Chapter 89: The Demi God's Trigger

"This'll be too easy." Kiora mentioned, waiting patiently for the brewing storm that was this three on three to flash its first lightning strike. Everyone else waited patiently, vigilantly — everyone but one Gravity God Slayer, Cygnus Gwydion, who held a wide smirk as impatience got the best of him. Raising his hands into the air, he shouted. "Well? Bring it on!" At the apex of his exclamation, he slammed his fists into the ground, creating an earth shattering wave of Gravity Magic that rushed towards the three demons. Crow simply folded his arms over as the two females leapt away in separate directions. Jaxon the green haired Weather God Slayer took off towards Maggie. "I'll take her. Luke, you got Kiora!"

"Not a problem!" Like shouted, turning his direction towards the demoness of darkness. She merely grinned as Luke began inhaling the air around him. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" He fired off, creating a funnel of flames that rushed directly towards her. What seemed like a direct hit, covering Kiora in an abundance of flames, proved to be ineffective as seconds later she merely swung them away with her scythe, reappearing unscathed from Luke's opening attack. "Tch!" The Copy Mage balled his hands into fists before opening his right once more to create a condensed orb of white. "Then try this on for size! White God's Bomb!" At the shout of his attack, he launched the orb of White God Slaying Magic towards Kiora, and she avoided it, just leaping out of its explosive range and into the air. "Oh so you dodge that one, huh!?" Luke boasted while giving chase to the eerily quiet Kiora, leaping into the air after her. That's when she cracked a grin.

"Of all of the human species, the males are the most egotistical, stupid, obnoxious kind. It's just funny at this point, toying with you idiots."

Just before Luke could reach Kiora with a right fist, a black spider web manifested just before him, causing the Copy Cat to find himself forcibly wrapped within its confines. Kiora Sidero, the master of dark manifestation, conjured the web without any signs of doing so, pulling Luke right into a trap as another web formed at the peak of her ascension. The demoness used that web with planted feet, pulling its threads back as far as they would go before snapping, and using them to spring forward with new found momentum, launching like a rocket towards the captured Luke Cloud.

"Shit shit shit!" Luke shouted as Kiora neared him with a scythe spinning within her hands. She was about to cleave straight through him until a powerful gust of wind knocked her off course — causing Kiora to flip away to regain balance and land upon the ground once more. "What? Maggie!" She shouted, annoyed that Jaxon who just proclaimed to take on the demoness of magma interrupted her easy kill.

With mischievous face Maggie shrugged. "Sorry! I didn't think he would try to save him, okay!? He did say he was going to fight me after all!"

"That hasn't changed." Jaxon proclaimed, turning dual colored eyes back to the white haired demoness. At the same time, Luke freed himself from the spider web Kiora created, descending back to the ground for a stable landing. "Thanks, Jaxon."

"Yeah well, I won't be able to do it again." He admitted. "So keep your guard up, will ya!?"

"Heh, won't have to tell me again." Luke grinned, turning back to Kiora to restart what he began between them. Kiora stood there with a confident draw, almost uninterested in the prey before her.

A few hand signs, finished off by both hands pressed forward, Jaxon created another powerful gust of wind. This time, that same wind began to funnel, creating a powerful tornado that rushed towards Maggie at a threatening pace. "Oh?" She hummed cockily, grinning as the tornado neared her. She allowed the tornado to consume her, and as seconds passed, the funnel of wind began to switch colors from colorless to a blazing bright red. It became thicker, no longer created by winds, but by magma as Maggie's laughter could be heard from the eye of the natural disaster. Suddenly, that now lava induced tornado changed direction back towards Jaxon, leaving Maggie standing there with a right hand forward, showing that she gave the funnel of lava a push in that direction. He held his ground, creating a cloud just above the incoming disaster. That large cloud then created a blinding downpour of rainfall that would eventually douse the magma tornado — turning into a hardened statue of what it used to be.

"Rain by itself did that?" Maggie asked with eyebrows raised. With a second look, she noticed the cloud that hovered over the hardened tornado held a light blue outline around it. With an even closer look, especially at the rainfall itself, she could tell that the rain wasn't normal, showing a decreased temperature by the dry vapors each drop left behind. "Cute." She retaliated with a curl of her lips, sauntering off to the left as she kept eyes on a sprinting Jaxon who made his way towards her. His path was cut off instantly, forced to leap away as the Weather God Slayer just barely avoided a whip made of magma that smacked against the ground before him — leaving an imprint of burning earth from where it struck. Frustration became apparent on Jaxon's features. He was able to counter what Maggie threw at him so far, but he wasn't making any strides forward himself. Maggie grabbed her whip with both hands, licking her lips seductively as she kept a red gaze on her target. "Surely you're aware that time isn't on your side, love. You'd better show some of that bravado and land an attack soon, or you'll just be wasting magic with these petty little stalemates."

"Unfortunately...she's right." He admitted to himself. "If I want to win...if we want to win, we can't waste our energy and magic power in a back and forth like this. They have the upper hand with their curse power. Maybe branching off like this works in their favor. If that's the case..."

The smoke cleared from Cygnus's opening attack, and once it did so, Crow stood there with an unamused facial expression as he dropped his arms. Unfazed and unscathed by the opening strike, Crow simply held up a right forearm to clash defensively with Cygnus's incoming right fist. Impact was shockwave inducing, but the demon didn't budge even as the ground beneath him cratered. Surprisingly, Cygnus grinned in excitement through it all, unfazed by Crow's rock-steadiness — finding it enticing at that. "Gravity God's Bellow!" Cygnus reared his head back, attempting to launch a close ranged oral attack of his respective element. As he launched his head forward however, a fist slammed directly into the bridge of his nose, causing the Bellow to go awry as he hit the ground with force, tumbling away before finally regaining some type of composure. Cygnus looked up just to see two lines of static discharge barreling his way, destroying the ground on their journey towards him. He pressed his hands hard into the ground, creating a violent wave of gravity that pushed in the earth and the lightning as well, causing it to explode before reaching their target. That causes Crow to look up intrigued. "So he's not just a meat headed human with gravity magic, hm? Does he actually have a few tricks on him?" He asked himself. He would then call out to Cygnus. "Hey, you. What else do you know besides Gravity? You're boring me."

"HUH!?" Cygnus shouted, insulted. "The hell do I look like to you? A demon? Luke Cloud? Gravity is my magic, you asshole. And with it, I'm going to whoop your ass!"

Crow sighed heavily as Cygnus prepared for his next attack. "Besides." He said to himself. "How the hell does one master more than one element anyways? I can't copy shit. I don't eat shit... That was such a stupid question that it's making my head hurt! I'll crush this guy, because I'm the stronger there is! I don't need anything but Gravity! So take this!" He shouted the end of his exclamation, creating a condensed orb in between the hands he held out before him. "Gravity God's Crushing Wave!" Unleashing a powerful wave of the gravity element, Cygnus watched as his attack destroyed the ground it traveled just before reaching Crow. With a single raise of his hand however, the demon Cygnus attacked created a wall of earth that didn't break as it protected him from the incoming wave. The two techniques clashed, dusting out into nothing as Crow disappeared from sight only to reappear behind Cygnus with his left hand pointed forward. Sensing him, Cygnus turned around, only to be struck by an endless charge of lightning. Seconds went by in excruciating pain before Crow finally slammed his foot directly into Cygnus's chest, sending him flying to the edge of Tartarus. Sliding painfully towards a stop with his head hanging over the guild's edge, Cygnus opened his eyes once more, fixing his groggy vision to see a horrible sight.

"Huh? W...what's all...t-that?" He stammered before another foot pressed hard against his chest. "That, is face." Crow answered. "There's hundreds of them across Fiore. This is what Maggie meant by you guys are running out of time."

"Face?" Cygnus repeated in question, only to grunt out in pain as Crow pressed his foot harder and harder into his chest. "Magic pulse bombs that will cancel magic over the entire country. A contingency plan for humans, made by humans. How ironic. Marde-Sama has created an entire plan around it, and now, shortly, you'll see it come to fruition. Well, you won't. You'll be dead."

"Tell me something..." Cygnus panted out. "Does it affect Gods as well?"

"Hm?" Crow raised a brow. "Gods? Are you saying you're not human?"

"Human?" Cygnus chuckled painfully. "Hardly. I'm Cygnus Gwydion. The God of Gravity. Humanity is below me. I'm the strong-strongest there is..!"

Crow simply stared at him, and then finally, a rare instance happened as the demon broke out into laughter, catching even Kiora and Maggie off guard.

"You!? A god!? I wish I was strong enough to bring down a god! Your ego has really fogged your logical thinking, huh!? You're not a God, you feeble human. You're just a God Slayer! The worst of all slayers! You can't even do anything special! You can't dual wield! You can't eat your own element, you can't even withstand it! What are your benefits!? Why did you pick such a weak magic to learn?! You're useless!"

"Learn?" Cygnus questioned quietly as Crow kept laughing. "I was born with this...Although, everything he's said so far about God Slayers seems to be true... Maybe that's why...—"

{Flashback}

"Cygnus Gwydion! That's my name! I'm The Gravity God, and I'm here to join your guild! Well, truth be told, I said that I would join the first guild I ran into, and this was it."

"Well, at least your honest." A young Reve said, giving Cygnus a blank stare along with the others. Cygnus looked around from the balcony he was perched on, hands on his hips. "This guild is pretty small, though. I've counted like seven people at the most. No matter, a small guild is the perfect guild to lead to the top, and prove just how strong I am."

Still a self centered motive, but it was one the gunslinger could get behind, grinning at Cygnus's words. "Alright then, Gravity God. Welcome to White Eclipse."

"Hey Cygnus." Reve came up to him, placing a hand on the Gravity God Slayer's shoulder. Cygnus was just warming up before Reve interrupted him. "Great job making the team, —"

"No sweat!" Cygnus said, cutting him off. "I should have been on the A Team, but I'll take that role next year!" Laughing at his own vote of confidence, Cygnus kept stretching until Reve reluctantly spoke again. "Yeah, about that..." He began, gaining a positive Cygnus's attention. "With the scores as it is, we're going to sub you for this event. We need speed on this one. You understand, right? Don't worry, you're still looking positive for the free for all!"

A moments hesitation, but Cygnus eventually nodded with a grin, patting Reve on the shoulder. "Hey man. It's for the guild, right? We're one team. If y'all think it's the move, then let's get this win."

Cygnus: "Maybe that's why every time...—"

"Alright. And that's the two teams for the free for all. Lets bring this home guys. They aren't better than us. Lets show them that it's White Eclipse..."

"Or second place!" Everyone but Cygnus shouted. He sat alone in the back, watching everyone get hyped for the finale of the games, quietly keeping to himself.

"I...I can't do it!" Zalen shouted, causing everyone in the room to turn to him confused. Cygnus's eyes lit up, standing to his feet slowly as Zalen confessed to his inability to perform for the free for all.

Cygnus: "Even when Zalen gave away his spot. I was overlooked...—"

"Alright...Waiston. Looks like you're up. You'll have to make up for Zalen's defensives. Can you do that?" Sidney asked. "Hell yeah!" Waiston shouted, and Cygnus quietly slumped back into his seat again, not saying a word, just a low, unheard sigh.

Cygnus: "Don't get me wrong. My guild mates are plenty strong. But where was the confidence in me? Even after picking me to represent in the beginning...I used to think it was favoritism, picking Skye...Waiston...and even Zalen over me. But...—"

"Listen up!" Reve shouted to his guild as the war between humans and Zeref's faux demon army went on. "The generals need to be taken out in order to stop that monstrosity! Selene, you and Kairi look for anyone to the north! Tak, you and Luke are with me. Taya and Nami have the east and west! Everyone else fall in line, stay with someone and don't fight alone. We're heavily outnumbered even with Fairy Tail and the others! Cygnus!" He captured Cygnus's attention, ears perking up and eyes turning to the gunslinger. To call on him at such a crucial time.. he was ready for any order until..

"I need reconnaissance. Use your gravity to get to the highest point and spot me a demon general. Don't approach any without us, got it?"

Cygnus: "I understand my role in this guild, but if I'm not allowed to even do that. What am I? At times it felt as if I've failed my role here in White Eclipse, and ever since that came to be true, it's like they've been looking for a way to keep me useful... that isn't me. Is it because I don't have the ability to copy Magic perfectly like Luke? Is it because I'm no Waiston with two elements? I didn't have a trick of my own up my sleeve...so I had to create one. It's imperfect, it isn't ready. It'll destroy my body at this state..but..."

{End Flashback}

"Until I can break the God Slayer mold. Until I can find a way to become like the others. Until I can gain a specialty of my own, learn more magic, get stronger, this one trick will have to do... I have ten seconds..."

Cygnus slowly closed his eyes, only for seconds later to reopen them to reveal pure white pupils. Suddenly, the air began to reverberate violently, shaking to its core which caused Crow to back away, eyes widened as Cygnus effortlessly stood up.

"What the hell is he doing?" The demon asked, to which Cygnus answered as his magic aura expelled around him. "God Trigger."

In an instant, Cygnus was gone only to appease directly before Crow with a right gravity infused fist aiming for the top of his skull. A direct hit, not only slamming Crow into the ground, but keeping him there with the force of gravity. "Wh-What the hell!?" Crow shouted, trying to force himself back up only to fail time and time again. "His gravity magic...it amplified! I've never felt so heavy before! What's going on!?"

"Oof! You took a real hit there, Crow!" Kiora mocked, yet rushed to his aide alongside Maggie. Before they could reach the two however, the field around them became heavier, eventually heavy enough to keep them from advancing any further. "What!? It's that strong!?" Maggie asked, whining. "I...I can't get any closer without falling through the ground!" Kiora admitted. All while this happened, Cygnus reared back a single arm, holding his hand over his head as an accumulation of gravity magic gathered above his open palm. It too amplified, growing in size exponentially with every passing second.

"I'll one day perfect this form. But for now. Ten seconds is all I need to defeat someone like you. Gravity God's Extinction.!"

"Wait!" Crow pleaded, but it was too late. Cygnus slammed his hand down on top of Crow's skull, causing a massive explosion and a rumbling to follow. Kiora and Maggie could do nothing but watch while stuck in the gravity zone of his God Trigger. "Crow!" Maggie shouted, but it fell on deaf ears as two figure leapt high above them. "We attack now! This is our best chance!" The Weather Mage shouted. Luke ascended right next to him, his right hand now holding another White God's Bomb. Lightning surged in Jaxon's hand, and as the two of them launched their attacks, the two elements combined into one unison raid, a beam of the dual element plummeting towards Kiora and Maggie.

"Shit!" Maggie cursed, still unable to move for a second longer. Yet, the second following, the gravity zone stopped. With a second to spare, Kiora tightly gripped her scythe, causing it to radiate a blackened aura. Swinging with all of her might, she cleaved directly through the beam just before it could make impact, causing it to disperse into nothing. As the demoness raised her eyes once more towards the two White Eclipse Mages, the once blue eyes of Kiora now held angry, red pupils.

"She cut through it!?" Jaxon shouted, questioning the obvious. "Cygnus!" Luke then shouted, noticing their comrade standing in the clearing smoke, slumped over with dull eyes until finally, he fell over right before Maggie and Kiora.

"The God Trigger ended! He needs us!" Luke shouted, quickly encasing himself in flames as he dove towards the ground — towards Kiora and Maggie. Kiora already had her sights set on the fallen Cygnus, holding her scythe over his head. "Fire Dragon's—" Luke started, but suddenly, a whip of magma wrapped around his sternum, jerking him around before slamming into the ground away from the two demonesses. Jaxon attempted to use that as a distraction as he flew around on a cloud he manifested, swinging around for a blindsided attack on Kiora, but Maggie was much faster, creating a geyser of lava that shot up directly underneath him. A direct hit, sending Jaxon flying off of his cloud, an agonizing scream as he hit the ground — the only saving him was his quick wit, covering himself in a bluish aura that lowered the temperature around him drastically.

With no one stopping her, Kiora then raised her scythe over her head, keeping one foot pressed to Cygnus's back. "Begone, you worm." She was ready to behead him right there, until a familiar voice interfered, causing her red eyes to revert back to their natural blue. "Kiora. Maggie. It's time. Kyouka and Sayla are on the move." Daityas's voice rung loud and clear through their heads. "Sayla!? I saw her get absorbed by that Demon Takeover girl! She can't be alive!" Kiora exclaimed, unhinged by the news. Maggie simply sucked her teeth as she began to lose form, becoming a pool of her lava element. "Well, lets stick to the plan regardless. Come on, lets go take them out." Maggie told her partner in crime before completely losing shape. She would then seep through the cracks to rendezvous where she was needed.

Kiora hesitated, then turned back to Cygnus with the same malicious intent as before. "I'll remember your face. Killing Crow, as a demon I have no emotional output for anyone, but I can't let humans think they're equal to us. I'll be back once we win this little war." She lowered her blade, turning away from him to locate where Maggie left to. "Alright." She said, but nothing happened. She blinked a few times, confused as to why she couldn't use her curse to vanish from her current location. "What's going on!?" She asked. Just to check, she created a small black orb with her curse, noticing that it was still working. "So why can't I teleport!?" She asked, becoming annoyed. On a second look, Kiora then realized that the atmosphere around her became more and more eery, leaving her with question — one that would quickly be answered.

"I felt an amazing magic power coming from this direction, but it only lasted a few seconds. Still, it captured my attention, like a signal flare or something. Was that you, Cygnus?"

Kiora turned her head to the incoming voice, and as he appeared, even the incapacitated Cygnus held a smile on his face as Luke and Jaxon whispered his name in elation, as if their savior had arrived. Kiora's eyes widened, remembering her run in with the same one earlier. "...You." She said, her eyes turning red once more.

"The Ghost Dimension keeps anyone from leaving it until I dispel it. If I would have let Maggie stay, it would have been a much more annoying fight. But then again, I feel like you wouldn't want help fighting me anyways after our last run in, correct?"

With a couple more steps forward, Sidney Castle now stood before Kiora, and the demoness didn't have any words for him, only a readied stance and her black scythe by her side. The Ghost Mage simply adjusted his scarf, the infamous sign that he was ready for combat.

The rematch the prideful demoness Kiora demanded for was about to commence. And this time with the Ghost Dimension activated, it seems it would this time come to a conclusion.