Fairy Tail: Collapsing Realities

by SimpleStories24

Months have passed since the events of time going astray, having allowed Nathan, Wendy and Carla to enjoy their time together peacefully and happily until yet another adventure has begun to show itself. With a relic of the gods being rediscovered and falling into the wrong hands the world begins to face yet another disaster as reality itself begins to warp and crumble...

3. Divine Against Demonic

Chapter 2 – Divine against Demonic

The fairies boat continued to power through the waves of the ocean with ease as it bobbed up and down, the occasional spray of the salty sea water burst up from the surface whilst nearing the deck before falling back down. However, despite the easy sailing for long their long voyage, scares few of the crew however were in any kind of comfort at all.

The majority of the fairies were lying about the deck in their swimwear whilst still panting to themselves as they tried to deal with immense heat that they were completely swamped with. Few could muster up any strength whilst some even had fans as all the others could do was groan whilst even fewer found themselves unaffected by the heat at all…

At the same time, a small group and all hanging their heads over the side of the boat was Natsu, Gajeel, Nathan and Wendy. The lot of them all green in the face with motion sickness whilst their bodies were completely devoid of any and all strength whilst everyone else could only glance at them with a sense of pity even despite their own struggles as everyone could internally agree that they still felt better off than the group of four.

"But why is Nathan also feeling sick? I thought motion sickness was a dragon slayer thing?" Gray asked whilst in his underwear, his only reason for doing so being his stripping habit as he stood as one of the few that that heat simply didn't affect.

"We assume it's due to his dragon seed that he developed during everything that happened back when he first joined." Carla answered the ice-make mage as she was sat down on a table, sweating profusely whilst Happy lay down beside her likewise struggling with the heat. "Honestly, it was quite the surprise to us at first, and ever since both Nathan and Wendy had avoided using transportation as much as possible…"

"I guess there had to be some kind of downside…." Nathan weakly grumbled in response before suddenly shutting his mouth and looking down at the seawater even more intensely than before, clearly having to hold back another surge of sickness that he felt.

"As much as I would feel for them, during this one event I can say this is quite the welcome surprise as it gives us an advantage against yet another rival." Freed commented as he gazed upon the slayer group whilst being one of the few to retain his clothing, having set up a simple rune on the ground to spare him the effects of heat.

"Still must suck for them. You don't think Laxus the same weakness, do ya?" Bixlow asked, likewise clothed and standing with Freed to be spared from the heat, having attended as his partner as well.

"But Laxus is considered a second-generation dragon slayer. I'm sure that he couldn't have such a weakness, we would have seen it already!" Freed said as he clenched his fist as he started looking out across the water in the direction they were headed, surely thinking of the thunder dragon in some exadurated manner.

"Well, we don't be holding back on em either!" Cana then called out rather cheerily, momentarily looking away from the card game that she had been playing with Lucy, whom she had asked to be her partner once again much like the last attempt at the trials she had.

"Sorry about that you guys, but also what about you Levi? You're rivals with Gajeel now with the trials going on." The blond then said with a sympathetic smile aimed towards the slayers before turning to the bookworm that wasn't sat terribly far away from her with Lily, whom came as Gajeel's partner, alongside Kianna as her own.

"I mean it was a bit of a shock at first but, we've come to an agreement you could say. Hopefully it won't come to it but we won't be holding back against each other." Levy replied with an earnest smile as she looped up from her book that she was in the middle of reading whilst, like many others, in her swimsuit. "But we've not the only ones like that, what about Nathan and Wendy?"

"They've made their own agreement as well. The last that I heard is that they were willing to have a personal competition between themselves." Carla then interjected, answering on behalf of the sick pair that still could do little more than groan whilst hanging over the side of the ship.

"Well, that's certainly going to make things more interesting. I guess that you're getting dragged into it a little bit by being her partner though." Lucy said with a smile as they glanced over at the sick slayers that despite the green of their faces, still managed to have some blush show though onto their faces.

"Do you have to talk about us…" Nathan groaned as he glanced back at everyone, neither him or Wendy having the energy to actively get upset at anyone.

"I think it's incredibly sweet how you two continue to get along even when you are competing against one another." Lissanna then mentioned, having tagged along as Juvia's partner for the trails.

"Ah, perhaps I should have at least made some similar agreement with my darling Gray as well! Wait, we still can!" The water mage said with hearts in her eyes as she spun around to the ice mage who was already thrown off slightly, yet it was one of tiredness towards her but rather of awkwardness, seemingly unable to quite handle her in the same way he always had.

"We don't have any reason to do something like that!" Gray replied as he tried to create some distance from her.

"You don't need any reason to add a little some more to the stakes, but it certainly is something to add some more excitement into a relationship as well. Even if it's Wendy they must have made something relatively interesting to compete for between them." Evergreen then chimed in giving her own opinions on the matter whilst she lay down on a deckchair whilst her partner and competing member Elfman stood nearby, yet she prevented him from saying anything himself as just as he was opening his mouth, she already hit him with her fan, stopping him cold.

"Please! Why can't you talk about anything else!" Wendy then cried out, likewise struggling to hear people still talking about her and Nathan before having to look back over the edge of the ship as she felt another surge of sickness within her. 'We've been dating for a while now… why do they still focus on us more than anyone else?!' Wendy continued to think to herself in distress. It wasn't even like they were the only couple on the ship either!

"Are you doing alright? How are you?" Two similar voices chimed at the same time as they floated above the sick slayers, voices belonging to two small floating spirits that went under one name, Gemini.

Since having made the promise with Wendy, Nathan had finally started to take finding a partner for the trials more seriously than before, yet despite his efforts it didn't make it any easier on him. Plenty of people that he had first thought of had already been taking up by other people however as, unlike Nathan, plenty of people in the guild had already made agreements with one another should they ever have gotten nominated for s-class quickly leaving Nathan with few to ask.

And yet it was while he was thinking about who to best ask next in the guild had his eye's wondered upon the sight of Gray and Loke together.

In little time Nathan had asked Mira about just what was going on between the two, hearing that they had been long planned partner's and had even formed a team when Gray had been chosen the last time the trials had taken place. It was the news from the barmaid that then gave Nathan a flash of inspiration.

Shortly after hearing about the possibility did Nathan soon approach Lucy with interest towards her spirits and how she felt about Loke assisting Gray instead of her as per their contract, to which the celestial mage quickly caught onto what Nathan was after, having already asked her to be his partner before she revealed already being Cana's.

It was something that Nathan had immediately predicted as well, Lucy's whole magic was dependent on her spirits and she happily allowed Loke under the circumstance that she didn't wish to ruin her friend's long-standing promise. Yet despite hearing this, Nathan hadn't been ready to give up quite so soon.

---

"Why is Loke with Gray?" Nathan asked as he glanced over from where he was sat at the bar to the sight of the ice wizard and the celestial spirit, confused to see the spirit around without Lucy.

"Oh, those two?" Mira said as she approached the god slayer, who had otherwise been lazily drinking juice by himself. "Originally Gray and Loke had long made a deal that should either of them make it to the S-Class trials then they would be a team. Back then no one knew that Loke was a spirit and he eventually became contracted to Lucy, but it never ruined their deal."

"Wait, so is Lucy ok with that then? I mean, not only will she be a spirit down but it's draining on her magic right?" Nathan asked, turning back to the barmaid in confusion only to see her lightly shaking her head in denial.

"If a spirit is contracted to a strong enough celestial wizard, they can make brief stays in the human world by making use of their own energy," Mira explained. "And as for being a spirit down, Lucy simply wasn't willing to get in the way of the two of them, and it's not like Loke is Lucy's only spirit."

"That's true…" Nathan noted, looking back towards the two guys, his mind mulling over the idea.

"So, where's Wendy then? It's not often that the two of you aren't together." Mira then asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, she and Carla went shopping together with Levy and Kinanna. They made it said that it was something just between them, but Carla took the chance to insist that I take the time to continue to think about who my partner's going to be…" Nathan replied as he rested against the counter with a sense of tiredness.

"Those four aren't a group that you hear about a lot," Mira noted with faint surprise at the news. "But you said that you weren't welcome… do you think that went for Gajeel as well?"

"I saw him not too long ago so it's possible." Nathan chimed.

"Then perhaps it's a girl's meeting about their boyfriends?" Mira said with a cheery smile, instantly getting Nathan to perk up as he looked her immediately in the eyes, seeming in action to try and gauge what was going on in her mind.

"I mean… if that's the case I'm slightly worried about the things that might be said about me, or us, but please don't continue this, I'd rather continue to think about my partner's issue."

"Alright, I can let it go this time. You are quickly running out of time when it comes to finding a partner."

"It would be so much easier if I could just ask you to be my partner, everything would be a breeze…"

"You know that isn't allowed, besides, that wouldn't be a proper trial on you if it's your partner doing it all."

"You know… if we could ask people outside the guild then I wonder if Sheria would be willing to be a partner." Nathan then pondered, the thought of his fellow god slayer coming to mind amongst the idea of illegal partners.

"Don't you think that Wendy would be jealous if you did that?" Mira asked.

"I guess that would also be a real chance… not that I matter, it's impossible either way," Nathan replied before he went quiet for only a few moments. "Wait a minute…" he mumbled to himself as a flash of inspiration came to him whilst Mira could only look at him questioningly at his sudden behaviour.

"Is everything alright?" Mira asked.

"Just fine, thanks. I've just got to see someone that's all." Was all Nathan said as he spun around in his seat before springing to his feet and walking off into the guild, leaving the barmaid confused for a few moments before choosing to resume her job…

---

"So could I ask to form a partnership with a spirit of yours?" Nathan asked Lucy who looked on in shock at the request that the blue-haired teenager somehow had the mindset to ask her for.

"Sorry, but I'm not going to lend any help to any of my opponents in the trail, I mean, I'm sorry that your struggling with a partner but Loke's just a special case." Lucy hastily answered him, shutting down the request without hesitation.

"I see… I guess that it is a bit much to ask for a spirit of yours to help me. I mean, not only are you helping a potential rival but you would also but weakening yourself at the same time…" Nathan mentioned with a disappointed smile until another idea flashed through his mind. "I was wondering how Gemini would be like a partner."

"Gemini?" Lucy repeated as she heard the name. "Were you thinking of having them turn into you or your opponent? Or perhaps Wendy?" She asked as a sly grin managed to find its way onto her face.

"Not Wendy, I feel she wouldn't be terribly happy to have an imposter of her as my partner…" Nathan answered with a strained voice at the thought, trying to guess just how his girlfriend would possibly react as he remembered the multitude of times when she had shown a surprisingly jealous and protective side towards other girls that she felt got too close to him. A trait that he could only wonder if it was partially due to being a dragon slayer…

"Well, I don't think that would have worked well anyway, Gemini can only transform into people that have less magic power than I do and turning into people of equal power is also really hard on them." Lucy began to explain to him. "Honestly, I think you and most of the others taking part have more magic power than I do, so Gemini would have limited use."

'But they can perform transformations of equal power through?' Nathan thought as he listened to her words.

"You can't say that." Nathan replied, "But… how about a bit of a deal. So long as I'm not fighting you then could Gemini help me?"

"Well…" Lucy said as she began thinking about the deal as looked at the hopeful teenager.

"I heard that you can use star dresses to gain your spirits magic, even if Gemini is with me, you can still use the star dress for their magic, right?" Nathan further pointed out, hoping that it would help sway Lucy over to allowing the arrangement.

"Well alright then. But if we ever get into a fight then you're on your own again!" Lucy finally caved with a friendly smile whilst Nathan gave a cheery one in turn…

---

It was the deal Nathan had made for his partner and whilst he knew the risks, he already had a plan in mind for how the spirit would be able to help him. Just like Loke, Gemini also made sure that during the time they were around they would spend their own energy instead of Lucy's magic helping reduce the impact their partnership would cause.

"Hey… you made sure to… memorise him, right?" Nathan then called out to the spirit for both its bodies to nod back in response, giving Nathan the closest sensation of relief that he could feel at the time

"Still… I can't believe that you were willing to allow Nathan to partner up with one of your spirits, Lucy." Juvia mentioned as the majority of the people looked at the floating spirit.

"I admit this does make things more interesting but are you sure about this Lucy? With me as well, your two spirits down." Loke asked his contractor with a bit of worry in his eyes. As a celestial spirit himself, he knew all too well the kind of reliance that a celestial spirit wizard usually had on their spirits, even if Lucy was such an incredible wizard that he knew could hold her own.

"Yeah, it'll be fine. Not to mention there is a little twist in our deal, but we won't mention it for now." Lucy replied to her spirit with a bright smile that made it clear that she really didn't have any issues with how things had turned out for her whilst everyone else on the boat had only become more curious about what kind of deal Nathan had struck with her.

"Alright, you lot! Listen up!" The master's voice suddenly called out, breaking up all the chatter that was among the wizards as they looked up at the tiny old man who was adequately dressed for a tropical holiday. "We're approaching the island now so I'll give you the explanation of the first part of the trial!" He mentioned whilst gesturing out towards where they were sailing where an island sat on the horizon with the most unique and gigantic tree growing right in the middle of this island.

He didn't need to say anymore to grab people's attention as everyone had quickly become all too eager to listen to the master, awaiting to hear just whatever would be asked of them, some of them eager to simply get started whilst some were awaiting to think about tactics for the trials…

"The first round is something that some of you might find familiar," The master admitted to the group. "Near the shore of Tenro Island will be a fire producing smoke to help show where you are supposed to go, and once you get there you need to make a choice!" he shouted, now pulling out a whiteboard to the group where a small diagram was neatly drawn out.

"There are 8 different paths for you to choose once you arrive, and when you choose there is no going back." The master said as he pointed to the board. "You can expect three of those paths to lead you straight to an S-Class wizard, where you must beat them to move on. There will be two pairs of paths that will lead to a chamber where you will be expected to fight against another team of your fellow trial goers to press onwards. And for the final path, you can expect a long cave full of nothing but traps to prevent you from reaching the end!"

"Hey gramps, what about the other two teams?" Gray then called out, awaiting whatever would be done for the remaining teams that would fail to get a tunnel.

"Those who fail to get a tunnel can be expected to fight one another by the openings before soon the winning team might find themselves wishing to make a dash for the meeting point of the next round…" Makarov answered the ice wizards' question, his voice almost sounding excited at whatever prospect he was talking about which only filled all the competitors with a sense of desperation to make sure that they managed to at least get one of the caves, whichever one it would be…

"And now…" Makarov then said, getting everyone to look up at him again, half of the people with eagerness in their eyes. "The S-Class Trials have officially begun!" he yelled out, instantly motivating everyone to dash towards the edge of the boat which was still causally cruising towards the island, forcing the mages to either swim or fly if they wished to assure getting a route.

Yet whilst everyone had been so eager to get going, they quickly found themselves unable to go anywhere…

It was Happy and Natsu who experienced and demonstrated it for everyone, however, the moment that Happy had picked up Natsu and began to clear the boat they had only smashed into a barrier that left runes hovering in the air.

"Freed! You did the same trick again!" Evergreen yelled out, instantly knowing just who would have set up such runes.

"I won't be taking it easy on you." Freed calmly replied with a rare sight of a slight smile from where he now hovered in the air, wings made of black runes coming from his back whilst Bixlow hovered beside him, standing on his floating totems.

"Yeah, we'll see you at the finish line!" Bixlow cheered, getting his totems to repeat his words with their usual somewhat haunting voice before the two began to fly off into the distance, making their way in the direction of Tenro.

"Quick, come on Kinana!" Levy happily mentioned, gathering everyone's attention to see both her and Kinana making their way under lifted runes before jumping into the sea, having used a special rune pen to alter Freed's magic just for themselves. "Solid Script: Boat!" Levy then said, making the word boat appear whilst being large enough to carry the two along the sea at a quicker pace than the guild's ship.

"Everyone's already copying what they had done last time…" Lucy couldn't help but sigh as she sat down again, already expecting to have to wait for Freed's runes to fade away so that they would no longer be confined to the boats.

"Dam it, Freed!" Evergreen suddenly scowled as she kept trying to work at the ruins around the edge of the boat with a pen in hand. "He's prepared a rune outside of his usual work just for this!" she continued to exclaim, remaining unable to work out just how Freed had made the one enchantment.

"Well, that's something different at least." Cana pointed out whilst she sat down with Lucy, everyone having started to calm down and understand that there were few to no ways out of the boat until the time of Freed's enchantment would finally wear off.

"Is there nothing you can do child?" Carla asked Wendy as she continued to hover in the sky with her, wondering if the sky dragon had any way of making her own way around the enchantments with some of her own, knowing how much she had grown since the last time they had been trapped in the same position.

"Dues… Zero, right?" Nathan's voice then groaned out as the sole remaining slayer to still be on the ship's deck with sickness as the others floated in the air with the help of their exceed companions. At the mention of Nathan's suggestion did everyone's attention on the boat suddenly shoot towards the sky mage who fumbled to herself for a few moments in thought.

"Your right," Wendy replied with a weak smile as she thought about the scenario for a few more moments before caving in and beginning to cast her enchantment. Unlike Levy, she couldn't alter Freed's runes, only remove them altogether. It was something that whilst helpful to her, would also unleash everyone from the confines.

But if she didn't then Levy and Freed's teams would only get further whilst she and everyone else remained in a stalemate. At least with Carla's assistance, she was confident that, so long as there was plenty of water to traverse, she would be one of the first to the island leading to the thought that it really was the most optimal thing for her to do…

"Dues Zero!" Wendy cried out as she worked her magic, causing all of Freed's runes to glow brighter momentarily before vanishing altogether, freeing everyone from the boat.

Whilst Wendy, Natsu and Gajeel all soon flew off over the water, everyone else had little hesitation jumping into the water. Lucy and Cana also wasted little time with diving into the water with form before swimming their way towards the shore as quickly as they could.

Elfman and Evergreen landed into the water with a splash before Elfman made use of his take-over magic, turning into a kind of aquatic beast that Evergreen held onto the back of whilst he powered his way through the water, whilst his sister Lissana did the same, turning herself into a mermaid as Juvia's lower body turned into a vortex of water leaving the two little issues with racing through the water.

Gray on the other hand made sure to freeze the top of the water's surface as he touched upon it with Loke following after before the pair began skating their way to the island as Gray froze all the water along the way…

As a result, it was soon just Nathan, Gemini and the master left on the boat whilst it continued its course towards the island, with everyone getting further and further away. "Alright… can you turn into Happy?" Nathan finally asked as he looked up at the two blue twin spirits.

"Piri Piri!" The two spoke in response as they held hands with one another before a brilliant glow of light took place, soon resulting in the twins vanishing and in their stead Happy to appear flying in the air with Nathan smiling at the result.

"Alright, let's go. We can't let any more of a gap be made!" Nathan said whilst Gemini, as Happy, hastily picked him up before speeding over the water with even greater speed than the original…

It was something that not many people noticed in their desperate attempts to make it to the island, yet to the group of flying dragon slayers and exceed's, it only stuck out like a sore thumb. "HEH?!" Happy had initially shouted as he noticed Nathan not only flying alongside them but past them at greater speed, his shout instantly getting the whole group's attention to the spectacle.

"Nathan?!" Both Wendy and Carla exclaimed upon noticing who was flying alongside them with an easy smirk on his face. "And… another Happy?" Carla further noted as she glanced between the two Happy's that were nearly either side of her.

"Is that Gemini?" Wendy asked, noting the distinct lack of the spirit's presence, or at least its usual form.

"That's right! Piri Piri!" The fake Happy cheerily responded to the pair.

"You can't do that! You can't go taking people's partners like that!" Natsu shouted back in frustration.

"He didn't take you cat Salamander. Copying people like that is what that spirit does, ain't it?" Gajeel then joined in.

"That's right, so long as you have equal or less raw magical power than Lucy does, Gemini can turn into you with a mere touch, or just perform the last two transformations they can remember." Nathan happily explained to the group. "But just because Gemini copied you, doesn't mean you're exactly the same. Everything you can do can now be done at the level Gemini can do instead! Bye!" Nathan continued to cheer whilst proving the point Gemini began to fly even faster than before, quickly leaving the group behind.

"No way! That can't be!" Happy cried out in pure horror at his doubleganger now beginning to show him up.

"Alright! Come on buddy! You've gotta show you're better than that!" Natsu cried out with determination, his voice beginning to snap Happy out of his disheartened attitude.

"Aye! Max Speed!" Happy cried out in response before clearly putting all his effort into flying as fast as he could possibly go all in an attempt of catching up to his imposter, managing to begin putting the distance between them and the other two dragon slayers that still held a sense of disbelief of what they had experienced.

"I've gotta say, the kid might have thought thing's through a bit for once." Gajeel mentioned as he looked forwards again.

"That appears to be so, but if Gemini can only remember two transformations, then what is the other one?" Lily then asked as he began to think about whatever else Nathan might have planned whilst the girls were lost in a sense of disbelief at the thought that Nathan might have really thought something through for once…

"Maybe he really wants to win the competition…" Wendy couldn't help but mumble to herself whilst they continued on flying through the sky…

---

By the time Nathan and Gemini had finally arrived at the designated location, Gemini's transformation finally gave out and in a small puff of smoke they swapped back into their original form whilst Nathan dropped a short distance to the ground, landing not all far from the smoking fire.

"Where do we go? Piri piri." "One of them has already closed, piri piri." The twin spirits mentioned as they floated just ahead of Nathan, pointing out that one of the caves had a shimmering magical barrier before it making it clear that someone had indeed arrived before them.

"So, we're second?" Nathan mentioned before he looked to the rest of the caves. "Well, I can't complain… Which one do you guys think?" he asked the twin spirits whilst they gazed upon all the possible options, only the 7th tunnel having a barrier across it.

"How about number 2?" "Or number 8?" The twins answered him as the two blue spirits pointed to different caves respectively leaving Nathan with half the mind to deal with things with a flip of a coin. There was little no to no way of working out just way lay beyond the caves, even for him despite all his enhanced senses so there was little reason for anyone to take their time, aside from some sense of superstition.

"Then we'll take 5, it's in the middle." He eventually announced as he started walking towards the cave he had picked, only partly taking inspiration from the spirit's decisions whilst hoping that he hadn't picked a particularly brutal challenge…

The moment they passed through the gateway a barrier instantly popped into existence behind them, removing any chance of heading back the way they came much as the master had warned them. Yet, they could still hear the voices of other approaching people coming for the caves. But he had better things to do than stand around the entrance waiting to see just what kinds of decisions people would make, even if he was curious about Wendy, he was currently having to deal with a trail of his own.

There was the occasional sound of droplets of water falling from the cave's roof whilst a slight crunching sound rang out as Nathan casually walked through the cave as Gemini silently floated alongside him. Whilst the cave was dark, it wasn't something horrible to navigate either as some pliantly managed to live within, including luminescent moss which between it and some other flying bugs produced some light of their own, the cave was surprisingly well-lit.

'I wonder just who I'm going to have to fight… the odds are I have to at least.' Nathan thought to himself. 'Or even just how long is this cave going to…'

"Wait, who's that." Nathan suddenly said as he came to a stop whilst Gemini quickly hovered close to his shoulders. But despite the cave being dimly lit, Nathan still didn't feel rather hindered as he squinted with his eyes to better make out the figure before approaching them any further.

"A woman, piri piri." "Just one woman, piri prir." Gemini answered as they looked at just who lay ahead.

"Oh god… it's Mira…" Nathan finished as he made note of the similar dress and hairstyle to the barmaid before finally his eyes fully adjusted to the lack of light, making her appearance all that much clearer and more apparent to them.

"Hello Nathan, I didn't think that you would be the one that would run into me." Mira greeted them with a cheery smile as if there was nothing wrong before lapsing into a sense of confusion, "And, isn't that one of Lucy's spirits? I thought that she was working with Cana again this year, where is she?"

"To keep things brief, just like how Loke is working with Gray, so is Gemini working with me. It was a bit of a deal that we made." Nathan replied whilst in the back of his mind he was still wondering just what he was likely to be up against.

Mira wasn't exactly someone people got to see fight often, instead, she barely did at all. Yet still, Nathan remembered just what she had been like when he and Zabost faced her team back in the underground lake. He had never directly fought against the she-devil, but he certainly felt like he had a first-hand experience of the kind of monster she could be.

"I see, I admit, I wouldn't have thought that you would have done something like this to get a partner. Is there any reason in particular why you chose Gemini?" Mira continued to ask but Nathan simply shook his head in response.

"Well, you'll find out soon enough," Nathan replied.

"I suppose I will," Mira said still with a smile that soon turned from warm and comforting to a harsh glare before Mira activated her magic full force. It wasn't hard for Nathan to feel the slight tremors that were being caused by the sudden surge of magic whilst he witnessed Mira's form changing right before his eyes.

Gone was the caring barmaid that he had known for practically a year, and in her place stood a devil looking right back at him with a glint in her eye. Her hair was wild, her hands now claws whilst black wings sprouted out of her back as her scaley tail swished against the ground. Her usual dress was nowhere to be seen either as it had switched out into something far more skin-tight and riskier alongside tights and high heels.

"Shall we begin?" Mira asked but she never waited for an answer as she leapt towards Nathan with a raised fist that he quickly evaded by leaping back and gaining some distance between them again, not that Mira was one to let it last she lunged again towards Nathan whilst darkness swirled around her fist before she threw a punch with enough speed that even Nathan knew he wouldn't be able to evade the blow.

But he wasn't without a power-up of his own, as he found his footing and wasted no time in retaliating against the oncoming attack with a punch of his own whilst his whole body glowed with golden light.

The clashing attacks soon resulted in an explosion that shook the room whilst the two combatants were pushed back to the opposite sides of the room, looking down at one another and taking in every little detail about their opponent.

Now the golden light that had covered Nathan settled down to reveal the god slayer once more, now with golden light steaming off of his arms looking almost akin to claws whilst a faint among of magic power poured out from the whole of his body whilst his eyes flashed with newfound fieriness of his own.

"Your dragon gods mode, isn't it? Don't you think you should try and pace yourself better?" Mira mentioned at the sight of what she knew to be Nathan's all-out state.

"I'm sure that running out of steam will be the least of my problems," Nathan replied as he readied himself again. "Lightspeed Flurry," Nathan called out, giving a quick flash of bright light before he shot forwards again like a comet that slammed into Mira before she could react, slamming her into the wall all with the same momentum.

"Light dragon gods bellowing roar!" Nathan cried out as he gathered his strength, forming an incredibly powerful breath attack that he didn't hesitate unleashing upon Mira.

"Evil explosion!" Mira cried out as a swirl of darkness briefly took place between her hands as it formed a large orb that she soon held out before her, launching it towards Nathan's attack causing the two attacks to clash before triggering yet another violent explosion. "Evil stream!" she shouted out as a magic seal appeared before one of her arms and a storm of black bullets starts shooting out at Nathan.

"Light gods Apollo!" Nathan shouted in response as he quickly formed multiple bolts of light around him before launching his own onslaught to try and hold back Mira's power, with the pair seemingly being perfectly matched whilst the odd blast managed to slip past grazing at either Nathan or Mira.

"Gemini!" Nathan then called out.

"Right!" The two spirits replied as they shot forwards, glowing with magical power before directly slamming into Mira's stomach and leg, managing to throw the she-devil off balance and ruin her spell, causing her to get bombarded by Nathan's own attack.

Seeing this Nathan managed to crack a smile, "Photon Radiance!" he called out again, unleashing a pulse of light that filled the cave whilst leaving behind countless shining lights floating about the place, already managing to put Mira on the alert before he started jumping from light to light with his usual incredible speed.

Whilst Mira remained on guard however as she tried to keep up with his movements before he began to batter her from all angles. Whilst she stood little chance of ever managing to completely stop his assault whilst even Gemini joined in, leaving Mira struggling, helpless but to only try to endure the onslaught of her three attackers.

"Urg… Darkness burst!" Mira finally shouted out as a sudden rush of darkness blasted off her whole body as she managed to throw Nathan as well as Gemini away whilst even taking out some of the floating light that Nathan had created, causing them to explode upon the impact they had received.

Taking the chance that she had created for herself did Mira waste no time in spreading her wings wide and took to the open air, but she didn't manage to stay there for long. Whilst he had been thrown off balance, it hadn't taken Nathan long to recover himself and upon seeing Mira spread her wings had he wasted no time, quickly racing towards the devil with little hesitation.

"Light god's dance!" He cried out as he swung a glowing kick towards the she-devil, managing to circle behind her before landing a solid blow straight to her back as he drove her to the ground, making a small cracked crater as a result. 'Maybe I do stand more of a chance than I thought?' Nathan couldn't help but think to herself until he felt even more magic power than before from under him.

There were no words or anything as streams of darkness began to burst out of the ground before it completely erupted, blasting Nathan back until he managed to skid to a halt before looking back up to see the sight of Mira hovering in the air before him, completely exuding vast amounts of magic.

'Maybe too soon…' He thought to himself, bracing himself for the real fight after the warmup…

---

"Who do you think we'll run into?" Wendy asked whilst she and Carla wandered along through their chosen tunnel, having arrived practically alongside Gajeel whilst she was glad that she had even managed to get a tunnel at all. Even if there were chances of running into one of the S-Class mages both Wendy and Carla thought it would be better than whatever surprise the master would have for the last two teams.

"I doubt that this is the cave of traps, otherwise I'm certain that we would have come across them by now," Carla said. "But I think that the worst possible outcome for us would be Laxus."

"Indeed, I believe that there are few who would be able to beat him for the trial." Another voice rang out through the cave, getting the girls to look ahead of them and notice the outline of two other people.

"We have to fight Freed and Bixlow?" Wendy mentioned as she realised who the mages were gently smiling back at them.

"That is correct, however, I must admit I'm surprised that you managed to get here so soon despite the runes that I left behind," Freed replied.

"You'll find that everyone managed to get past them this time," Carla spoke up getting the attention of the two men that looked at her almost bewildered with what she was talking about.

"You mean that my magic was rendered ineffective by someone?" Freed asked as he focused on the feline, genuinely taken back that someone had gathered the magic that would counter his so smoothly. He had even changed how he worked his runes this one time to make sure that even Evergreen wouldn't be able to so easily make her way through, although it was likely that Levy had managed to unravel them just for herself and Kianna.

"I should have to take it that it might just be you two that managed to give me a surprise, as a result, don't expect me to hold back against you at all." Freed then said whilst unsheathing his sword and pointing at the girls.

"It's nothing personal you know!" Bixlow added on with a grin whilst his several totems floated around him, repeating his words with slightly echoey voices.

And once the two had made their declarations, purple runes suddenly revealed themselves running along the ground making a box around Wendy and Carla before walls rose to the ceiling and fading away to remain invisible.

"You won't be able to leave that confinement until you admit defeat to us, or you reveal yourself as the one who removed my previous runes." Freed told the girls with his sword still steadily pointing at them whilst Bixlow's totems moved to surround them girls, each of them pointing right at them whilst readying magic blasts to fire at them.

"You've already set up a trap before we even arrived?!" Carla exclaimed as she hopped out of Wendy's arms to push against the invisible walls that surrounded them, unable to get through.

"Indeed," Freed replied, "But I hadn't expected you to be our opponents, nor did I think that anyone is able to make it here so fast after my runes."

"Well, we weren't going to wait and allow our possible choices to dwindle, and I think you'll find that you won't be able to win against us so easily!" Wendy replied, her hands glowing with magical power that the barrier that contained them soon reacted to before bursting apart to Freed's and Bixlow's surprise.

"Well I see, you can remove my enchantments." Freed noted as he recomposed himself, "I had worked out that there was someone who could do it but I didn't realise how easily…"

"Hey that's enough about that, we've gotta fight now!" Bixlow commented as his dolls floated forth at the ready, snapping Freed out of his observations and getting him to draw his sword.

"I suppose you are right, we won't be holding back against you even if you are younger." He stated, pointing the tip of his blade at the girls.

"And we'll be doing the same!" Carla shot back, her body glowing white as she quickly grew in size before finally touching the ground again, now in human form and in a fighting stance. For a few moments, there was silence as the two parties faced one another, thinking about their opposition and possible moves until finally the first move was dared to be made.

"Wild formation!" Bixlow said, his dolls instantly reacting as they floated into various spots around the girls before quickly firing shots that they evaded by jumping into the air.

"Dark Ecriture: Pain!" Freed said, swiping with his sword to make the runes appear on the bodies of the girls.

"Raise!" Wendy hastily chanted, instantly dispelling the runes before they had the chance to take effect. "Sky dragon's talon!" she then soon shouted out as sharp winds swirled around her legs as she performed an axe kick on the two men below.

"White moon!" Carla cried out as she joined Wendy, white magic power gathering around her leg as she kicked with the dragon slayer.

"Barrier formation!" Bixlow said, his dolls soon performing a circular formation as green energy formed between them all, forming a barrier that blocked the girls' attacks as they bounced off it, creating space between the two, only for another barrier to soon form around them again.

"How many traps did you manage to set up before we arrived?" Carla questioned whilst Wendy had wasted no time in hurriedly dispelling the magic.

"It is part of the reward of arriving first, the chance to prepare for battle with whoever happens to be the ones to face us." Freed calmly stated. "But it is clear that I had great misfortune having you two be our opponents. My usual work won't be of any use against you."

"It's not like that's all we can do buddy." Bixlow chimed in, reaching for his helmet. "Figure eyes!" he shouted out as his revealed eyes began to glow green. The moment that the girls even so much as glanced at the magic they immediately felt all control of their bodies begin to fade as they froze up.

"What's going on?" Wendy questioned as she did her best to move even just a finger.

"It's my secondary magic, now that you've looked into my eyes your mine to possess!" Bixlow happily answered their struggles, until Wendy calmly closed her eyes, something that quickly caused concern for the two men as they knew that the young dragon slayer was already coming up with something.

"Re-raise!" Wendy chanted, covering her and Carla with a green aura that soon settled into them, the moment that it did so they abruptly found control over their bodies coming back to them.

"What, how did you do that? You were already under my control!" Bixlow shouted back in shock.

"Re-raise removes and grants immunity to all abnormal conditions, spells like that won't work against us, sorry!" Wendy happily answered him with a smile, leaving the men gritting their teeth in frustration.

"Wendy, we're still in the middle of a fight for the trail, you mustn't lighten up yet!" Carla quickly scolded her, bringing back the serious expression onto Wendy's face as they yet again prepared themselves to fight.

"Dam it, doesn't this leave us with few options?!" Bixlow muttered under his breath to Freed, backing off slightly as they desperately considered their any option against Wendy.

"She can remove all my runes and is immune to your eyes, all we can hope for is a physical fight," Freed replied, holding his sword up and focusing. "Dark Ecreture: Darkness!" he shouted out, quickly writing out new runes onto his own body, quickly consuming with his darkness as his body began to slowly morph into another shape. It didn't take long before he had turned from a young man into a monster that stared down at them, but it didn't deter the girls for even a moment.

"He cast a rune on himself to change like that…" Carla noted.

"We can still win!" Wendy simply stated, "Are you ready?"

"Of course," Carla replied with confidence, the moment that she did so they leapt into action without the slightest hesitation.

"Sky dragon's roar!" Wendy cried out, unleashing a hurricane toward the two men as Carla spread her wings and flew through it through hesitation, using the wind to further propel herself into a quick kick at them.

There wasn't enough time for the men to do anything in defence against the high-speed catgirl as they merely raised their arms in defence against the fierce kick that struck at them, forcing them to skid back, but it wasn't their complete loss either.

Carla could only look on stunned as she noticed that large claw that was now slightly gripping onto her leg, refusing to let go whilst Freed and Bixlow smiled back at her.

"Darkness blast bomb!" Freed shouted out, dark magic power gathering in his hand before he unleashed the spell at the transformed exceed, instantly sending her flying across the cave.

"Carla!" Wendy cried out as she watched her partner fly through the air before pulling herself together.

"Baryon formation!" Bixlow said, his dolls soon beginning to swirl about in a circle whilst generating green energy that soon resulted in an enormous blast towards them.

"Sky dragons Aegis!" Wendy cried out as she raised her arms, quickly getting powerful winds to swirl around them to their defence. The moment that the attack collided there was a small shudder throughout the cave at the clashing powers of the green laser attempting to penetrate the barrier.

"Darkness breath!" Freed then joined in, unleashing a blast of darkness magic from his jaw that joined with Bixlow's own magic in pushing against the wind barrier getting Wendy to grunt in response to the increased workload.

"Wendy!" Carla called out to the girl as she quickly flew over to her partner, quickly grabbing hold of Wendy and lifting her into the air, allowing the two attacks to collide with the now empty space.

"Thanks for that," Wendy said with a strained smile whilst they looked down from the space they occupied near the roof of the cave.

"We're going to need to come of plan against them, their magic makes for a tricky combination otherwise," Carla replied, getting straight to the point as Wendy firmly nodded in response. It wasn't like that she had the power either to simply overwhelm them.

"Wild formation." Bixlow's voice rang throughout the cave, with his dolls beginning to chase after the girls, firing away at them with random shots as Carla continued to fly away from them all the while.

"If Bixlow's dolls aren't near him, then he's incredibly vulnerable to being attacked, and I've already displaced human possession dolls before with our first mission with Nathan. But Bixlow is a lot stronger than that guy…" Wendy whispered to Carla, her mind running a mile a minute for any possible strategy.

"It's still something to try child, especially when we might be needing to take anything." Carla shot back, "Is there anything that can be done about Freed? He uses runes and enchantments so shouldn't you be able to do something?"

"If I get rid of his runes then he can just write them back, it would only give us an opening, and the runes that he writes on himself…" Wendy said until her voice began to drift away whilst her eyes widened. "Carla, I've got it! I know how we can beat them!"

"What is it?"

"Just fly right at them, as quickly as possible. The more surprised they are the more effective it will be!" Wendy said her voice firm whilst her expression was determined. For a few moments, the transformed feline could only look at the girl pondering what she was possibly up to before pulling her thoughts together. If Wendy had a plan and was confident in it, then all she needed to do was trust in her.

"Alright then!" Carla said, abruptly spinning around in the air as quickly as she could. "Max speed!" she cried out, her wings glittering pink with magic power before she shot forwards towards the floating dolls, and past them Freed and Bixlow, as quickly as possible.

At the same time, there was a burst of wind and magic power as Wendy activated her dragon force, already focusing her magic on her hands.

"Re-raise!" Wendy chanted, her hand outstretched towards Freed to his confusion. But it didn't take any time for his confusion to transition to shock as his body began to glow and shrink, reducing the monster into a mere man that couldn't understand what had just happened.

"How did she?!" Freed exclaimed before looking back up at the speeding girls only to realise that it was already too late.

"Sky dragons wind wave!" Wendy shouted out as she blitzed the two of them, leaving a hurricane in her wake that tore the two apart and scattered Bixlow's dolls all over the cave, helpless to resist the strong winds.

When the winds finally died down, Freed was left in disbelief as he got to his feet looking across at the sight of Wendy and Carla pinning Bixlow down who was completely unable to free himself of their grasp. "You can't win anymore, please give up," Wendy said as she looked over at Freed with a serious face.

"You say that when you only have my partner pinned down, how can you be so sure of your victory?" Freed replied with narrowed eyes but Wendy's gaze didn't falter in the slightest.

"Because you can't use your magic against me," Wendy said as if it was simply, Bixlow froze for a moment as he heard this as he also looked over at Freed, clearly wanting her words to be proven wrong. "I can remove the runes you place on the ground and both me and Carla are immune to being directly affected thanks to my spell. And your previous change wasn't a result of transformation magic but instead the effect of your runes so they can be prevented by applying Re-Raise to you instead."

"I see…" was all Freed was able to see as a tense mood quickly began to settle in as Freed was unable to refute anything that he was told, after all, she had already performed everything that had been mentioned.

It meant that there was little that he could hope to do in the fight but rely on Bixlow, yet even he was currently pinned down and unable to free himself as any use of his dolls would surely result in harming himself as well.

"Very well… I give." Freed said with a heavy sigh, his body relaxing as proof of his statement. "It is most unfortunate but I can't deny that I am completely countered by you. It was most unfortunate to you have the pair of you as our opponents."

The moment that the green-haired knight admitted as such there was a sound of shattering glass as a magical barrier faded away, revealing a path forward that everyone simply looked at for a few moments before getting to their feet and relaxing.

"Man, who would have thought that we would have been so easily beaten by a few girls… you better not go losing to anyone else now yeah?" Bixlow said as he dusted himself off whilst Carla quickly turned back into her human form.

"Right! We'll do our best!" Wendy cheered with a vibrant smile.

"I wish you the best of luck," Freed said with a gentle smile at the girls, whilst they began to depart onwards to the rest of the trails all whilst waving back at them…

---

"Darkness stream!" Mira called out whilst shadows began to rise out of the ground, each of them attempting to grab hold and wrap around Nathan whilst he continued to dart between them all, avoiding every last attack that came his way.

Yet in the next moment, Mira suddenly appeared right before him much to his shock, already swinging a kick as Nathan barely managed to put his guard up, not that it didn't stop him from skidding back across the room.

"Lightspeed flurry!" Nathan said again as he rechannelled his magic, pushing himself to go faster as he began darting around the room again like a comet, but it didn't matter to Mira. The demoness barely seemed to struggle to keep up with his speed as the two raced around the room with Mira cutting him off time and time again. "How can you keep up with me?!" he couldn't help but exclaim to himself before narrowly leaping back to avoid a punch from Mira that proceeded to shatter the ground into a small crater, yet he didn't manage to escape the swish of her tail that struck him back against a wall.

"I do hope that this isn't everything you have to offer. I was thinking that you would be one of the more interesting participants." Mira told him from a short distance as Nathan picked himself up, glancing back at her.

"Purge." Was all he said before on command a shining magic circle suddenly appeared beneath Mira before she was consumed with golden light leaving Nathan winded as he waited for whatever possible results. "Light gods apollo!" he suddenly called out as he noticed movement within the dust that had been kicked up, rapidly unleashing as many bolts of light as he could yet Mira continued to fly straight through them all whilst raising an arm in defence.

"Light dragon gods divine fist!" he yelled out whilst preparing himself as he and Mira threw punches towards one another holding nothing back, breaking up the floor beneath them a little bit until Nathan was forced away yet again…

Mira just smiled for a moment before she began moving her hands again to begin gathering her magic between her hands, a small vortex seeming to appear that sucked in all the darkness in the room. "Soul extinction!" She cried out as she unleashed the blast with a terrifying amount of power that even before a collision could be made, could still be felt.

And when the spell landed, the whole cave was consumed in a raging storm of shadow that positively shook the whole of the cave, even making its walls begin to crack and break down from the stress of the situation, all whilst Mira looked on with expectation.

But it wasn't long before she was taken back with shock, as, despite the area just before him having been ruined, Nathan still stood firm with his arms before him, having successfully taken the attack and remained standing despite all its blunt force.

"Boost: defence." He muttered as he looked back up, glaring at the she-devil before his magic began to change again. "Boost: Speed." He said before practically vanishing from his spot appearing right behind Mira before she could even begin to turn her head. "Boost: power!" He cried out one more time as he shifted his magic once more as he poured his everything into a powerful punch that he cleanly planted into Mira's back, making it her turn to go flying into a wall with a crash.

Yet it wasn't long before Mira had managed to get back up again, looking back at a clearly exhausted Nathan with a smile on her face. "I must admit that wasn't bad of a last-ditch effort, but you might have been better off starting like that from the beginning," Mira said as she looked back at Nathan.

"The idea was needing my stamina… wearing away at you…" Nathan panted back.

"But you crumbled first. "Mira pointed out the obvious as she held out her hand, once again beginning to cause a crackle of lighting around her open hand, watching Nathan seemingly find some resolve before looking back up.

"Gemini! Now!" he suddenly shouted out, calling out to his spirit partner that had been somewhat absent during the fight.

"Piri Piri!" The spirit said in response whilst a figure managed to creep up on Mira. "Regulus Impact!" A different voice soon called out whilst a glowing fist was raised above Mira's head before striking her, throwing her off balance and confusing the demoness as she looked back at her attacker.

Instead of being hit by either of the two blue twin spirits, as she looked back Mira instead saw Loke dressed in a tuxedo with an uncharacteristically lax expression. Unlike the bewildered Mira, there was no hesitation from the Loke imposter to suddenly gather as much light as possible, building his power between his hands and putting Mira on guard, but the attack never came to her.

Instead, the fake Loke unleashed a solid beam of light towards Nathan much to his excitement as he was already grinning before opening his mouth and devouring the spell whole.

"The whole reason you got Gemini to help you was so that you could have them turn into Loke for his light magic!" Mira called out as she got to her feet just whilst Nathan finished the rest of his meal, looking back at Mira with completely renewed energy with a fire in his eyes.

"Of course. Gemini can turn into anything of equal power to them or below, and since a spirit's power scales to that of their wizard, it stands to reason they can copy their wizard and their other spirits." Nathan pointed out. "That meant I could have Loke's light to make stamina not an issue and even surprise you in the fight! Now you get to see what my full power is like!" he declared, his magic power completely flaring up as well.

"Then you would have better-made use of this sooner, it's not like your wounds are healed." Mira pointed out. "Either you plan on taking up the most of Gemini's magic, or they have a limit of some kind."

'That would be a time limit…' Nathan thought to himself, not letting any such knowledge show on his face. It was true that the spirit could transform into loke, but there was only so long they could maintain their transformations, especially when it was going off of memory and not having done so from touch.

"It doesn't matter. I'm even tougher than before now," Nathan replied with sheer confidence before readying himself for round two. "Boost: Power!" He called out before suddenly darting towards Mira as she likewise flew towards him.

Once again fists of light and darkness collide and shake the cave, except this time Nathan held his ground against Mira as he held her in place for Gemini to appear from behind and strike her again, allowing Nathan to then kick her in the stomach before the two of them were already hounding her down again.

Unlike before, with every blow that Mira swung at them, Nathan could now match with his own as he stood on perfectly equal ground with the demon, whilst Gemini took the created opportunities and helped make them something for Nathan to further exploit. Thanks to having Gemini with light magic at his side, stamina had become a complete none issue to the god slayer, allowing him to recklessly burn through copious amounts of mana without worry as he piled his boost magic on top of his dragon god's mode.

It was a method of fighting that usually would have been completely out of the question, yet made possible purely through his choice of partner, and finally gave him a fair fight as well…

"Evil Orb!" Mira shouted out, quickly forming a ball of dark energy before she unleashed it at Nathan and Gemini, as Nathan made sure to grab hold of the spell and throw it into the distance as Gemini took the opportunity to press forwards.

Yet Mira still far outclassed the power that Gemini held, even as they copied Loke making use of a regulus-imbued punch she easily managed to stop it with one arm before she soon blasted the spirit into the distance.

The moment that their body had gone flying, however, Nathan was immediately there to keep up the pressure as he managed to successfully land a glowing kick to the demoness's side before his arms began to form completely into claws of light. Not letting up the pressure did he continue to slash at her arms that she had raised to guard with, chipping away at her defences before finally breaking through and managing to strike her into the ground, yet Mira had also taken the chance to kick Nathan in the head likewise sending him away.

"Hey, Gemini!" Nathan called out whilst looking around the cave for his partner after having once again felt his magic reserve's already having dropped to low levels.

"We're here, piri piri!" The Loke lookalike said as the two quickly made their way to meet in the middle with Nathan hurrying to consume more magic from the spirit. However, Mira was going to let him have such a free meal anytime soon.

Nathan didn't manage to consume much light until the demoness quickly shot up to their side and knocked the pair away from one another before she continued hounding at them, barraging them with punches and kicks from almost any and every direction.

"Dam it!" Nathan grunted to himself as he struggled to keep up with all the attacks, constantly shifting about and blocking various blows and trying to swing back. 'I need to get back to Gemini soon!' Nathan thought to himself in alarm as he once again managed to spot the spirit hurrying over to him before making up his mind, allowing Mira to score a punch to his back before managing to grab her by the arm much to her shock.

"God slayer secret art!" He called out, immediately catching Mira's alarm as she noticed his whole body began to shine with a brilliant light as she wanted nothing more than to get away from what she thought to be certain, but she couldn't. His grip on her arm was too much to pull away from in the little time that she had.

"Urg! You took the hit deliberately for this…" Mira grunted out loud as she raised her other claw to try slashing herself free from the god slayer's grasp knowing that she wouldn't want to be nearby him any longer.

Yet she still couldn't free herself, as by the time she swung it was already too late…

"Dawn of the divine!" Nathan shouted out at the same time that Gemini took cover behind a large rock that had still managed to remain in contact despite the fight. Immediately upon casting the spell the light that had been radiating off of Nathan's body began to suddenly intensify and quickly begin expanding outwards, consuming anything and everything that it came across including Mira who clearly cried out in pain in the face of her pure exposure to the attack…

When the light finally began to fade from the cave Nathan suddenly let of Mira's body and hurry back over to where he had seen Gemini last, the boulder that they had been hiding behind now destroyed whilst the appearance of Loke that they were still maintaining had seemingly took some damage as well.

"Oh, shoot… I suppose with boost magic as well it might have been a bit much considering I have a teammate to worry about… sorry about that Gemini…" Nathan hastily apologised as he approached the spirit's side, checking on them to make sure that they weren't too injured.

"Did we win?" they merely asked instead as both Gemini and Nathan couldn't help but look back at Mira only for the demon to show another round of stubbornness by slamming her fist into the ground as she got back onto her feet.

There was no need for either Nathan or Gemini to say anything as the spirit worked automatically, firing a lion-shaped blast of light directly at Nathan who began devouring it as hastily as possible.

"Here's a word of advice for you!" A sudden growl was heard by the two of them, yet before they could do anything they were already grabbed by the head and pinned down to the ground, struggling against Mira's grip. "Maybe you shouldn't rely too much on being able to recover stamina and burning through all your energy quite so quickly, you won't get such opportunities to recover so easily."

"Maybe…" Nathan grunted back whilst he wracked his mind for some way that would allow him to throw Mira off, to gain some chance of catching a moment of weakness out of her until his mind finally clicked.

Mirajane was confused at first when she saw Nathan's cheeks begin to turn red until he finally brought himself to start talking.

"I'm taking it as you think this is over then?" Nathan asked only for his answer to be pushed into the ground a bit harder.

"Unless you think you can get free." Mira flatly replied.

"Well, a bit random but whilst Wendy isn't around… do you have any advice on the fact that I may have accidentally proposed to her?" Nathan asked, his question creating a sudden silence in the room as neither Gemini nor Nathan could feel any force pushing down on them anymore despite the distinct feel of Mira's claws still grabbing hold of them.

"You proposed to her?! And accidentally?!" Mira exclaimed, almost screaming out in a voice that was completely unexpected of a demon as she took another massive personality shift from Mirajane the she-devil to the excited matchmaker of fairy tail, something that Nathan had been hoping for.

"Kinda." Nathan simply replied whilst at the same time landing a stomach punch on her, sending her almost to the ceiling whilst shocking her once again before she pulled herself together.

"If there's any truth in that I'd like to hear it later, but I won't give you any more chances like that," Mira replied as she glared back down at Nathan, not exactly pleased with herself with how easily he had managed to get her to let down her guard.

"Fine…" Nathan tiredly sighed as he stood up again as well before signalling Gemini to continue feeding him again.

"You would try right before me?" Mira mentioned before flying right into the pair as Nathan began to eat again, internally disappointed that Nathan would have even attempted it, doing an even worse job than before.

"Light god's supper!" Nathan then suddenly called out just before she could reach them, holding hands out before him whilst holding them together with interlocking fingers. As he did so two great steams of light gathered from seemingly nowhere before moving to consume Mira in an orb of light that greatly pained her whilst keeping her confined. "I've always been prepared actually." Nathan shot back whilst continuing to devour more of Gemini's light as he willingly supplied.

"The first time was a surprise, the second time you were down for a bit, and the third time I caught you." Nathan explained as if he had been the simplest thing in the world, "And I can now maintain this for as long as I like!" he then declared with what possible smile he could make despite already eating and talking at the same time.

It was his trump card in the fight, making use of a new spell to hold Mira still with his fully enhanced power whilst also constantly chipping away at her whilst she was trapped, and his choice of partner made sure that stamina wouldn't be an issue. It was the perfect plan for victory!

Nathan remained with an awkward smile as his practically certain victory against Mira, not exactly enjoying the sight nor the fact that he was the one causing her to be suffering, but it was all for the trial. All she would have to do was allow him to move on, and yet she continued to fight against his magic, flapping her wings and swinging claws enhanced with darkness magic.

But she still couldn't escape, her attacks did nothing because there was no solidarity to the spell whilst her wings weren't strong enough to allow her to simply fly out, and the sight of her futile efforts only spurred on Nathan's confidence more, until…

"Dark Burst!" Mira suddenly shouted out as a massive amount of magic power began to build up from her, two magic circles appearing in her hands as two large orbs of darkness only continuing to grow in size until they both burst like bombs.

Nathan was unable to react from being completely occupied and was struck black from the sudden assault, ruining his spell and resulting in Mira's power becoming even more unrestrained as he and Gemini both came sliding to a halt as they did their best to hold their ground.

Looking back up they managed to see the blur of Mira racing towards them at full speed as she was aiming for the pair of them again until Nathan managed to pull himself together dashing to the side whilst pulling Gemini along with him, or at least he tried to…

Whilst he had successfully gotten out of the way he had failed to grasp hold of their hand, leaving them in Mira's way, but even Mira failed to successfully hit them either as in a quick puff of smoke they had reverted back to their ordinary form of two floating imps.

"Our time ran out, piri piri!" Gemini said whilst suddenly flying into Mira with what strength they could muster, catching her by surprise as they now started to fly about like comets.

'Crap…' Nathan thought to himself at the news. It was good that he still had his partner and that they weren't knocked out or sent back to the spirit realm, but it still meant that he had run out of a way to recover his magic as well…

Mira clearly recognised this fact as well as she had a devilish smile in response to the outcome whilst she was busy swatting off Gemini as if they were like bugs to her until finally, she began to rush back at Nathan again.

There was little that he could do in response, dodging her first attack before starting to run about the cave yet whilst he managed to finally match Mira in blows, she still remained faster than him. No matter what he tried the demoness always managed to cut him off and retaliate faster than he could keep up with despite her wounded state.

"Are you ready to give up yet?" Mira asked as she once again sent Nathan sprawling across the ground, watching him slowly pick himself back up and dust himself off.

"Never…" Nathan replied as he managed to find the strength to stand at full height. "I match your power… I've just got to get faster now." He replied making Mira grin again before rushing in once more, certain that Nathan wouldn't be able to take any more of a beating from her while the teenager lowered his stance and focused his vision in response…

"Boost: Speed and Power…" He uttered to himself, suddenly feeling a massive strain on his body and magic reserves the moment that he did so whilst in the back of his mind he knew that Wendy would likely be greatly upset at him, but he felt there was no choice.

Whilst his magic began to flow within him more prominent than ever Mira began also seemed to slow down in response, but by looking at her Nathan knew that wasn't the case. As she threw a punch towards his head, Nathan managed to easily block and pass off the attack with one arm whilst with the other he punched back in a counterattack, landing a stomach punch that forced her back, much to Mira's complete shock at the events.

But Nathan didn't sit around and to give her the chance of recollecting herself as he was back in her face with glowing claws and talons made of light that he had no hesitation in striking at her with. The powers of a demon and god met as Mira countered with a strike of her own, the two holding the position whilst pushing against one another before it soon turned into an all-out brawl between the two, each of them pushing the fight to the finish whilst the ground around them cracked.

With a successful kick from Mira did Nathan slide back slightly before darting forwards again, planting a knee in her stomach in return sending her back in turn. The two collided, again and again, practically bouncing from wall to wall of the cave much like a ball bouncing about uncontrollably as Gemini felt unable to do anything but watch off from a corner together in awe of the combatants.

"Grugh!" Nathan grunted to himself as he felt his strength slipping from him by the moment until an idea came to mind. "I'm ending this!" He shouted out, grabbing hold of both of Mira's arms before kicking her straight up into the ceiling, sending her straight through it whilst making a hole to the sky as it could no longer hold up under all the punishment it had taken from the two.

'All or nothing!' Nathan thought to himself in desperation as he jumped up, surpassing Mira in height. "Light god's dance!" he shouted, landing a perfect roundhouse kick to send her back down to the ground.

"God slayer secret art!" He shouted out, spreading his arms wide, allowing all the remainder of his magic to spread out and fill the surrounding area as much as possible. Soon glimmering sparkles of light began to appear one by one around him before they all began to move, converging together above him and forming a larger and large orb. Quick and quicker did the orb begin to absorb any and all light that was around it to grow in size turning day into the bleakest night until Nathan finally found himself at his limit…

"Sawe!" He finally commanded, throwing down his finished spell, a self-made meteor of light that came crashing down on the world below, directly onto Mira who could only look back up with a face of pure shock before raising her hands to push against it with everything she could, yet there was only a moment until the spell suddenly sunk into before exploding. Unleashing a light so bright that it could have appeared to be a second sun, returning the world to normal…

"I… win…" Nathan said to himself whilst falling down to the ground helpless, now completely drained of all magic as his dragon god's mode left him as his body began to bulge and swell with pain, not pleased with him having pushed himself so far.

"We've got you!" Gemini called out as the two blue bodies hastily flew up to the falling boy, each one grabbing him and slowing his descent, making sure that he would no longer crash into the ground. "You must have won after that! Piri Piri!" One of the blue bodies mentioned as they finally reached the ground, yet not leaving Nathan's side in order to support him.

"You're right… well done." They managed to hear Mira's voice again and no longer her demonic one but instead her usual sweeter voice that they had always known from the bartender of the guild. "I have to say, I'm really impressed, Nathan. You've grown a lot." Mira continued to say with a smile whilst Nathan as Gemini finally caught sight of her sitting up against the wall of the cave, her takeover form completely gone.

"Are you alright? I didn't go too far, did I?" Nathan asked with concern, almost struggling to get his voice to leave his throat from his exhaustion.

"Not at all, this was a proper trial to become S-Class," Mira answered, looking up at him with a beaming smile. "You can now move onto the second part of the trial if you can continue onwards at least."

"I've done all of this… I'm not quitting now." Nathan replied with a tired smile of his own back at the barmaid.

"Then I wish you good luck, hopefully, you'll become one of the guild's newest S-Class wizards!" Mira said with joy, seemingly managing to pick herself back together once again. "And please don't worry about me, I'll be returning to the campsite waiting for the results! Oh, and also, make sure to tell me about what you meant by accidentally proposing sometime soon alright?"

"Ah… Right…" Nathan sighed back with a sense of dread as Mira's happy and almost excited smile suddenly began to fill Nathan with a whole new unique sense of dread on its own, with him not knowing what was worse between it and her genuine demonic smile…

---

It took Nathan and Gemini a little bit of time to manage to make it out of the cave, successfully walking to the outside and onto a dirt path that continued to lead onwards to where they could only presume their goal was.

"Thank god…" Nathan said mostly to himself in exhaustion with a heavy sigh, taking the opportunity to once again devour some sunlight for the chance to recover himself. He couldn't deny it certainly wasn't anywhere near as replenishing as actually eating some light magic, but Gemini had already used their transformation and it was certainly better than nothing…

"They shouldn't be that far ahead, right?" Nathan asked, now walking along the path ahead with Gemini almost attentively following behind him on both sides.

"We can feel Lucy's presence not that far ahead, I'm sure that she's in the gathering of everyone who passed," Gemini answered him as they continued down the path where soon enough Nathan found himself able to pick up on several voices.

"Nathan!" Wendy suddenly called out to him before he even managed to come around a tree, likely having smelt him despite the distance. "You made it! Wait, are you alright?!" Wendy continued to mention as she ran up to where Nathan finally made himself known only to be shocked by his current condition.

"He must have run into Mira or Laxus if he's as bad as Gajeel…" Gray then mentioned, the whole crowd of guildmates turned to acknowledge his appearance, each and everyone taking note of the clear that he had been in an intense fight not long before.

Gray and Loke, Natsu and Happy alongside Wendy and Carla were the standing individuals that made sure to walk over to Nathan whilst Cana and Lucy, alongside Gajeel and Lily were laying on the ground and against some trees.

"He managed to beat either of them in a fight?!" Lucy couldn't help but exclaim through her desperate gasps, as it was clear that she and Cana were mostly exhausted, whilst Gajeel and Lily were rather wounded in comparison.

"But what left you too so exhausted then? You make it sound like you didn't run into one of them." Carla then asked as she stood beside Nathan as Wendy couldn't help but remain by his side, making sure that he wasn't too badly injured from his encounter.

"Gather around, with Nathan here the last of the first round has finally been decided!" The master suddenly said, jumping up onto a boulder from wherever he had been standing just before, quickly gathering the attention of all the eager candidates as they turned to face him whilst making sure that no one was blocking the view of the people that were still resting on the ground.

"But first, the official results." He said with a sly grin as he looked down at everyone.

"First, Gajeel and Pantherlily who successfully managed to overcome the terror that is Erza!" Makarov announced to the shock of everyone who had arrived after Gajeel, their eyes alone as they stared at the iron dragon demanding an explanation from him whilst he merely smirked to himself with a renewed sense of accomplishment.

"Second, Nathan and Gemini who triumphed over the she-devil, Mirajane!" Makarov continued to say, shifting several shocked or respectful glances in his direction yet they all held the same curiosity that had been aimed towards Gajeel just moments before.

"You did amazing…" Wendy whispered to him with a smile as she continued to lean against him, holding back her urges to ask about having possibly pushed himself too hard again. 'But of course, he did…' she thought to herself knowing full well what he was like. 'But I guess I could just look at his achievements this time.' She continued to think, trying to suppress her worry for him, after all, they were still rivals.

"Not berating me?" Nathan whispered back, his voice between amusement and shock. "But thanks." He muttered as he relaxed again.

"Unfortunately, Juvia and Lissanna stood little chance against the relentless Laxus!" Makarov continued to announce as people lowered their gaze slightly at the unfortunate turnout for the two, a fight that people could have thought was over before it even began.

"And then, Natsu and Happy proved their worth against Elfman and Evergreen!" The master said causing the fire dragon to pump his burning fist as Happy seemingly sunk in his mood.

"I was turned to stone… I didn't even get to do anything…" Happy mumbled to himself before Natsu patted him on the back, pushing him to cheer up again.

"Next, Wendy and Carla succeeded in besting Freed and Bixlow!" Makarov said getting the crowd to smile at the girl as they silently said their congratulations, whilst Nathan took the chance to nudge at her with a gentle smile of his own.

"Gray and Loke managed to make it past the long road of traps they chose to walk." The master mentioned causing another brief silent congratulation aimed at the pair mentioned.

"And finally, Cana and Lucy, who first bested Levy and Kianna, before then fleeing here from one too powerful for them to beat… me!" Makarov finally said with a hearty grin.

"WHAT?!" Everyone exclaimed as they turned to the two exhausted girls in disbelief at what trial they had managed to make it through. They couldn't even imagine the kind of punishment that it would be to have to deal with the master, plenty of them had already constantly had mere tastes of punishment from him. The thought of him serious in a trial was a thought that no one wanted to entertain, running was almost most certainly the obvious choice.

"And now, with everyone having made it this far, it is time to mention the second stage of the trial!" Makarov shouted out, with all eyes falling back on him with seriousness or anticipation, yet all of them wondering just what new test would the master have for them next…

---

Well, after so long this update was made. Honestly, this chapter sat in my files for so long, nearly complete and I thought "Well why not finish this one at least." and so here it is.
Whilst it was something that was slightly rushed over when completing at least (And picked up after months on end) I still think that it came out rather well and that the rest of you enjoy this.

On a note, I'm back into wanting to write but unlike last time, I'm limiting myself to two stories and two stories only, one of which is going to be a Re:Zero story so it's either this or my guild story that will be continued and I'm leaning toward the guild story currently so unless something sudden changes my mind, sorry but in all likely hood this is the story that once again, won't get updated in some time.
(Unless I decide to switch from doing the guild story to this one instead. Unless that happens, sorry! But maybe in the future...)