Considering how much time it took me to get up these last few chapters I might've missed something that happened. I reread quickly the last few chapters that I wrote but I'm not going to pretend I remember exactly everything that I wrote. Ah, the beauty of improvising every single chapter without any idea what I'm doing.

Anyway. What I am trying to say is for you to tell me if I write that one character is doing something that they should not be doing right now because they were doing something else before… if this makes any sense.

I think that writing this with a headache was a bad idea. I'm not making any sense. Am I?

Chapter 95:

When Erza saw the monstrous shadow rushing towards them she did not hesitate in pushing Jellal who was still carrying Minerva through the small hole in the ruined wall. His cry of protest as he fell down with an undignified yelp was drowned by the rising volume of the shrieking demons that were growing closer so the owner of the shadow didn't realize they were there until Erza had her sword pressed against their throat.

"Don't. Move," she hissed at the shadow

In the low red light that was coming from the frighteningly red sun, it took her a moment to realize that the shadow was staring at her in surprised shock.

"Erza?"

Erza blinked. She knew that voice.

"Ultear?"

"Oh, thank god," the time mage moved further out of the shadows of the corner, her disfigured face shifting to relief. Erza was unconvinced and the sword stayed tightly gripped in her hand even as she lowered it away from Ultear's face. The Ultear's eyes flickered to the sword briefly before she looked back at Erza. Jellal pulled himself out of the hole behind Erza, glaring at the scarlet-haired mage for a brief moment before turning to Ultear and stopping short. "What the fuck happened to you?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Ultear grimaced, her second set of hands clasping behind her back as she tried to needlessly get them out of sight. "Tartaros apparently knew how to transform people into demons"

Erza and Jellal blinked, shocked before a look of utter disgust crossed Erza's face and it took Ultear a second to realize it was not directed at her. "Those bastards," she growled furiously, throwing the sword in a fit of anger and the weapon disappeared in a flash of golden light before it managed to hit the floor. "They did it to Minerva as well," Jellal muttered, glancing back at the hole in the wall where Minerva still lied sprawled from their fall.

Ultear blinked, leaning to the side until she could see the dark mage before she turned to Erza, opening her mouth to say something only for Erza to slam into her and wrap her arms around her. The hug was brief and the knight stepped back quickly, nodding to her in what Ultear thought might be acceptance and the time mage smiled. "Thanks"

"We'll figure something out," Erza told her, completely and utterly sure of that.

Ultear's smile widened before she nodded and turned serious again, "Where are you two going?"

Jellal answered her, the blue-haired mage in the process of pulling Minerva out of the hole, "At this point? Trying to find anyone"

"I don't know where the rest are but I have a vague idea where Mira is," Ultear said after a moment, "And I know where Natsu is but I think it's best we don't go after him"

Erza and Jellal exchanged a glance, nodding in sync. "We'll go with you then"

Ultear took a deep breath, relieved almost. The chances of being attacked by a Fairy Tail member were a lot lower when Erza and Jellal walked behind her. "Natsu said the last time he saw them they were north of here"

"Then north it is," Erza said, turning to the path they just passed and marching forward, Ultear next to her.

Natsu pressed his back against the stone column, wings wrapping around him as black magic blasted around him and splitting around the stone. He panted, one hand pressed against his cheek that was missing most of its flesh and muscle.

"You can't win this, Natsu" Zeref screamed over the roaring magic, "Just surrender, I might be able to -"

The dragon prince snarled, dropping into the void a second before the stone pillar collapsed and he reappeared above Zeref, driving his elbow into the mages back before he had enough time to dodge. Zeref slammed into the ground with a hiss, rolling immediately as Natsu's clawed foot slammed into the spot where he had been moments earlier, magic around it strong enough to send the stone flying. "Get it into your thick head, already! I'm not surrendering. And you're not winning"

Zeref flashed out of existence and reappeared several feet away, standing on his feet. Fingers splayed, magic burst from the ground in black tendrils and Natsu cursed under his breath, jumping into the air and spreading his wings. The damage to his cheek still there, one side of his face showing the teeth as he growled out the name of the spell and opened his mouth wide, "Chaos dragon's roar!"

The roar tore through the tendrils and went straight towards Zeref who jumped out of the way, twisting in the air and sending a black ball of energy flying at Natsu. "You are in denial, brother"

The dragon prince dodged out of the way, twisting in the air as the orb passed inches from his face, a snarl splitting his face, and his clawed hand shot towards the black orb, gripping it mid-air. His flesh sizzling, he turned in the air and send the orb flying back at the wide-eyed Zeref who was blasted from his feet. Natsu glanced down at his hand, flexing his fingers. The skin was burned but it was already healing. "Now to figure out how I did that," he muttered under his breath, flying towards where Zeref hit the ground, "Chaos dragon's iron fist!"

Too fast to dodge, Zeref barely had time to bring his hands up as the magic and curse coated around the fist slammed into him. The blow made him sink into the stone floor and he gasped, the ribs breaking on impact and Natsu's other hand reached for his face, claws digging into his eye, but even as that happened, he wrapped his fingers around Natsu's hand and growled out, "Death Predation"

Natsu's eyes widened and he tried to tear his arm free from the vice grip but the black cloud already exploded around Zeref, turning everything, it touched into dust and rot. Zeref let go of his arm the moment the blast hit him and Natsu flew back as if on fire. And that's what it felt like. Maybe even worse. A scream tore from his throat and he stumbled to the ground, skin, and muscle turning black and he choked for a brief moment before gagging, blood exploding from his mouth.

"I didn't want it to end like this," Zeref said, sounding genuinely upset and Natsu turned his face towards him, blinded from the spell but still managing to glare with the intensity that would freeze the fire. "Fuck… off… already"

Zeref blinked, staring at him as he struggled to stay in the sitting position, a good portion of his ribcage visible. "Wouldn't it be much easier to just… let go"

Natsu choked on more blood, ignoring the black wizard and focusing on trying to find some way to fix the damage. He knew that that spell should've – would've killed him had it not been for Ankhseram's curse. And the damage would fix itself. But he didn't have the luxury of time to wait for that to happen. Zeref fell silent as well when he received no answer and stood there, watching as Natsu tried to force his hands and feet to move.

There was something in the air that Natsu couldn't quite point his finger at. It felt familiar. It had been there since… he couldn't quite remember when he noticed it but if he thought about it, really thought about it he was almost certain it stood there, just at the edge of his consciousness since he woke up from the dead. It felt closer every time he successfully twisted someone else's spell, the times when he asked and people answered. It felt dark and twisted. But not evil. It felt terrific and terrifying and it trailed around him like a cloak. Or maybe that wasn't really correct. It wasn't around him. It was around everything. He was just one of the few who could actually sort of see it. He blinked, empty eye sockets burning with the movement as he tried to concentrate on that something that felt like a long-forgotten memory, some sort of déjà vu that left him feeling uneasy.

Zeref stared at him with black eyes, watching as Natsu went very, carefully still. Something was going on through his head, and Zeref was not quite sure whether to be worried or annoyed that the pink-haired dragon prince was ignoring him suddenly. With a grimace that settled somewhat between disgusted and peeved he flicked his hand in the air, the black leather covers of the book appeared in his hands, E.N.D written in bold letters.

He looked around for a brief moment, at the razed area around them. Nothing was really left standing and he once again looked at Natsu, blinking a moment later when he noticed that the bones of his fingers that, until moments ago, stood bare were covered in thin muscles and the longer he spent staring at it the faster the muscle grew.

"Remarkable," he muttered, though he didn't sound particularly interested in it. He was bleeding from more cuts and gashes than he cared to admit and he was certain that more than one bone was broken. But there wasn't really much time to keep observing the situation that as time went on would probably only get more complicated.

He turned his attention back to the book in hand, flicking his wrist to open the book only for a bloody hand with half of its skin and scales missing to wrap around his writs.

Zeref blinked in shock, head snapping back to look at Natsu who grinned at him, showing all his teeth on his lipless face. Before he could react Natsu's other hand grabbed his chest and red chaos energy exploded from his palm, sending him flying away with such force that the hand still tightly grasped in Natsu's fist stayed there, tearing off at the elbow. "Chaos dragon's grip strike," Natsu finished in a tone that sounded like he was the only one in on a great joke.

Zeref blinked back the black spots that dotted his vision suddenly, stumbling as he got up to his feet. One hand clutched the stump, black eyes wide more in shock than pain. His head quickly snapped up and he looked at the dragon prince who rolled his neck as if it was stiff. A good portion of the skin and scales that covered his front half was still missing and the parts that did regrow were covered in so much blood that it was hard to say where the skin began and muscle ended. And the grin was truly disturbing on his eyeless face. It reminded him of-

Zeref flinched as Natsu rushed at him and in a second Zeref's eyes bled red and he met the fist with his palm, feeling like the magic that coated it corroded his skin just as his own magic did to the others. "I am cursed with the same curse as you," Zeref began as Natsu dodged a kick and then forced the black wizard to jump back himself when he turned his dodge into a strike. "But to regenerate even just the lost skin should take hours, maybe even days"

He watched at the eyeball formed on a face with no eyelids and Natsu bared his teeth in another mad grin. Zeref's eyes strayed to Natsu's hands just for a second and he realized what got the demonized dragon so happy. He was still clutching Zeref's lost hand and the book that the hand held. "You and Ankhseram played god with my corpse – well you played god with my corpse, Ankhseram played an arrogant asshole who thinks that just because he's omnipotent he knows everything"

Zeref raised his eyebrow at him, opening his mouth only for Natsu to cut him off, "You know what I mean. In any case. What I'm trying to say is neither of you really know what happened to me. I don't know what happened to me. But it does have its uses"

Before he could reply Natsu sent another blast of red, burning hot energy towards him and Zeref moved out of the way with a scowl.

Acnologia was a dragon king. The Dragon King. A title like that you don't get for being weak. A title like that is earned. Through blood and battle and pain. He won countless battles. Killed countless beings. He sunk a continent and killed one of the Original Three. That being said he knew what's it like to lose and what's it like to be weaker than his opponent. That being said it was a state he didn't find himself in often and he knew that he had never felt this much out of his depth.

Ankhseram was not lying when he said that he had been toying with them before.

He twisted out of a path of the spell, sending his own from his outstretched hand in one move but the god simply waved it away. He batted it away as if it was a fly. And it made Acnologia's blood boil. The sky above them and the ground below them were filled with demons. And he didn't even want to think about what the humans from Natsu's guild were dealing with.

"Would it be too much to ask of you to stand still so that we can get this over with faster? We both know how it's going to end"

"With you dead and me old and grey," Acnologia replied, a smug smile that felt and was forced settling on his lips, "Well, I have the grey part down," he gestured to his silver hair, "Now just to get you dead and then I can work on the second part"

Acnologia once again had a distinct feeling that Ankhseram was rolling his eyes at him. "For someone as smart as you, you are surprisingly dense. You can't win this"

Acnologia scowled. "Watch me"

What was really a pressing matter was closing the hole in the sky and stopping the virtual flood of demons still pouring out.

There must be hundreds of them down there by now. Maybe even thousands.

The problem with it was that he had no idea how to close the damn thing. The last time he saw the Blade of Ankhseram was when Zeref took it. And as far as he knew it, it was still in the grubby little hands of that madman. He should've taken with him some means to contact Igneel. He could really use some help right now. He wished Natsu hadn't used the horn. Even if it did help them on the island, he would much rather use it now. As much as he hated to admit it, the dragons should've come here and left the Island until this was dealt with. This was a losing battle that they were fighting as long as the hole in the sky was still there.

"Closing that is not really an option presented to you," Ankhseram noted dryly, the god was casually floating a few feet in front of him, obviously sure enough in himself to let Acnologia think. It didn't help that he could hear what Acnologia thought as clear as if the dragon king had said it. Acnologia's scowl deepened and he barred his teeth.

Avoiding the hordes of demons prowling the ruins of Plutogrim was pretty much impossible at this point. Ultear knew that, Jellal knew that, Erza knew that. Demons also knew that.

An ugly thing that looked like a skinless bastard child of a dog, a lizard, and a shark appeared in front of them, wearing a grin on its teeth-filled, skinless mouth that was wide enough to fit Erza's whole head in. The creature didn't have any eyes on the smooth surface of its wet skin but it was clearly well aware that they were there. Another creature appeared beside the first, followed by another and another until they were surrounded and Ultear cursed.

"We're surrounded," Erza voiced it in a quiet, tense voice. Jellal had already dropped Minerva to the ground, not even bothering to be gentle about it. "It was bound to happen sooner or later," Jellal said, rolling his injured shoulder as much as he could, trying to make the numb arm attached to it respond, "The number of demons pouring down that hole is something I don't even want to think about"

"It's rather funny if you think about it," Ultear said as the hissing and clicking of the demons around them grew louder, sounding like something between laughter and taunting and leering. The two looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "We went to Hell and back with barely a scratch. And now Hell came to Earth"

"I don't see the humor in this," Erza cut coldly, sword appearing in her hand and as if that was the sign the creatures waited, they lunged forward, maws snapping and hissing like snakes and moving far too fast. Some were smaller than a dog and some were larger than a horse and no matter how much he tried to suppress it, Jellal would be lying if he said he wasn't scared shitless.

Ultear's smile was not one that found it really funny either as she circled her hands and the orb multiplied around her head, speeding towards the closest demon. "You don't? We survived Hell and now Hell came to kill us"

Jellal twisted out of the way of a demon as it jumped at him, sending a burst of magic that sent it flying back and the light that his spell created around them was enough for him to realize that Minerva's eyes were open and that the demonized mage was staring at him with wide, pleading eyes full of terror. She couldn't move. She couldn't scream. Because he bound her.

And he became painfully aware of that when two demons lunged at her and started tearing her apart.

Jellal turned away too late to miss the horror-filled, painful expression on her face before they tore off her head. He might've hated her but he will still have nightmares about those eyes. He just knew it. He dodged another demon, his injured hand not really cooperating with him as he tried to blast them and managed to miss. Erza saved him, showing her sword straight through the roof of the horse-sized demon and tossing him aside as if he was a great sack of sand.

He could see what Ultear was talking about though, even as terror gripped his heart and squeezed harder, pumping adrenalin into him with such force he was scared his lungs and heart might burst. "You're right, Ultear"

He crossed his arms and twisted his fingers, preparing a spell, "It's hilarious"

Three demons turned towards him, one still gnawing on Minerva's hand.

"Altairis"

The outside world was full of shrieks and roars and screams. And Gray was forced to pretend he did not hear it. Everyone in their small little hole was awake except Mirajane, all well aware of what was happening. Gray had long since crushed the small crystal that gave them some semblance of light, staring ahead of himself into the complete darkness. The room they found was deep enough in Plutogrim that sunlight he was sure came out by now was not reaching them. He knew the dragon slayers could see around them. And that was the only reason he wasn't jumping out of his skin every time something rustled. And in a room full of people, it was impossible to not make a sound.

Gajeel sat with his back against the wall, eyes turned towards Arthur who stared straight back and he wasn't even sure if the shadow mage could actually see him or not. He was fairly certain the answer was no but it was making him ridiculously uncomfortable. The shadow mage lied on his side, facing away from the rest of the injured, the stump where his hands had once been pressed firmly into the ground and Gajeel wondered if that was a smart idea. And shouldn't that hurt?

Laxus was sitting as straight as if he was not injured at all and the only time Gajeel saw him move at all since he woke up was when the Lightning mage pushed himself up to go and puke into a corner of the room that was now filling everyone's noses with a putrid scent of bile.

Wendy looked pale even in the darkness that they were in and Gajeel wondered if she would manage to reflect the light if there was any. The girl was terrified and exhausted. On the brink of complete magical exhaustion that would guarantee death in their current situation because he doubted anyone here had any supplies to deal with something like that.

Gajeel swallowed, grimacing at how loud it was in their small room that was getting stuffy and hot and he hoped no one else had the need to puke because if that happened, he would not be able to save his own dinner from leaving. Another screech sounded right above them and it made everyone jump and in a second everyone held their breath, hoping and willing that the thing that stood above them passed so close completely by accident.

It did not.

A dull thud above them was loud and strong enough to make both Gajeel's thoughts and the room shake.

Gray cursed, magic around his hands lighting up the room in pale bluish light that under normal circumstances would probably be easy to miss but now it made Gajeel's eyes water.

Another thud shook the room and Gajeel wondered what kind of hope they had of anyone here making it out alive. The only people capable of fighting were Gray and the cats.

The third thud caused a crack to appear in the ceiling and red light spilled into the room. Gray bit his lower lip, trying to be as quiet as possible as he aimed his hands at the demon, preparing the spell. Wendy watched the ceiling wide-eyed, biting her tongue so hard she must've bitten hard enough to draw blood, just to keep herself from screaming. Gajeel could understand her. She was helpless. As much as he was. And everyone else including Gray who won't be able to keep all of them and himself alive. Especially if there was more than one enemy.

When the portion of the ceiling collapsed to reveal a one-eyed, orange creature that looked like someone threw every limb that they could find and glued it with superglue he was quite surprised that no one actually screamed. Though if he looked back on this moment, he would realize they were all too terrified to move for the first several seconds. And he wasn't even sure why. It was a disgusting image that the demon represented but they had seen worse. Fought worse.

Maybe it was the helplessness.

Laxus stayed frozen for barely a second and it was probably him that saved all of them when he managed to blast the demon with a bolt of lightning, powerful enough to lit up the whole room and show the small black creatures that were already moving across the ceiling and crawling their way towards them.

Gray released the spell he was holding barely a moment after Laxus, managing to hit the demon with the combined force of lightning and demon slayer ice and it sent the grotesque creature flying off of its feet.

"Happy, Carla!" it took Gray a moment to realize that the steady, sharp words came from him, "Take Wendy and Mira and get them out of here"

"What?!" Wendy asked, wide eyes turning towards Gray as she struggled to sit up properly. "You can't just -"

But Happy already grabbed a hold of her and lifted her up and from the ground and she went limp, aware that she couldn't do anything but stand in the way. "I'm sorry," and she was crying again. Weak, so fucking weak all the time.

"See you on the other side," Gray told her instead. It was a lie. They both knew it.

The demon was cackling at them by now, joined by another thing that looked like a snake but had far too many teeth going down the entire length of its mouth.

"Gray, you should leave as well. You might have a chance if you leave now," Laxus said through gritted teeth, pushing himself to his feet and Gray had to fight back the need to stare at him in utter amazement. He couldn't be distracted now.

"I'm not leaving you"

Laxus gave a sad smile and looked at Gajeel and Arthur who both, as much as they struggled, couldn't stand up. "I know"

"Touching", the orange demon purred in a voice that sounded like cutting glass.

Lucy swallowed dryly, looking over her shoulder and Aries and Cana. Porlyusica stood in the corner of the room, bleeding but still managing to look as strict and straight-backed as always. The injured members of the guild were forced to be returned into the cards, tightly gripped in Porlyusica's hand but it was better than the alternative.

They managed to kill three demons that stumbled across their little hiding spot, Elfman taking care of the last one and as a reward for his efforts lost a good portion of his fingers on his left hand. They once again heard the scraping and growling growing closer and they all were getting sick of it.

"Makarov. You better hurry up with whatever you are doing, you old bastard" Porlyusica muttered as an eye on a stalk turned a corner and blinked at them before curling in a mockery of a smile.

His hands were bleeding and he managed to break a finger. It didn't slow him down though as he pushed another stone out of the way. The demons that were pouring out from the literal hellhole were close to reaching Magnolia by now and Makarov could feel the rising urgency with every passing second. Things were starting to get desperate. He could feel it in his bones. He knew it as sure as he knew that the sun should not be red.

But it shouldn't be far now. The entrance. He hoped. It was hard to tell. The rubble was already proving to be in a bigger pile than he originally thought.

Wendy felt like someone punched her in the gut hard enough to make a hole. Like someone pulled her lungs through her mouth and then pulled every joint and muscle in a direction it shouldn't go. And that was not even accounting to the emotional turmoil that made the agony of being so thoroughly beaten and magically exhausted feel like a light slap. She glanced at Happy and then at Carla and couldn't help but feel utter contempt at them. They both were crying. She was crying too. But she would much rather die with her friends than run away.

But apparently, that was all she was good at.

Maybe it wasn't contempt at the cats that she felt but at herself.

"You fuckers stay away from her!"

The furious shout came from below them and Wendy blinked in shock, looking down just in time to see Jellal blast away a demon that was about to bite off Erza's head. They were surrounded. And from the view above that she had, she knew that the numbers were far too great even for Erza, Jellal, and… was that Ultear?

"Put me down Happy," her voice sounded strange to her own ears. She wasn't even sure what she hoped to accomplish anymore. But even if she tried to deny it, her mind already knew. A death, quick or slow. Everything that happened. Everything she did. She had to make it right. Somehow. Natsu deserved a better sister than she was. Natsu deserved a lot more than he ever got. And if her presence made the demons take their eyes off of the three below them for even a second, she will gladly just lie down and let them tear her apart.

"Wendy!" Carla hissed and Happy just looked horrified. The poor blue cat looked ready to suffocate in his own sobs and tears. She wasn't sure she saw him stop crying since she woke up.

"Put me down. Now!"

Another demon came too close to Ultear and it was more luck than skill that saved her from it.

"Wendy -," Happy managed, "You – You'll d-die"

The girl blinked, not sure what surprised her about that sentence. She had just been thinking about that. Maybe it was the utter shock in Happy's voice. Maybe it was something else entirely.

She didn't know but she still pushed at Happy's tail and paws as much as she could and the cat frantically tightened his grip on her. She was delirious, a part of her traitorous brain whispered. They were already past the three mages. Too far to help and all she would accomplish by getting out of Happy's grip right now would be to plummet to her death.

She wondered how painful would that be.

The blue cat suddenly stopped and looked at Carla. Confusion etched itself on Carla's face for a brief moment before it was replaced with fury. "Happy! Don't you dare!"

But the blue little cat was already flying back at full speed. Wendy couldn't help but smile a little. It wasn't a happy one.

"Thank you, Happy"

"Don't thank me for killing you"

When did it get this serious?

Makarov hissed as he pulled at a large piece of debris only for it to break in half and fall on his foot. "For fuck's -"

"You always struck me as a polite man. Hearing you swear is rather… surprising"

Makarov lifted his head so fast his neck gave a loud pop. Lilith looked at him, half-lidden eyes bored. He tensed, swallowing down the uneasiness and forcing himself into a position, ready to spring into action. He might be old but he was not slow nor weak. "Who are you? How do you know who I am", she took a step forward and Makarov quickly added, "I will kill you if you come any closer"

Lilith didn't appear particularly threatened or intimidated. In fact, she shrugged as if they were discussing the weather and didn't agree on whether it would rain. "Don't take this personally. I'm just doing my job. And as for how I know you… well, we have a mutual acquaintance. I'm Lilith if that interests you so much"

Makarov opened his mouth to reply but closed them with a snap. He couldn't think of anything worth saying. Nothing that was short in any case.

Lilith didn't seem particularly interested in a one-sided conversation either and she lunged at him, quick as a snake. There was something incredibly disturbing in how she moved, Makarov decided. And it became a lot more apparent when she dropped to the ground, seemingly spineless, to avoid his enlarged fist. "A snake. Fitting I suppose"

Lilith sprang to her feet behind him and he spun on his heel, fist already clasped tightly and moving to her head. All Lilith did was stretch her neck, suddenly longer than half her body, and her head dropped to the side, Makarov's fist harmlessly passing above her. She could've dodged that in a variety of different ways. Probably easier than this. Makarov knew that and he had lied his eyes on the demon for not even a minute. She was doing this to make him uneasy.

She was doing a good job too.

Her head moved up, the neck still impossibly long and her lips spread in a grin filled with sharp teeth.

She moved to attack him but was blasted clean of her feet by a white light that nearly blinded him.

"Now that is just disturbing"

Makarov blinked at the newcomer. Newcomers actually.

"Sting? Rogue?"

The blond dragon slayer grinned at him and Rogue offered a small smile. "We're here too, old man," Lector grumbled and Frosch waved happily.

Makarov blinked, feeling rather stupid. "What are you doing here?"

Sting blinked at him, his eyes moving away from Makarov just in time to see Lilith climb back to her feet some distance off. The attack didn't even leave a scratch. All it did was get her clothes dusty from the debris. She turned her slitted eyes towards the three. And she still looked bored. In Makarov's opinion that was worrying beyond words.

"What are we doing here?" Sting raised an eyebrow as if that was the stupidest question he had heard in a while. "There is a hole in the sky a couple miles away from Magnolia. I wouldn't be surprised if every guild in Fiore isn't on their way over. Sabertooth certainly is. We're just faster than most," he flashed another quick grin and Lilith apparently let us talk long enough because she was moving again.

"You're welcome," Lector added with a grin of his own as he leaped into the air and pulled Frosch with him.

"We didn't expect an army of demons," Rogue spoke up, sending a quick spell at Lilith who dodged it effortlessly. "But one should not be a problem"

"You do realize that I'm right here, boys?" Lilith asked, sharp teeth glinting in the red sun, "And I would like to see how one demon who is capable of going toe to toe with Natsu Souleater is not a problem"

Sting's grin faltered but his speed did not as he dodged Lilith's attack and sent his own kick that was blocked with no effort.

"You're bluffing"

Lilith shrugged, "Believe what you want"

She barely managed to stand on her own feet when Happy put her down in front of Erza who immediately cursed at them. "What do you think you're doing here?!"

"Saving you," and that might've had more weight if she didn't feel ready to kneel over.

"By dropping dead?! You're -" She slammed another demon away, "Barely standing"

"You're surrounded from all sides!" Happy said, flying up into the air, barely avoiding being cut in half by a claw.

"We know that already!" Jellal yelled back, kicking a demon away from Wendy. Wendy frowned at him, "I'm going to distract them and you will make a run for it"

"You must have hit your head pretty hard if you think that that's going to happen," Ultear hissed.

Wendy turned wide eyes towards them, stumbling out of the way. What was she thinking? Why did she think that they would listen to her?

"Please! You have to listen to me! There are hundreds of these things crawling all over the place. If you -"

"If we run now, it's only a matter before they catch up to us again if that's the case," Erza said, her face grim.

"We are dying here," Jellal said, pale and obviously frightened but his hands did not shake and his voice did not falter. "But that's okay"

It wasn't.

"We've all seen Hell," Ultear's voice carried a tilt of an inside joke that no one found funny. "Maybe it's time for some to see Heaven," she glanced at Erza and the scarlet-haired mage snorted. "As if," Erza said, hissing as a demon managed to leave a deep gash in her arm before she pierced its skull with a sword. "I'll take a rain check on that. I'm going where you're going"

Wendy gritted her teeth, snapping a fist at a demon that came too close. Magic refused to answer to her calls but she could still punch things. Her knee gave out from under her and she stumbled and in a second a demon was on top of her.

"WENDY!"

So much for being a hero.

Foolish child.

She blinked, eyes wide. That sounded like -

Laxus and Gray were doing a pretty good job at keeping the big orange one and the snake one at bay. The smaller, black things the size of a dog, shaped like a cross between a scorpion and a spider were another story.

Arthur gritted his teeth as he blasted one with a surge of shadow that was hardly half the strength he usually had. The teen was swaying unsteadily on his feet and Gajeel knew it was only a matter of time before he passed out. He was going better in the magic department. But he couldn't even properly step on his leg and his back was literally against the wall.

The two couldn't hope to get Gray or Laxus to help either. They had their hands full.

Gajeel grimaced as he slammed his club-shaped hand into the demon's twenty-eyed face. Twenty-something. He wasn't going to count.

"Lightning dragon's roar!"

The whole sky above them seemed to explode in lightning and Arthur stumbled, hand gripping at the wall as the room shook. A demon immediately lunged at him and the shadow-user extended his other arm, realizing too late that all he had was a stump and it wasn't until the demon managed to slam the sharp, blade-like legs into his stomach that Gajeel managed to cut it down.

Arthur slid down to the floor, hissing and Gajeel cursed. "Shit, shit, shit"

He pushed himself towards the shadow user, blasting one of the closer demons away. There were seven more. Eight actually. The one he just pushed away snapped back to his feet. "Hold on Junior," he cursed again and Arthur coughed out far too much blood for this to be healthy.

As if he hadn't lost enough blood already.

He stared at Gajeel, watching him for what felt like an eternity but wasn't even a second probably. "I don't wanna die"

The iron dragon slayer felt as if someone punched him in the gut and he turned away from Arthur, pulling himself to his feet as best as he could with one foot mangled as much as it was. "I'll get you out of here, Arthur"

But their chances didn't look particularly good, he decided turning briefly towards the hole in the ceiling to take a look at Gray and Laxus just in time to see Laxus flying from what must've been a nasty blow.

He looked at the remaining demons in the room. They looked as if they were laughing at them, their mandibles clicking, poison dripping from their mouth and tail and Gajeel could only hope that there was none on their blade-like feet. He glanced at Arthur and the teen looked barely awake. "Don't you dare fall asleep Arthur!" he yelled as loud as he could but the younger mage didn't so much as flinch.

Gajeel knew at that moment as he failed to dodge an attack and the demon pierced his good leg with the blade. He cried out, falling to the ground. Gajeel knew it then. They were all going to die.

A demon positioned the poisoned tail above him.

All that could save them now was a miracle.

He could hear a frantic shout of his own name somewhere in the distance. It sounded like Gray. But it was hard to hear him over the sound of buzzing in his head that overpowered every other noise.

I don't have a miracle for you. I just have me.

But the voice in his head was lying, Gajeel decided. Because it was a miracle.

Lilith sighed as she walked over to Makarov's crumpled form as the titan tried to stand up. Sting cursed, pushing himself to his feet.

The demon in front of them was ruthless. And strong.

And he had a feeling she wasn't lying when she said that she had fought Natsu before. The fact that she was even alive after it let Sting know all he needed to know.

Rogue ran past him, intent on sending the demoness flying away from the old master.

Lilith let go of the old man and turned towards Rogue in a fluent motion that Sting was starting to despise. She caught his fist and slammed her own into his stomach before he could react, lifting him clean off of his feet. Rogue landed a foot away from Sting just as he fired his own spell. "White dragon's ROAR!"

Lilith jumped away, the demon still managed to look bored. Makarov appeared underneath her, enlarged fist slamming into her back before she could recover and Rogue joined in with his own roar.

"Shadow dragon's ROAR!"

Her eyes widened a tiny bit.

Sting counted it as a victory.

Both he and Rogue were in dragon force and it did them squat. He didn't feel this inadequate in a fight since he fought Natsu in the Grand Magic Games. And it frustrated him more than words could describe. By the furious look on Rogue's face, he felt the same.

Lilith was back on her feet before anyone managed to land another hit, grinning and for the first time not looking bored. "I'd almost compliment you on that one"

"What do you even want?" Makarov growled, panting.

The demoness blinked, speaking in a voice that said 'I thought it was obvious'. She said as much, "Fairy Heart. I thought that was obvious."

Sting frowned and he could see Rogue do the same. Makarov just looked horrified and ten shades paler. "What? Who.. how?"

Lilith rolled her eyes, once again looking bored, "I'm Ankhseram's second in command. Everything Zeref knows he knows. And the lord is kind enough to let me in on certain things"

Sting choked, eyes widening. Second in command? Ankhseram?! Rogue looked even more troubled and Sting suddenly wondered if all this was a bad joke. He looked at Makarov.

"Ankhseram's here? As in, the god straight from Hell, Ankhseram is here?"

Lilith laughed. It was not a pleasant sound. "Who do you think is leading the charge? Though from what I know he is currently engaged in a fight with the dear old Acnologia"

And Acnologia was here too. Sting wasn't sure if he was happy or terrified at the notion. Rogue seemed to share his thoughts.

A troubling predicament indeed.

Sting was certain the sound of buzzing that filled his head was the sound of his own sanity leaving him. That voice – there was no way that. He caught Rogue's eyes and the shadow dragon slayer seemed to have heard something too. He wondered if he heard the same thing.

Or if he heard the voice of someone else.

It is too soon. But the end of the world is not a time for regrets.

Rogue knew that voice too.

Igneel looked over the Island. The demons were growing pretty thin in numbers. He wouldn't even call it a battle now. Clean up maybe.

His eyes moved to the distant dark hole and he frowned.

It's time to move to the next target. Acnologia already reached his destination, no doubt. He doubted the dragon king would mind if a few more came to join him.

"Himmel, Kindra, Adalstienn, Demir," all four were close enough to hear him bark their names. They looked at him, expressions attentive and quizzical and… almost hopeful. "You're coming with me"

Kindra's face split in a grin that showed all her teeth and she nudged Adalstienn whose own grin parted his lips. Demir nodded, smiling and Himmel straightened his back, nodding as well.

Atlas Flame landed next to him, one flaming eyebrow raised, "And what about me?"

"You'll stay here and clean the rest of these fuckers," Igneel replied, spreading his wings, "I promised Acnologia that we'll keep the Island safe. I never said I'll stay on it and do it myself"

He grinned and added, "I think"

"In any case, you're in charge of the fire dragons until we get back, Atlas Flame"

The five dragons spread their wings and propelled themselves towards the hole, disappearing from sight in mare moments.

Queen Emerald appeared next to Atlas Flame, her green scales covered in blood and her furred collar matted against the scales, shining crimson. "It feels wrong. Just letting them go off like that to fight a god"

Atlas Flame nodded, "It might be a god and his army that they are facing but dragon kings and queens are worth each an army. They will be fine. They have Acnologia. They have Natsu."

Emerald stared after them before turning her head towards Atlas Flame again. "I hope you're right"

With that, she left. Jumped off of the edge of the island and spread her wings. Atlas Flame stayed silent for another moment before joining the fray himself.

I hope I'm right, too.

End of chapter 95.

This took… a while. I do hope you like the cliffhangers as much as I do. I wanted to post it on the anniversary of publishing this story but my planning skills are apparently worth squat. In any case, I do hope you liked it. We're rapidly approaching the grand finale of the story. Well rapidly in terms of chapter numbers. Not so rapidly considering my shitty update schedule.

Gotta say the chapters are really, really dark for a while now. This whole arc. And the previous and… you know what. I'm truly a ray of sunshine.

Anyway. Not really on the anniversary but I'll take the opportunity to thank you all for being here since 2015. And those who aren't here since then but joined later I'm grateful as well. Like, seriously. I love you all guys. You're the best.

(I can't believe that this story reached almost 1.8k favs at the time that I'm writing this. That is so mind-blowing to me that I can't put it into words)

Just know that I'm grateful for every fav, follow, review, and everything else that you guys did for me. Thank you.

That being said, you all know what I'll write next; please review, and thanks for reading :)