lightning flying over his head, distracting him and leaving him unsure of when they'd strike.
Fed up, he deflected Gajeel's strike and punched him in the gut with even more strength than last time. The Dragon Slayer fell to his knees. Gray tried to attack from Hades' left side, but the elder simply sidestepped out of the way, spun around in his spot and struck Gray in the back of his head with his right elbow, before kicking him away.
As soon as he did that, Natsu and Laxus kicked off the walls that were opposite of each other and flew straight into Hades, effectively catching him by surprise and punching him with their rights – Natsu's in the elder's left cheek, and Laxus' into his right ribs.
Hades grunted from pain but recovered very quickly and put his right hand in front of Laxus' face, blasting him with the same beam of green energy from before. Laxus was taken by the spell and knocked off the ship through the wall. Once he dealt with that, Hades grabbed Natsu by the wrist and smashed his right elbow across his left temple, almost knocking him out. Seeing this, Erza kicked the ground and joined the battle.
Erza will stay directly behind us. You won't be in the vanguard, but you will back us up if needed. If we fall, you will be the only one who can defend Wendy and Lucy, whose only role will be supporting us. Gray and Gajeel are injured, so I don't trust them with protecting someone, but you can do it. Attack or defend – it's your call.
She gripped her blade and used the maximum speed of her armor. Noticing her approach, Hades spun Natsu around and threw him directly at Erza, who was forced to set her blade aside and catch her teammate.
With Erza distracted, Hades extended his right hand and started to charge a spell, his hand glowing dangerously. Just when he was about to release it, his arm was knocked upwards, a giant purple ball flying into the ceiling and blowing it up upon contact, pieces of the roof falling to the ground.
Gajeel and Gray stopped Hades from killing their friends, with Gray kicking the arm, and Gajeel smashing it with his club. Hades frowned in irritation and swiped his fingers at Gajeel, gravity above him increasing and smashing his figure into the ground. He then focused on Gray and blasted him with an air current that made him cough up blood and fly across the hall and smash into what remained of the throne.
Injured, roaring Laxus broke through the wall of the ship from outside and charged directly at Hades, whose concentration broke, which freed Gajeel, who was now standing up to push forward as well. Gray quickly ran out of the debris, and Natsu, who launched himself off Erza's shield, was also on his way.
Hades was about to get hit by four charging mages, every single one of them attacking from a different angle. Feeling excitement taking the better of him, he smirked under his beard and prepared himself for impact.
Natsu, Gajeel, Laxus and Gray all smashed into Hades at once, who blocked all of their strikes – Natsu and Gajeel with his hands, Laxus with his left knee and Gray with his right shoulder. A second later all 5 men erupted in a wild exchange of blows, Hades being in the middle of the circle, with Fairy Tail's group being unable to punch their way through, even with all 4 of them attacking at once, their elements splashing all over the area from the blows.
Erza continued to watch the battle from behind, carefully awaiting the moment to strike.
Having realised their rhythm was not good enough with all 4 of them attacking at once, Fairy Tail quickly divided into two groups of two. Hades kicked Gajeel right in the face with his right leg, which would have blown him back if it wasn't for Laxus, who caught him. Gray and Natsu continued to push Hades back, and with more room for their movements they could both use different techniques.
Gray slashed with his sword from above, which Hades blocked with his forearm, his gauntlet's temperature raised high enough to quickly melt the ice before it could slice through. In the meantime, Natsu threw an uppercut at the elder's stomach, who blocked it with his left hand. Hades clenched his fist and struck Gray with a short backfist that knocked him to the floor and quickly attacked Natsu with the same hand, who headslipped to his left and avoided the strike, at the same time throwing an overhand right above Hades' extended left arm. The punch caught him on the jaw.
The Dragon Slayer dosed his cloak of flames once again and rushed Hades as fast as he could, both men exchanging blows, their movements becoming a blur. Surprised at how well Natsu was holding his own by himself, Hades increased his speed and started to push him back, before finally gaining the upper hand. He blew Natsu's head up with a nasty uppercut and pushed him back with a kick to the gut that made him drop to his knee.
Gajeel and Laxus attacked Hades in his stead, however before they could get close to him, Hades created numerous straps of purple energy, which he used to launch at the Dragon Slayer. Laxus flexed his body and expanded his lightning, burning the straps away.
Hades whistled at his magic power and started to prepare another spell, only to be forced to raise his right hand and melt lances sent his way by Gray.
With Hades distracted, the vanguard threw themselves at Hades at once, however instead of attacking him, they took a different strategy. Gray and Gajeel threw themselves at his legs, while Natsu and Laxus tried to attack from above. Natsu was smashed by a powerful right hand that left him rocked, but he quickly recovered and grabbed Hades' arm, before lifting his legs off the ground and securing him in an incomplete armbar. On the other side, Laxus successfully struck Hades with his right hand and secured his left arm. Gray froze the Master's right leg, while Gajeel surrounded his left in iron and nailed it to the floor. Each of the men gave their all to seal away one of Hades' limbs, leaving him exposed and unable to move.
"Erza!" roared Gray, and Hades' eyes immediately shifted to the knight, who stood several meters away, the remains of her Heaven's Wheel Armor dosing her body. He felt his eyes widen at the sight of at least three dozen blades hovering behind her back, all of them aimed in his direction.
Erza lifted the sword she held in her right hand and swung it down in the air.
BLUMENBLATT!
All blades cut through the air directly at Hades' chest, the Dragon Slayers and Gray making sure he had no way of escaping. The elder smirked at the thrill. "Now that would be problematic."
With no warning what so ever, all 5 men were suddenly taken in by a giant pillar of purging flames, courtesy of Hades who unleashed the spell. Gray and Gajeel howled in pain, their ice and iron breaking like it was nothing, as they both jumped back, burned. Laxus grit his teeth and turned his body into electricity in order to escape. Erza's blades were knocked away by the wind currents created by the flames, which made Erza click her tongue in frustration and Requip out of her armor.
Suddenly, the spell started to vanish, the flames being sucked into one spot. Natsu, who was the only one not affected by the attack used the opportunity to replenish his magic and devoured the whole spell. As soon as he sucked in the last bit, he tilted his torso backwards, before releasing a point blank Roar right into Hades' face.
FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!
The Master was swallowed by purging fire, its temperature much more deadly than his own spell. Natsu continued to pump magic into his attack for few more seconds, before feeling his mouth being forcefully closed by Hades' right hand, his gauntlet damaged and his body dosing very light burns. He lifted the Dragon Slayer in the air and struck him in the stomach with his free hand, before casting him aside in order to counter approaching Laxus. The elder sidestepped out of the way of his punch and kneed him in the stomach, before striking him with a left backfist to the back of the head.
Natsu grit his teeth and got on all fours, his nails dug deep into the wood to stop his momentum, with Laxus doing the same on the opposite side. "Laxus!" he called out to him and raised his arms, before smashing them into the floor, breaking it in the process.
Although it took him a second, Laxus understood the message and did the same, both Slayers leaving Hades confused. It didn't even take couple seconds for the ship to start shaking, with Hades catching up soon after.
FIRE DRAGON'S PILLAR!
LIGHTNING DRAGON'S PILLAR!
A combined tower of fire and thunder devoured Hades from beneath, catching him by surprise and making him scream out in agony, marking it the first good hit they've landed on him. Both Dragon Slayers continued to pump their magic into the floor, not willing to let this chance slip away. Feeling angry, the elder broke the spell with enough force to crack the floor in the hall.
Hades panted lightly, his only visible eye glued to Laxus, however before he could strike he was forced to slip his head to the side to avoid being impaled by a sword, courtesy of Erza. Just as he turned to face her, he was met with the faces of scowling Gray and Gajeel who both struck him with their elements, with Natsu and Laxus joining in from the sides as well.
This marked the end of his patience. Hades quickly responded by nearly breaking Gajeel's neck with a punch that made him fly directly into Natsu, and kicking Gray with enough force to make his eyes rid of pupils, as he flew into Laxus. Hades then conjured chains in both of his hands and wrapped them around both pairs, before swinging them to the center and smashing all 4 men together. Once he did that, he let go of the chains and blasted them all a powerful wind current that both blew them back to where the girls were, but also cut them all over their bodies.
"Everyone!" called out Lucy and ran up to them, with Wendy doing the same. Erza could not worry about them, since as of right now, she was the only one standing.
Grimoire's Master walked up to them and stopped several meters away, his hands clapping sarcastically. "Well done. Your combined efforts have managed to damage me more than Makarov did all by himself. Perhaps I've underestimated you. Your generation might yet surpass the one I've left behind all those years ago."
Erza frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Hades looked at her surprised. "Did you come here not knowing whom you would be facing? Did Makarov not say anything about me? I feel genuinely hurt."
"Answer me!"
Hades shook his head in disappointment. "There should have been plenty of information about me, archived in the basement...I am Fairy Tail's Second Master, who went by the name of Precht."
Fairy Tail stared at him, shocked. "Bullshit." scoffed Gajeel.
"As if we'd buy it." growled Gray.
"Just how Mavis left her will in my care" ignored them Hades. "I have left mine in Makarov's. And what a fine job he did, leading the guild for almost fifty years. Although your ideals may not cooperate with mine, he made sure to stay true to the guild's roots. For that alone, I respect him."
"Fairy Tail's Master turning out like this...it's simply not possible." muttered Erza.
"It is."
Laxus stood up and glared at his grandfather's predecessor. "I didn't want to believe it either, but he's telling the truth. As of right now, all Masters of Fairy Tail are on this island, both alive and dead. Him, Mavis and Old Man."
The last bit piqued the elder's interest. "Old Man? So you really are connected to the boy. Grandson, I presume? That explains your magic."
Laxus ignored the praise and looked at his guildmates. "We need to hit him with something big, even bigger than what we did just now. If we want to do that, we'll need to involve everyone."
"You're right." nodded Erza. "Can you do it?" she turned to Lucy and Wendy, who both nodded.
"Truth to be told, I have a plan." admitted Lucy. "But I don't know if it works, everything has to go exactly as it needs to. It's risky."
"We're in no place to be picky." said Natsu. "Bring it. In the meantime, Wendy." he called out to the girl. "Eat some air."
The girl nodded and started to suck the air in, while Lucy explained her plan. "Okay, listen carefully."
Carla and Pantherlily successfully sneaked onto the ship and now traveled through the air shaft in search of the control room. Unfortunately, they've yet to find anything even remotely resembling such a room, instead finding lots of chambers and barracks for soldiers, who kept lurking around the ship.
"I'm starting to fear this ship has no control room after all." admitted quietly Carla. "We've already checked all obvious spots, we're running out of room to cover."
"Impossible." disagreed Lily. "Even if it's not a whole control room, this ship must have a power source. As long as we eliminate that, we will be successful."
Carla sighed. "I hope you're right. It's been a while since we've come in here."
They both continued to travel in silence for few more minutes, before Lily spotted something with the corner of his eye. Curious, he gently lifted the check and jumped down, much to Carla's dismay.
"Wai- What are you doing?!" she called out after him.
Lily landed on the floor and quickly looked around, before running up to the nearby door, with Carla flying right behind him. They both sneaked inside and gently closed the door, making as less noise as possible.
"Why did you-" started Carla, only to drop her jaw in horror, with disturbed Lily standing right beside her.
In front of them was a giant container filled with green, dirty fluid in which floated a massive, dark-red heart, its beating loud and aggressive. The container was connected to many consoles filled with buttons through pipes and thick cables, that were very poorly organised and muddled up.
"What the hell is this?" asked quietly Carla. Lily simply shook his head, but quickly regained his composure.
"I doubt it's the power source, but it looks too important to be left alone." he said and shifted into his battle form. He walked up to one of the consoles and examined it. "It might not be what we came here for, but let's try to disable it. I have a bad feeling about leaving it all by itself."
Suddenly, both Exceeds heard steps outside of the room. Lily walked up to the door and placed his ear against it.
"Someone is in that room! Check it out!"
Cursing under his nose, Lily jumped away from the door. "No matter what happens, keep trying to destroy this thing. Push the buttons, cut the cables. Don't stop working. I'll handle this!"
As soon as he said that, the door was blown up with countless men storming inside the room, all of them armed. Pantherlily quickly grabbed one of the men by the wrist and punched him, successfully disarming him and taking away his sword. As soon as he grabbed it, the blade grew in size, much to his surprise.
"I see...This blade changes size according to its wielder's. Just like my old blade." he deduced with a nostalgic smile. He gripped the sword with both hands and grinned at his opponents. "Let's test it out."
Hades watched the group from afar, patiently awaiting their next move. His victory was already assured, and he'd lie if he said they did not entertain him. Sparing few more minutes would not hurt him in the slightest.
All of a sudden, Laxus and Erza kicked the ground and dashed at Hades, with the knight dosing her Lightning Empress Armor. As soon as they ran off and engaged Hades in combat, Gray punched his palm and molded a small iceberg in front of Lucy. Gajeel walked up to it and used his iron to create a not so tall fence around it. After that Natsu placed his right hand on the ice and started to quickly melt it, water filling up the discount tub.
Laxus and Erza continued to attack Hades one after another, him with his lightning and her with her Black Wing Armor, which she Requipped after having her previous one quickly torn apart by blades made out of energy, the difference being she was now using her axes instead of sword.
Erza slashed at him from above, to which Hades responsed by conjuring his chain and using it to block the attack. Erza gripped her left axe and hacked at him horizontally, to which he replied by leaning backwards. With Erza being suspended in the air and her arsenal momentarily lost, Hades simply raised his right leg and kicked her in the ribs, blowing her upwards.
Immediately after that Laxus struck with his right fist, only to be caught. He then used his left, which was caught again. With Hades' powerful grip holding him in place, Laxus clenched his teeth and leaned backwards, before headbutting the elder, who took it quite well. Both men locked each other in a power struggle, lightning and magic power crackling around them, the floor cracking and breaking from the force.
"Interesting..." said Hades. "To think that boy had someone other than Gildarts in this league. You're very interesting, Laxus."
"I'm not looking for praises from a fossil." grunted Laxus.
Hades smiled and looked down, with Laxus taking the bait. Below him was a dark purple magic circle, which he recognized as one of Amaterasu formulas. He quickly broke contact with Hades and jumped back, who was waiting for this moment. He placed his right hand on the Dragon Slayer's chest and marked him, before blasting him back with a shockwave. With Laxus being safe distance away, Hades snapped his fingers, making him blow up.
Erza charged at the elder again and swung her axe at his head from above, only for him to step out of the way. He quickly reached out for Erza and grabbed her by the throat, his grip closing on it, immediately robbing her of air. He lifted her up in the air, only to then smash her into the ground, her weapons falling out of her grasp. Erza placed her hands on his arm in order to release the grip, which amused Hades greatly. He started to push Erza into the ground, at the same time using his gravity magic on her, causing her unbearable pain and quickly made her tear up.
As soon as he was done melting the iceberg, furious Natsu kicked the ground and dashed forward, with Gray and Gajeel following him in suit a second later. Noticing their approach, Hades stopped torturing Erza and threw her into Natsu, who caught her into his arms. Gajeel and Gray passed him by and attacked Hades, who easily blocked their attacks.
"You okay?" asked Natsu, as he helped Erza stand up.
The redhead struggled to breathe, but wiped her eyes and responded. "Yeah. Is it ready?"
"Yeah."
"Then go."
Natsu nodded and joined his guildmates, who were being currently pummeled. Laxus, who recovered from the explosion has also joined the fray, with all 5 men engaging in yet another wild exchange of attacks.
Erza jumped back and landed right in front of Lucy and the tub. The blonde turned to Wendy. "Go, we'll cover you."
The girl nodded and ran forward. Lucy pulled a key out of her holster and looked at it, sighing gently. "Please, listen to me just this once."
Gray fell to the ground from a nasty right hook to his temple, with Hades immediately stepping on his back with his left leg, keeping him in place. He then headslipped away from Natsu's kick and grabbed him by the leg, before throwing him into Laxus, at the same time raising his left palm to Requip a shield that caught Gajeel's Demon Logs, the lances plunging themselves into the iron shield.
Natsu and Laxus ran towards him from behind, to which he replied by turning around by 180 degrees and raising his both arms.
MAXIMUM AIR CUTTER!
Both Dragon Slayers were blown away by the massive current of air, which caused them to fly straight into the debris he himself walked out of several minutes ago. They crashed into it with enough force to completely break the floor around it, making it uneven and missing pieces.
Gray, who was still under Hades' foot, placed his hands on his leg and began to freeze it. Noticing this, the elder took his foot off the Maker and kicked him in the ribs, making him fly into Gajeel. The Dragon Slayer turned his left shoulder to Gray and stopped his flight, with Gray smashing into it. He quickly got back on his feet, only to be wrapped with a chain together with Gajeel. Hades raised his right arm above his head and started to spin both men around in the air while laughing, before smashing them both into the wall of the ship.
Suddenly, he was pushed back by a gigantic vortex of water that came seemingly out of nowhere. This turned out to be false, as the water was being created by Aquarius, who was summoned in the tub boys created together, as well as Erza, who was now clad in Sea Empress Armor.
Although it didn't damage him, Hades found himself being pushed back little by little, until he entered the dust cloud he created after blasting away Natsu and Laxus. Fed up with his shower, he put his right arm into the vortex and blew it up from the inside, causing its casters to click their tongues in irritation.
The explosion created an artificial rain and its impact cleared out the dust, and what Hades noticed shocked him dearly.
He was currently surrounded by all four Dragon Slayers, who created a square around him, covering each corner he could have used to escape. Seeing he couldn't regroup on the ground, Hades tried to jump, only to realise he couldn't – his legs were frozen up to the middle of his thighs, courtesy of Gray who used the additional water to his advantage.
Hades placed his hands on the ice in order to get rid of it, but he caught something else, something that made his eye widen in shock. All four Dragon Slayers have taken a deep breath and tilted their heads backwards, a sign he was well familiar with.
FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!
LIGHTNING DRAGON'S ROAR!
SKY DRAGON'S ROAR!
IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!
All four of them unleashed their attacks at the same time, their elements meeting in one place – where Hades stood. The elder was devoured by the attacks, a giant ball of iron, wind, flames and lightning forming around him, as he cried out in agony, his eye opening wide.
The Slayers continued to pour their all into their attacks and while they did so, Erza prepared another set of blades to send in Hades' direction. Having noticed that, Hades motioned the index and middle fingers of his right hand, before unleashing a spell.
MAGIC CANCEL!
The Roars have been broken almost immediately, a small shockwave knocking Wendy over. Natsu, who was also pushed away, placed his right foot behind him and stayed on his feet. "Gray!" he roared as loud as he could.
Hades immediately turned in the Maker's direction, who was currently surrounded in an icy aura. His right fist was on his palm, but to Hades' surprise, there was no creation. Or so he thought, until he noticed the giant shadow under his feet. Upon looking up his eyes spotted a giant hammer, that soon began to descend onto him.
Gray breathed deeply from exhaustion, but completed the hammer and threw it at Hades.
ICE MAKE: HAMMER!
Gajeel quickly picked up Wendy from the floor and all four Dragon Slayer escaped from the area, the hammer falling on top of Hades and breaking what remained of the floor. Fairy Tail regrouped a safe distance away, most of them panting heavily.
After couple moments of silence, the hammer began to shake and soon broke into hundreds of pieces. Hades emerged from the icy mist, his arms crossed on his chest and his attire ruined. He was missing clothes on his entire right arm and his shirt was ripped. His pants were missing their left pantleg. His injuries were not serious, much to Fairy Tail's dismay, but he was banged up nonetheless.
Hades carefully examined each member of Fairy Tail, his eye staying on Laxus, Natsu, and Erza for slightly longer than others. It then laid on Gray. The elder spread out his arms to the side.
"I've had my fun." he declared. "You've shown me everything you could have. Dragging this out for longer is pointless."
Suddenly, he vanished. Or that's what it seemed to them. Gray's horrifying wheeze was their wakeup call and their eyes quickly shifted to him.
Hades, who was currently standing right in the middle of their group, had his right fist deep in Gray's stomach, his punch knocking him out immediately. The elder followed it up by tossing Gray up in the air and kicking his unconscious figure aside with his right leg, rivers of blood left in the air as he flew into the wall of the ship.
Lucy, who was standing closest to Hades, pulled out her whip and covered Wendy with her own body, convinced she was the next one to get hit. Hades simply looked at the blonde and used his gravity magic on her, smashing her figure into the ground, as she cried out in pain, several of her bones fractured and some of them broken.
The spell was broken by Laxus, who punched Hades from the side and cut his lower lip. Seeing his own blood made Hades furious and in retaliation he used the same magic on the Slayer, only with much greater force. Laxus broke through the floor and fell down to the very lowest levels of the ship, his body breaking through floor by floor.
With Laxus gone, the elder's focus was currently on Erza, who slashed at him, still in Sea Empress Armor. Hades evaded the slash and put his hand on her chestplate, yellow marks written in a foreign language spreading over her body. Erza's arms were forcefully brought to her sides, the spell binding her.
The knight fell to the ground and was about to have her head stomped before being saved by Natsu, who smashed his figure into Hades, knocking him off balance. The Dragon Slayer began to attack Hades, who blocked all of his strikes. The Master caught his right punch just before it could connect to his face, but Natsu was fed up with that. He grabbed Hades' shirt with his right hand and jumped in the air, pulling on the shirt to shift his weight. A second later Hades was nailed by a powerful right kick to the face that made him take a step back.
Natsu landed on his feet and ran after Hades, only to then stop for a split second and jump in the air, an aircurrent cutting through where he stood just now. Surprised that his attack was predicted, Hades blocked Natsu's kick with his arm, who used it as a stepping stone and jumped in the air, before creating a ball of flames above his head.
FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!
Hades jumped out of the way and landed few meters away, now close to Lucy and Wendy. Natsu followed him, but soon spotted red markings on his body, which then blew up, knocking him off the air and crashing him into the ground.
Seeing that the girls were the weakest among the group, Hades shifted his right hand into a gun and pointed it at Wendy, who was currently trying to heal Lucy's fractured leg – taking out the healer was common sense on the battlefield.
He released a magic bullet that went directly through Wendy's left forearm, making the girl cry out in pain. The elder then smirked and shot one more round, which was now blocked by Gajeel, who was clad in his iron scales. The bullet was blocked, but it knocked off few scales as well, bringing him pain.
Hades made an impressed sound and fully turned to Gajeel, before bombarding him with a barrage of bullets. Although Gajeel blocked all of them with his body, it came at a great price, his scales being knocked off his body like old paint, most of them along with his very skin.
After few seconds of torture, Gajeel fell to his knees and lost his scales, his vulnerable, broken body now exposed.
Hades looked around. Erza, who was slowly making her way out of her binds, was still immobile. Gray's broken figure was sticking out from beneath debris on the side of the ship. Laxus was at the bottom of the vehicle, Wendy had no power to do anything on her own, Lucy's body was broken and Gajeel was grievously injured. The battle was over.
Grimoire's Master raised his right hand and pointed it at Gajeel and the girls, purple energy forming around his palm. "If you wish to despise someone for this, aim it at Makarov. It is his fault you've all had to go through this." he told them, before launching a giant ball of energy, similar to the one he used earlier.
Just when it was about to kill Gajeel, Wendy, and Lucy, someone caught it and deflected it into the sky, much to Hades' shock. That someone turned out to be Natsu, who stood before his fallen guildmates, bangs covering his eyes, his right arm still raised high in the air. The Dragon Slayer clenched his fist and all of a sudden, an aura of combined fire and lightning surrounded his body, greatly increasing his magic power.
Erza raised her head from the ground, her eyes widening at the sight 0 he hasn't used both elements at once ever since the tower. And he shouldn't have.
"Stop this, Natsu!" she called out to him. "Your body won't hold it! You'll die!"
"Either I kill myself or he will." he snarled back to her, surprising her. "Whether I do it or not, the outcome is the same."
Wendy, who has never seen the form watched her friend in awe. The lightning crackling aggressively around his flames that were found terrifying by other appeared beautiful to her. "A fusion of fire and lightning…a Lightning Flame Dragon..."
Hades watched the Dragon Slayer, clearly intrigued by this phenomenon. "Two elements in one body? Even I have never heard of something like this." he said. Suddenly, his eye widened gently. "I see. You must be the one who defeated that kid, Silva. I was not aware Fairy Tail took you in."
While Hades continued to admire Natsu, Erza finally broke out of her binds and jumped back, landing right next to her teammate. Shortly after Laxus broke through the floor behind them and joined them, the trio standing up to Hades. As of right now, they were the only ones capable of fighting.
"You're finally bringing that out, huh?" Laxus asked Natsu and wiped the blood off his lips. "About damn time."
"We have no more room for mistakes." said Erza and Requipped into her red pants and Benizakura. "We must put everything we've got into offense. Stay together, and-"
Her plan was interrupted by Natsu, who immediately dashed forward by himself, his speed greatly increased. His speed was great enough to catch Hades completely off guard, Natsu's fist knocking him down to the floor with just one punch. Unable to comprehend what just happened, Hades then felt his stomach being stomped, air knocked out of his lungs.
The blow somehow woke him up and soon Natsu felt an iron grip on his left hand, before being blow upwards by invisible force. Hades then motioned his fingers in the air and created weird, purple ropes in the air, that cut through and blew up upon making contact with Natsu. The Dragon Slayer fell to the ground, his body leaving a trail of smoke.
Erza and Laxus attacked next, with the redhead taking the lead. She swung her blade at Hades and gently cut his left cheek, cutting it in a failed attempt to cut his head off. The elder grabbed her by the throat once again and threw at Laxus, who simply ducked underneath her figure, which flipped in the air and landed on her feet few meters away, and nailed Hades with a nasty left uppercut to the gut, followed by high right hook.
Hades took few steps back and in the meantime, Laxus created a weapon out of his lightning.
LIGHTNING DRAGON'S HEAVENWARD HALBERD!
The attack made contact with Hades and blew up, lightning taking in his whole body. The elder emerged from it, his body smoking, and motioned his fingers in the air, a giant magic circle forming beneath Laxus' feet. Having recognized the spell as Amaterasu's 100th Formula, he immediately ran away from it, barely escaping the powerful explosion.
Natsu and Erza charged at Hades at the same time, the former's attacks causing Hades more trouble than the latter. Being exhausted and with her arsenal mostly destroyed, Erza was definitely the weakest among the trio. Still, what she lacked in magic, she made for up in tenacity.
Upon forcing Hades to block her blade with his left forearm which left a cut on it, he was fed up with the knight. He pushed Natsu away with a shockwave and punched Erza under her left ear, knocking her out. Having spotted incoming Laxus, he took Benizakura out of Erza's grasp and kicked her away, before turning to the Dragon Slayer. Hades ducked under Laxus' Breakdown Fist and used Erza's blade to stab through his left thigh, right in the very middle. Laxus hissed in pain, which later turned into a muffled howl, as Hades twisted the blade by 180 degrees and pulled it out, leaving Laxus incapacitated, leaving him with a gaping hole in his leg. He fell to his knees, unable to support himself and was then kicked under the chin, which blew him back.
Seeing his comrades being defeated one by one angered Natsu dearly, and as he recovered from being blown up, he attempted to charge once again, only to feel the familiar sensation of gravity trying to pin him down.
After successfully sealing away his superior to others speed, Hades continued to put pressure onto Natsu with his left hand, while conjuring a chain with his right. He grabbed Erza and Laxus and threw them right under Natsu's feet, before switching spells. Magic circles started to form above the trio one by one, with the closest one being the smallest and the rest getting bigger and bigger.
HOLY AWE!
Hades snapped his fingers and the magic circles began to glow, before unleashing a devastating yellow beam upon the trio, which blew up couple seconds later.
Once the dust settled, Hades was greeted by the sight of Natsu kneeling before him, injured Erza and Laxus by his side. The Dragon Slayer lifted his heavy head to look at Hades, his eyes full of hatred. Unlike Silva, this guy has no limit to the amount of magics he knows. On top of knowing the same spells he did, he keeps pulling new shit out of his sleeve with each minute…
Laxus tried to stand up, only to fall back to the floor, his leg failing him. "God damn it...I can't move..."
Erza, who started to come to it, grunted loudly and curled up on the floor in an attempt to stand up. To no avail.
"Struggle is a word that is often used to describe matters, that are only prolonging the inevitable. Like now." said Hades raised his hand once again, thunder crackling around it, as he concentrated his magic power in his palm. "But do not worry, for your struggle is about to end, Fairy Tail. You have done well, and so did Makarov. You have exceeded my expectations. Now rest, and watch as I complete the Grand World of Magic from hell."
Laxus chuckled gently under his nose. "Well, no one can accuse us of not trying." he said. Erza grit her teeth in frustration, her fists clenching the debris into her hands. He was right – it was over.
"But I'm not done trying just yet." declared the Dragon Slayer and turned to Natsu. "Can you move?" he asked him.
Natsu looked at him funny, but nodded nonetheless. That pleased Laxus. "All right. Don't fuck this up."
Just when Hades unleashed his spell, Laxus grabbed Natsu's wrist. A second later the trio was blown up, the ship splitting in two from the explosion. Fairy Tail's half has started to slowly start falling to the ground.
Hades closed his eye and gently lowered his head, his personal attempt to give his respects to the guild he once called home. Suddenly, he felt magic surging in the air from where Fairy Tail's corpses should be, and soon after the dust was cleared, revealing standing Natsu, lightning surging through his body, his right arm he used to stop the spell still extended before his chest. His jacket was gone and his scarf slowly slid off his neck, before falling onto the ground. Bangs were covering his eyes and his fist was shaking.
"What?!" questioned Hades in shock. "How could this happen? None of them should be able to have enough strength to cancel that out!" His eyes then shifted to Laxus, who stared at him with an exhausted grin glued to his face, the same kind of lightning crackling around him as well. Realisation slowly descended onto the elder.
Natsu grit his teeth and retracted his fist back, hos body shaking gently. "Why….to me?" he choked out through his teeth. "Why do you all put so much trust in me?"
Laxus snorted in amusement. "Honestly? Our magics are compatible, and you've eaten my magic once already." he replied shortly. "But to answer your question...it doesn't matter where you come from, or what your background is. As soon as you dose that mark, you're one of us. It doesn't matter who finishes him off as long as it's someone with the guild's mark. You're one of us, Natsu, so take my magic and kick this bastard's ass. Make him pay for what he's done, a hundred times fold."
Natsu grit his teeth in frustration. Damn them all, placing their ideals and beliefs on his back against his will, making the load heavier with each day. He would make sure to let them have a piece of his mind later. But now was not the time for that.
With Gildarts' words echoing in his mind, Natsu wiped his mouth with his wrist and walked up to the front. "Yeah." was all he said before unleashing his newly acquired magic.
A giant tower of flames formed where he stood, the temperature on the ship increasing massively. Natu glued his eyes in Hades, who carefully watched the Dragon Slayer, his eye slowly widening in pure shock.
Natsu's body started to change. His bared fangs have grown longer and sharper, so did his nails. His onyx eyes were now red, his pupils turning into slits. Skin colored scales have started to form on his hands, forearms, and face, and his magic power spiked higher than ever before.
"To think I would ever get a chance to see it with my own eyes." said Hades in awe. "The ultimate form of Dragon Slaying Magic...Dragon Force!"
He didn't get to admire for too long, as he soon found his face being smashed by a nasty right straight that blew him back and made him crash into debris.
Natsu retracted his fist back and stared the downed elder down. He'd finally decided where to aim all of his pent up anger and stress. And it was all about to explode.
"A hundred times fold." repeated Natsu with a low growl in his face.
End of Chapter 30. To be continued in Chapter 31: Bloody Dawn.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. The next one will be the finale of Tenrou Island Arc.
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