Chapter 13
When they finally reached their destination, they were dumbstruck. Several giant iron pillars were protruding out everywhere across the pagoda-shaped building, one was even sticking out through the Fairy Tail sign above the front doors.
"No way," Grey muttered. "What's happened to it?" Erza asked. "No," Lucy whimpered lightly, holding her hand over her mouth. Strife said nothing but he clenched his fists.
A moment passed as the group stood stationary, gazing in a mixture of shock, confusion, and in Natsu's case, anger. "Our Guild," Natsu snarled, clenching his fists. "Someone did this to our Guild.", "But who would do such a thing?" Titania said. "It was Phantom," a female voice answered.
The team, minus Natsu, turned around to see Mirajane standing behind them, ready to break into tears. "Are you serious?" Grey said calmly. Natsu turned to look at Mirajane with pure fury, "You mean Phantom did this?" he growled.
"We couldn't do anything to stop them. They got us good," Mirajane sobbed. "Who the fuck is phantom?" Strife demanded too much anger for manors. "Phantom Lord," answered Gray, turning to strife, "they're a powerful rival Guild. We've never been on the best terms with those jerks…as you can see."
"This ain't rivalry" Strife stated, "oh your back then" said another voice, it was Ibojil using her sword to cut through the metal pillars, "where exactly does phantom live" Strife demanded Mira taking no notice of the maker.
"Even if ya new ain't gonna work" Ibojil interrupted Strife, the Watcher appeared out of nowhere giving Lucy and Happy another fright. "The master forbids it," he said sternly.
Later, the group proceeded into the building and headed down a flight of stairs that led to the basement. The basement was usually used for storage but since there were iron pillars everywhere, it was the only place in the Guild Hall unaffected by the devastation.
The rest of the Guild was sitting at makeshift tables, either eating, drinking, or moping. Anyone could tell that their morale was very low. Strife even saw that his friends' seemed disheartened too. This didn't sit well with him. Not even one bit.
"Yo! What's up kids?" Makarov slurred, holding a mug of beer. It was obvious that the master was drunk.
"Uh…hi," Lucy said awkwardly.
"Sorry we weren't here sooner," Erza added, skipping the preamble.
"Why the heck are you all just sitting around down here?!" Natsu demanded angrily.
Natsu was ignored as the old mage shifted his gaze to Lucy, "How did it go, Lucy? Did you finish the job like a good girl?"
"Yeah…I guess so," Lucy replied.
"Master," Erza said firmly, "do you not understand the gravity of this situation?"
"The Guild Hall has been completely destroyed!" Natsu inputted.
"There's no need to get yourselves worked up," Makarov responded, "It's not like it's the end of the world or anything," He then took another big gulp of beer. "What?" Grey asked.
"Hmph," Makarov continued, "just goes to show you how cowardly those dunderheads in the Phantom Lord Guild really are. They struck when no one was here, is that anything worth bragging about?"
"No one was here?" Erza queried, "It was after everyone had already left for the night." murmured Mirajane, Strife scoffed, "cowards" he muttered rage burning inside him as badly as it was with everyone.
"Just be grateful nobody was hurt except maybe the intruder" the Watcher said, gesturing to Huninn and Muninn sitting on a table, "those two attacked the intruder and managed to get a few hits off" he tossed a bit of dead meat to each Raven.
"Well thank goodness" Erza said, "those birds are brave" Makarov said, still a little drunk, "at any rate We shouldn't trouble ourselves with people who don't even have the guts to face us head-on," Makarov asserted, "Forget about those fools."
Suddenly, Natsu slammed his fist into a wooden crate, putting a huge dent in it and sending wooden chips flying. "Ain't gonna happen, gramps!" the pink haired mage shouted, "We can't just let them trash our place and get away with it!"
"We're not talking about this any longer," Makarov replied calmly, "We'll handle job requests down here until the upstairs is repaired." "We shouldn't be worrying about…" began the Dragon Slayer, however, the Master wasn't having any of it.
"NATSU!" Makarov yelled, cutting off the aforementioned wizard, "That's enough out of you!", Unexpectedly, the old man reached out his hand and slapped Lucy's rear.
"And you spanked me because…," Lucy trailed off to let the old man explain his actions. "Cause he's a drunk bastard" Strife snapped, he was as pissed off as any of them.
Makarov pulled back his hand and laughed sheepishly. He then jumped off the crate he was sitting on and ran across the room.
"Where are you going?" Natsu demanded.
"Oh, keep your dress on," Makarov retorted, "I gotta take a leak." Natsu's ire dimmed a bit as he looked at the floor, "I don't understand why he's being like this."
"Listen," said Mirajane, "this is just as hard on him as it is for you. He's mad, but conflict between the Guilds is strictly prohibited."
"But that's not fair!" yelled Natsu, "Those Phantom creeps started this!", "I know, but that doesn't matter," The white-haired beauty responded.
"If the master's decision is to not retaliate, then we must respect it," Erza said, although there was a hint of reluctance in her voice.
Strife without a word turned around on his heels and left, as he left Mira looked at the sword on his back and to her utter surprise the red gem in the hilt slid up like an eyelid and revealed a yellow eye with a cat like slit.
She gasped, "Mira you okay?" Erza asked, Mira looked at Strife as he disappeared up the stairs, "yes I'm fine" Mira said but with uncertainty in her voice. The Watcher wasn't fooled; he himself looked at the spot where Strife had been.
Everyone had an excellent time, reaching into the waning hours of the day until dusk had settled in. Lucy was currently walking home, heading across a canal on a street that went through Magnolia.
She was pulling her suitcases behind her. Her faithful companion Plue was in front of her. The blonde mage was thinking about the damage done to the Guild by the Phantom Lords.
"Well, this is some mess we're in now, isn't it Plue?" Lucy asked. "Huh," the little spirit said. "I didn't know that Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail had such a rivalry between them." She noted.
"Uh-huh," Plue remarked before he started dancing around her, a large smile on his face.
"Honestly," Lucy admitted, "I thought about joining them before I met up with Natsu. They have a reputation that's just as crazy as Fairy Tail's." the Celestial mage paused, and then smiled. "But I love our Guild, and I don't regret my decision at all."
"Fairy Tail's kinda like my family," Lucy confessed as she opened the door. And her eyes went wide as she saw Natsu, Happy, Erza and Grey, Happy was eating a fish, and then she heard a squawk and she turned to find the Watcher lying on her own bed with Huninn and Muninn on the windowsill.
"Very nice place you have here," Erza admired.
"YOU CAME IN WITHOUT ASKING FIRST!" The blonde then threw her suitcase at Natsu, Watcher just watching from the side only snorted, "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"
"Since the Guild has been attacked," Erza answered calmly, holding up a cup of tea, "we can assume that there are still Phantom Lord members in town."
"They probably figured out where everyone in Fairy Tail lives by now," Grey added. Lucy flinched. "Where do we live?!" she screeched. "Mira said it would be safer if we grouped together," Grey clarified, "You know… strength in numbers."
"I guess you're right," Lucy agreed. "That's why everyone in Fairy Tail is having a slumber party tonight," Happy exclaimed.
"You are a rather attractive young lady after all" the Watcher added, "I'm here to help keep some people in line" he glared with his six eyes at Natsu, Grey and Happy as he said, making all three pale slightly.
"And what about Strife?" Lucy asked, "he wanted to be alone to relax" the Watcher shrugged, "It's not time to relax!" Natsu inputted angrily.
"So it was already decided that these three would stay with me?" Lucy inquired. "Only Natsu and Gray," Erza corrected, "Watcher will be heading back to the guildhall with Ibojil to help guard it in case Phantom does attack again".
"But why'd they have to come to my place?" demanded Lucy.
"Whoa!" Happy said, going through a basket of laundry, "You sure have a lot of dirty clothes."
"Hey!" Lucy shouted, "You better get out of my stuff or you're dead meat!"
As Happy went through Lucy's laundry, Plue had picked up a pink lollipop off the ground and started licking it. This quickly caught Natsu's attention.
"Hey Plue," Natsu yelled, "Did you find something to eat? Oh come on, don't be hogging it all!"
"Ahh…," Plue said, still licking at the candy.
"Ooh look Erza, I found some frilly panties you might like," Happy offered mischievously, holding up a pink pair of small panties.
Erza took them and examined them with wide eyes and a bit of sweat dripped down her face, "I can't believe you would actually wear something like this, Lucy," She chimed.
Plue eventually found a box full of sweets, which he and Natsu began to devour happily.
"I'm gonna catch some shuteye," Grey said, lying on Lucy's bed, "so could you please keep it down?", "did you have to kick me off?" The Watcher demanded angrily as he lay spawled on the floor.
"That's not even your bed!" Lucy exclaimed, "You guys are taking this 'make yourselves at home' deal a little too far." She moaned.
"We have a serious problem here," Erza glanced back, looking at the two teenage boys and watched, "You boys' hygiene. I refuse to sleep in a room that reeks of sweat."
"Fuck it I don't even showing" the Watcher said, Huninn squawked, "that's hurtful" the Watcher snapped back, "I don't wanna take a bath right now," Natsu added. "But I already got into bed," Gray whined.
Erza nearly grabbed the three and dragged them off to the bathroom.
In the forest
Strife sat upright as he twirled the sword, Stormbringer around in his hand, "what is your secret" Strife asked himself, "use me and you'll find out" the sword seemingly answered back, Strife jolted a little.
"Who are you?" He asked the sword out loud, "I am the answer." said the black sword, "I can help you return, I can help you kill Lucifer, I can help you protect your family, unite your siblings, save your brother". The voice answered.
Strife sat their unanswering for a long time as the voice repeated the words, "I am the answer, I am the answer" over and over again.
"When the time is right, do as I wish and do it as you will, all you have to do is let loose and have no control" Strife said nothing for his eyes closed and he went to sleep.
Back at Lucy's Apartment
About an hour later, Lucy and Erza had finished bathing. Gray and Natsu were still a bit reluctant to go but the Watcher outright refused and disappeared, Huninn and Muninn flew out the window no doubt to the guildhall and team Natsu was left alone, "wow talk about a quitter" Happy said.
They watched the ravens disappear into the night and Lucy decided to break the ice with a question that was preying on her mind, "Do you have any idea why Phantom attacked us out of the blue?" Lucy asked.
"I'm afraid not," Erza replied, "We have had our fair share of scuffles with them in the past, but never on anything of this sort of scale before."
"If Gramps wasn't so scared we could wipe out those punks once and for all," Natsu mumbled. Gray just glanced at Natsu for a second, "Come on, Natsu," the ice mage scolded the Dragon Slayer lightly, "you know Master Makarov isn't afraid of them. You seem to be forgetting that he's one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
"I didn't give you permission to read that!" Lucy shouted at Grey, who was holding a stack of paper in his hand. She quickly snatched it from him and held it close to her., "You can't just snatch it out of my hand without at least telling me what happens next," Grey complained.
"Yes, I can," Lucy stated, "I promised Levy she would be the first to read it, so you're just gonna have to wait.", "Back onto the subject of the ten wizard saints" Erza spoke up, "It's an extremely coveted title shared by the ten most powerful wizards on the continent, given by the magic council itself."
"What…really?" Lucy stammered.
"Phantom Lord's Guild Master Jose is one of them too," Happy added.
'That's true,' Erza thought, her mind drifting back to a certain blue haired mage, 'And so is he.'
Natsu slammed his palm onto the table, nearly breaking it, "He is afraid! He's scared that Phantom has too many members for us to handle!"
"Could you please use your inside voice?" Lucy suggested weekly.
"That's not true and you know it," Grey rebukes sternly, "It's just like what master and Mira said before. The consequences of us going to war with Phantom are nowhere near worth the fight. The order of the magical world is at stake here."
"But I don't understand. Are they really that strong?" the Celestial mage inquired.
Natsu grinned confidently, "They ain't got nothing on us. We can take those clowns."
Erza stood up from the bed, "No. If we were to engage them in battle…neither Guild would survive. Their strength equals ours," that put things into perspective for the celestial mage, however, she wasn't finished yet. "Phantom's Master Jose is also one of the Ten Wizard Saints" The scarlet haired fairy continued
"which means he's on par with Makarov. They also have an elite group of wizards similar to our S-Class, known as the Element 4. But the strongest out of all of them is Black Steel Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer, who I believe was responsible for the destruction done to the Guild Hall."
"There's more than one Dragon Slayer?, I Thought Natsu was the one and only." Lucy interjected in surprise, "So if he's the Iron Dragon Slayer, does that mean he eats iron?", "10 out of 10 Lucy wins" Happy mocked.
Phantom lord
The main hall of the Phantom Lord Guild was a dark, large stone walled room with tales aligned everywhere. The torches mounted on the walls were the only source of light in the main hall. Sitting alone at a table was a young muscular man with long, spiky black hair. He wore a scruffy, black, sleeveless tunic with silver studded edges, a pair of beige pants, and studded black boots. On his right shoulder was a black wing-like ornament jutting upwards. This was Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer.
A variety of iron materials such as pots and pans covered the table he was sitting at. Gajeel was chowing down, true to his status as a Dragon Slayer, on the actual metal items sprawled across the table.
"Hey Gajeel, I heard you made a mess out of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall." A Phantom wizard said, then began to laugh loudly.
Gajeel stopped eating and growled. He swiftly turned to face the wizard. Shockingly, Gajeel's arm transformed into a black iron pillar and extended out, slamming into the wizard's face and sending him flying. The other Phantom Lord wizards who witnessed this all began to laugh loudly.
"How many times do I have to tell yah?" Gajeel growled as his arm reverted from an iron pillar back to normal. "I don't like to be bothered when I'm eating! And besides," he stopped as he stood up on his table, glaring at his entire Guild mates, "those Fairy Tail clowns have nothing on us. We are much more powerful than they could ever hope to be." His Guild mates simply yelled in agreement.
"The die has been cast." A voice said. Everyone looked up to see a tall figure standing by the railing of the second floor, his form shrouded in darkness. This was the Guild Master, Jose. "I compliment your excellent work Gajeel, you did a very thorough job destroying their Guild Hall."
"So what? I knew I could do better." Gajeel jeered. "So, I decided to leave them a little something extra. A present; one that is sure to get the panties of that Guild in a knot. no one can take Black Steel Gajeel down." Gajeel said.
"Very good, my boy," Jose praised. "Be sure to not bring any harm to you-know-who, if you please?"
Gajeel only grinned wickedly.
Forest
"Ask me the question" Strife jolted awake at the sudden voice in his head, he noticed that he was still holding the sword, "I said I am the answer but I also have answers so ask the question" the sword repeated, "no not the one about me the one about the humans here" said the sword.
Strife breathed heavily still suffering from the shock, he felt more on edge than normal, maybe because he felt so exposed or that he was easier to attack than any of the other fairy tail members that was putting him on edge or maybe it was that he was worried about their safety so much it was getting to his nerves.
Nevertheless Strife found the question the Sword was talking about, "how did the humans come to this world?" He asked. "Did they form from the dust like the ones on earth?", "no" the sword said simply, "to tell the story one must go back to the time of the dragon scorching of Earth led by the dragon king of hell. Do you remember that? You are certainly old enough".
Strife did Know, the dragon's scorching of Earth was widely known among all of heaven and hell, angels and demons alike. Dragons had used to be a part of Earth put there by the creator like all other life on their retrospective worlds however the Angels of heaven hunted them on Earth for a long time because of unique properties dragons had eventually driving them to Hell where they received the help of one so commonly known as the demon king of the dragons.
The council took the opportunity to put humanity on earth after Eden was scorched and the Dragons attacked with a full on invasion to rival the Nephilim, under the belief that it was there's by right as they were the ones on earth first, luckily the horseman rode out and killed many dragons before any damage done to earth became as bad as the slaughter of the Nephilim had been at Eden.
Strife remembered The demon king of the dragons using some kind of spell and the remaining dragons as well as human captives they had in the human city of Lemuria simply disappeared and no one had seen the landmass nor the inhabitants of the landmass ever since.
"So you yourself were there when the horseman tried to butcher the dragons as they did the Nephilim scum" the sword said, seemingly unaware that Strife was one of the horsemen and one of the 'Nephilim scum' or was at any rate. "Yeah," Strife said slowly trying not to think and reveal that he himself was Nephilim, this sword sounded like it had a grudge.
"Well then from there the land of Lemuria ended up here many humans dead and many more dragons to add to the casualty rate, gravely wounded the dragon king of hell disappeared mortally wounded some say he died and to what would have been a surprise to everyone, the dragons and humans began working together to rebuild over the thousands of years of this world." Strife took all of this in, so that was what had happened all those years ago.
Strife couldn't help but feel relieved for years that had added to the guilt of his consciousness, the guilt of failing all those humans and families, the charred council then angered him even more by saying it was nothing to worry about in essence. Strife's anger was turned on his siblings for the next few hundred years after that and the fact that Death had left and so leaving Strife in charge of the horseman...
Let's just say it didn't ease his temper a little especially when Death returned only to leave once again almost immediately.
"Well thanks, that's good to know," Strife said to the sword, "you can trust me." The sword said "I told you I am the answer to your problems, if Phantom lord does attack again…well simple punish the wicked"
Strife wasn't sure if the Sword didn't know he was a horseman or did and just decide to roll with the fact that it did have a wielder. Those questions weren't important as Strife drifted off to sleep.
The next morning
Strife woke up to the sound of Alarmed ravens, Huninn and Muninn were flapping wildly about the horsemen in a frenzy. Strife stood up and looked at them holstering Stormbringer back onto his back, "everything okay you two?" Strife asked, Mayhem then Appeared behind him looking agitated, "Mayhem…" Strife began but then Mayhem began pushing him forward.
"Ow.." Strife complained, "what is it?" Strife asked, the Watcher appeared in front of him, looking concerned, almost frightful, "Strife hurry it's Levy's team" the Watcher said hurriedly.
Strife's heart turned to ice, he hurriedly jumped onto Mayhem's back and followed the two ravens as the Watcher disappeared, most likely to where Levy and her team was.
He arrived at the park near the guildhall where a crowd had formed, the crowd parted as Strife galloped through the crowd and to the front where Mayhem slid to a stop and Strife jumped off and looked at what had caused the disturbance.
It was horrible to say the least, Strife should have been long since used to it by now, he had seen worse all things considered, but these were his friends and it made him unspeakable emotional to see them in the state they were in.
They were unconscious, crucified to a rock by steel clamps, completely battered and wrecked, bruises all over their bodies, their clothes torn slightly and on Levy's stomach was a guild mark, the guild mark of phantom lord, Strife temper flared as he saw that mark his body shook with anger.
"It was Phantom, Ibojil is on her way" the Watcher said, reappearing as Strifes shook, but then backed off when he saw the look on Strifes mask and wisely backed off.
It was at that moment that Ibojil thundered to a stop next to them, and saw Levy's team, "oh damn" she said, upon seeing them state.
It was at that moment Team Natsu appeared, shoving their way to the front of the crowd, many of the crowd moving out of the way upon seeing they were fellow fairy tail wizards.
"LEVY!" Lucy cried running over to her friend
Natsu clenched his fists, his eyes burning with fury, Grey gritted his teeth, Erza's face twisted in fury, Happy looked horrified, but all that meant nothing to Strife's own anger.
Strife then looked at the tree and saw the Phantom lord symbol on their two, he drew out Mercy and fired at the tree multiple times making every wizard jump and the crowd scarred as the Tree was pelted with each shot, each shot destroying more and more of the tree until the phantom lord symbol was completely destroyed and Strife kept firing until the Tree crumpled down to the ground.
They hurt his team's family and hung them up like trophies. It was time to punish the wicked with or without the masters permission, "I can take the guild being destroyed as good as anybody but this, this means war" Strife said, seething with anger.
"I agree" said a new voice, it was the master and he looked just as Angry as Strife, "I will not allow harm to come to my children without TAKING REVENGE!" His grip tightened until it promptly crushed his cane's shaft. Suddenly, golden light began to shine from beneath the old man. With an enraged scowl on his face to rival Strifa's own, Makarov yelled, "We have no choice but to go to war!"
Oak Town, Phantom Lord Guild Hall
Back in Oak Town, a small residence located in the Northeastern area of the Kingdom of Fiore, the Phantom Lord Guild had set up shop. The hall itself was a large, stone structure reminiscent of that of a castle. Not like the cathedral in Fortuna, but you get the idea. The hall rose above the other structures in the town, but even then, the stone walls hardly concealed the noise of the Phantom Lord Members as they lounged around, drank beer, spoke to one another, and laughed. Mainly about the deed that had been done a few hours prior.
Gajeel defeating three Fairy Tail members single handedly and hanging them up on a tree in a city park for everyone to see had been the buzz of the spoken conversations. However, there were a few murmurs that Fairy Tail had a new wizard of their own, a Demon Slayer at that. Three wizards were sauntering toward the main doors with smug smirks on their faces.
"Wow," one said, "we should go pick off a few Fairies ourselves."
As they approached the exit, the front doors were blasted off of their hinges by a flaming inferno, sending the three wizards careening back. The Phantoms quickly turned their gaze to the main doors, and as the smoke cleared, standing in the doorway was a pissed off Natsu Dragneel.
Following the Dragon Slayer was Strife riding Mayhem, Ibojil, sword smoking hot and burning a bright white glow, Erza, Grey, and the entirety of the Fairy Tail Guild. Lucy, while absent, offered to stay behind at Fairy Tail to hold down the fort with Mira, The Watcher, Huninn and Muninn and look after team Shadow Gear back within Magnolia Hospital.
"Fairy Tail has come calling!" Makarov declared.
A group of Phantom Lords immediately jumped at Natsu, letting out battle cries. The Fire Dragon Slayer shot out a wall of fire, blasting back the group, their bodies charred and smoking.
"Alright! Who wants to play with fire?" Natsu roared, "you made a big damn mistake" Strife said as he sat in Mayhem's saddle twirling Mercy in hand, The Phantom mages quickly got over their shock and charged head-on at Fairy Tail.
Strife was the first to charge in, Mayhem knocking The enemy wizards out of the way as Strife shot many in the forehead with non lethal shots it hadn't had come to lethal yet even if Strife was as Angry as War at this point.
Meanwhile, Macao held out his hand, and chanted, "Fish Net!" Without warning, several bluish-purple tendrils of energy manifested out from a purple magic circle on his hand and wrapped up several Phantom Mages, suspending them in the air.
Macao turned to Wakaba behind him, "Now Wakaba!"
The green shirt man smirked. "On it! Here comes, Smoke Punch!" Suddenly, multiple pink magic fists fired out from Wakaba's pipe and punched the Phantom mages trapped in Macao's net.
As each Fairy Tail member held their own fight, Ibojil stood in the middle of a group of Phantom lords in a V shape around her, "yeesh that one big woman" one said, "Ah and this woman's about to make you blister" Ibojil shot back as she held her white hot sword in hand.
She slashed at the ground sending up a large and powerful spray of rock that hit each of Wizards in the face, she then grabbed one member by the leg and used him as a club against the other members before flipping him upright and giving a powerful head but that broke his nose and cracked his skull.
"Never mess with a Maker, especially the Blood anvil" Ibojil told the wizard before tossing him into his fellow guild mate.
Meanwhile Strife jumped off Mayhem's back and drew out his sabres, Mayhem however stayed on the battlefield and provided additional support to make the phantom lord wizards more wary and more easily make mistakes in their panic when the white horse began bashing them out of the way.
Strife sent the wizard hurtling around the guildhall with his sabres as they tried to attack him, his conflict between keeping in control himself and letting his anger loose on them giving him somewhat of a boost, as well as the conflict around him between the two guilds itself.
War fed of violence by using Chaoseater, Death just needed to kill something and the power would flow to him, Fury strength came from her own anger, Strife however didn't have to do anything, all he needed to do was be in a room with conflict in it whether he was a part of it or not and the power would simple flow to him.
It didn't matter what kind of conflict it was either, Conflict with the self, Conflict with others, Conflict with the environment and Conflict with the supernatural, all conflict would come to Strife.
They were barely anything compared to Strife, the Nephilim were something to Strife, the Angels of heaven and demons of hell were in between these guys and the Nephilim on the threat level.
Strife then found himself surrounded by phantom wizards, "this is Phantom lord?" Strife scoffed mockingly, "you can't even compare to anything I have faced"
"Get that freak!" a Phantom wizard shouted. Every wizard jumped hoping to Doggy pile strife, however Strife jumped high in the air, dropping a few cluster bombs on the spot where he had been, the resulting explosion sent the wizards Careerring everywhere.
Strife then used his Ghost hand to swing himself from the Rafters and land directly onto Mayhem's back where he sent Wizards flying Still as he slashed with his Sabres and controlled Mayhem with his legs.
In the midst of the fighting, Makarov stood nonchalantly with his arms crossed and his eyes shut. A large mass of Phantom wizards, who surrounded him, all charged at once. Makarov opened up his eyes, bright golden light shining out of them. All of a sudden, the ground began to shake as Makarov's body increased to a height of sixty feet, about twice the size of War, about the same size as a Trauma
He slammed his palm on the stone floor, trapping a few mages underneath. They all stared up in fear and awe.
"He's…a monster!" a Phantom mage said fearfully.
"AND YOU WOULD DARE HURT THIS MONSTER'S CHILDREN!" Makarov bellowed; golden light illuminating off his body. "WERE YOU REALLY FOOLISH ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THE COUNCIL'S LAWS WOULD PROTECT YOU FROM MY RAGE?!"
The Phantom Lord members all paused, expressions of shock and awe plastered on their faces. They were amazed by the power shown in Master Makarov and the members of Fairy Tail.
"He's pretty strong." One remarked.
"Yeah, and his members are strong too." Another added.
"I didn't know Fairy Tail was like this!." Another exclaimed
As Fairy Tail continued their onslaught on Phantom Lord, the super-grown Master Makarov glanced around. "JOSE, SHOW YOURSELF!"
Elsewhere...
After Team Shadow Gear was admitted to Magnolia Hospital, Lucy paid Levy and her teammates a visit while they recovered. The blonde became fast friends with Levy due to their similar interests in books. To see her best friend in such a state hurt Lucy's heart. After a while, the blonde left the hospital to let Levy and her team recover.
"I know I don't like fighting, but they didn't have to leave me behind." Lucy grumbled.
And all of a sudden, it started raining. "Huh? It's raining?" The blonde wondered.
"Drip, drip, drip." A fur-clad, blue-haired woman, Juvia, sang, as she slowly approached Lucy. "The rain goes wherever I am... drip, drip, drop."
Lucy tilted her head sideways. "Huh?"
"And what kind of girl are you?" The woman asked, opening an umbrella over herself.
"Seriously, huh?" Lucy repeated
"I've enjoyed myself. I must go now." The bluenette intoned, passing by the blonde girl.
"Non, non, non." A creepy, sinister voice chuckled, causing Juvia to stop. And for whatever reason, the voice said 'non' several more times.
"Bonjour!" A green-haired man with a monocle over his right eye greeted, bursting out of the ground. "And a non in a three-tree-seven pattern!"
Lucy freaked out. "Oh geez, another weirdo?"
"The Mademoiselle over there is our precious target." The man pointed out, causing Juvia to turn to her.
"That so?" The bluenette muttered with a frown. "Thank you, Monsieur Sol."
What they were talking about confused Lucy.
"Ah, how rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself." The green-haired man said with a bow. "I am Monsieur Sol of the Element Four. And Juvia here is also of the Element Four; she is the Rain Woman. And we are from the superb Phantom Lord guild."
Lucy gritted her teeth, going for her Celestial Keys. "So you were the guys who hurt Levy and her team?"
"Ah, non, non, non. Hurting Miss Levy, as well as wrecking your guild, was all on sir Gajeel's part. Though, he...may have gone a bit overboard." Sol said as he twirled his moustache.
Then a horrible shrieking noise was heard making the hairs on all their hairs stand straight up like the spines of a sea urchin, then Lucy turned and her neck was grabbed by a black claw and she was slammed to the ground on her back.
As Lucy struggled to breath she looked up at a terrible sight, it was humanoid, female but it's arms were like the arms of a bat, wing like with long fingers each had a claw on the end of them and transparent wing membrane between each finger, it wore a black bit of armour over its chest and lower region connected by a red fabric cloth that covered her stomach and acted as a loincloth, however the head was really terrifying, it was featureless with just a large mouth with large yellow teeth with saliva running down them, and two large horns pointing backwards.
Lucy struggled to breath as she was losing air until eventually, she blacked out, "careful" Sol said hurriedly but Lucy was already unconscious, "Juvia could have just used her water lock", "either way we would get her'' Snapped the creature, "oui but now she has has marks around her neck!" Sol said, "le master is not going to be happy with that".
"We were told to bring her back" Juvia added, "yes but not in one piece, i could always take an arm..", "non non non" Sol said hurriedly, "i'm sure we can just say she was wearing a necklace a little tightly" Juvia added helpfully, "good" said the creature as it picked up Lucy and flapped her wings and flew off.
Back at phantom
Erza, who was in her normal Heart Kreuz outfit, slashing two swords away at her opponents, Re-Quipped into her Flame Empress Armour. This armour was primarily dark red but also sported orange and black parts, with the first ones being shaped like flames and the second resembling the limbs of a Dragon. Her bright scarlet hair was tied into a pair of high, long pigtails. In her right hand was a long red, flaming sword.
Erza cried out as she leapt into the air, slashing her flaming sword at a group of Phantom mages. The attack sent them sprawling back charred and beaten.
"TELL ME!" she yelled. "Where can I find Gajeel and the Element 4!?"
Meanwhile, a man with black spiky hair stood atop one of the many timber rafters on the ceiling. Gajeel smirked at the scene taking place. He had to admit, he was impressed by how much power Fairy Tail was showing, beating up his Guild mates like nothing. His eye was especially caught by Master Makarov, Erza, and Strife. While the horseman was new to him even after all the rumours he heard, the platinum blonde hair was more than enough to let him know that Nero was the one who repaired the Fairy Tail Guild Hall.
"Ah, the legend herself, Titania Erza," Gajeel said, "I guess Laxus and Mystogan are too scared to play, or do they not care? Bezaliel has shown up, but he's bitten off more than he can chew. Either way, Master Jose knew exactly how this was going to go down," He pauses and grins, "Looks like they're really good fighters…for a bunch of scumbags,"
As the battle waged on below, Natsu was consuming the fire that Phantom mages shot at him, which stunned them. The pink haired young man burped as a hungry grin spread on his face, "Oh yeah, now I got a fire in my belly!"
"No way! He ate fire!" a Phantom mage cried. "You don't think he's one of those?" another asked in fear.
Natsu slammed his fists together, a reddish-orange circle appearing in front of them, "I'm gonna blow you away! Fire Dragon Roar!" He put both hands over his mouth like a trumpeter, a huge torrent of flames bursting out. The fire sent the group flying back with burns.
Grey, who wasn't wearing a shirt, stood in the centre of a big pack of Phantom mages. The mages all charged at the raven haired teen, but Grey remained calm. He put his fist on top of his palm and held them out.
"Ice Make: Lance!"
Without warning, a barrage of icy lances shot out from a magic circle in front of Grey. The lances sent the wizards sprawling back uncontrollably.
Erza had Re-Quipped into her Black Wing Armour. It was black with silver trimming with silver crosses in several places, consisting of a silver-edged breastplate and plates flanking her hips that reached down to her waist-guard, and two wings that had black metal "arms" acting as the wings' leading structure. Her hair was tied into a long ponytail.
As she flew through the air, she slashed her silver blade at her enemies and threw them around like nothing.
Eventually, Natsu and Grey were back-to-back, the former's hands covered in fire while the latter's were shrouded in icy mist. "You're not doing so bad for being a snowman," Natsu quipped. "I could say the same for you too, pyro," Grey replied.
Strife meanwhile was knocked off his horse by a lightning bolt in the shoulder, the electricity spread to Mayhem who disappeared in a heartbeat to recover from the attack. "He's weakened! Take him down!" the wizard who'd shot Strife ordered.
"Yeah, he can't take all of us at once!" another shouted.
Taking their golden opportunity, a squad of at least two dozen Phantoms all jumped at the horseman, Strife quickly drew out the Mjolnir and slammed it against the ground creating a shockwave of electricity knocking the Phantoms both across the guildhall and out of consciousness.
"You fuckers think I'm easy to fight" Strife asked his rage, making his words tremble as the wizards themselves trembled in fear of him, "well then I better prove you wrong".
Erza flying nearby hoping to help Strife shuddered, The energy that came off of Strife, it was not like anything she had sensed, but she could feel it was something that is, no, that was malevolent. But it didn't feel demonic no it felt far worse then demonic.
"What the hell is this guy?" One shouted. "What kind of wizard is this guy?", "He…he must be very powerful," A guy stuttered timidly. "WHO CARES!" a brave Phantom wizard shouted, "GET HIM!"
Strife smashed the blunt end of the spear against the wizards face knocking him out, then fired a beam at another wizard knocking him against the wall, the beam continued and Strife moved it in order to hit the other members charging at him knocking them out and scorching their clothes in the process.
"Quite the impressive display," Commented Erza, looking across the area, "not bad yourself" Strife said as he drew out Stormbringer.
"Why restrain yourself let loose end them so they can never harm you or your guild again" said the sword, "sorry can't" Strife replied to the sword as he slashed sending a small azure blue wave knocking a group of phantom wizards flying.
Erza had requisitioned her Heaven's wheel Armour and was in the midst of the fighting, but someone called to her "Erza," the redhead looked up the stairs that led to the second floor to see Makarov. He had reverted back to his normal size, but that didn't make him defenceless at all. "I'll leave the rabble to you and the others."
"Yes sir," she acknowledged. Makarov walked leisurely but with a menacing aura casting off him, "Jose must be on the top floor," he growled, "When I find him, there will be hell to pay."
Erza watched as Makarov disappeared from view, "Please be careful," She prayed.
On the rafters above, Gajeel sneered as Makarov proceeded into the giant hole in the wall. "Now that their little boss man is out of the way," Gajeel said, "it's time I throw myself into the mix."
The Iron Dragon Slayer then jumped off the wooden girders, descending to the floor below. A hungry, sadistic grin spread across his face as he crashed down onto the floor.
Having heard the crash, the members of Fairy Tail Guild and Phantom Lord both turned to the large Phantom Lord sign in the room. Standing on the top was a young man with black spiked hair, a black and silver vest, and had iron studs all over his body.
A few members mumbled in fear from the presence of the man whilst Erza's eyes narrowed from recognition. "It's the Iron Dragon Slayer," Erza muttered, "Black Steel Gajeel."
Suddenly, Nab, a tan-skinned man wearing a black vest and a necklace of skulls, jumped into view behind Gajeel, "You attacked Levy! AGGHH!"
Before Nab could punch him though, Gajeel transformed his right arm into a large, iron pillar and swiftly slammed it into Nab's torso. Gajeel's iron-club arm kept stretching out until it smashed across the floor, forming a trench and knocking back his own guildmate in the process.
"That's new" Strife thought, "What the?!" Grey said; an expression of shock portrayed on his face. "He just knocked back his own guild mates with that attack!"
Black Steel Gajeel jumped from the billboard and landed safely on his feet. He chuckled as his iron-club arm reverted back to normal. "Show me what you got. Unless you scum are too scared to face the great Iron!Dragon Slayer." He taunted.
This immediately enraged Elfman. "Too scared!" He lunged straight at Gajeel, his arm, which was transformed into some sort of beast-like appendage, was cocked back. "Real men have no fear!"
An amethyst magic circle appeared in front of Elfman as his beast arm shifted into a bulky, stone-covered one. His stone fist connected with Gajeel's shoulder but had no effect on the black haired man.
"You're Elfman, right?" Gajeel said. He then shifted his other arm into an iron pillar and extended it toward Elfman.
The large white-haired man was quick to dodge the attack though. As Gajeel's arm returned to normal, he then kicked his leg out, which instantly changed into an iron-club and stretched toward Elfman at high speeds. Amazingly, Elfman caught the pillar with his still armoured hand.
"Ah, not too bad, big guy," praised Gajeel. "Well, that's because I'm a real man," Elfman stated. "Oh Yeah?," Gajeel smirked, "well then, let's see how a real man handles this!"
Without warning, a few lumps grew from Gajeel's leg. They quickly stretched out into miniature pillars and smacked into random Phantom members nearby who were spectating.
"The fuck?!" Strife exclaimed, even demon lords of hell were careful when their forces were on the field and never really targeted them on purpose, "They're Phantom! You attacked your own men?!" Elfman shouted as he looked at the Phantom members being knocked back by Gajeel's manifested pillars.
"Because I knew it would distract yah!" Gajeel explained. His right arm shifted into a club and slammed into Elfman's face, driving him back.
Natsu jumped into view and used Elfman as a springboard to launch himself at Gajeel. He dodged another iron-club that Black Steel attempted to strike him with. The fire mage lit up his hands with flame and delivered a wicked right hook into Gajeel's face. The blow sent the iron mage flying back and crashing through the bar area.
"Whoa," a scared Phantom mage said, "he sent him flying!", "No one's ever done that before." Another added uneasily. With a small groan, Gajeel steadily picked himself out from the wreckage of the ruined bar countertop, glaring at the pinked haired mage who had punched him.
"Allow me to introduce myself," Natsu said with his fists still shrouded in fire, "I'm Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer." A wicked grin grew across Gajeel's face. "Elfman, leave this guy to me," Natsu demanded.
"Aw come on!" Elfman complained. "First you used me as a springboard and now you're stealing my man-to-man fight?", Gajeel jumped forward and shouted, "Iron Dragon Club!", The onyx haired mage's arm shifted into a large, steel colored pillar and extended toward Natsu. Natsu managed to catch the club but was still driven back a few metres.
"Hey fucker" Gajeel heard a voice, he turned in time to see a giant hand grab his face, Ibojil lifted the dragon slayer bodily before slamming to the ground then stamped on him with enough for to create a small crator where Gajeels head was.
"That's for my forge" she said, Gajeel responded by hitting her in the face with a club arm making the maker stagger a little bit, Gajeel then sent a larger club into the maker's gut knocking the wind out of her and knocking her back.
"Tough little bugger ain't he" Ibojil said as she absentmindedly backhanded a nearby phantom wizard, "jesus she's huge" commented another wizard, "oh yeah i am and i'll teach you phantom ants to tear down a Makers forge" Ibojil yelled whirling her sword above her head like a maniac now focussing on them rather than gajeel.
Gajeel stood up feeling his face, which had hurt quite a bit more than Gajeel had expected it to. "You tried to destroy our GuildHall and then you attacked Levy's team," Natsu snarled. He lifted up his head and glared at his opponent. His hands ignited in flames as his fury increased, "I'm gonna make you pay!".
Natsu tossed Gajeel upward. The iron mage, however, used one of the rafters as a springboard to launch himself back at Natsu. But the Fire Dragon Slayer expected this as he reared back and connected his flaming fist with Gajeel's face, sending him crashing into a wall.
"Well at least he's getting serious," Strife said, "Yeah, I'd hate to be that other guy." Macao added.
Elfman huffed.
"He's quite a wizard," Erza said proudly.
"Alright fine," Elfman conceded, "You're manlier than I thought. I'll let you have this one, but you gotta promise me that…"
"Too bad," Natsu interrupted, turning around as he placed a hand on his right bicep. He knew Elfman was fixing to say to leave some for him, "I'm gonna beat him to a pulp!"
Their attention was grabbed again by the sounds of shifting rocks. They turned to the pile of rubble by the wall that Gajeel had crashed into. A fist broke out and stone fragments were moved aside as Gajeel stood back up. He appeared to be unscathed.
"Nice try," the iron mage mocked, "but I'm still standing.","You won't be for much longer though," Natsu retorted. Gajeel grinned widely. "Oh yeah!"
Suddenly, Gajeel rushed forward at blinding speeds. Natsu was unprepared for his opponent's iron-clubbed leg slamming into him. The pink haired mage was thrown back across the floor, forming a crevasse and throwing up rocks and dirt.
"That hurt," Grey remarked. "This is pretty crazy," Loke noted. "When was it ever sane?" Strife asked. "Oh what's the matter?" Gajeel prodded. "You can dish it out but you can't take it?"
Instantly, stones and cracked wooden boards went flying from the trench as fire blazed upward. Natsu jumped out and stood in front of the other Dragon Slayer. A hungry smile spread across his face.
"It's gonna take more than that to keep me down!" proclaimed Natsu.
The black haired mage grinned. "You seriously think you can beat me, yah pyro!?" A light green magic circle appeared around his right fist.
"What do yah mean think? I know I can!" Natsu countered as a fiery colored magic circle instantly appeared around his fist too.
"We'll see about that!" Gajeel yelled. He shifted his arm into a metal club and shot it toward Natsu.
The Fire Dragon Slayer easily caught it with his flaming hands, only being driven back a couple metres.
"Your steel beams can't even touch me." The metal pillar between Natsu's hand began to liquefy as his anger rose. "You better start stepping up your game!"
"The rumours are true." Gajeel said. "You're way more powerful than yah look."
The iron mage pulled back his club arm as it shifted back to normal, a bit of smoke billowing off of his skin. "Ha! That actually burns a little." he jeered. "Is that all yah got, Salamander?"
"That was only my warm-up." Natsu scowled. "I'm just getting started. You ain't seen nothing yet yah metal freak!"
For a moment, the two Dragon Slayers stared down at each other. Fairy Tail and Phantom had all ceased fighting as they watched the fight. The tension in the room was palpable.
Suddenly, the stone floor beneath both Dragon Slayers erupted as they lunged at one another. Natsu threw a right jab and then a left hook, but Gajeel blocked each attack and then punched Natsu in the face, specifically his left eye.
Natsu went sliding back, he growled in pain from the hit to his eye. "Man, this guy is tough." He muttered.
Gajeel leaped high and aimed himself to deliver a powerful kick into Natsu. Salamander cocked back his flaming fist and punched the sole of Gajeel's boots. He went flying upward, but a couple of spikes popped out from the heels of his boots, allowing him to stand upside down from a wooden rafter.
Natsu crouched low and jumped at Gajeel, intending to strike him again. Gajeel was ready as he shifted his arm into an iron-club to block the blow; however, the force behind it sent the iron mage careening upward as he crashed through a couple rafters.
"How do you like that, huh?!" Natsu yelled.
Gajeel grabbed onto a support beam and pierced the rafter with his spiked heels like he did before. "Don't get too cocky! It won't happen again!"
The two continued to glare at each other, the anger between them was profound. The attention of both Guilds had been captured by Natsu and Gajeel's fight. Strife himself also found the fight engrossing, watching along with everyone else as the brawl continued, but despite this, he was more than ready to get into the fight when things started to look hairy.
Gajeel made the first move as he transformed his arm into an iron-pillar and stretched it toward Natsu. The fire mage was quick to dodge out of the way, letting Gajeel's club destroy the girder he was previously standing on. Natsu lit his feet on fire and blasted himself straight at the iron mage, his fist cocked back.
"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" he yelled.
Gajeel was too slow to jump out of the way, but he held up his iron-clubbed arm and used it to block the punch. However, the firepower and strength behind it sent him hurdling downwards. A few Phantom mages jumped out of the way as Gajeel slammed into the floor, creating a shallow crater.
Natsu descended from the rafters and landed on his feet near the crater edge. A hazy dust cloud was billowing over the hole.
Natsu smirked brightly. "Had enough yet!"
There was no response. Natsu, along with the others watching, were beginning to think Gajeel was down for the count. But suddenly, a huge iron-club shot out from the dust cloud and slammed into Natsu's gut with a lot of force. The blow sent the Salamander slamming hard into a wall, burying him under a big pile of rocky rubble.
"Natsu!" Erza cried. Gajeel stepped out of the small crater, his arm reverting back to normal. A grin of smugness was adorning his lips. "Anyone else wanna give me a try?" Gajeel challenged, a Bullet then knocked Gajeel in the head making his head jolt back and staggered back.
"I'll take a shot" Strife said, as he holstered Mercy and drew out StormBringer, his friends were more important than secrets and maybe it was time to let the secrets of this sword out, and maybe some of Strife's own as well, Strife jumped forward and swung the sword which struck Gajeel, the blow created a small shockwave and some members of both Fairy tail and Phantom lords had to steady themselves under the power of the blow.
Jumping back, Strife surveyed the aftermath, "finally, finally you let my strength show but keep going otherwise your defeat is sure to follow" said the sword, a small crater had been created and Gajeel was still standing, but he had been forced to his knees, but he stood up straight, wobbling a little bit and both his arms were iron clubs that had helped block the attack. But there appeared to be some scrapes and dents as a result from the sword swing, However, he didn't appear to be in any pain.
Gajeel smirked as his arms reverted to normal, "Nice shot, Bezaliel, archangel of shadow right?", "it's Strife actually, and you just ask yourself, if i can kill a beast of Zeref easily, what chance do you have?" Strife said in challenge, "iron dragon club" Roared Gajeel, to add insult to injury, Strife lazily raised the point of the sword at the pillar and the tip penetrated the end, Strife however was not expecting the force as he was not as physically strong as war and he then held it with two hands and stopped dead adjusting his feet so to not be pushed back.
Gajeel gritted his teeth in frustration as he put more strength into overpowering the horseman but the horseman was clearly the stronger one here as he actually began advancing, calmly walking towards the dragon slayer pushing him back.
"Word of advice, don't shout your attacks out" Strife quipped as he shoved the pillar back, "it's just asking for trouble", Gajeel scoffed, his cocky grin getting bigger, "bring it!" he challenged, "you've got nothing on me masked freakshot", Gajeel had already won in his mind's eye, he had already beaten up salamander and thanks a blow from that unusual sword, he was confident he could win.
"You would not be so cocky if you knew the things i have seen and done" Strife said, "Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel's right arm turned into a metallic pillar and outstretched rapidly towards the horseman.
The horseman responded by blocking it with the flat side of Stormbringer, but he was pushed back a little, Strife then shoved it aside and lunged forward sheathing the sword and drew his sabres and began viciously hacking at the iron dragon slayer.
The Iron Dragon Slayer dodged each attack, but quickly turned both his arms into metal, blocking the blade. A shower of sparks went up as the two metal surfaces collided, he then drew out Mjolnir and began mercilessly beating the hammer onto Gajeels arms, Gajeel let out loud grunts of pain as the hammer was shooting electricity through his body with each powerful blow
An enraged look crossed Strifes masked face as he beat down harder and harder with Mjolnit causing the ground underneath Gajeel to begin to crack and Gajeel suddenly collapse to one knee, a bit of dust being blown up from the resounding shockwave "Man," commented one of the Phantoms, both Phantom Lord's wizards and Fairy Tail were taken aback by the brutality Strife was showing, "Even I think this is a little far."
"The hell kind of wizard is he?" added another, The Fairy Tail mages looked on in curiosity, even surprised at the new feats of Strength Strife was showing and some abilities that were new to them.
When the dust cleared Gajeel stood up now with his skin covered in metal scales, and all without a scratch on him "i see it's shedding season" Strife quipped twirling the hammer, "good eye, these are indeed the scales of an iron dragon; good luck trying to get through'' Gajeel smirked, "well let's see how well iron does against the the Thunder of a god"' Strife said pointing the hammer at Gajeel, this revelation amazed many Gajeel only grinned "then i'll just have to get rid of that Hammer then"
Without warning, Gajeel shot forward smashed his head into Strife's, catching the horseman off guard. Stumbling back, Strife was put onto the defence as Gajeel leaped at him,
"Iron Dragon Sword!" shouted the Dragon Slayer, his right arm forming into a sword of his own. Gajeel began slashing away at Strife, the Horseman deflecting and countering certain strikes. After one swing, Strife had to leap back into the air before raising Mjolnir to block a strike that sent him back to the floor and slid about ten yards.
Snapping his head up, Strife was just able to block another slash from Gajeel, although poorly as he stumbled slightly. In hopes of retaliation, he raised his spear again, but the Iron Dragon Slayer batted the hammer to the side where it escaped Strife's grasp. The hammer tumbled through the air before embedding itself right in the ground about twelve yards away.
"Oh shit" Strife said, Gajeel suddenly dashed forward, his sword arm pointed right at Strife's chest. The Nephilim had nowhere to go and could not dodge in time or draw anything fast enough to block it. All Strife could do was take the hit. Gajeel impaled Strife right through his chest, the tip bursting out his back as blood stained the blade.
Everyone in Fairy Tail looks on in shock and horror as their friend was impaled right through the chest. "Come on, is that all you got?" taunted Black Steel to the seeming life corpse that was stuck on his arm sword, "Looks like you're just all talk."Gajeel went to pull his arm out of the dead body, but suddenly to his shock and horror and of the Phantom Lord mages , Strife hand shot up with Mercy in hand, "and you're not too bright" Strife said in turn and pulled the trigger.
The blast sent Gajeel flying halfway across the room, a bit of blood flew from Strife's wound as the sword was wrenched out of him at remarkable speed, Strife staggered and had to lean against the wall to recover, Gajeel meanwhile stood up, his scales around his head completely destroyed and the bare skin of his forehead was showing, and his eyes trembling.
Gajeel watched as blood spilled out of the horseman's wound, by all means he should be dead but the horseman stood against the wall and his wound began to heal even his armour was beginning to seal up almost healing like actual skin.
"But I… you… that… Just I…" stammered Gajeel, Unable to believe that this guy had survived a sword wound, "i may not be my brother, but i can heal just as fast as him" Strife said, "What are you!? WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU!?" Gajeel demanded in a mixture of anger and fear.
"I'm a horseman" Strife said he then backflipped onto Mayhem's saddle who appeared back on the battlefield and reared up, "and i'm here to punish the wicked" a few of the phantom lords fell to their knees as if in prayer, "damn you!" Gajeel cursed and charged at Strife only for Mayhem to raise up and stomp down on Gajeel's chest, "AWW!" Gajeel cried out, his iron dragon scales did not protect him from the force of which the hooves had.
"That was for Levy and her team Asshole" Strife said, Mayhem then got off of Gajeel and walked over to a groaning Natsu as he stood on a pile of Rubble, "you okay?" Strife asked, "Fine," Natsu said, nodding, then noticed the blood coating Strife's chest despite the lack of injuries from what Natsu could see, "why are you covered in blood?"
Before anything else could be said, the building began to shake violently. "Everything's shaking," Wakaba noted. "I guess they're going at it," Loke said. "This is what happens when Master Makarov's angry," Cana remarked. "It's called the Giant's Wrath," Macao explained.
"Nobody will be able to stop him now," Nab said confidently. A few Phantom Lord wizards began to whimper in fear. "He's going to make the Guild Hall collapse!" a Phantom mage cried.
"Well you can consider this repayment and well deserve" Strife said, "When the master gets angry, the master's even manlier," Elfman commented.
Erza, who had Requip back into her Heart Kreuz armour, held up her magic sword and slashed it across the air. "Prepare to finish them off! We cannot lose as long as Master Makarov is with us!" She declared.
All of a sudden, everyone's attention was grabbed as something fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor. "What was that?" someone asked. "It fell from the rafters."
When the dust cleared, everyone, excluding Strife, gasped in shock and horror. Lying in a small crater on the floor was Makarov. His skin had turned into a sickly green as well as his eyes and hair only a lighter shade.
"Oh shit this can't be good" said Strife, "it's gramps" Natsu said, "bugger it he doesn't look good" Ibojil said as she picked the master up in one hand, the master fitted nicely into her palm and he indeed did not look good.
"M-m-my m-magic power…it's…," Makarov stuttered, struggling to form a sentence as she took the master from Ibojil. "Master," Erza said softly, "calm down.", "What happened to him?" Cana asked.
"I don't know," Grey said, "But I don't sense any magical energy coming from him at all.", "what does that mean?" Strife asked, "Grey," Elfman said in disbelief, "are you saying he's just an ordinary old man now?"
"No, that can't be!" Happy exclaimed, ready to break out in tears. "Come on Gramps," Natsu encouraged, "you can pull through this."
While the Fairy Tail mages were focused on Makarov, Gajeel picked himself up from the pile of rubble. He wasn't injured too badly, only a minor bruise on his chest. As the rest of the Guild was distracted, he leaped up into the rafters. He stuck his spiked heels into the wooden beam so he could stand upside down with his arms crossed.
"Hmph," he mumbled, "guess the fun's over and just when things were starting to get good. I was about to give him some payback", "you wouldn't last a second" said a voice next to him and recoiled slightly as he saw the bat like demoness next to him like a bird, "oh it's you so the jobs done?" Gajeel asked, "yes" hissed the creature.
"I don't understand." Grey said. "Gramps is so powerful, how did they beat him?", "by cheating" Strife answered looking up at the hole in the ceiling where the master had come from, However, any chance of invading the upstairs was completely crushed as the other Phantom Lords began to rally.
"Their master's been defeated!" a Phantom shouted. "For real?" Another said in amazement, "He's out!" Another added, "You guys," one said, "We can beat 'em.", "Yeah, we can take these flies!" another added.
Erza, with a tear in her eye, turned to the Phantom mages. She had heard them speaking and knew that with the master out, their spirits would be revived. 'This is not good.' She thought.
"LET'S GET 'EM!" One cried out.
The now recovered Phantom Lord wizards all charged and attacked Fairy Tail. Natsu quickly lit up his fists with fire and punched a Phantom mage who tried to jump him.
"Don't you start getting cocky!" the Dragon Slayer exclaimed. Strife and Ibojil then put themselves in between the two guilds, every single mage that was charging stopped when they saw the murderous look in Strife eye.
It was an open dare, attack him or his friends at their own peril. "Come on I dare yah" Ibojil dared then something swooped onto her like a falcon and knocked her to the ground, "blood anvil" the thing smiled, "Dimme-kur!?" Ibojil said in surprise as she punched the beast of her, "get out of here!" She roared to Fairy tail.
"The hell we will" Natsu said, "We must retreat!" Erza commanded. "Everyone, back to the Guild at once!"
Natsu tossed away a Phantom wizard and stared at Erza incredulously. He wasn't the only one. Grey, Loke, and Elfman looked at her with shocked expressions.
"Erza?" Loke stuttered."No way!" Grey protested, "We can't give up!", "Real men never retreat!" Elfman added. "I still have some fight in me," Macao muttered. He was banged up and had Cana under his shoulder to support him.
"Me too," Cana concurred. "No you run, my power doesn't come from the master, you guys get to the guild and me and Ibojil hold them off. That's an order not a request'' Strife said as Mayhem made Phantom lord back off a little by rearing a little, "you heard him let's move" Erza ordered, Fairy tail very reluctantly began to retreat.
Meanwhile, along the rafters of the Phantom Guild Hall, Gajeel watched as Fairy Tail fled out of the building. While still hanging upside down, he sneered as Fairy Tail began to fall back.
"There they go." He noted. "I knew it wouldn't be long before those gutless cowards gave up and started running for their lives."
"They're retreating with sorrow in their hearts." A man, standing on the rafter above Gajeel, said. He was a tall, tan-skinned man with a rectangular face. His eyes were covered by a blindfold. He wore a long, green coat, yellow shirt, and a pair of loose pants. On his head was a green top hat that matched his jacket. This was Aria, the strongest member of Element 4.
Gajeel flipped back up to stand on the girder next to Aria, "Aria, I can see you're creepier than ever," He commented, "I gotta commend you for taking down that Fairy Tail geezer.", "I just followed Master Jose's orders," Then, a waterfall amount of tears began to pour out from beneath his blindfold, "But…thank you!" Aria sobbed.
"Why are you always crying? Geez, cut it out!" Gajeel said in annoyance. A malevolent grin then grew on the iron mage's lips, "So, what happened to that Lucy girl?", From below, Natsu's keen hearing had picked up what Gajeel had said. He immediately turned to look up at him.
"She's been captured," Aria replied, "The poor wretch is being held in a gloomy cell at headquarters.", "So much for giving her a warm welcome, huh?" Gajeel joked smugly. "No way," Natsu whispered, stunned over this new information. "Is there something wrong?" Happy asked with concern.
Natsu didn't respond as he glared up at the Iron Dragon Slayer, "GAJEEL!"
The Iron Dragon Slayer looked down at Natsu and smirked. "We'll finish this someday, Salamander.", Aria extended his right arm behind Gajeel, and then both wizards vanished into thin air. "Those jerks kidnapped Lucy." Natsu murmured, his anger boiling high.
Happy screamed in response.
"Everybody out!" Erza yelled as flocks of Fairy Tail mages ran past her, bolting for the main gate, "Let's go!", "No way! I'm not falling back yet," Grey claimed stubbornly, "They're gonna pay for what they did." Erza came forward and gently lowered Grey's hand, "Please," she begged.
Grey's eyes widened in shock; he certainly wasn't expecting this from the toughest woman in Fairy Tail. She put her face into his chest, tears streaming down her face. "We need him," She continued, her voice quivering in-between her usual commando tone and sobbing, "We can't win without the master."
Without a word, Grey gave in. Erza lifted her tear-filled face from his chest as both mages sprinted for the door. Strife meanwhile was holding off Phantom with some difficulty, he was basically trying to separate them and make them focus on him, Ibojil meanwhile seemed like she and the creature, Dimme-kur, had a vendetta with each other.
"So you threw in with these bottom feeders, you were always a bloody opportunist" Ibojil said as she lashed her sword at the lightning fast demon which was almost as big as she was lashing at her face with it's claws, "there is a new order coming Blood anvil" said Dimme-kur as she dicked out of the way of Ibojils superheated sword, and lashed at the exposed flesh on her leg making the maker buckle slight but managed to send a punch powerful enough to kill a human at the wretched beast.
Strife meanwhile shot at the entrance of the guild when all of fairy tail was out blocking the way, that made all the wizards focus on Strife, Strife drew out his sabres using them as he controlled Mayhem with his feet, "get him" said a phantom wizard only to be sent flying as Strife charged at them.
They were in very great danger of getting trampled as strife was now desperate and was holding back, "you hold back. You stop yourself" mocked Stormbringer on his back, "you can't win until you do as you will, do what you must, punish the wicked, punish them".
Strife was momentarily distracted as a metal pole struck Mayhem in the side sending both him and Mayhem tumbling to the ground, "Mayhem!!" Strife said looking at his horse who disappeared, that was actually a good sign, that meant he would be healing himself, it was a non-lethal strike anyway and the armour had protected him from the worst of it. "All you Nephilim are pathetic!" the sword snapped, "you, you strife can't do anything, you couldn't stand up to these worthless beings so how did you stand up to death?, you stood up for humanity on earth but then abandoned them!"
Strife anger began to rise as blow after blow was struck, a third blow struck him in the face and then a fourth, "you could not face Lucifer without ending up here, you could not even protect your brother, you could not tame his rampage on earth"
"he is innocent" Strife retorted as a 5th and 6th blow to the head began to draw blood, and the sword roared at him "THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU PROTECT HIM" something in Strife snapped, Strife drew Mercy and shot the head clear off the closest mage.
Strifes anger had gotten the better of him, he slowly stood up, breathing heavily, "your right, i can i protect my brother without punishing the wicked" Strife said to Stormbringer as he drew it, Phantom lord began to back off fearfully as a look came into Strife's eye, now that his mask was off it was clear what the look was.
It was a 'you have severely fucked up' look, "Mercy please" Begged one wizard speaking for all of them as a dark aura radiated off Strife "you have no intention of showing Mercy to my guild" Strife said to the terrified Phantom, "it's only appropriate to repay you in kind", and he began the slaughter, just as he did with his fellow Nephilim.